Washington Heights & Inwood Online

For four generations, theaters in Washington Heights and Inwood have entertained the residents of the area with vaudeville acts and motion pictures and have served as havens where dreams could be lived out in a neighborhood where, at times, it was difficult for dreams to come true. These theaters entertained the public during good times and bad, helping to relieve the tedium of everyday life. They also created work for local businesses such as restaurants, coffee shops and ice cream parlors.

The RKO Coliseum on 181st Street and Broadway boasted to be the third largest theater in the United States, with 3,500 seats, when it opened in 1920. In its heyday, many of the city’s most famous acts came to the stage of the Coliseum. The Marx Brothers, W.C. Fields, Eddie Cantor, Uncle Don’s Kiddie Show and Gertrude Berg of the television show “The Goldbergs” were among the shows. This was part of the RKO circuit, a group of three shows — Radio, Keith and Orpheum — which traveled around the city at all of the RKO Theaters.

In the early 1980s, the Coliseum was made into a triplex. It was then reduced to a duplex by eliminating the orchestra seats and stage to make way for stores, thus leaving the mezzanine split into two theaters. At this time the ornate ceiling could still be seen and appreciated by those who had a passion for nostalgia. The Coliseum closed for a year due to financial problems and reopened as a quad in July 1991. It closed again in 2002, leaving residents wondering if it will open in the forseeable future.

In 1930 the Loew’s 175th opened and culminated the Coliseum’s brag with 3,600 seats. The facades were decorated in terra cotta with hints of Egyptian, Aztec, Mayan, Moorish and Persian design. Some of the earliest shows presented there were Shaw and Lee of the Capitol Theater and a movie with Norma Shearer called “Their Own Desire.”

One of the other features of the Loew’s 175th was an organist called “Wild” Oscar. He played the organ while the bouncing ball was going across the screen for a sing-a-long between the feature shows. Oscar retired and moved to Texas. The theater closed in 1967 and was purchased two years later by Reverend Frederick Eikerenkoetter (better known as Reverend Ike) and became the Christ United Church–Science of Living Institute. The church maintained the former glory days of the theater by keeping its original charm. Presently, the theater is used for concerts for the community.

The Audubon Theater and Ballroom on Broadway between 165th and 166th Streets was opened in 1912 by William Fox, who eventually became the founder of the 20th Century Fox movie chain. Upstairs on the second floor was the ballroom that was used for social occasions and special events. It had a dance floor, tables, booths and a stage for live entertainment.

On the facade was a terra cotta design of a boat (representing the Argo from Jason and the Argonauts). With it was a bust of Neptune. Other features were fox heads, which represented the owner of the building.

The movie theater was first known as the “William Fox Audubon,” then the “Beverly Hills,” and finally the “San Juan.” In 1927 it became the first theater to have talking motion pictures. The movie “The Jazz Singer” with Al Jolson was one of its first major features.

On February 21, 1965, the Audubon was the focus of the assassination of Malcolm X. The city was forced to take over the building because of the lack of payment of back taxes. Within a few years the San Juan Theater was forced to close its doors to the public. Since then, the main floor of the building has been used for the Department of Housing Preservation as well as for offices for educational facilities for Latino groups in the community.

Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center wanted to tear down the building for a new medical research center and to attract more jobs to the area. African-American groups wanted the building to remain as a memorial to Malcolm X. The final agreement was to make part of the new center into a memorial on the second floor, and the Broadway facade of the original building was to be kept intact.

Three movie houses of moderate proportions graced 181st Street between Saint Nicholas and Audubon Avenues. These opened between 1918 and 1923. The Astral Theater at 544 West 181st was originally called the Empress. During its last years, the Astral ran movies in Spanish or with subtitles. When it closed, it became a flea market.

The Lane Theater located at 550 West 181st closed its doors in 1959 with its last motion picture feature: “The Ten Commandments.” Prior to it becoming a theater, there was an indoor ice skating rink that extended into what is now the Washington Bridge Post Office on 180th Street. The site of the theater is now Glauber’s Gift Shop. The third theater on this block was the Gem Theater located at 564 West 181st. This site now houses a furniture and electronics store.

Other theaters that have fallen to the wayside in Washington Heights and Inwood are: the Alpine (now McDonald’s) on Dyckman and Broadway, the Loew’s Inwood on Dyckman Street between Sherman and Nagle avenues, the Bridge Theater on Saint Nicholas and 176th Street, and the Loyal (formerly the Majestic) Theater on Saint Nicholas Avenue between 184th and 185th Streets.

The Loew’s Rio on Broadway and 159th Street opened in 1920 and lasted for 45 years. A faint image of advertising the name of the Rio could be seen on the 158th Street side of the theater’s water tower, which was taken down due to lack of use. The Uptown Theater on Broadway and 170th Street opened in 1926 only to close 46 years later. The Rio and the Uptown are now supermarkets, but if the customer looks hard enough, the remnants of these theaters can still be seen, such as the ornate ceilings, the top of the stage, organ pipes and remnants of the mezzanines and box seats.

In time, these palaces of dreams gave way to the modern technology of television, videotape and DVDs. Gone are the days in northern Manhattan of theater-made popcorn, candy bars, sodas, cartoons, newsreels, organ players, double-feature films on the weekends, and ushers with flashlights.

For those who want to learn more about the movie palaces, log on to the League of Historic American Theaters Web site.