Casino Theater
Shelter Island,
NY
11964
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Did. They were no help when asked about a theatre. The key is going to be to examine anything about the Casino Hotel/Resort with the hope that there may be a slight reference. It’s a shame that Lost Memory is no longer a part of CT to find out what triggered the posting. Perhaps it was only something in the Directory of American Theatres or the like.
speculate all we want…call the historical society.
I recently stumbled over a historical book about Shelter Island. (No, I didn’t hurt myself!) The only reference to anything named “Casino” concernned a resort hotel that functioned in the 1910’s and closed after America’s entry into the First World War in 1917. So, this offers no real connection to a Casino cinema that operated a generation later.
My guess is that the Casino, if it existed at all, had a short run during several Summers and was totally aimed at the tourist crowd. Even without the hurricane, I just don’t think such a venture could have lasted for more than a brief time, especially considering the fact that the Greenport movie house was – and is – situated just a hop, skip and a jump from the North Ferry terminal. So I definitely agree with rvb on this point.
Did not have time to go to the Library, as I was having way too much fun to remember!
Shelter Island in the 1930s didn’t support a lot of business. There were several seasonal hotels. The locals usually had to go off the island for shopping. The Greenport Theatre was only steps from the ferry. This leads me to believe that a Casino outdoor theatre was associated with some touristy place. What more logical one than the Casino.
Well in Milford, CT, see my posts on the Colonial theaters. There were 2 Colonials.
Will do.
It’s rare that a community, particularly one which was mostly seasonal, would have any old directories. The thing would be to find any writeups about the nightclub and see if there is any mention of an adjacent theatre space. It just seems unlikely that there would be two business with the name Casino.
i will be there on a bike trip. i’ll try to check the city directory.
But that still doesn’t address the matter of the Casino which is what the subject of this specific site is supposed to be about. Shelter Island has the Heights, Dering Harbor and Ram Island in addition to the rest of the island. It would be nice to try and pinpoint a location on this good sized island. And where did Lost Memory read about this theatre. That might be a good place to start doing some detective work. The local paper on the Island wasn’t around before WWII; the historical society had no information other than a nightclub or something like that destroyed in a hurricane. Was the theatre adjacent to the Casino or is the name a coincidence?
It should be noted that Shelter Island and Fire Island are two widely separated islands and very different in character, Fire Island facing the Atlantic Ocean with Shelter Island being between Peconic and Gardener’s Bay. It is reached by ferry from Greenport on the north and Sag Harbor on the south. It was served by movie theaters in these two places for most of the 20th century. Both are listed on CT.
The Community House still shows movies each year.
Should have said that the item about Harry Buxbaum was published in 1967.
Also should have added the detail that Prudential’s Community House was at Ocean Beach, Fire Island.
I’ve found only a couple of mentions of a theater on Fire Island in Boxoffice. The September 24, 1949, issue said that the Community Theatre, a summer operation, was being closed until the following June. The operator of the 500-seat house was named Joseph Seider.
The October 17, 1966 issue says that the Community House at Fire Island was being operated by Prudential Theatres.
I find but one reference in Boxoffice to a theater in Shelter Island, and no name is given for it. It’s an item about one Harry Buxbaum, and says that in 1941 he had operated a summer film theater on Shelter Island.
There are a couple of references in issues from 1942 and 1948 to a Shelter Island Theatre Company (formed in the former year and dissolved in the latter), but it was “…formed to do business in Greenport…” N.Y., and the items say nothing about which theaters the company operated.
I spoke to someone at the historical society and the only Casino reference she had was some sort of nightclub which was destroyed in the 1939 hurricane. Have to pursue this further.
I remember the movie times listing a theatre in Point-O-Woods on Fire Island.
FIRE ISLAND ALSO HAD A MOVIE THATER ANYONE HAVE INFO ON THAT::::::::::::
The Casino-Open Air Theater is listed in the Film Daily Yearbook;1943 edition as having 200 seats and is ‘Closed’. The earlier 1941 edition of F.D.Y. gives a capacity of 300 seats and the status was ‘Open’.