I wouldn’t know WHERE to BEGIN looking for some of the films I’ve seen at Film Forum (anyone can find the Maysles' “Gimme Shelter”, but what about “Islands” ?). Fortunately, the last film I saw at Film Forum, “Lenny Bruce : Swear To Tell The Truth”, on 2 November 1998, I got from an e-friend last Sept. 9th because her brother had taped it off HBO digital cable.
Right on, Irv. I haunted them all except for The Public Theater and the Bleecker Street Cinema. No, nothing will replace the ambience of a movie theater, the big screen, audience reaction. The Watts St. Film Forum seemed especially good that way, waiting outside on line, chatting with other fans, like kids queued up for a Saturday matinee, especially during the summer sci fi, fantasy and horror festivals.
There may also be exits to the alley between the southeast wall of the Ridgewood Theater building and the adjoining building, in mid-block between Madison St. and Putnam Avenue, on the southwest side of Cypress Avenue.
Correct. The stage end of the building is on Cypress Avenue, as shown in the photo, with one end on the south corner of Cypress Avenue and Madison Street. The Madison Street side has the fire escape and exits.
I first knew this theater as the Austin, when it was porno, and wonder why NYC shut it down. I am very glad it has been reborn as the five-plex Kew Gardens Cinemas. I have passed by there and have seen it in its new form, but have yet to see a film there. I, too, hope it survives as the mini-Angelika cinema of Queens.
My first time to the Cinemart Cinema was late January or early February 1969 to see a double feature of “Where Were You When The Lights Went Out ?”, a comedy about the Nov 9 1965 NYC blackout starring Robert Morse, and “Hot Millions”, a crime mystery starring Peter Ustinov. It was one cinema then. I returned in August 1976 to see “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. Still one cinema, and pretty shabby looking. I was next there in late April 1984 to see “The Right Stuff”, after finding out that, for me, “Terms Of Endearment” at the Arion was The Wrong Stuff. It was a twin by then, in much better condition. I could hear the bass from the soundtrack of “Footloose” pounding through the wall during the quiet moments of “The Right Stuff”.
Other films I remember seeing there : “Psycho III”, July 1986, “The Last Emperor”, 30 April 1988, “Jacknife”, with Robert DeNiro and Cathy Baker, early April 1989, “The Little Mermaid”, early December 1989, “Bad Influence”, late March 1990, “Red Corner”, Saturday 1 November 1997, and, most recently, the Spielberg / Tom Cruise “War Of The Worlds” Saturday August 6, 2005, preceded by an ice cream sundae at Eddie’s Sweet Shop.
I’ve had a similar experience with the former Valencia in Jamaica, now the Tabernacle Of Prayer. The baroque / rococo entrance and facade on Jamaica Avenue are relatively small, and give no sense of the true scale of the building. But, walk west on the north side of Jamaica Avenue, cross Merrick Blvd., look at the Merrick Blvd. wall of the theater on the west side of that block, four or five stories high, and extending about 2/3 of the way to Hillside Avenue, and you get an idea of that theater’s true huge size.
It’s called “Out For Justice”. I saw it in April 1991. I don’t recall if the Oriental was seen in it. I remember the el station was in it, and the following dialogue :
MAN : What chick ? (pointing) Her ?
SEAGAL : No, the other one over there, the one with the nipples you could dial a phone with !
Trouble is, postal zone 11385 contains both Ridgewood and Glendale, without a boundary between them. DOES Ridgewood have any sort of “official” boundary, whether a Congressional district, or some function of state, city or county government ?
Or is there just the “unoffical” Ridgewood boundary shown in the map included in the New York Times article, “If you’re thinking of living in Ridgewood …” ?
Otherwise, one can debate neighborhood boundaries, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, like medieval schoolmen trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but I, for one, have better and more important things to do.
I will admit it sometimes makes for good humor, though, like the 30-year running routine between me and my best friend, “Hey Pete, where’s South Brooklyn ?”
There seems to have been a lot of protest by Ridgewood residents recently about the “lumping” of Ridgewood with Bushwick, and Brooklyn, rather than Glendale, Maspeth, and Middle Village, and Queens, in terms of public services, like home care for the elderly, despite the recent gentrification of Bushwick.
A TV ad for Casa Classica Italian furniture store at 63-XX Fresh Pond Road, on or near the same block as the Oasis, I have heard on TV in the last 12 years, refers to it as being in “Ridgewood, Queens” loud and clear amidst all the rapidly spoken Italian.
Menahan Street was once called Ralph Street because it was once seen as a continuation of Ralph Avenue northeast of Broadway. If Menahan Street continued southwest past Bushwick Avenue to Broadway, it would intersect Broadway exactly opposite where Ralph Avenue intersects Broadway. Check it out on a map.
RobertR, please see my comment on “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” on the Wagner Theater page.
Re : Apollo missions : “Marooned” was pulled from theaters until the Apollo 13 crew were safely back from space. I saw it at the Arion in Middle Village in May 1970.
The two porno films I remember playing at the Wagner in summer 1968 were “Devil’s Bed” and “Let’s Play Doctor”. Film critic Neil Gabler and I are among the few people who actually know about another film advertised on the page with “I Am Curious” : “Futz”.
I saw “Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun” at the American Musuem Of Natural History in spring 1993 and got to meet its star, Roy Thinnes, there.
I think you mean the Willard, which see on this site (it has its own page) now the Cordon Bleu catering hall. I think there was also a smaller theater on the south side of Jamaica Avenue west of Woodhaven Blvd. that npw may be, or is used by, a school.
Hello, cypress, good to meet you. I had a friend named Bettinger who used to live with his family at 16 Grant Avenue, like yourself, between Jamaica and Etna. Thanks for the news about the B-18 bus.
There seems to be a typo in your message. I assume you mean that the B-13 bus absorbed much of the route serviced by the now-defunct B-18.
I “grew up with” (rode frequently on) the B-18 but never rode the B-13. Karl B, on the other hand, about twenty years before me, took the B-13 between Hamburg Savings Banks in Ridgewood and Cypress Hills but recalls never having been aware of the B-18 bus.
The B-18 ran very infrequently, about twice an hour. The posting of schedules at NYC bus stops in the latter 1980’s was probably a help to its passengers.
“The Tivoli was located in downtown Brooklyn near Borough Hall. As has been stated by others, it was first known as Hyde & Behmans Theater with its entrance on Adams Street marked by a large vertical.
“The street pattern has been greatly altered since the early 1950’s in this part of Brooklyn. Back in the old days, Fulton Street ran westward to a point immediately beyond Adams Street where it veered northward past Borought Hall to Fulton Ferry. Adams Street ran northward from Fulton Street and intersected Myrtle Avenue one block north of Fulton.
“On the west side of Adams, three quarters of the way up the block from Fulton, was the original entrance to the theater. Immediately behind and to the south of the theater was the large Arbuckle Building situated on Fulton Street after it turned northward, facing Borough Hall Park.To the north of the Arbuckle building were several smaller multi storey buidings, all with store fronts housing various types of retail trade.
“In August of 1925 a sign went up on the third floor of one of these buidings about two stores north of the Arbuckle. It announced that the building would be remodeled to provide a new entrance for the Olympic Theater, formerly the Hyde & Behmans, to open on Labor Day. The theater would seat 2000 people. The building housed the Peterson Lunch Room with a "Formal Attire Clothing Rental” business on the second floor.
“This theater was later renamed the Tivoli. Century Circuit ran it in the 1940’s.
I wouldn’t know WHERE to BEGIN looking for some of the films I’ve seen at Film Forum (anyone can find the Maysles' “Gimme Shelter”, but what about “Islands” ?). Fortunately, the last film I saw at Film Forum, “Lenny Bruce : Swear To Tell The Truth”, on 2 November 1998, I got from an e-friend last Sept. 9th because her brother had taped it off HBO digital cable.
Right on, Irv. I haunted them all except for The Public Theater and the Bleecker Street Cinema. No, nothing will replace the ambience of a movie theater, the big screen, audience reaction. The Watts St. Film Forum seemed especially good that way, waiting outside on line, chatting with other fans, like kids queued up for a Saturday matinee, especially during the summer sci fi, fantasy and horror festivals.
There may also be exits to the alley between the southeast wall of the Ridgewood Theater building and the adjoining building, in mid-block between Madison St. and Putnam Avenue, on the southwest side of Cypress Avenue.
Correct. The stage end of the building is on Cypress Avenue, as shown in the photo, with one end on the south corner of Cypress Avenue and Madison Street. The Madison Street side has the fire escape and exits.
I first knew this theater as the Austin, when it was porno, and wonder why NYC shut it down. I am very glad it has been reborn as the five-plex Kew Gardens Cinemas. I have passed by there and have seen it in its new form, but have yet to see a film there. I, too, hope it survives as the mini-Angelika cinema of Queens.
My first time to the Cinemart Cinema was late January or early February 1969 to see a double feature of “Where Were You When The Lights Went Out ?”, a comedy about the Nov 9 1965 NYC blackout starring Robert Morse, and “Hot Millions”, a crime mystery starring Peter Ustinov. It was one cinema then. I returned in August 1976 to see “One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest”. Still one cinema, and pretty shabby looking. I was next there in late April 1984 to see “The Right Stuff”, after finding out that, for me, “Terms Of Endearment” at the Arion was The Wrong Stuff. It was a twin by then, in much better condition. I could hear the bass from the soundtrack of “Footloose” pounding through the wall during the quiet moments of “The Right Stuff”.
Other films I remember seeing there : “Psycho III”, July 1986, “The Last Emperor”, 30 April 1988, “Jacknife”, with Robert DeNiro and Cathy Baker, early April 1989, “The Little Mermaid”, early December 1989, “Bad Influence”, late March 1990, “Red Corner”, Saturday 1 November 1997, and, most recently, the Spielberg / Tom Cruise “War Of The Worlds” Saturday August 6, 2005, preceded by an ice cream sundae at Eddie’s Sweet Shop.
I’ve had a similar experience with the former Valencia in Jamaica, now the Tabernacle Of Prayer. The baroque / rococo entrance and facade on Jamaica Avenue are relatively small, and give no sense of the true scale of the building. But, walk west on the north side of Jamaica Avenue, cross Merrick Blvd., look at the Merrick Blvd. wall of the theater on the west side of that block, four or five stories high, and extending about 2/3 of the way to Hillside Avenue, and you get an idea of that theater’s true huge size.
That was it ! I cracked up, and COULD NOT take the rest of the film seriously.
It’s called “Out For Justice”. I saw it in April 1991. I don’t recall if the Oriental was seen in it. I remember the el station was in it, and the following dialogue :
MAN : What chick ? (pointing) Her ?
SEAGAL : No, the other one over there, the one with the nipples you could dial a phone with !
That is a very unkind thought to plant in my mind. I might wake up tonight screaming from nightmares of being castrated !
Not to mention being up in the balcony with Mae West and not being able to do anything ….
No hypodermic needles in the seats, with little post-it notes on them, saying, “Congratulations ! You are now HIV positive !” ?
Beautiful ! Would you please define, or, better yet, provide an example of, the typical Ebersonian theater auditorium ? Thanks.
Trouble is, postal zone 11385 contains both Ridgewood and Glendale, without a boundary between them. DOES Ridgewood have any sort of “official” boundary, whether a Congressional district, or some function of state, city or county government ?
Or is there just the “unoffical” Ridgewood boundary shown in the map included in the New York Times article, “If you’re thinking of living in Ridgewood …” ?
Otherwise, one can debate neighborhood boundaries, ad infinitum, ad nauseum, like medieval schoolmen trying to figure out how many angels can dance on the head of a pin, but I, for one, have better and more important things to do.
I will admit it sometimes makes for good humor, though, like the 30-year running routine between me and my best friend, “Hey Pete, where’s South Brooklyn ?”
There seems to have been a lot of protest by Ridgewood residents recently about the “lumping” of Ridgewood with Bushwick, and Brooklyn, rather than Glendale, Maspeth, and Middle Village, and Queens, in terms of public services, like home care for the elderly, despite the recent gentrification of Bushwick.
A TV ad for Casa Classica Italian furniture store at 63-XX Fresh Pond Road, on or near the same block as the Oasis, I have heard on TV in the last 12 years, refers to it as being in “Ridgewood, Queens” loud and clear amidst all the rapidly spoken Italian.
I’m not sure what I did a few months ago, but I found I could no longer log on as Peter.K, so I logged back in as PKoch.
Yes, PKoch = Peter.K. We are one and the same !
Menahan Street was once called Ralph Street because it was once seen as a continuation of Ralph Avenue northeast of Broadway. If Menahan Street continued southwest past Bushwick Avenue to Broadway, it would intersect Broadway exactly opposite where Ralph Avenue intersects Broadway. Check it out on a map.
P.S.
I used to be “Peter.K” on this site.
PKoch
Tonino, I’m not sure what luncheonette you mean, but I remember Ripley’s men’s store.
RobertR, please see my comment on “Journey to the Far Side of the Sun” on the Wagner Theater page.
Re : Apollo missions : “Marooned” was pulled from theaters until the Apollo 13 crew were safely back from space. I saw it at the Arion in Middle Village in May 1970.
The two porno films I remember playing at the Wagner in summer 1968 were “Devil’s Bed” and “Let’s Play Doctor”. Film critic Neil Gabler and I are among the few people who actually know about another film advertised on the page with “I Am Curious” : “Futz”.
I saw “Journey To The Far Side Of The Sun” at the American Musuem Of Natural History in spring 1993 and got to meet its star, Roy Thinnes, there.
More specifically, click on :
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044345/
to go right to it.
Those wishing to research “Times Gone By”, or any film of interest to them, may do so most profitably on the Internet Movie Database (IMDb) :
www.imdb.com
I think you mean the Willard, which see on this site (it has its own page) now the Cordon Bleu catering hall. I think there was also a smaller theater on the south side of Jamaica Avenue west of Woodhaven Blvd. that npw may be, or is used by, a school.
Hello, cypress, good to meet you. I had a friend named Bettinger who used to live with his family at 16 Grant Avenue, like yourself, between Jamaica and Etna. Thanks for the news about the B-18 bus.
There seems to be a typo in your message. I assume you mean that the B-13 bus absorbed much of the route serviced by the now-defunct B-18.
I “grew up with” (rode frequently on) the B-18 but never rode the B-13. Karl B, on the other hand, about twenty years before me, took the B-13 between Hamburg Savings Banks in Ridgewood and Cypress Hills but recalls never having been aware of the B-18 bus.
The B-18 ran very infrequently, about twice an hour. The posting of schedules at NYC bus stops in the latter 1980’s was probably a help to its passengers.
From “J.F. Lundy” :
“The Tivoli was located in downtown Brooklyn near Borough Hall. As has been stated by others, it was first known as Hyde & Behmans Theater with its entrance on Adams Street marked by a large vertical.
“The street pattern has been greatly altered since the early 1950’s in this part of Brooklyn. Back in the old days, Fulton Street ran westward to a point immediately beyond Adams Street where it veered northward past Borought Hall to Fulton Ferry. Adams Street ran northward from Fulton Street and intersected Myrtle Avenue one block north of Fulton.
“On the west side of Adams, three quarters of the way up the block from Fulton, was the original entrance to the theater. Immediately behind and to the south of the theater was the large Arbuckle Building situated on Fulton Street after it turned northward, facing Borough Hall Park.To the north of the Arbuckle building were several smaller multi storey buidings, all with store fronts housing various types of retail trade.
“In August of 1925 a sign went up on the third floor of one of these buidings about two stores north of the Arbuckle. It announced that the building would be remodeled to provide a new entrance for the Olympic Theater, formerly the Hyde & Behmans, to open on Labor Day. The theater would seat 2000 people. The building housed the Peterson Lunch Room with a "Formal Attire Clothing Rental” business on the second floor.
“This theater was later renamed the Tivoli. Century Circuit ran it in the 1940’s.