Benson Twins
2007-2009 86th Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11214
2007-2009 86th Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11214
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 88 comments
Tolin’s Hardware store wasn’t that far away from the Benson Theatre does anyone remember going there at Christmas time and seeing the enormous Xmas displays on the 2nd floor? I started taking my kids there about 15 years ago and was sorry when that closed, too. Hope this isn’t straying too far off the topic but I think alot of people here grew up in these neighborhoods and the theatre wasn’t the only place they visited. Oh, for a time machine and a good digital camera!
I searched the NYC Building Department records online and found the original C/O as well as two latter ones. The original is much too faded for me to read, but I do see one issued in 1978 (month and date too faint to make out) for the twinning of this theater on the 1st floor with max occupancy of 588 in one auditorium and 400 in the other. These figures usually pertain to fire codes and include standing areas so should not necessarily be read as actual seat counts. A projection booth and theater accessory use is noted on the 2nd floor mezzanine level. This is a final C/O, so, assuming the theater operated as a twin under temporary Certificates, I’d say we can safely say it was indeed already split by the time the XXX double feature advertised in my clipping was on the grind there.
In 1989, a new C/O is issued for the alteration of the ground floor into a store, with the mezzanine level now occupied by a mechanical equipment room. Electrical work had been filed in 1988 during rehab of property to use as a drug store.
The current owner of the property is listed as “Benson Theater LLC.” Approximate build date for the structure is circa 1920, judging by the record of Building Notices.
Ed Solero… Got me on that! As far as I can recall, the Benson never played porn after it was twinned, but maybe the show being advertised was a sorf-core porn film with a very glorified X rating.Also, as far as I can remember, the twinned Benson theater was always called the Benson. I never did go to it after it was twinned, but as an avid movie and theater fan, I generally kept up with what was happening on the local theater scene.I do remember some Italian films being shown here, but I can not say for sure what they were.
Theaterat… the ad I posted is for a porn double feature at the Benson 2. This is not the Benson Twin? Did they call it “Benson 2” sort of like a “second act” for the theater during porn?
Ed Solero… When the Benson re opened as a twin, it never showed porn at either theater inside. That dubious honor went to the nearby Deluxe that started to show porn late in 1974 after they showed a re release of “Gone With The Wind”.I did go to see it at the Deluxe wich was a well kept and clean `nabe at the time. A lot of people were angry about the porn as some of these posting can attest, but the manager could not care less and the Deluxe kind of went down hill after that. And, no, I never did go there while it was a porn house.
Is the Brooklyn Capri the Graham?
From the Daily News on January 28th, 1978:
Salon d' Amor
A few other B'klyn porn houses are listed in that clipping, although the Benson would revert to mainstream films before too long. Were both sides of the twin used for porn during this period?
When I saw the “Ape-a-thon” at the Benson the matrons left us alone all day. When I went to the Walker for the same thing sometime later I was (literally) carried out and thrown into the street after 3 films because they wanted me to pay again to see the rest and I refused! Saturday was usually the day theatres showed marathons in those days. Would love to have seen the “Bond-a-thon” but I missed that one.
Sea Beacher…. Remember the “Apes” marathon very well.I saw them at the Walker theater because I always hated to go to the Benson. Also in the summer of 1972, the Walker had a James Bond marathon.They had “Dr. No”, “From Russia With Love”, “Goldfinger” asnd “Thunderball” on the same show. As far as I`m concerned, these were the best Bond films out of all of them. Went to see them on a Saturday. Murder on my rear end, but a great show nonetheless.
In July of 1973 The Benson showed a “Planet of the Apes” marathon. For about $3.50 you saw all five “Apes” flicks and could stay for whatever 2 other “Apes” films they showed after the marathon was over. I remember bringing lunch and dinner in a bag as I sat through 7 monkey movies in a row. It was dark out when I left!
Spent a lot of my teen years at the Benson,(Loew’s Oriental too). Saw The Pink Panther, A Shot In The Dark, Black Sabbath,,Zulu, Die, Monster, Die and many others.
Wow! Hy Tulip! That brings back memories. We had a family tradition where every Sunday evening my Dad, no matter how bad the weather, would go to Hy Tulip and get take out (corned beef and/or pastrami sandwiches, potatoe salad and Cream soda). We then all settle in the living room, using a folding card table for the food, and watch Marlin Perkin’s “Wild Kingdom” followed by “The FBI”. Of course the ABC Sunday Movie followed.
DFC… The Benson stopped showing porn when it re opened as a twin in April 1975. The Elgin was a revival theater in NY that showed classic films.I can not comment on “Magical Mystery Tour” because I never was a Beatles fan. As a matter of fact, I hated them.Your ad seems to be from some time in 1974 when the Benson was a single theater. And speaking of the Elgin, this was a small theater that kind of resembled the De Luxe in Brooklyn.Can`t say how long it lasted as a classic showplace, but many years ago it opened as a dance theater- or something and was re named Joyce. The art- deco style marquee still stands.
I didn’t know the Benson was showing porno as early as 1975. The other ‘adult’ ads are an interesting look back. Also I can’t believe that the awful Beatles TV-movie ‘Magical Mystery Tour’ was still being shown in 1975.
“Behind the Green Door” made Marilyn Chambers a star. Here is that film paired with “The Resurrection of Eve” on a 1975 showcase run.
View link
Yankee Mike… it WAS a great idea, but I guess the community was not ready for it. I guess the Bensonhurst rationale was “why should I pay to see these movies if I can see them for free on TV or rent them at a video store”. I guess some people- myself not included are just content to stay home and watch them. As far as I`m concerned, I will pay to see classic films at a revival theater as long as the theater is nice{think Jersey} and the presentation is first rate.There just is no comparing the two. I quess that is what being a film buff and a theater buff is all about.
I last attended the Deluxe in June 1974 although I do not remember the film (It was a comedy). It was a Friday night and the theatre was about ¾ full. I would guess that was the “widescreen” version of GWTW that was the Deluxe’s final film. The theatre was clean and well kept as long as it played legitamte films. It was in better shape than the Benson was. To bad those plans you mentioned never happened. It might have been a great venue for “classic films” had it been tried.
DFC….The Benson showed porn for a short time in the early 70s until it was twinned in the spring of 1975. The Deluxe showed “straight” films until late in 1974 when it went porn.The last legitimate film to play at the Deluxe was a 1974 re release of “Gone with the Wind” in early November of that year. Before year
s end, it was a porn house.Several civic groups and a few concerned citizens{mostly mothers} were joined by local priests and rabbis to protest, but that came to nothing. That was a shame because the Deluxe was a nice well kept and clean theater until then. They always got a good turnout for weekend shows and generally showed 2 movies.It continued to show porn until about 1997 or 1998 when it was finally closed.The place was an eyesore and I cringed every time I passed it, especially when I remembered all the good times I spent there.There never was any concern to re open it or modernize it due to the apathy of a then changing community. Someboby did come foward and offered to make a deal with the proper authorities to "clean it up" and possibly have community theater of show films on a limited basis, but nothing ever came of it. One of the intriuging possibilities discussed was to have weekend "nostalgia night at the movies" where 2 classic films and a few cartoons would be played, but, alas, it was a no-go. That might have saved the Deluxe, but due to its design, the theater could have never been made into a multiplex. It would have een just to small to be profitable, and the newcomers to America and the neighborhood were not moviegoers anyway.The Benson may not have cared about the protests, but I don’t think porn lasted there too long. Can anyone confirm this? I don’t remember the Deluxe as being anything but porn.
Hy Tulip closed over fifteen years ago. The food was great. The other kosher deli in the neighborhood was the Empress at 86th st. & Bay Parkway. The food there was as good as Hy Tulip’s. The Empress closed about 2 years ago and now the closest Kosher Deli is on 13th ave. About 7 subway stops away!
There was a small deli right next to the Benson, but the better one was across the street on 86th.St off 20th. Av. called “Hy Tulip” and had some of the best Kosher food ANYWHERE!. Unfortunately it closed several years ago only to be replaced by a clothing store.And DFC is right. The socially conservative Italian and Jewish residents did raise a fuss when the Benson and the nearby Deluxe started to show porn. I remember a few protests by concerned citizens{mostly mothers and some clergy} but it came to nothing. Now this neighborhood is predominately Russian, Polish, Arabic and Oriental and not even one theater is left. How times change!
I remember that deli. One of 2 kosher deli’s that were located near the Benson. Sadly like the theatre they are both gone.
I remember going to the Benson for a “Planet Of The Apes” marathon, all 4 pictures. My girlfriend (who is my wife) and I would go to the Jewish Deli, diagonally accross from the Benson, got our Pastrami & Cornbeaf sandwiches, french Fries & Sour pickles, and Dr. Browns Ceeam Soda and snuck them in, I’m sure many people did that also.
I also remember XXX, “The Devil In Miss Jones”. PFA
As others here have noted for a brief time after it was twinned, the Benson showed X-rated films on one of it’s screens. I remember advertisements touting the fact that the Benson-1 and Benson-2 had “separate rest rooms”. I’m sure the 1 and 2 had staggered movie start times also so the nice middle-class folks of Bensonhurst would have to mingle with the porno heads.
I think there was an uproar from the local community when they tried porn. Remember back in the 1970s it was socially conservative Italian and Jewish neighborhood.
Theaterat…I think I only went to the Benson to see that one show after it was twinned. I went there many times when it was a single screen theatre. I remember seeing films at the Highway but sadly I never went to the Walker.
Yankee Mike… I never went to the Benson after it was twinned, but since I used to shop on 86th St, I would often see what the Benson was showing. I DID go to see both of these twin features, but it was at the Walker for Mel Brooks and the Highway {on Kings Highway and West 7tyh.St for the Dustin Hoffman double.