Hi Gang,
It seems to me someone of you brought up the subject of movie theatres in our neighborhood. But I looked back through the SouthBerendo group messages and I don't find the message I was looking for. I think someone mentioned the "Fifth Avenue" on Manchester. Anyway, in the mix of things a site that keeps track of old movie theatres came to light (http://cinematreasures.org). I used it to find a reference to the "Madrid" theatre. It used to be on Vermont north of Manchester (about 82nd st) on the east side.
I remember going to the Madrid to see Walt Disney’s “Pinocchio” in the late 1940s with my parents. I can still see Jiminy Cricket on that screen in my minds eye. He was singing “When you wish upon a star”. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKh6XxYbbIc) Later when I was allowed to go to the show without adult supervision, I saw numerous Abbot and Costello flicks at the Madrid. I remember being so happy about the prospect of going to the show, I couldn’t contain my joy. Now, we have so many ways to see films it's not as much fun. But try that cinematreasures site. I think you'll have some fun searching around for the old theatres and seeing what otheres have to say about them.
Johnny
I remember that we did discuss some of the theaters some years back. Don’t remember the Madrid being mentioned.
ReplyDeleteI bet you took the streetcar down there when you went.
I think I mentioned in the past that Manuel and Henry were child actors in Vaudeville plays at many of the theaters. Elma and I visited with Henry in Connecticut back in 2001 and he told us about those days. He said they would rehearse a play and then do the show for awhile at a theater and then they would rotate to another theater and and thus the theaters would show many different plays or shows during the year.
Alex [Magdaleno]