Fantastic to read all this. I spent every Saturday of my childhood at this theater, beginning probably mid 1950’s through my elementary school (PS230) years. I lived a block away, it cost 26 cents for a double feature (actually I think it was 15 cents when I first started to go). My mother would give me another 10 cents for candy. I saw every movie I could, from Frankenstein when I was probably 7 or 8, to Lady and the Tramp, to later, more grown-up films. I remember discovering that there was an art house theater on Flatbush Ave. that had totally different movies: Peter Sellers in I’m All Right, Jack. I ended up going to Erasmus, so the Beverly experience remains in the early-childhood memory bank, while the coming-of-age period probably includes the Loews King and that theater on Coney Island Ave where I saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Anyway, I remember walking home from the Beverly one Saturday afternoon when it was unexpectly already dark! And there were empty lots along McDonald Ave. I had seen coming attractions for The Mole People, and kept wondering if there were tunnels under that earth in the empty space on McDonald Ave, and if the Mole People would come up and get us. My friend and I laughed and ran all the way home, pretend-scared but scared enough. That same Matron with the white hair and the flashlight was there in the 50’s, though the writers mention her from the 70’s. About 15 years ago I wrote a play, a 10 minute thing, called “Red Hot Romance” about magical Red Hots (candy) that the movie theater audience snacks on…and all hell breaks loose. Anyway, theBeverly Theater has inspired me in my life, no question about it.
I believe Jeff Chandler went to Erasmus.
Fantastic to read all this. I spent every Saturday of my childhood at this theater, beginning probably mid 1950’s through my elementary school (PS230) years. I lived a block away, it cost 26 cents for a double feature (actually I think it was 15 cents when I first started to go). My mother would give me another 10 cents for candy. I saw every movie I could, from Frankenstein when I was probably 7 or 8, to Lady and the Tramp, to later, more grown-up films. I remember discovering that there was an art house theater on Flatbush Ave. that had totally different movies: Peter Sellers in I’m All Right, Jack. I ended up going to Erasmus, so the Beverly experience remains in the early-childhood memory bank, while the coming-of-age period probably includes the Loews King and that theater on Coney Island Ave where I saw Breakfast at Tiffany’s. Anyway, I remember walking home from the Beverly one Saturday afternoon when it was unexpectly already dark! And there were empty lots along McDonald Ave. I had seen coming attractions for The Mole People, and kept wondering if there were tunnels under that earth in the empty space on McDonald Ave, and if the Mole People would come up and get us. My friend and I laughed and ran all the way home, pretend-scared but scared enough. That same Matron with the white hair and the flashlight was there in the 50’s, though the writers mention her from the 70’s. About 15 years ago I wrote a play, a 10 minute thing, called “Red Hot Romance” about magical Red Hots (candy) that the movie theater audience snacks on…and all hell breaks loose. Anyway, theBeverly Theater has inspired me in my life, no question about it.