Embassy Theatre
3208 Fulton Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11208
3208 Fulton Street,
Brooklyn,
NY
11208
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 301 - 325 of 367 comments
Well, BklynJim, He’s got a lot of ‘em in His service now. The Loew’s Gates Theater is now the Pilgrim Baptist Church, and the Empire Theater at Broadway, Ralph and Lexington Avenues is also now a church. You may want to attend a service at one of these churches when you return, simply to get inside one of these old theaters again.
Oh, and Loew’s Valencia is now the Tabernacle Of Prayer For All People.
Wayside Baptist, Philadelphian Sabbath Cathedral, Christ Tabernacle, the Rock Church… Peter, when I return, I guess I can trust you to get me to a church on time. The good Lord must love old movie houses!
“I remember my father taking me to a huge movie palace on Broadway just west of Broadway Junction about 1958 near Granite st. anyone remember what theater this was?”
Charlie S., that was probably the Colonial Theater, 1746 Broadway, on the southwest side of Bway, also bounded by Rockaway Avenue and Chauncey Street, entrance on Bway at Moffat Street. It has its own page on this site. It is now the Wayside Baptist Church.
Don’t forget Edelman’s on Fulton. Clothes ranged from sporty to garish!
Correction: My Address was 3233 fulton- Next to the carraige store- Charlie S
Yes it is Brian. Thanks lost memory. I will let everyone know if I hear back from him. I spoke with my cousin and he told me he did indeed hang out with him and that country singer Tommy Blue in front of the Embassy in the 60s . It was a popular gathering spot on weekends. He doubts Brian Has many memories of the theater cause they hardly if ever went inside. I’ll keep all posted. This is a theater site, so let me get back to my recollections of the place. At night, I recall looking out my 2nd. floor window (between trains) at 3223 fulton st and seeing all the bright neon it really brought alot of life to that otherwise gloomy st. which was shadowed by the el. I used to get in free as my grandmother was the candy lady. but I still didn’t go there too often. It was pretty plush. The only movie I really remember was the Sword and the Stone. around 1960 I think it might have been a Disney flick. I remember it cause they gave all the kids a plastic sword that lit up. I thought that was real cool! One time in the later 60s when the Batman tv show was hot, the guys who played Batman and Robin made a short personal apperance there but for some reason, I missed that. I grew up on Long Island and moved to Brooklyn when I was about 9 or 10. My family used to visit the drive- in theaters on long Island a lot even after we moved to Brooklyn. If you like, you can see some memories of mine at the Bay shore sunrise and 5th ave. Drive in sites. I remember my father taking me to a huge movie palace on Broadway just west of Broadway Junction about 1958 near Granite st. anyone remember what theater this was? Thanks for sharing my memories I better get off and leave space for others. Charlie S.
does anyone remember Brian’s younger brother Keith ? He also went to Lane 59-63. And was also a good singer. Keith never persued a career in music. Nobody smacked him around because he sang in an doo wop group with guys from Fulton and Rockaway. robbie
I Just got it, Bryan Highland recorded a song called I’m afraid to go home? After being smacked around in the F.K.L. stockade, He must have really put a lot of feeling into that one. That was pretty funny Brooklyn Jim (intentional or not!) Thanks, Charlie S.
Charlie S., the Haven Theater has its own page. The CT internal search engine is generally a hit-or-miss proposition. Better to just enter the Haven’s number, 4613, at the top of the page where 5796 is now. You’ll get there faster than an old-time magic carpet ride…
Thanks lost memory . I Emailed Bryan Hyland (I think the correct spelling is Bryan) will let everyone know if I get a reply. My cousin Jackie Fleishman ran a bar next to the Haven Theater . I think the bar’s name changed to Nobodys if I’m not mistaken, right before I moved. I think I remember him telling me that everyone used to pick on him (Bryan) a lot. No wonder he moved to California! Well, he made it and did some pretty good stuff. According to his website,he’s still perfoming steady. Anybody remember a guy by the name of Tommy Blue who used to play guitar and sing country music in places like the Nickels Inn on Jamaica Ave. I played some harmonica with him on occasion. He was a nice guy and a pretty good singer but a character. He was pretty popular around Woodhaven/Cypress Hills and one friday night at the Nichols Inn, His wife was steaming mad at him for something and came onstage in a rage and began cursing him and poured a pitcher of beer over his head in front of the audience. Good thing his guitar wasn’t plugged in at the time! Getting back to theaters, What happened to the Haven. I heard it’s a discount store now. I remember seeing A Star Is Born There. The place didn’t look too bad then (around 1974 or so) but I heard it turned into a dump before it closed. I remember The White Horse Tavern Brooklyn Jim but never went in there. Thanks for the correction.– Charlie S.
Virtually all of those gin mills, taverns and wiseguy joints are gone now, robbie, although a few “clubs” have sprung up on streets running between Fulton & Atlantic.
Charlie S., I stand corrected on the location of the White Horse Tavern. I stated Forest “Hills.” Duh. Should’ve been Forest Park – Jamaica Ave. near 87th St. ‘Scusa. :)
Hyland did “SWAK” and the others, as you mentioned, but an oft-overlooked gem was a folk song released mid-summer 1963: “I’m Afraid To Go Home.” Worth checking out.
I don’t believe Brian wants to hear from the likes of me. We used to smack him around regularly in his Franklin K. Lane H.S days. Ran into a guy and his wife at an Indian casino in San Diego recently. He had attended FKL in ‘61-'62. Asked him if he knew BH. Said he’d beat him up. “Why?” I asked. “General Principle.” “How often?” “About once a week.” GMTA. LOL!
Great stories of old ENY. I remember all the Fulton street Bars.The Arlington- The Norwood- The Essex Tavern-even the Waikiki on Crescent located under the El where it made the big turn. For a while,in the mid 60’s, there was a wise guy joint on Lincoln and Fulton. called Cloud 9. Anyone remember the pet store near the Embassy ? Robbie
Thanks Brooklyn Jim for the update! One more footnote: I was told by older friends when I lived on Fulton in the early 70’s that Brian Hyland, the singer who had a hit with “Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Polka Dot Bikini” and “Sealed With A Kiss used to hang out at the Embassy when he still lived in Woodhaven before he hit it big. Anyone want to try and see if he has any memories? I checked his website but I doubt that his booking agency will give out any contact info. Charlie S.
Charlie S./Fultonboy, welcome to CT! Thx for your recollections, and also for answering a question posed a few months ago as to when the Embassy was actually demolished.
I lived in the area between ‘58-'78 and agree with your comment that the entire area of ENY went south in the 1970s. Got my discharge from Uncle Sam’s Misguided Children in late '67, just before Tet. (If I could survive “The Crotch,” I figured I could survive anything, including ENY’s severe economic and sociological demise!)
There was a train and hobby shop I frequented on Fulton near Norwood Ave., and the Embassy, of course, was a focal point for us teens in the ‘60s. Drinking age was 18 then, and some bars I recall nearby were Lester and Smitty’s, both on Fulton & Van Siclen, and the White Horse Tavern (Forest Hills) and Dutch’s Lounge on 102nd, run by a former fly-fly boy, now deceased. The general area is still a picture of poverty, mostly Hispanic in make-up, some black folks and a handful of Italian-Americans and other caucasians. I last walked through the area in March/April '06. It was like the aftermath of a former hot LZ…
I just want to clear up that the Embassy Coffee Shop was located in the same building as the theater but stayed open after the theater closed for about a year or so till the whole place was demolished to make way for the senior citizens center. Anyone remember the bars on Fulton st? – The Glass House, Frank and Henry’s ( I remember buying a glass of beer there for 25 cents when I came home on leave from the Navy in 1972) What dives, but full of happy drunks! Charlie S.
I lived across from the Embassy Theater from 1960-75. I am 53 years old. My grandmother Mary Clayton, worked the candy counter from 1958-1970. I wonder if anyone remembers her! She was a very cheerful heavy set grey haired lady. I’m searching for a picture i had of her at the candy counter. I can recall when they tore the theater down about 1970. The resturant next door lasted about a year longer. There was a bar called the B+O Tavern next to it and there was always someone fighting outside at night. I have fond memories of the ice cream parlors, butcher and mom and pop stores along fulton st. The area started going down fast in the early 70’s I moved to North Carolina in 1976 and haven’t been back. Heard it’s pretty bad now – Sad. Fultonboy
Thanks, BklynJim, for the info on your late son’s film stuff.
I answered you about “Night Of The Blood Farmers” on the Astoria Theater page.
Hey, Peter, yer back! It seems like years with this facocktah site being down for days with no advance warning. I had just left you a message on the RKO Bushwick page (re the Astoria page) early on 6/22, and then we all crashed and burned. LOL!
We’ll be putting out a book of all Greg’s interviews, articles and reviews (1997-2005) at some point, but his publisher and I haven’t gotten it past the planning stages yet. (We have requested that any and all profits go to the film school scholarhip in his name here at SDSU, where I’m presently typing this. Kids from 6th grade thru senior year of h.s. will be eligible, based on their responses to 2 essay questions: What attracts you to the medium of film? And how do you view social justice issues in relation to film? Geared to make ‘em think. My ex and I will have some input regarding their answers.) Any other questions I can eventually answer elsewhere without the risk of being O/T here.
Thanks, BklynJim. What was special about Hollywood Bitchslap and Rotten Tomatoes, that you used them ? Have your son’s movie reviews been published in a book, or on-line ? I’d like to read them.
I’m no big fan of imdb as a place to post, but I thought, if nothing else, it would be a place to start, and better than nothing.
Thx, but no, Peter. My son constantly used imdb and similar sites, but I never got involved with any of them, except for Hollywood Bitchslap and Rotten Tomatoes, which had over 800 of his reviews. Nah, I was just curious about what the guys here might’ve thought. Upon some additional reflection, my guess is that a 3:00 song probably would not have fit over any closing credits, and placed elsewhere within the movie, even piecemeal, Pitney’s song would’ve given away too much storyline. In retrospect, I see that Ford made a wise choice, and I humbly withdraw the question.
No, BklynJim, but let me ask you : have you posted your comment and question above on the page for this film on the Internet Movie DataBase ?
www.imdb.com
One disappointment regarding a film I saw at the Embassy in 1962, “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence:” The late Gene Pitney had a monster hit with that song, but Ford was adamant and never allowed it to be incorporated into his film. Far be it from the likes of me to tell John what he should or shouldn’t do, film-wise, but IMHO, it probably would have worked very well over the closing credits. I have the song on CD and the movie on DVD. (Life doesn’t get better than this…)
Any thoughts on this out there about this Ford-Pitney decision?
I got the distinct feeling that this is a fairly new structure, Warren, built exactly on the same corner where the Embassy once stood. Of course, there are other native Brooklynites far closer to these demolition/construction activities than I was, living some 3000 miles away at the time…
Have really enjoyed reading your combined memories of Cypress Hills, Brooklyn 11207/11208, ice cream parlors, banks and train shops, Fulton St., Arlington Ave. and other familiar streets, but I especially liked your stories about the Embassy, the second of my childhood “Popcorn Palaces.”
During the summer of ‘58, after moving from downtown Brooklyn to Highland Blvd. in East New York, my dad and I started walking to a movie he wanted to see at the Embassy, Tyrone Power’s “Witness For the Prosecution.” This confused me, because the only Embassy I knew of was in the heart of midtown NYC – and we were gonna walk there? We’re not even headed for the el or the A train subway station at Broadway Junction! “No, ya dope,” he replied. “This is another Embassy, the one I went to as a kid in the '20s & '30s. We’ll be there in 20 minutes.” (I guess a little knowledge can often be dangerous.)
On my own, I got to see a lot of flicks at the Embassy between 1958 and 1963. I was riveted by a jazzy gem of a dizzying thriller in ‘58, “I Bury the Living” with Richard Boone, TV’s Palladin (“Have Gun, Will Travel”). Creepy. There was also “Al Capone” with Rod Steiger in '59, my first encounter with him as an actor (though I later got to see his excellent portrayal as Brando’s brother Charlie in a re-release of “On the Waterfront”).
One newsreel stands out in my mind, and I saw it quite a few times – the late Floyd Patterson becoming the first heavyweight to regain the crown. He cold-cocked the Big Swede, Ingemar Johannson, into oblivion in the 5th round. All that wine, women and song must have gotten to Ingo, and I watched his foot twitch for 8 minutes as he lay on his back in those white trunks in the center of the ring. That was quite an image burned into my young brain.
The interior of the Embassy wasn’t as plush or as regal as the RKO Bushwick, but it was comfortable and a considerable number of steps above the hapless Peerless Theater that I used to frequent on Myrtle Ave. There was a balcony, but I don’t recall any restrictions as I was a teen in those years. Elvis movies. Make-out time. Ay!
As stated previously by others, it is now a light brown-bricked senior citizen center, totally utilitarian and non-descript as architecture goes. I walked by on a rainy Sunday morning just last March. The whole area remains economically hard-pressed, with a bodega or supermercado on virtually every block under the Fulton Street portion of the Jamaica El. Sad.