Chopin Theatre

910 Manhattan Avenue,
Brooklyn, NY 11222

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Showing 76 - 100 of 108 comments

Bway
Bway on May 13, 2006 at 9:02 pm

Bob, the Chopin still stands. It’s a Burger King in the lobby area, but the building is still there:

Click here for current photo I took about 2 years ago

rdittus
rdittus on May 13, 2006 at 7:47 pm

There is a photo of Manhattan Ave near Greenpoint Ave from 1928 at this link:
View link

If you look carefully at the right side of the photo is a movie marquee with the words “Not For Publication”. This is where The Chopin stood. IMDB does show that there was in fact a 1927 movie by that title.

PKoch
PKoch on May 11, 2006 at 12:43 pm

You’re welcome, AnthonyS1957.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 11, 2006 at 12:33 pm

Hi PKoch. Yes, I have tryed imdb.com on many occasions, but with no luck. Thanks anyway.

PKoch
PKoch on May 11, 2006 at 12:21 pm

AnthonyS1957, have you tried browsing the Internet Movie Database to jog and refresh your memory ?

www.imdb.com

PKoch
PKoch on May 10, 2006 at 1:07 pm

AnthonyS1957, I was going to suggest “The Exorcist”, as that was playing at the Chopin in early 1974 (my Greenpoint high school friend Bob Dunas saw it there, then) but it doesn’t fit your description of your memories.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 10, 2006 at 10:35 am

At one time I was going to the library and looking up old newpaper movie ads on microfilm to see what movies played at the Chopin theater in hopes it would jog my memory.. Althought this proved very interesting and I found some interesting ads, after about almost a year of doing this everyday, it proved much to much work for a three or four year span of researching.

Now that I have moved from New York to Floirda, I am thinking that this might be the only way to figure this Movie out.

Does anyone know if there is a way of looking up on the Internet old newspaper Movie Ads?

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 10, 2006 at 8:32 am

Warren, thanks for the info. I will look it that.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 10, 2006 at 8:28 am

Hi Lost Memeory, thanks for the suggestion. I should have mentioned that I know it’s not “The Ghoul”. I have that on VHS. That’s for the try though.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 10, 2006 at 6:19 am

I also found a couple of old Newspaper Movie Ads that also had the Chopin Theater listed as the “Creative’s Chopin” theater.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 8, 2006 at 7:01 pm

I am looking for a Title of a Horror movie I saw at the Chopin Theater around the year span of 1973 through 1975. I only remember the ending, but I do not remember any of the actors. It is American or probably British.

This is all I remember of it: “A MAN IS INTO WITCHCRAFT OR SATANISM, HE HAS A SON WHO HE HAS LOCKED UP IN THE BASEMENT. YOU DO NOT SEE THE SON, ONLY HIS EYE THROUGH A SLIT IN THE DOOR. THE FATHER FEEDS HIM BY SLIDING FOOD UNDER THE DOOR. THE SON KEEPS BEING THE FATHER TO LET HIM OUT. TOWARDS THE END OF THE FILM, THE FATHER IS DYING (EITHER STABBED OR SHOT IN THE STOMACH). HE STUMBLES DOWN THE BASEMENT STEPS AND UNLOCKS THE DOOR TO THE ROOM WHERE THE SON WAS LOCKED UP AND WE FINAL SEE THE SON WHO HAS THE BODY OF A HUMAN AND THE HEAD OF A GOAT LIKE IN DEVIL WORSHIP”.

It’s not “The Dunwich Horror” as many people guessed, becuase I have this on DVD already.

Any information about this movie is greatly appreciated !!!

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 8, 2006 at 11:57 am

Looking for any Newspaper Articles, Movie Newspaper Ads, Photos of the Chopin Theater.

AnthonyS1957
AnthonyS1957 on May 8, 2006 at 11:21 am

I am trying to find out the names of some the Horror Movies that played at this theater between 1972 through 1975. I saw a Horror Movie there and only rememember the ending and am trying to locate this movie on DVD. Any information is greatly appreciated.

Greenpoint
Greenpoint on January 1, 2006 at 1:14 am

Hello,
Happy New Year to all my co-contributors on CinemaTreasures. org,
The Chopin had a bingo hall above it.
You used to have to go up a long flight of stairs…and when you got up there there were shopping carts for whatever strange reason…

me and my friends used to play a game …“outrun the shopping cart
rolling down the stairs”…once you cleared the forst landing you were home free, but if your cart tipped over onto its side, it would cease to roll…basic Greenpoint Physics 101.

I am in the process of drawing a map of the theatres layout, i remember it as if it were yesterday as opposed to some 20 years ago since it closed.

Sincerely,
Greenpoint

Bway
Bway on August 4, 2004 at 5:15 pm

Here’s a current photo taken today of the Chopin Theater.
I went into the Burger King, and it’s very obvious that it was a theater, although none of the ornamentation survives in view. The eagle still exists at the roof. There looks like there were two entrances to the building, one from Manhattan Ave, and one from the sidestreet. The chairs and tables for Burger King are located in the lobby areas, and they decorated the interior in sort of an “old theater look”, but it’s all new materials.
The Burger King only seems to occupy the lobby areas, and possibly the area under the balcony (if it had one). The main auditorium part of the building appears to be a large vacant store on the sidestreet.

Click here for current photo of the building.

PeterKoch
PeterKoch on August 3, 2004 at 4:59 pm

Thank you, cjdv. That’s about when my dad remembers the airdome being in place next to the Colonial Theater.

cjdv
cjdv on August 3, 2004 at 4:56 pm

Peter K.
The original Colonial Theatre opened in April 1912 and closed March 1st, 1920.The building was demolished for the (New) Colonial Theatre opening in 1921 with a capacity of 2,224.
An airdome, with seating for 2000, is listed from 1915-1925. Not sure of its exact location in relation to the indoor space (next door?, in back?)
The original owners (1911-1912)of the Colonial were Allen & Wood with a Herman Mayer listed in 1913.

PeterKoch
PeterKoch on August 3, 2004 at 3:11 pm

Thank you, cjdv ! Do you know of an open air theater that was once at Myrtle and Seneca Avenues in Ridgewood, or adjacent to the Colonial Theater, 1746 Broadway, at Rockaway Avenue, in Bushwick, Brooklyn ?

cjdv
cjdv on August 3, 2004 at 3:07 pm

The Irving Theatre opened on April 11th, 1914 with the Irving Airdome next door. The outdoor theatre was listed as being larger with a seating capacity of 1,600 compared to the 595 for the indoor space. It was listed as the Mozart when it closed in 1942.
As concerns the Chopin, it opened as the American in 1914 with a bald eagle perched on top. The last time I was on Manhattan Avenue, the bird was still there.
One final note, there were several outdoor theatres along Myrtle.

PeterKoch
PeterKoch on August 3, 2004 at 2:24 pm

That’s the one mentioned in the fairly recent “Our Neighborhood” column article in the Times Newsweekly.

Bway
Bway on August 3, 2004 at 2:22 pm

There is a theater listed at 424 Seneca Ave on the Cinematour site. It was known as the “Majestic Theater”. I don’t know any other information about that one. It was at the intersection of Seneca Ave and Greene Ave. It’s not listed on this site yet. Anyone know any information on that one too? Maybe it had a different name too.

PeterKoch
PeterKoch on August 3, 2004 at 2:18 pm

You’re welcome, Bway. I will ask my dad about the open air movie at Myrtle and Seneca. I know he remembers an open air theater near the Colonial at Broadway and Rockaway Avenue, because he mentions it to me almost every week.

Bway
Bway on August 3, 2004 at 2:15 pm

Thanks Peter. Unfortunatley, they only list the Mozart as “Myrtle Ave” with no number.
I am now wondering if it is the Irving Theater with a different name.
/theaters/7528/
But then again, maybe it was a seperate theater.

I will also look into that “open air” movie thater that I think was at that corner of Myrtle and Seneca. I think it actually was in the Times Newsweekly that I read about it in, but not 100% sure it was at that location.

PeterKoch
PeterKoch on August 3, 2004 at 2:02 pm

Bway, check the Cinema Tour alphabetical list of theaters you sent me the link to on April 22, 2004 for Brooklyn and Queens. It lists a “Mozart Theater” on Myrtle Avenue, in Brooklyn, # 24130, as closed. It also listed at least one theater on Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood, possibly two. One was mentioned in a fairly recent “Our Neighborhood” Times Newsweekly, I think, at Seneca and Greene Avenues.

Warren, the only anti-German name change I am aware of in the Bushwick-Ridgewood area is the change of Hamburg Avenue to Wilson Avenue during World War I. Hamburg Savings Bank, however, was very proud of its name, and kept it.

Bway
Bway on August 3, 2004 at 2:01 pm

I did a little bit of reasearch for the Mozart theater. I was not able to find too much information. cinematour.com just lists it as “Myrtle Ave” in Brooklyn.
The only other information I found out about it is from some strange website that stated that it was “Southwest of the Schwaben Hall” that used to be at the corner of Myrtle and Wyckoff Aves, and it used to show Nazi movies in the years leading up to WWII. If it’s south west of the intersection of Myrtle and Wyckoff, it could also be the “Irving Theater” which was at 1525 Myrtle Ave where the gas station and quickmart are now near the Knickerbocker Ave station.