Avalon Theatre
1720 Kings Highway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11229
1720 Kings Highway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11229
8 people
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Showing 1 - 25 of 61 comments
Grand opening ad posted.
This was a very tall theater, featuring two balconies. It had a relatively small footprint for such a large theater. I saw recall seeing PAPILLON from the last row in the top balcony; the screen was way, way below me.
Back in the days of my youth my brother and cousin accompanied me here to see Jailhouse Rock, I actually thought Elvis was in jail during the Jailhouse Rock number:–)
Walked by today & it seems that part of the Rite Aid signage has crumbled away, They don’t make construction materials like they used to.
The photo on the plaque is taken from a distance, & had a vertical sign the said Loew’s and then Avalon on the bottom of it at an angle. I believe the marquee is the same one as the plaque.
How does that photo compare with the one in the photo section above? That is a modified hump back with just the “Avalon”.
Yes, right before the Almi & then Rugoff/Cinema 5 combination I believe. The photo on the plaque in the Lincoln Square is a Loew’s Hump Style Marquee, similar to the one the Oriental had originally. I have never seen that photo anywhere else unfortunately. The THSA probably has it in their Loew’s Collection.
But, as you see, in the heading the name under Loews was not Avalon, which makes it even more strange. There was always an interesting relationship with Century. Loews also built the Manor which became Century’s Vogue. Century built the Prospect in Flushing and leased it to Loews. I think there were a couple of others. At one time Loews was negotiating to acquire Century.
You are right it is odd, but I guess the one Wonder Theatre that did not have a auditorium named after it (the 175th Street) would not have sounded too out of place as among such names as Palace, Capitol, Majestic, State, Paradise, Olympia, Majestic, Kings etc.
How odd. Although Loews built this theater it was under Century management within the year until it closed. They didn’t think highly enough of it to manage it themselves but honor it down the road?
Auditorium #8 in the Sony/Loews Theatres Lincoln Square complex on New York’s Upper West Side is named in honor of this former Loew’s Motion Picture Palace.
Flatbush Ave in the 50’s & 60’s was like Broadway to me with all the theaters. Sometimes We’d walk to each one to see what future attractions were coming. My favorite was Loew’s Kings. Remember seeing “ King of Kings” there on Holy Thursday ,April 1962
Century built the Prospect in Flushing and leased it to Loew’s. Loew’s built the Manor in Brooklyn and leased it to Century who renamed it Vogue. Century also built the Merrick in Jamaica and leased it to Skouras, and, goodness knows, what else between which parties. The Propect returned as Century after the breakup of Loew’s and the Merrick also. Then there is the matter of the Century castoffs that became Springer. Springer, supposedly, an in law of Al Schwartz the founder. If you look extensively on CT you will also see a number of other theatres built by Century, not only the Suffolk in Riverhead mentioned in my December 8, 2013. comment.
Then there is the Century Skouras relationship where advertisements list certain theatres under both names while, elsewhere on the same page, there are venues just listed as Century. Subsequently, the “joint” theatres are either or.
I would be grateful for clarification of the relationship between Century Theaters and Loew’s Inc. In the 40s the Avalon was the venue for MGM movies, and the Kingsway for 20th Century Fox. These weren’t exclusive but you would know where to find Judy Garland and where to find Tyrone Power. The distribution link was clear. Is there a source for photographs of the interior? Thanks, Bob Cornfield
The more I read the headings on these theaters the “curioser” the owner/management relationships seem. Loew’s builds theaters that go Century. Century builds and leases to Loew’s. And, oddly, before the Almi-Century and RKO Century Warner, Loew’s was trying to buy Century. Dentury built the Suffolk and it went to Prudential. Prudential built the Huntington Station and it went to Century. Calderone built and leased to Skouras and Century. Etc., etc.
Filmed on location in the Coliseum I believe Urban was the Pope at that time. Nay. Just a typo 1959.
1059? Was it a silent movie? Illuminated? Starring The Byzantines and the Saxons? And directed by the pope in Rome?
The Big Circus was released in 1059.
I was 17 and a senior at JMHS. My first job was as an usher at the Avalon. What a great experience… having the opportunity to view parts of the theatre not seen by the average patron. I visited, on a weekly basis, the projection room (great view of what action was taking place, not on the screen, but in the balcony), back stage with the original lighting controls for the “house”, the fan room that was converted to air conditioning,and walking the “cat walk” in the hanging cealing which is the way we changed the bulbs in the overhead lighting. The theatre, end to end, was just plain beautiful.. What year did I work at the Avalon? The first picture playing there when I started was “The Big Circus” I think it important to mention that the theatre manager, Mr. Bob Albino, was a mentor and roll model for all the kids that were employed there. He established the work ethics that stayed with me throughout my working career… and they served me well. Thank you Mr. Albino
Does anyone know if any of the theater’s ornamentation remains inside in the drug store.
Also, when it was the Avalon, there used to be a florist shop on the corner of the building.
My grandfather used to own the doughut shop across the street. We kept them neck deep in doughnuts in exchange for seeing whatever was running at the time. I think I saw Star Wars there. Also Towering Inferno. Many years later I wound up having one of my first jobs as a stock boy in the Pathmark Drug Store that took the place of the movie theater.
I was surprized to see that this theatre opened back in 1928. When i went there back in the 70s it looked a lot newer then most of the other brooklyn theatres that i used to go to.
I went to the Avalon several times during the 1970s. It was a fairly nice theater, but never drew the big crowds as the Kingsway did, 5 or 6 blocks away. I think I might have seen Clint Eastwood in “The Enforcer” there and I sort of remember being dragged to see Streisand in “A Star is Born” (Ugh) I do clearly remember seeing films there that were good, but not particularly successful: Charles Bronson in “Breakheart Pass,” Roger Moore in “Ffolkes” and Sean Connery in “The Great Train Robbery” in 1980 (which might have been the last film I saw there.)
Ahh, the Avalon. I recall seeing the movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (my Grandfather took me) many years ago at a theater somewhere on Kings Highway, somewhere before Ocean Avenue, but I knew it wasnt the Kingsway. And I didnt remember the name of the theater. I recall that the location was replaced with a pharmacy, and it took me some research to finally find the name of this theater: The Avalon. I lived not too far away, on East 12 street. I was still young when the theater was closed, and even though I RARELY went to the Avalon (saw only a handful of movies there, and Willy Wonka is the only one I can remember seeing at the Avalon), I was saddened to see it go.