This theater became a Burlesque theater featuring both live striptease and adult motion pictures. I just added newspaper ads to the pictures section. Looks like it operated this way mid 60’s through mid 70’s. A newspaper article on the internet mentions it being a Burlesque house and this was in ‘77.
Hey, thanks for confirming this. My friend was quite confident he saw them there, but most of the reactions on this board were that my friend was wrong. Anyhow, you put this to rest, thank you!
Ed, it was in the “L” shaped corner. I had forgotten where this theater even was and found it when my wife took me to see a production of “Chess” there (I believe they called themselves the Broadhallow Theater and and they are now located in the Elmont public Library, the new library on Hempstead turnpike).
Hello Ed, I really appreciate your posts here, I just want you to know that, great to see you back and actually be able to greet you. We are still pulling together interviews, because this is a self financed project, we have no deadline, other than we promised ourselves 2011 would be the wrap up of any interviews we do. Because we are involved in DVD releases, that eats up most of our time. Right now I’ve been pulling together interviews with Long Island projectionists I know who didn’t quite work the Deuce but did work theaters like the Fine Arts, Calderone !&2, Salsbury theater etc…Most of these guys had trained me when I did my brief stint projecting in the early 90’s.
Hello Friend, my projection experience was from 1993 through ‘98, which was real late in the game, and I worked the Long Beach, Oceanside, Malvern, and interned at the Green Acres theater. I practiced in many a booth, was in the Hewlett Theater booth in'79, but my best stories really come from the guys who trained me. I was a patron of movies and virtually lived in the theaters through the very late 70’s and early 80’s.
Hello Vito,
Yes, absolutely, anyone who worked those theaters in any capacity is welcome to come forward and talk, we want to hear it all.
Jerry, yes, we will be doing compare and contrast, though a lot of the focus will be on the 70s & 80s. But a history will be included.
Exactly! You know it’s an interesting thing about Davison in that Ed Montero ran Film Ventures, the company that released Beyond the Door, but it was Davison who did the publicity and created the campaigns, yet he died broke and drinking was the main cause of death. I always believed that guys like him were always swimming in deep, dangerous waters to keep up, and I honestly think that when the whole theatrical venue dried up for independents, plus the internet screwing the coffin shut, he basically just gave up. Couldn’t keep his head above water anymore, and he no longer had a desire to, the landscape had changed so drastically…
A film publicist and filmmaker I knew named Donn Davison told me that Sumner was an “underhanded thief”, and he claimed he forced Sumner to pay rental fees for Beyond The Door ahead of sending Sumner the prints. He claimed that Sumner was notorious when it came to not paying up, and he had Sumner by the balls because the prints were reserved but Davison kept them locked up demanding cash up front. He didn’t release them until Sumner wired money to him the day before the film was to start. Davison said that “Sumner proves that crime pays”. Here’s a small part of the interview I did with Davison: http://www.cinefear.com/davison.html
I saw a double bill of Dawn of the Dead and Meatcleaver Massacre there in 1979, most likely months before it went out of business. They were harsh about anyone under 17 years of age seeing Dawn of the Dead, and I remember hiding on the floor. The line was so long for getting into this film that they didn’t check the car. The Flea Market that ran out of the drive-in at the time was fantastic, one of the best around. It’s still there at the multiplex but it’s a poor shadow of what it had been!
I remember seeing William Friedkin’s “Cruising” there, and it was kind of a big deal that they were showing it because it was meeting will all sorts of protest in Manhattan. I saw a few things there, must have closed around ‘85. They turned it into an office building, since then they tore the building down, completely redid that parking lot and you’d never know a theater was there. The late Kevin Radigan, who worked at Get With It video which was right across the street, swore he saw the Dave Clark Five perform live at that theater in the early sixties, they might have been touring with their movie at the time.
Yeah, like time stood still. I’m from New York, we had tons in the City and a few on Long Island, but the overall feel is the same. I swear that when I came out of that subway I was dreaming, we have no more of those theaters around here so it really was an eye opener…
I recently visited Philly and I was stunned to come up out of the subway stop and the first thing that greeted me was this adult theater. I swore I was having a flashback, but no, this theater stands, and continues to stand on this spot. Here’s some photos I snapped from this past September 2009: View link View link View link View link View link
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Harris and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Liberty and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Harem and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
This was the main theater I trained at in the early 90’s. It was also the theater that made me decide to give up projecting altogether due to the lousy equipment. The theater was cut in two by Henry Stampfel and his wife I guess around ‘89 or '90. I was showing Batman 3 and Casper and that lousy five tear platter system went haywire and snapped the film on me. As I was repairing Batman I accidentally shut off Casper’s uptake and that film busted. Both theaters were packed. The regular projectionist happened to be walking by, thank God, and saved the show. Talk about panic. I worked this theater a few times, Oceanside, Malvern, Green Acres. Henry lost the lease and Clearview has it now, they gitted it and put up a four plex.
Yes, they were having midnight movies there throughout the late 70’s and early 80’s. I saw a Three Stooges/Little Rascals midnight show, plus they showed Night of the Living Dead and When The Screaming Stops there. Screaming Stops had a vomit bag that was given out. I saw Screamers, a Roger Corman released Italian horror/sci-fi flick there with my girlfriend. I saw the remake of 1984 with Richard Burton at this theater as well. I bought a Super 8mm sound projector from Arnee, a Umig (sp), real nice strong metal projector, Austrian made, still runs great!
I saw quite a few interesting films at the Valley Stream. I saw The Brood (1979) and Prophecy (1979). I know they played Amin – The Rise and Fall (1981). And I remember seeing a midnight showing of the Exorcist there, it was raining outside and water was dripping in from the roof, I was in the balcony. A couple was screwing a couple of rows behind me and my friends. The place was very warn down. I went to the site as they were demolishing it around ‘97/'98. I took one last look in at the chandelier and roof. I was working for Henry at the Malvern and he told me they had already started ripping it up. By the way, Slipped Disc is also gone now…One of the sons who run the ice cream eatery down the street saw a double bill of Headless Eyes and The Ghastly Ones there back in the early seventies.
Yeah, a very sleazy little theater. Saw tons of movies there, took my girlfriend to see the insane Nightmare, a misanthropic slasher movie from 1981. I saw Godzilla 1985 there. McDonalds right across the street ensured proper food for proper movies. They showed The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985) while Inwood Video, right around the corner, had the video tape up for rental. I trained there as a projectionist, it was a nightmare, everything about the booth was screwed up, the young guy who trained me even wrote a survival manual. They called me to work the place once, I made up a lie and told them I hadn’t finished my training there. There was no way in Hell I was going to work that theater. It had a rat problem as well, an infestation, they were closed for that once I believe.
I just added some Newsday articles and Ads featuring the Nassau Theater. Special thanks to my librarian wife for digging these out for me.
I just added some Newsday articles and Ads featuring the Fine Arts. Special thanks to my librarian wife for digging these out for me.
This theater became a Burlesque theater featuring both live striptease and adult motion pictures. I just added newspaper ads to the pictures section. Looks like it operated this way mid 60’s through mid 70’s. A newspaper article on the internet mentions it being a Burlesque house and this was in ‘77.
Hey, thanks for confirming this. My friend was quite confident he saw them there, but most of the reactions on this board were that my friend was wrong. Anyhow, you put this to rest, thank you!
I’m pretty sure that it closed in Fall of 1982, I’d need to confirm this but my memory seems to recall this date…
Ed, it was in the “L” shaped corner. I had forgotten where this theater even was and found it when my wife took me to see a production of “Chess” there (I believe they called themselves the Broadhallow Theater and and they are now located in the Elmont public Library, the new library on Hempstead turnpike).
Hello Ed, I really appreciate your posts here, I just want you to know that, great to see you back and actually be able to greet you. We are still pulling together interviews, because this is a self financed project, we have no deadline, other than we promised ourselves 2011 would be the wrap up of any interviews we do. Because we are involved in DVD releases, that eats up most of our time. Right now I’ve been pulling together interviews with Long Island projectionists I know who didn’t quite work the Deuce but did work theaters like the Fine Arts, Calderone !&2, Salsbury theater etc…Most of these guys had trained me when I did my brief stint projecting in the early 90’s.
Hello Friend, my projection experience was from 1993 through ‘98, which was real late in the game, and I worked the Long Beach, Oceanside, Malvern, and interned at the Green Acres theater. I practiced in many a booth, was in the Hewlett Theater booth in'79, but my best stories really come from the guys who trained me. I was a patron of movies and virtually lived in the theaters through the very late 70’s and early 80’s.
I hear that Mike, proud to be in the age group I am…
My pleasure Sir, any time! Love re-living it!
Hello Vito,
Yes, absolutely, anyone who worked those theaters in any capacity is welcome to come forward and talk, we want to hear it all.
Jerry, yes, we will be doing compare and contrast, though a lot of the focus will be on the 70s & 80s. But a history will be included.
Exactly! You know it’s an interesting thing about Davison in that Ed Montero ran Film Ventures, the company that released Beyond the Door, but it was Davison who did the publicity and created the campaigns, yet he died broke and drinking was the main cause of death. I always believed that guys like him were always swimming in deep, dangerous waters to keep up, and I honestly think that when the whole theatrical venue dried up for independents, plus the internet screwing the coffin shut, he basically just gave up. Couldn’t keep his head above water anymore, and he no longer had a desire to, the landscape had changed so drastically…
A film publicist and filmmaker I knew named Donn Davison told me that Sumner was an “underhanded thief”, and he claimed he forced Sumner to pay rental fees for Beyond The Door ahead of sending Sumner the prints. He claimed that Sumner was notorious when it came to not paying up, and he had Sumner by the balls because the prints were reserved but Davison kept them locked up demanding cash up front. He didn’t release them until Sumner wired money to him the day before the film was to start. Davison said that “Sumner proves that crime pays”. Here’s a small part of the interview I did with Davison: http://www.cinefear.com/davison.html
I saw a double bill of Dawn of the Dead and Meatcleaver Massacre there in 1979, most likely months before it went out of business. They were harsh about anyone under 17 years of age seeing Dawn of the Dead, and I remember hiding on the floor. The line was so long for getting into this film that they didn’t check the car. The Flea Market that ran out of the drive-in at the time was fantastic, one of the best around. It’s still there at the multiplex but it’s a poor shadow of what it had been!
I remember seeing William Friedkin’s “Cruising” there, and it was kind of a big deal that they were showing it because it was meeting will all sorts of protest in Manhattan. I saw a few things there, must have closed around ‘85. They turned it into an office building, since then they tore the building down, completely redid that parking lot and you’d never know a theater was there. The late Kevin Radigan, who worked at Get With It video which was right across the street, swore he saw the Dave Clark Five perform live at that theater in the early sixties, they might have been touring with their movie at the time.
Yeah, like time stood still. I’m from New York, we had tons in the City and a few on Long Island, but the overall feel is the same. I swear that when I came out of that subway I was dreaming, we have no more of those theaters around here so it really was an eye opener…
Ok, here’s an ad from that Night of the Living Dead and Freaks combo. Don’t remember Mondo Cane on the bill though…
View link
I recently visited Philly and I was stunned to come up out of the subway stop and the first thing that greeted me was this adult theater. I swore I was having a flashback, but no, this theater stands, and continues to stand on this spot. Here’s some photos I snapped from this past September 2009:
View link
View link
View link
View link
View link
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Harris and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Liberty and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
Ok, here’s some live footage of the Harem and some of the other theaters on 42nd St that my friend and I shot back in September 1980. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qbRVzD71Cno this is part of a longer film, my friend did the music. By the way, my partner and I are currently doing a documentary on the Deuce, and we are very, very interested in interviewing anyone who worked on that street, in particular projectionist, but really anyone who was there in the golden days. We’ve already interviewed Jamie Gillis (male porn star who did live sex shows on the deuce), Joel M. Reed (who directed Bloodsucking Freaks aka Incredible Torture Show) and in January we are interviewing Carter Stevens (Adult Film director) Contact me if you have a story to tell.
This was the main theater I trained at in the early 90’s. It was also the theater that made me decide to give up projecting altogether due to the lousy equipment. The theater was cut in two by Henry Stampfel and his wife I guess around ‘89 or '90. I was showing Batman 3 and Casper and that lousy five tear platter system went haywire and snapped the film on me. As I was repairing Batman I accidentally shut off Casper’s uptake and that film busted. Both theaters were packed. The regular projectionist happened to be walking by, thank God, and saved the show. Talk about panic. I worked this theater a few times, Oceanside, Malvern, Green Acres. Henry lost the lease and Clearview has it now, they gitted it and put up a four plex.
Yes, they were having midnight movies there throughout the late 70’s and early 80’s. I saw a Three Stooges/Little Rascals midnight show, plus they showed Night of the Living Dead and When The Screaming Stops there. Screaming Stops had a vomit bag that was given out. I saw Screamers, a Roger Corman released Italian horror/sci-fi flick there with my girlfriend. I saw the remake of 1984 with Richard Burton at this theater as well. I bought a Super 8mm sound projector from Arnee, a Umig (sp), real nice strong metal projector, Austrian made, still runs great!
I saw quite a few interesting films at the Valley Stream. I saw The Brood (1979) and Prophecy (1979). I know they played Amin – The Rise and Fall (1981). And I remember seeing a midnight showing of the Exorcist there, it was raining outside and water was dripping in from the roof, I was in the balcony. A couple was screwing a couple of rows behind me and my friends. The place was very warn down. I went to the site as they were demolishing it around ‘97/'98. I took one last look in at the chandelier and roof. I was working for Henry at the Malvern and he told me they had already started ripping it up. By the way, Slipped Disc is also gone now…One of the sons who run the ice cream eatery down the street saw a double bill of Headless Eyes and The Ghastly Ones there back in the early seventies.
Yeah, a very sleazy little theater. Saw tons of movies there, took my girlfriend to see the insane Nightmare, a misanthropic slasher movie from 1981. I saw Godzilla 1985 there. McDonalds right across the street ensured proper food for proper movies. They showed The Hills Have Eyes Part II (1985) while Inwood Video, right around the corner, had the video tape up for rental. I trained there as a projectionist, it was a nightmare, everything about the booth was screwed up, the young guy who trained me even wrote a survival manual. They called me to work the place once, I made up a lie and told them I hadn’t finished my training there. There was no way in Hell I was going to work that theater. It had a rat problem as well, an infestation, they were closed for that once I believe.