Malverne Cinema

As a twin
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So… I finally got to the Malverne for a flick tonight. Saw “W” in theater 1. I knew going in that the screen would be small, but the price was right and with the weather, we decided to keep it local. I think my brother in law has just as big a screen for his basement projection TV at his house!

I poked around and was able to peer into a few of the other rooms before I left. Theaters 2 and 4 are the best of the lot – with at least reasonably sized screens for the size of the rooms. Problem with all of the rooms is the center aisle, rendering all seats at least slightly off from center screen. Another advantage to the two larger rooms would be the screens seem to be more or less head-on with respect to the seating array.

In theater 1, the screen is right of center on the back wall (partly to accommodate a fire exit) and angled slightly away from the seats on the left side of the aisle as you walk in. This is due to where the projection ports are located at the rear of the auditorium. The screen is also mounted without matting in a 1.85:1 ratio – so a scope film (like “W”) is projected on only a portion of the screen – almost like an unmatted letterbox with blank space at the top and bottom. Not to mention that the far left and right edges of the image were somewhat over-projected beyond the screen’s borders. This was all fairly distracting – at least for me. But, in the course of a 2 hour movie, you wind up getting used to it. Happily, the room did feature nice stereo sound.

Seems that the building retains the original auditorium slope in the two roooms (1 and 2) occupying the former rear of the original theater as well as in the hallway between the two rooms that lead to screens 3 and 4. I wasn’t able to peak into the screening room (#5), but it must be really tiny. Probably very similar to the small screen at the UA Lynbrook – which also occupies former retail space just off the lobby. The door to the projection room for #5 was open, and as my wife was purchasing some popcorn at the candy counter, I watched the big platter at work.

All the rooms seem reasonably appointed with relatively comfortable seats and light-absorbing dark red upholstery on the walls. Overall, the place seemed very clean and well maintained. The $5.50 Weds special is a great bargain – if you can contend with the small screens – and even the concession stand prices are very reasonable. It wouldn’t be my first choice, but on a slow Wednesday evening, I’d probably allow my wife to twist my arm into going again.

Dolby stereo. No digital.

Appreciate the encouragement, saps, but there are few things about today’s moviegoing experience that detracts from my enjoyment more than an underwhelmingly sized screen and auditorium.

A number of excellent photographs by Adam Martin have been added recently to the Malverne’s CinemaTour page. These include interior shots of the lobby and some of the screens. Judging from the photos, those screens seem awfully small. I now live only a mile or two away from the Malverne (having moved to Lynbrook this past May) and I’d love to support a local independent like this – but I’d probably spend much of the time muttering obscenities to myself over the diminutive size of those screens! And the dropped ceiling in the lobby is a bit depressing. I wonder what sort of shape the original ceiling is in above the drop grid…

Much obliged, RCDTJ. I live so damn close to the Malverne now (I’m in Lynbrook), I’ll have to try and check out a flick or two there soon. I’ll give it a few weeks to see if they can finish installation of the new sound systems – and then, I guess, I’ll try and avoid #3! And I don’t think I’d enjoy #1 or #5 either due to size.

Hmmmm. Interesting they installed the stereo sound for the smallest rooms in the house. Some contradictions in the posts above regarding how the original house was split. Sounds like the original auditorium was completely gutted to make way for the new screens – I’m just not sure if there are 3 or 4 rooms in the original space. Different posts here note that either 1 additional screen was open in adjacent retail space or 2 screens were. Can anyone clarify that for sure? Thanks.

I love the Malverne. It is like the Long Island’s answer to the Angelica. I do not think most Malvernites go there, or at least in droves like a local movie theater it once was. My mother has a friend who lives near the main street, and she tells my mother, “oh you are one of those people who come from all over the Island to a movie and take all of our parking spaces, LOL!”

The place is very clean and well maintained. For the most part, with dividing the main auditorium, it is pretty modern inside, except, try going into the Men’s room. It still has the original urinals. You walk in, and it is not freakish or anything like that, but they look like antiques themselves, the kind you would find in an old courthouse, museum or old public building in the city!

So you we can all be assured that Malverne’s management has some interest in preservation! LOL

Thanks for the info, saps.

Snapped some evening photos of the Malverne Theater a couple of weeks back. In the first image, I tried to approximate the angle of the shot Warren posted on October 20, 2005. I’ll start off with those two images for comparison…

Malverne at night 2006
Malverne at night 1946

The old ticket booth is gone (for a long time now, I’m sure), the brick facade and wood-framed display cases have been concealed with more modern material and the old entrance doors updated with glass replacements. Here are the rest of the photos…

Wide shot
Profile shot 1
Profile shot 2
Independent Screening Room
Outer vestibule
Ticket lobby through entrance doors

RCDTJ… what’s the “Independent Screening Room” adjacent to the theater? There doesn’t seem to be any entry from the street (the door has a door saying as much)… is this a storefront that was converted to one of the Malvern’s current screens?

OK, I’ve got an anecdote and some info from my Dad, who was born and raised in Malverne. He worked at the Malverne as an usher back in 1952 for about 6 months; he was 15. RobertR is correct, it didn’t have a balcony. Look at the photos Warren posted (Dad liked those, BTW); in the second pair there’s a photo of the rear of the house, and you can see the doorway that leads to the stairs to the projection room, and the private screening room. The window of this screening room can also be seen in this photo, just to the left of the projection openings. I don’t know if this was a common feature in theaters, but Dad sure liked it- that was his favorite place to watch movies. This room was soundproof, with its own speakers, and had a seating capacity of about 10-15. Dad’s illustrious career as an usher came to a screeching halt when the manager discovered he had been letting his buddies in for free through the back door. The manager had been none the wiser to this arrangement for a while, though. One day the guys got a little too rowdy, and the manager asked to see thier ticket stubs, which, of course, they were unable to produce. Upon further questioning as to how they got in, they quickly ratted out their benefactor, thus ending Dad’s days of watching movies in private luxury upstairs, as his non-paying friends raised a ruckus down below. He wasn’t too devastated, though. He hated wearing what he called his “Monkey Suit”. This was the standard garb for ushers at the Malverne (and probably similar to what ushers wore everywhere in those days)– a grey jacket, slacks and hat with maroon trim, white shirt, and a cardboard dickey with a bow tie. You’d get busted for having a dirty dickey; this was one of the mgr.’s pet peeves, haha. Dad made 50 cents an hour for usher duty, a whopping 75 cents/hr for those days when he filled in for the mighty ticket-tearer. Box office duty was reserved for attractive girls in their late teens or early twenties. Dad still visits family in Malverne every weekend, but he has not seen a movie at the Malverne since the old days. I spent the better part of my childhood in Malverne, and can (barely) remember when it was a single screen house. Used to go sometimes once they twinned it and they were showing off price films, and have seen some of the offbeat stuff there. I haven’t been there since they added screens, and I have to admit, I’m put off by lack of stereo sound. Doesn’t seem to faze the Malvernites, though. The place still does a good business, and there are always people about whenever I drive by. I"ll have to stop in and ask if the private screening room is still in use!

It would do much better if they upgrade the equipment.

I went to this theater a lot but for some reason, I can’t recall if it had a balcony. I don’t think it did but it might’ve.

I saw “Being There” in 1980 and it was still a single screener. I remember thinking it was a lot like the Century’s Baldwin but then the auditorium was surprisingly ornate. It wasn’t all black paint…the ceiling was sculpted and had a small dome. It looked like it could’ve used some work though. Soon after, it got it’s multiplexing thing and became a double. For years it actually got a lot of first run movies then switched to more art house stuff. Saw “Out of Africa”, “Sweet Liberty” and other films here in the mid 80’s.

I think the theater remains to this day because the neighborhood is still so nice. Not a great theater at all but it was decently maintained at least.