Forest Hills Theatre (c.1922 postcard) - Forest Hills (Queens), New York City (Cinema Treasures web site)
  Undated postcard of the Forest Hills Theatre
  1940 photo of the Forest Hills Theatre - Long Island City, N.Y. (photo: Cinema Treasures)
 
1940 photo of the Forest Hills Theatre
Click on images to enlarge
Forest Hills Theatre

107-16 Continental Avenue
Forest Hills (Queens), N.Y. 11375









The 928-seat Forest Hills Theatre opened on February 5, 1922, and was located around the corner from the more famous Midway Theatre in the Queens, New York neighborhood of Forest Hills. It was originally built by Small & Strausberg (S&S Circuit), which was taken over by William Fox and eventually became part of the Skouras/UATC chain. After seven decades of showing movies, the theatre was sold, along with the Midway, by United Artists to a local developer in 1998. The theatre has been converted to retail stores, which now operate behind the original facade less its marquee.
           
Console of the Smith Unit Organ Co. organ (1922) at the Forest Hills Theatre - Long Island City, N.Y. (photo: David L. Junchen)
Smith Unit Organ Co.
Chicago, Ill. (1922)
Electro-pneumatic action
4 manuals, 16 ranks
           
Frederick W. Smith (1878-1944) was a native of England who began as an apprentice in the organ industry at age 13, working with Peter Conacher, and later, the Lewis company. Starting in 1892, Smith was employed for 20 years by Robert Hope-Jones. In 1912, Smith formed his own company in North Tonawanda, NY, where his first contract was for a four-manual, 16-rank organ for Shea's Hippodrome Theatre in Buffalo, N.Y. From 1916-1921, Smith was associated with the J.P. Seeburg Piano Co. of Chicago, building organs with a Seeburg-Smith nameplate. In 1921, the Smith Unit Organ Co. was formed, and operations were briefly moved to Geneva, IL, before final relocation to Alameda, Calif. The Smith firm ceased operations in 1928, although his son, Charles F. Smith, continued in the organ service business until the 1960s. Smith's organ consoles were idiosyncratic in that the stops were arranged in order of pitch by rank. The "amplex" stops were unifications at 5-1/3' pitch.

The Smith Unit Organ built in 1922 for the Forest Hills Theatre was one of only two four-manual organs built by the company, the other being the 1913 organ installed in Shea's Hippodrome Theatre in Buffalo.

Following is an excerpt from the announcement in the June 1922 issue of The Diapason:

"The organ is to have a beautiful ebony console, designed by F. W. Smith, who before coming to Chicago was associated with the late Robert Hope-Jones for a number of years. Two features of the organ of special interest to organists are patents of the Smith Company. One is a new arrangement for swell control, by which on using the second touch the swells are opened automatically from the manuals. To control the device a stop-key for each manual is provided. The device enables the player to use both feet on the pedals when necessary and at the same time open and close the swell-boxes. The other invention is the tenuto arrangement. By this the organist, on depressing a foot piston, may sustain any chord he has struck on any manual, leaving both hands free to play on the other manuals."
           
Pedal – 32 notes
32
  Diaphone Resultant
8
   Oboe Horn
16
  Diaphone
8
   Chimes
16
  Bourdon
   
16
   String Gamba
  Pedal 2nd Touch
8
   Open Diapason
  Bass Drum
4
   Octave
  Cymbal
8
   Tuba
  Kettle Drum
4
   Clarion
  Crash Cymbal
8
   Flute
  Roll Cymbal (First Touch)
8
   Tibia
32
   Diaphone Resultant
4
   Tibia
16
   String Gamba
8
   Cello
8
   Tuba
8
   Clarinet
   
8
   Trumpet
  Three adjustable combination pistons

   

   
Accompaniment (Manual I) –- 61 notes
16
   Bourdon
  Accompaniment 2nd Touch
16
   String Gamba
8
   Tuba Horn
8
   Diaphonic Diapason
8
   Tibia
8
   Tuba Horn
8
   Chimes
8
   Flute
8
   Clarinet
4
  Flute
8
   Xylophone
2 2/3
   Twelfth
8
   Oboe Horn
2
   Piccolo
  Triangle
8
   Tibia Clausa
   
4
   Tibia
  Ten Adjustable Combination Pistons
8
   String Gamba
   
8
   Violin
  Accompaniment 1st Touch
8
   Viol Celeste
  Snare Drum
8
   Clarinet
  Tambourine
8
   Trumpet
  Castanets
8
   Oboe Horn
  Chinese Block
8
   Harp
  Tom Tom
           
Great (Manual II) –- 61 notes
16
   Sub bass
16
   Vox Humana [TC]
16
   String Gamba
8
   Vox Humana
16
   Clarinet [TC]
4
   Vox Humana
16
   Diaphone
8
   Kinura
8
   Diaphonic Diapason
8
   Wood Harp (Marimba) Vibrato
4
   Octave
8
   Orchestral Bells
8
   Tuba
8
   Glockenspiel
4
   Clarion
8
   Xylophone
8
   Concert Flute
8
   Chrysoglott
4
   Flute
8
   Chimes
2 2/3
   Twelfth
   
2
   Piccolo
  Great 2nd Touch
1 3/5
   Tierce
8
   Tuba
8
   Tibia Clausa
8
   Tibia
8
   String Gamba
8
   String Gamba
4
   String Gamba
8
   Clarinet
8
   First Violin
8
   Oboe Horn
4
   First Violin
8
   Harp
2
   Viol
8
   Glockenspiel
8
   Viol Celeste
8
   Orchestral Bells
4
   Celeste
8
   Chimes
8
   Clarinet
   
8
   Trumpet
  Ten Adjustable Combination Pistons
8
   Oboe Horn      

   

   
Solo (Manual III) – 61 notes
16
   String Gamba
8
   Kinura
8
   Diaphonic Diapason
8
   Harp Marimba (Single stroke)
8
   Tuba Horn
4
   Harp Marimba (Single stroke)
8
   Flute
2 2/3
  Harp Marimba (Single stroke)
4
   Flute
8
   Orchestral Bells
8
   Tibia Clausa
8
   Glockenspiel (Single stroke)
4
   Tibia
8
   Xylophone
8
   String Gamba
8
   Chrysoglott
8
   First Violin
8
   Chimes
8
   Viol Celeste
8
   Amplex Gamba *
8
   Clarinet
8
   Amplex Violin *
8
   Trumpet
8
   Amplex Clarinet *
8
   Oboe Horn
8
   Amplex Kinura *
8
   Vox Humana
  * unification at 5-1/3' pitch
           
Echo (Manual IV) – 61 notes
8
   Flute
4
   Cor Anglais
4
   Flute
16
   Vox Humana [TC?]
2
   Piccolo
8
   Vox Humana
8
   First Violin
4
   Vox Humana
4
   First Violin
8
   Chimes
8
   Cor Anglais (with brass bells)
  Tremulant

   

   
General
Ten combination pistons      
Four tremulants      
Swell pedal for flutes, strings and vox humana, etc.
Swell pedal for percussions      
Swell pedal for heavy reeds and remainder of organ
One general pedal      
Crescendo pedal      
Three stop-keys for connecting all three swell pedals to the general swell pedal
Sforzando pedal bringing on full wind stops      
Sforzando pedal bringing on all traps and percussions
           
Sources:
     Cinema Treasures web site: http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/3273
     Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 2. Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1989.
     "Large Smith Unit for Forest Hills," article in The Diapason, June 1922.

Illustrations:
     Cinema Treasures web site. Exterior (1940s); Postcard (undated).
     Junchen, David L. Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 2: console.