Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's an RKO theater near where I live that now serves as a bingo hall and flea market on Sundays. As a kid I would go to the flea market with my father, and I remember being in awe at the existing architecture inside the theater. Granted, no way does it look that same as I'm sure it did in its glory days (all the seating has been taken out, most light fixtures missing, etc) but there's still a shell left behind that makes my imagination wonder.
I remember the 1970s, when the Midway had a single screen.
Then in the late 1970s, the split the Midway into four screens. Two screens on the first floor. And two screens on the top floor (what used to be the balcony).
I think they redid the Midway again ... in the 2000s?
I also remember the Forest Hills Theater, around the corner. One screen in the 1970s. Then split into two screens (one bottom floor, one top floor/balcony) about when the Midway split.
Eventually, the Forest Hills Theater became a Duane Reade on the bottom floor, and a Staples on the top floor. I think Staples is gone now too.
Then there was the Continental Theater. One screen in the 1970s. Then in the late 1970s, they split it into two very long and narrow theaters, and built a third screen in a different building across the street. I think that third screen is gone, and it's just the two screens now.
I remember the Cinemart too. It used to be a second run theater in the 1970s and 1980s, usually a double feature. One screen. I saw Pumping Iron and Stay Hungry there, an Arnold Schwarzenegger double feature. This was before Conan the Barbarian made him a star. At the time I thought, this guy has charisma. He could be a star, if not for that accent.
I saw lots of films there, always a few years after their initial release. But Beta and VHS tapes eventually killed second run theaters. So the Cinemart split its screens and began showing new films.
Then there was the Trylon on Queens Blvd. My family took me to see The Vanishing Wilderness there in the 1970s. One of those Sunn Classics G-rated films. The Trylon eventually became a Bukharin Jewish center.
And the Arion in Middle Village, on Metropolitan Avenue. I lived in Forest Hills, and had to walk through St. John's Cemetery to get to the Arion. They also often ran second run films. In the 1980s, I saw Alien, Maniac, and a few other horror films there. It was really cool, walking through a cemetery to get to see horror films.
I loved the Arion. It was a real dive. A huge, cavernous theater. Plaster falling from the ceiling. Sticky floors and broken seats. A great place to see horror films. Tickets under a dollar.
The Cinemart and the Arion both sold tickets for under a dollar in the late 1970s and early 1980s, as they were second run houses.
A little trivia. The Cinemart Theater had a continuing run of the movie Deep Throat around 1973 or 1974. While it wasn't an adult theater per se (they didn't rotate in new XXX movies as far as I remember) they showed Deep Throat for weeks or months at a time.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
