Century's Morton Village Theatre
998 Old Country Road,
Plainview,
NY
11803
998 Old Country Road,
Plainview,
NY
11803
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 41 comments
Opened May 11th, 1962. Grand opening ad posted by someone else.
To Long Islnd Movies,when will I get an invite to your Plaza theatre, I know that I will have to pay for the popcorn and soda, even the ticket but the tour will be free but you must give it! Ha, ha, ha. I know you didn’t care for M.V,\but that made me next to last manager. Closed in 1985 with “Emerald Forest” and matinees of “Rainbow Brite”. I bought the last ticket sold on closing night. I asked Mata not to tear it. There was a cricket in the theatre which added to the crickets in the movie. That was “Live Effects” first presented here. Closed in 1985. Opened in 1964 with “King Of Kings” with Jeffrey Hunter and would later work at (2014-2017). The Kings of Kings is in Brooklyn, NY.
PS Wrong address, it was 998 Old Country Road, Plainview.
While I was posting a comment, it was wiped out by this sight, so I’ll keep it to myself. That is Batman at the Morton Village Theatre. Great place to work at. One of the two I adored. Spent 1980-1983 there. Wonderful staff, Lots of sellouts, no concessions business!
110% positive…it’s the Morton Village Theater. When I took the picture, my back was to Old Country Road. And no, the auditorium ran perpendicular to Old Country Road. The building that is still there now utilizes the same original footprint as the movie theater, which was on the extreme left (west) side of the Morton Village Shopping Center property.
I question whether that is the Morton Village in the picture. The auditorium ran parallel to Old Country Road. I don’t remember the entrance being positioned on the shopping center side, which this would have to be, since the entrance was on the east end. There were also trees on Old Country Road. I also don’t remember the building being white.
Anybody know what year the theater closed?
I remember taking pictures of Batman & Robin there, as they showed up to promote their new Batman movie playing there, in ‘66 or '67.
Read something on one of the other sites regarding the Morton Village. Facade has glazed black and white brick. Sinage was red and not the splashy sinage common to Century. Maybe a local restriction?
In ‘80 I saw Chariots of Fire at Morton and I remember the admission was about the same as the bargain theatre in Northport – about $1
As a patron I didn’t find the theatre as problematice as former staff. I also like the exterior. It was very unusual.
The last manager here was Mata Baur……
I have good memories of this theater. The low ceiling, perhaps, made the screen seem a mile wide; the seats were comfortable and sightlines good from everywhere. I saw a lot of off-beat fare here in the early 70’s: The Revolutionary (w/Jon Voigt); The Angel Levine (w/Zero Mostel and Harry Belafonte); Alice’s Restaurant; Burn! (w/Marlon Brando); Ned Kelly (w/Mick Jagger); and a turkey called (I still love this title) The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun (bad movie – good book).
I saw my first James Bond movie here: On Her Majesty’s Secret
Service (terrific action sequences, and Lazenby’s not that bad). Movie maniac that I was, I drove over on a very snowy weekday night (in January ‘75?) to see The Abduction (Liv Ullmann as Queen Christina – and Anthony Hopkins, I think); as I was the only one (besides the staff) who had showed up, they declined to sell me a ticket, so they could go home early – and I don’t blame them (I
never did see that movie, but I’m sure the Garbo version is better anyway).
In the discount days of the late 70’s and early 80’s, I was a frequent patron. In 1980, I played “uncle” to some 15-year old boys
who wanted to see American Gigolo (an under-rated, really great
movie); the only reason for wanting to see it that I could elicit
from them was the Blondie song!
Too bad it’s gone, like so many others!
Saw two fantatsic mid 70s movies here, Fellini’s AMARCORD and Cassvetes' A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE.
Also saw one of the worst NIGHT ON THE LEPUS…LOL!
A 1964 showcase
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century was bought first by almi we then became almi century that was about 1982 then Rkocentury warner about 1983 or 84….I THINK THE PENNY IDEA CAME FROM UA!
Longislandmovies… when did RKO merge with Century’s exactly? And was it just coincidence that they both had that “penny per year” discount policy around the same time? Do you know who came up with that concept first?
ED GREAT AD FIND…………….I WAS WITH RKO AT THAT TIME …those ads were prinnted every fri,sat,sun,newsday..
Yes… in that 10/5/85 ad, the feature playing was “Compromising Positions”, which was about 5 or 6 weeks into its run at the time.
IN its last days it was running 1st run…..
Here’s a 1985 block ad for RKO theaters (which had acquired the Century’s chain a few years earlier) listing the Morton Village in its very last days:
Newsday – 10/5/85
By December of 1980, Century’s was already operating this house under a “penny per year” discount policy (as mentioned above) identical to the one RKO featured at their Valley Stream, Hempstead and Mineola theaters. When RKO acquired the Century’s chain, the policy must have stuck for at least a while. Century’s also operated its Five Towns and Floral theater’s under the same discount policy and films usually day-and-dated at all of these houses on their last run. I can’t recall who started this policy, which I know started with the bicentennial in ‘76. By 1981/82 all these theaters were branded RKO Century’s in the newspaper movie clocks and ads.
Saw two of the best movies of the 70s here: Fellini’s AMARCORD and Cassavetes A WOMAN UNDER THE INFLUENCE
Also one of the worst: NIGHT OF THE LEPUS, a horror movie about killer rabbits!!
Annette dropped by in 1963
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I have to correct myself: I have some old Newsday newspapers, and I see that on 9/26/81, when they were showing “For Your Eyes Only,” the admission was $1. The price for “The Dark Crystal,” showing April 5, 1983, was $1.50. I’m pretty sure that it was 81 cents for some of 1981, though…
I grew up a few blocks from Morton Village. I was only seven in 1976, but I seem to recall there being 76 cent movies. The cents did correspond to the year until ‘82 or '83, when it went 99 cents. It closed in 1985, and “Compromising Positions” was the last movie to play there, with the title staying on the marquee long after the theater closed.