Comments from Louella

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Louella
Louella commented about Kingsway Theatre on Dec 16, 2008 at 1:26 pm

I was in Troop 442 of the Boy Scouts which met in that Jewish Center.
Any other of you guys around?
Karl B.

Louella
Louella commented about Kingsway Theatre on Jul 24, 2008 at 2:02 pm

Crawford’s was a men’s clothing chain throughout the NY Metropolitan area. They had a store on the corner of Kings Highway & East 14th St. Right after WW2, when things got better, the building was totally remodeled and enlarged. Crawford Clothes had the corner store. I was fascinated by the balcony inside and always wanted to go up there but I never did as my dad didn’t buy there. The 2nd store from the corner was Raphan’s Carpets. The Crawford’s remodel was very high end. When the store went out of business, the new store used the Crawford name because the neon sign outside was large, expensive and almost new. Of course the type of stuff sold in the store changed completely. I grew up on East 7th & Quentin.
Karl B.

Louella
Louella commented about Triangle Theatre on Jul 26, 2006 at 9:47 am

Amen! I spent many a Saturday matinee there during WW2 years. There was NO BALCONY!
Karl B.

Louella
Louella commented about Dewey Theater on Nov 14, 2005 at 7:11 am

We neighborhood kids used to call this place the “Itch” for very obvious reasons.
Karl B

Louella
Louella commented about Kingsway Theatre on Nov 12, 2005 at 4:57 am

I have many fond memories of the Kingsway from the 40’s. I grew up on east 7th Street around the corner from the Jewel which was our regular Saturday matinee theater. The Kingsway was the “expensive” theater charging us kids as much as 25¢. The Jewel and the Claridge were the bargains ranging anywhere from 11¢ to 15¢ for the kids matinee. The Kingsway often ran Saturday morning “Kiddy Shows” featuring 50 cartoons. In those olden days before TV, this was a real treat and there were huge lines to get in.

My grandma would occasionally take me to a movie there and we sat in
the Loge so that she could smoke. I remember it being very elegant.
There were little lamps on small tables between the seats. They
charged extra to sit there.

Karl B.

Louella
Louella commented about Tusten Theatre on Oct 23, 2005 at 2:43 am

>From Bernie L.
> Back in the 30’s before the “Park Theatre” merited a name, its primary use was as the town firehall. When they wanted to show a film, they rode the fire engine out into the street and parked it.
>From Bernie L.
> Back in the 30’s before the “Park Theatre” merited a name, its primary use was as the town firehall. When they wanted to show a film, they rode the fire engine out into the street and parked it. Which is maybe how the theatre later got its name (I don’t know of any park nearby). Anyhow, they then set up rows of folding chairs, and when it was dark enough, started the film. We didn’t get to see many movies in the ‘Burg, perhaps one or two per summer. The most memorable one for me was “Earthquake” with Clark Gable. Just at the moment that the earthquake hit San Francisco, a two-enngine Erie freight train came by, shaking the building,drowning out any dialogue and giving us much more realistic local effects than did the sound track,(From my friend Bernie L.)
Karl B.

Louella
Louella commented about Carmel Movie Theater on Oct 17, 2005 at 1:27 pm

This was a favorite Saturday night place for us summer kids from Shenorock (Somers) which, through the 60’s, was basically a summer home community. I remember the quonset hut structure. We had to park behind the jail. Carmel was a “dinky” town in those years. The old Putnam division of the NY Central RR still stopped there.
Karl

Louella
Louella commented about Cameo Theater on Oct 17, 2005 at 1:15 pm

My parents had a summer house in Shenorock (Somers). The area was not yet suburban and was quite rural. We kids, back in the 50’s, would got to the Cameo on Saturday nights. I still remember the phone number was BRewster 9-3688. Funny how memories stick with you. We also went to the movies in Carmel where the theater looked like an old quonset hut. Anybody rememeber the name of that one???

Louella
Louella commented about Marboro Theatre on Oct 17, 2005 at 1:11 pm

I graduated from Seth Low JHS in 1948. The graduation was held at the Marboro Theater. That’s the last time that I was in there!
Karl

Louella
Louella commented about Brook Theatre on Oct 12, 2005 at 5:19 am

Unlike most of the other Brooklyn theaters, the Brook was built after WW2. It opened, in the Spring of 1951 when I was a senior at Madison HS. The first picture to be shown was a film version of “Macbeth”. I remember that special tickets were sold in English classes at Madison. If you went to see the film, you got extra credit. Of Course I went! (I didn’t like the film)
Karl

Louella
Louella commented about Claridge Theater on Oct 7, 2005 at 1:19 pm

I was a neighborhood kid (East 7th Street)during WW2. We would go to the Claridge to see movies that we might have missed at the Jewel or to see the 50 Cartoon “Kiddie” shows. Also… it was very cheap. They only charged 6¢ for a Saturday matinee while the Jewel was usually 11¢. The first 50 kids or so also got a free comic book at Saturday matinees. The Kingsway was really expensive at 20 or 25¢!
Karl

Louella
Louella commented about Triangle Theatre on Oct 5, 2005 at 12:59 pm

Contrary to what has been written, the Triangle has NOT been demolished. It has merely been converted into a furniture store. The marquis is still in existence and if you walk into the store, the main furniture display area was the theatre.

This theater had a strange configuration. it was small and there was no balcony. There was a prominent staircase leading up but it led only to the restrooms and the projection booth. After you proceeded into the theater past the ticket taker, you had to turn left. The theater was constructed on a right angle. The rear wall, behind the screen backed on east 12th Street. That wall is still very visible.

Louella
Louella commented about Cinema Kings Highway on Oct 4, 2005 at 5:09 am

I grew up in the 30’s, 40’s and 50’s on East 7th Street around the corner from the “Jewel”. I remember the celebration when it opened brand new in the late 30’s. it was very art deco and modern. During WW2, we neighborhood kids went to the matinee just about every Saturday fortified with a large sour pickle from Schnipper’s Delicatessen across Kings Highway. Contrary to what someone else reported, the Jewel was NEVER a Century theater.

Each Saturday, we saw a 2nd run double feature, a cartoon, the news, coming attractions and usually a “chapter”. We spent a good deal of time either annoying or hiding from the matron.

I remember in the 50’s when the theater tried to capitalize on the foreign film craze. When they showed “Diabolique”, the line stretched around the corner onto East 7th Street almost to my house.

I have many great memories of time spent in the Jewel!

Karl Bernstein