I spent many happy hours in the two upstairs theaters, and many drunken nights in the dank basement theaters, in a fruitless search for my erstwhile molester. Alas and alack, there were to be no repeat performances.
I got felt up at this theater once, before it was twinned. I wish I had paid more attention to its architecture, but at the time I was slightly distracted.
I just saw two movies here on Sunday — the renovation is really charming, and for a nine screen cinema it is very cozy. Nice couches and tables on each level for socializing, and big screens, bright picture and clear sound made this a lovely experience. Even the closed snack bars on the upper level had accent lighting on. Craig and his staff have every reason to be proud of this house.
How are the Grease sing-a-longs going? I’m taking my 3 year old daughter to Wednesday’s show at 4:30pm, and I hope we have a lively group. (She’s seen the movie on the big screen once before, and a couple of times on TV, and is looking forward to this show. Her first movie palace!)
When a theatre is nicknamed the Itch, it means that the place is so run-down and decrepit that it is probably infested with fleas and other bugs, so that when you go there you wind up itching and scratching yourself.
There used to be Itches all over the country, but with the rise of the chains and the demise of the discount houses, most Itches are now just a fond memory.
The arcana about the past is one of the unique features of this site and I hope all users with something to contribute will continue to do so, notwithstanding the occasional snarky comment or two.
Here’s another long post, this time from the theater’s website:
Theater History
Northport’s first movie house was built in 1912 at 256 Main Street, but movies were only one of its uses: Its grand opening included a vaudeville show, and over the years the space was used for high school commencement ceremonies, political rallies, children’s recitals and even basketball games, when space in the building was leased by the school system for use as a gymnasium. The early movies were silent films, accompanied by a pianist. Admission to evening shows was 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. The Northport trolley added an evening trip in 1913, so that East Northport residents could get home after the movies. Talkies didn’t come to Northport until about 1930, when a local businessman leased the theater and installed new projectors.
But two years later, on April 19, 1932, the theater caught fire, after a blaze started in the adjoining Chevrolet dealership. The responding fire departments found too little water pressure in the hydrants to fight the fire, and water had to be hauled up from the harbor by the truckload. To no avail – the building was a complete loss. The following August, the village board voted major improvements in the water system.
The first plan for replacing the theater was to rebuild on the same site, but theater builder William McNeil began constructing one on the adjoining property even as the old site was being cleared for a new structure. After much to and fro, Prudential Playhouses Inc. settled on the McNeil site, at 248-250 Main Street, that is occupied by the present theater building.
The new Northport Theater, with 754 seats, was opened with speeches and great ceremony on Nov. 23, 1932. Much was made of the fact that it was of fireproof construction, with major components of its electrical system isolated in a fireproof room in the basement. Uniformed ushers were recruited from the Northport high school, to be selected by the superintendent of schools. The theater would offer “the latest and most popular pictures on the cinema screen today,” a local paper noted. The initial attraction was “Sherlock Holmes,” starring Clive Brook and Ernest Torrence, which had opened in New York City only a week earlier.
The building erected on site of the old theater was used for a lunch room under various ownerships, including use by the Northport U.S.O. during World War II. In the 1970s it was converted into two stores.
In 1950 the Northport Theater, still operated by Associated Prudential Theaters, underwent major alterations: Most noticeably the stainless steel marquee was added. The lobby was remodeled, new seats installed, stage curtains and wall coverings replaced and a modern air-conditioning system installed. The cost of renovations was put at $100,000 — about as much as construction of the building had cost 18 years earlier.
As film industry economics and consumer tastes changed to favor more central theater locations, control of the Northport Theater eventually shifted to United Artists Eastern Theatres, which for years offered second-run movies at cut-rate prices. At 99 cents, later raised to $1.25, movie-going in Northport in the early 1980s was a bargain. But UA finally closed the theater in 1996, and a new owner’s plans to renovate the building for a reopening in 1997 were frustrated when the interior was vandalized. The Northport Theater reopened in 1999, but failed to make adequate commercial headway.
In 2005, the theater was purchased by Dennis Tannenbaum, a resident and local businessman, who in turn sold it to long time Huntington resident and entrepreneur Kevin O’Neill and his wife, Patti, on June 30, 2006. In tribute to Patti’s brother, Chief Warrant Officer Four John William Engeman, who was killed in Iraq on May 14, 2006, the O’Neill’s decided to rename the theater the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport.
I bet AMC didn’t have a hand in it, but that the production design staff just picked up cups at the closest movie theater.
I saw Planet of the Apes at Saturday’s matinée, and there was a nasty changeover, I think from Reel 1 to Reel 2. It was quite a noticeable jump, and you could see the yellow leader for a split second. The rest of the changeovers were seamless, thank goodness.
Isn’t it a little obnoxious to call an actor dead 50 years by his nickname?
Hollywood, welcome back. Please post more of your unique and fascinating collection, on this and other pages.
Plus we have about 36 landmarked Broadway playhouses, so we’re not exactly lacking theaters. Just operating movie palaces.
I spent many happy hours in the two upstairs theaters, and many drunken nights in the dank basement theaters, in a fruitless search for my erstwhile molester. Alas and alack, there were to be no repeat performances.
I got felt up at this theater once, before it was twinned. I wish I had paid more attention to its architecture, but at the time I was slightly distracted.
I only knew it as the Forum.
I believe it was David Merrick who called this theater a bowling alley.
I “wonder” why there’s so much “rancor” over “nothing.”
I just saw two movies here on Sunday — the renovation is really charming, and for a nine screen cinema it is very cozy. Nice couches and tables on each level for socializing, and big screens, bright picture and clear sound made this a lovely experience. Even the closed snack bars on the upper level had accent lighting on. Craig and his staff have every reason to be proud of this house.
How are the Grease sing-a-longs going? I’m taking my 3 year old daughter to Wednesday’s show at 4:30pm, and I hope we have a lively group. (She’s seen the movie on the big screen once before, and a couple of times on TV, and is looking forward to this show. Her first movie palace!)
Woody, it was Anco, not Avco.
When a theatre is nicknamed the Itch, it means that the place is so run-down and decrepit that it is probably infested with fleas and other bugs, so that when you go there you wind up itching and scratching yourself.
There used to be Itches all over the country, but with the rise of the chains and the demise of the discount houses, most Itches are now just a fond memory.
Hey Craig — please make sure both curtains are working! You know how we get!
“Big screen” being a relative term, of course, especially seeing as how King Kong premiered at Radio City.
So, can we agree that the Glory Theatre presented theater?
The arcana about the past is one of the unique features of this site and I hope all users with something to contribute will continue to do so, notwithstanding the occasional snarky comment or two.
Hey, rlvjr, when it comes to stupid movies, don’t forget about me, Paris Hilton! (star of “The Hottie and the Nottie”) Hugs and kisses, baby! xxxooo
I was here last week. They are demolishing the main candy stand (with the elaborate 3-D skyline) and replacing it with something else.
Link, please.
Don’t miss the Cameo…oops, too late.
There’s a big hole in the ground now.
Don’t go to theaters with dinky screens. Most newly built multiplexes like this one only have decent-sized screens.
Here’s another long post, this time from the theater’s website:
Theater History
Northport’s first movie house was built in 1912 at 256 Main Street, but movies were only one of its uses: Its grand opening included a vaudeville show, and over the years the space was used for high school commencement ceremonies, political rallies, children’s recitals and even basketball games, when space in the building was leased by the school system for use as a gymnasium. The early movies were silent films, accompanied by a pianist. Admission to evening shows was 50 cents for adults, 25 cents for children. The Northport trolley added an evening trip in 1913, so that East Northport residents could get home after the movies. Talkies didn’t come to Northport until about 1930, when a local businessman leased the theater and installed new projectors.
But two years later, on April 19, 1932, the theater caught fire, after a blaze started in the adjoining Chevrolet dealership. The responding fire departments found too little water pressure in the hydrants to fight the fire, and water had to be hauled up from the harbor by the truckload. To no avail – the building was a complete loss. The following August, the village board voted major improvements in the water system.
The first plan for replacing the theater was to rebuild on the same site, but theater builder William McNeil began constructing one on the adjoining property even as the old site was being cleared for a new structure. After much to and fro, Prudential Playhouses Inc. settled on the McNeil site, at 248-250 Main Street, that is occupied by the present theater building.
The new Northport Theater, with 754 seats, was opened with speeches and great ceremony on Nov. 23, 1932. Much was made of the fact that it was of fireproof construction, with major components of its electrical system isolated in a fireproof room in the basement. Uniformed ushers were recruited from the Northport high school, to be selected by the superintendent of schools. The theater would offer “the latest and most popular pictures on the cinema screen today,” a local paper noted. The initial attraction was “Sherlock Holmes,” starring Clive Brook and Ernest Torrence, which had opened in New York City only a week earlier.
The building erected on site of the old theater was used for a lunch room under various ownerships, including use by the Northport U.S.O. during World War II. In the 1970s it was converted into two stores.
In 1950 the Northport Theater, still operated by Associated Prudential Theaters, underwent major alterations: Most noticeably the stainless steel marquee was added. The lobby was remodeled, new seats installed, stage curtains and wall coverings replaced and a modern air-conditioning system installed. The cost of renovations was put at $100,000 — about as much as construction of the building had cost 18 years earlier.
As film industry economics and consumer tastes changed to favor more central theater locations, control of the Northport Theater eventually shifted to United Artists Eastern Theatres, which for years offered second-run movies at cut-rate prices. At 99 cents, later raised to $1.25, movie-going in Northport in the early 1980s was a bargain. But UA finally closed the theater in 1996, and a new owner’s plans to renovate the building for a reopening in 1997 were frustrated when the interior was vandalized. The Northport Theater reopened in 1999, but failed to make adequate commercial headway.
In 2005, the theater was purchased by Dennis Tannenbaum, a resident and local businessman, who in turn sold it to long time Huntington resident and entrepreneur Kevin O’Neill and his wife, Patti, on June 30, 2006. In tribute to Patti’s brother, Chief Warrant Officer Four John William Engeman, who was killed in Iraq on May 14, 2006, the O’Neill’s decided to rename the theater the John W. Engeman Theater at Northport.