Kings Theatre

The Loew’s Kings was joint 2nd/3rd to open of the five ‘Wonder Theaters’. It opened on the same day (7th September 1929) as the Loew’s Paradise, Bronx, New York.

The opening programme at the Loew’s Kings was the ‘part talkie’ movie “Evangeline” starring Dolores Del Rio and Robert Drew. On stage was a revue “Frills and Fancies”, Wesley Eddy and his Kings of Syncopation and the Chester Hale Girls.

It is the 25th largest movie theater built in the USA.

Well;
I was figuring that maybe we should contact people that are involved in the entertainment field. Like Dodger Theatricals, they are former Ebbet’s Field Fans that produced such hits as Broadway’s “Titannic the Musical” and others.

Bruce Ratner may be a good idea if he leases the parking lot. However, he may try to change it into a multiplex again. That would be bad if you ask me.

No one could put a theater on rollers, except maybe Bruce Ratner who did just that with the El Tinge (aka EMPIRE) for AMC Theatres on Times Square.

Well, someone once said to me, ‘If the Loew’s Kings was only in a better neighborhood?’ and I suggested, ‘That’s a great idea, I can put it on my back and move it.’ Realistically, Flatbush is ready for it’s close up and let’s take advantage of all the things we’ve got. (Sounds like a song)

Besides, like I’ve said: Bruce Ratner already holds the lease on the 750 car parking lot adjacent to the Loew’s Kings.

Leave no stone unturned :)

Let’s throw a World’s Fair at the Loew’s Kings!!! After all, living in Brooklyn is like living in the Little United Nations. Only in Brooklyn, it works!

Brooklyn is an amusement park, so let’s go along for the ride. The Loew’s Kings is a cathedral of the ornate, it’s an indoor theme park! The architecture borrows from two main design elements: The Palace of Versaille and the Paris Opera House.

Are you listening Walt Disney???

Regards,
Bruce.

I am involved with Flushing Meadows also, small world.

I know we are not saving the world here. I was ready to bring the World’s Fair back to Flushing Meadow. I haven’t heard from that committee in over a year. It’s just the idea of being part of a restoration. That I will put myself behind.

Robert R;
I think Bruce1 maybe talking about students from SUNY Stony Brook. I go there and I’m trying to get them interested.

Alan, it’s too bad, but I haven’t gotten anybody’s e-mail with their name and phone number and therefore, nobody’s really ready to Save The Kings.

Alan, you’re doing a hell of a job. Just remember you’re not trying to Save The World, You’re Just Trying to Save The Kings! Not the King of Kings, but the Loew’s Kings.

Everyone,
“Memoirs of a Movie Palace” is available for loan from the New York Public Library, here is the info:

Memoirs of a Movie Palace
Christian Blackwood Productions, 1979
Call #: VTH 2832 M
1 videocassette (45 min.)
Summary: Before the proliferation of homogenized multiplex theaters, there existed the sumptuous and ornately otherworldly movie palaces. In Blackwoods’s nostalgic documentary, cameras record the worn and melancholic splendor of the Loew’s Kings Theater on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. Built just prior to the fateful 1929 Stock Market Crash, the theater conferred temporary royalty on its patrons during hard times and entertained with a bounteous moving picture feat of double features, cartoons, travelogues and serials. The affectionate (and sometimes tearful) reminiscences of loyal patrons are joined by those of the theater’s architect, its one-time manager and other former staff members including a projectionist, organist, candy seller, usher and children’s section matron. Archival footage, stills and clips from the movies shown at the Loew’s Kings offer a glimpse of the theater in its heyday. Today, the once beloved motion picture palace stands locked, abandoned and exhibiting severe deterioration.
Performers: Eli Wallach.
Credits: Producer, director, Christian Blackwood; writer, Elliott Stein.

Anyone with a New York Public Library Card would be able to check this program out, The branch that has it is the Donnell Library Center, located at: 20 West 53rd Street, off of Fifth Avenue, the phone # is 212-621-0618. They are showing it as currently checked in.

I was able to borrow it from them It’s an amazing program, well worth the trip to the library.

Dear Bruce 1,

thank you for responding. I did find it for sale on eBay but it is the actual film, like on a reel. I did see it once and I vividly remember the interviews with Dorothy Solomon. Her love for the building was palpable. If I am remembering it correctly, there was also interviews with a longtime projectionist and an organist. Again if I am remembering it correctly the organist came up with the console on its lift just to the side of the orchestra pit.
The last manager of Loew’s 83rd was one of those people that had a real love for these buildings. I do not remember his name but he had worked at Shea’s in Buffalo. He gave me a tour of what was left and what had been unseen for years, a tour that reminded of ziggy’s tour of The Kings. I wish I hhad a camera. Incredibly, the stage was intact. There have been so many missed opportunities over the years to document these places in their various states of restoration or decay. I am glad that you have footage of the RKO Bushwick. I have been trying to find a copy of the Don Johnson movie that was shot in the Japanese Gardens (above the Riviera ) in Manhattan. I am very partial to Thomas Lamb and I have been kicking myself for 25 years that I had not explored the Riverside and Riviera Theatres before they were torn down. I wish that I had the foresight to have photographed these places but alas, I was too young. I am so glad I found this site. I cannot tell you, all of you how much this site means to me. I thought I was alone in my love for these buildings. Sorry, if I am rambling but I have been here at work for just under 14 hours. I will try to watch your show. I believe I get RCN Manhattan channel 108.
Thank you again and if you ever lecture any where please e-mail me.

Thank you again,

Movie Place

Vincent: This is not the place for an autobiography, but suffice it to say that I have been studying theatre architecture and related topics since the 1960s, so do have a few years under my belt. If I come across as experienced, that can only be attributed to the year I spent as the Archivist/Historian to the 1895 National Historic Landmark PABST theatre here in Milwaukee. I am a published researcher and writer, but neuropathy is now robbing me of my ability to do much more, so at least appreciative people like you make CT a wonderful forum for our shared interest, as I have told the owners of this site, Ross and Patrick, several times.

It might actually be a good time to contact Sears' chief operating officer, or better yet, the billionaire who just bought them and Kmart a year ago. Many companies are looking for ‘image’ properties and the publicity that public good will would bring to them. Any approach to them should be very professional in tone and delivery, with possibly a full corporate presentation scheduled before the chairman and the board of directors of the new holding company. They are the ones that now control the purse strings and may be impressed enough to impose their wish for this even if the Sears executives are not enthusiastic. Since Sears now is also the sponsor of the TV show EXTREME MAKEOVER—HOME EDITION, they might be in the mood to top their work there with something like this “Sears Performing Arts Center” but then again, maybe it should be presented as being in the name of that billionaire who runs it all. I can’t recall his name, but it will be in the current news media on-line though any business magazine.
One would have to write their HQ to get an appointment to approach the Board of Directors and the Big Man, but would probably have to convince someone of lower rank first as to the idea’s merit, seriousness of purpose, and feasibility. This means at least something like a PowerPoint presentation, with photo blowups of the site, past and present, as well as the Sears store behind it. Remember that they do not go to all their stores, so may have no clear idea of the physical situation there; an aerial shot to show proximity may help. If you can get the Brooklyn borough chief to go with such as BruceC and perhaps an architect who has drawn up sketches on spec, then you will have a convincing team that can emphasize that Sears tools and materials will be prominent in the rebuild, and that cameras will follow the whole project. Since ABC television now runs the show on-air, it might be best to first contact them to see if they will film and air a show about such a project, and a letter from them to the Big Man may grease your way into their board room. And if you can line up a celebrity to offer to open the place in front of ABC’s cameras for a special, then you may have a working formula, provided that you have also written out a workable business plan for the place. One experienced theatre rehabilitator is Paul Warshauer of Grande Venues Co. ( http://www.grandevenues.com/ ) outside of Chicago. He might be willing to undertake the entire project supervision for a fee. Asking NYC’s Evergreen Studios (locate them through the League of Historic American Theatres: www.LHAT.org ) or the famous Conrad Schmitt Studios ( www.conradschmitt.com ) to do a “sample” in the building will help greatly in getting people to see what can be achieved, and photos of this should be brought to the presentation. Best Wishes New Yorkers; you are in a position to help save a theatrical jewel for the entire nation.