Commodore Cinemas
329 Broadway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11211
329 Broadway,
Brooklyn,
NY
11211
22 people
favorited this theater
Showing 151 - 175 of 304 comments
I can understand not going to that area because it is only now begining to gentrify. The problem is, do people try to save the rainbow which the pastor supposedly wants $15 million, but supposedly has been restored to its full potential. I could not go in the church today because I went there as they were locking up, but I have to say even the big lobby, not the theater lobby, but the lobby you walk from the street door to the inside of the theater and it still had everything there. Even the frames for the movie posters were still there.
However at the price, most people would say it would be cheaper to take a warehouse and build a new theater.
I keep hearing that an Angelica or IFC theater is going to open on Metropolitan Ave, but I have heard nothing of the opening. I even contacted the community board, and they said there is one planned and approved. But where is it going to be?
Yes Ligg, the poor Comodore is finished. I only wish they would re-build it into a Moviehouse or Playhouse. There should have been a group of professional’s in the Arts that could have saved the structure and converted into a Fine Arts or a Williamsburg Museum. And we could have contributed some sort of memoribilia of past history of the commodore. I went on the site of the Rainbow and now I recall where it was but I did not frequent that part of the neighborhood when I was growing up in the 1950’s, only Grand Street area to shop at Charles Stores and others on Grand Street. Anniegirl
Meserole and Graham. I was in the church lobby today. It is all the same. The usher who had already locked up said the theater has stayed mostly the same as when it was an art deco movie house.
However the price tag is high, or at least the usher said was the price was $15 million. A hell of a lot more than the Commodore.
Dear Ligg, Where wxactly was the Rainbow on Graham Avenue and what cross street. I vaguely remember that theater. Anniegirl
Is there is a For Sale sign on the Rainbow theater, has anyone investigated how much it costs. From the building records it is own by the church that is no longer there.
If you read about the Rainbow, in its Hey day, it was a beautiful Art Deco interior inside. I wonder if it is still there? If it is it could prove easier to make a historic landmark. It could be as beautiful as the lobby of the Chrysler and Empire state building and other buildings of the time.
Anyone familiar with it?
Dear Cypress, I knew the Commodore Theater well. I grew up in Williamsburgh in the 1950’s. My e-mail address is if you want to talk about the past movie theaters in the old neighborhood. I already have spoken to Robert 4470 and others about how the movies of old are disappearing one by one. How sad it is to say the least. Talking about apartments, how about the old Schaefer Brewery. Now it is called “Schaefer Landing” and apt’s are going for the low $600 s. Can you imagine that…. My uncle was one of the brewmasters there and my other uncle worked at the Brooklyn Navy Yard……. Which is now in ruins on Flushing Avenue and the main building is now a film studio.Anniegirl
I passed yesterday and it was sad. They have already demolished part of one wall and I saw the men working on tearing down dear old Commodore Theater. I want to take some pics next week.
I have a page on www.myspace.com and will post them there.
It was at that theater that I saw The Exorcist, Saturday Night Fever.
The next theater that will be demolished will be The Rainbow on Graham Avenue. There is already a for sale sign. All over the neighborhood there are condos going up. No doubt the land on which the Rainbow sits on is very valuable.
The new construction is ugly. Imagine what they are going to charge people to live in those tiny apartments.
I passed there yesterday. The exterior hasn’t really been touched much, other than the scaffolding around the ground level, but there was a side door (like an emergency exit) that was open, and the inside seemed to be totally gutted. I noticed scaffolding on the inside and I also noticed that I could see daylight when I looked through the building, so brenograph’s comment about the “roof had fallen in” may at least be partially correct. There really seems to be nothing left, except the sad looking empty marquee.
I did love those double features. This is a heartbreaking shame.
If I feel ambitious, I will take the J train to New York from the Marcy Avenue station. It’s right in front of the theater.
When I passed by the other day, it looked like the whole roof had fallen in, but with all the scafolding about the building, one could only get a fleeting look from the car.
How much of the Commodore was demolished when you passed by, brenograph?
I would love to see a photo of the Commodore in its heyday.
Passed by it yesterday. It’s gone atmospheric. But the clouds and starts are real. An ignominious end. Alas.
When I pass by, there is such a moldy smell. It almost smells like a building that had a fire, but I know of no fire damage. There are no signs of exterior demolition, but I’m sure there is nothing left of the inside.
Regarding the article on the NY Times, I do remember an article either in the “Greenline” or the other local paper of Williamburg and Greenpoint. It was not one of the new hip papers like the “L” just the usual paper you pay a quarter for that has been around for many years before Williamsburg became hip.
I do not remember when it was or how much time it around before or after the theater closed, but what kept the place open was many of the employees had shares of ownership in the theater, and there was an old man who worked there for like 30 years as a projectionist or a ticket taker who would not sell out and tried to save the theater but no investors were interested.
Finally, as the last hold out, he sold his shares and the Commodore was closed.
I wish I could find that article, but these local papers do not keep track of their stories like the NY times database.
I agree with mp775 about thats all it takes is one leak, one burst pipe,or a couple of squatters or vandals and an owner that wants to sell the property for other uses. Let the above factors work their dirty deeds as the theatre just sits empty and then you come back with what the Commodore looks like today. You sell the old seats for scrap and gut all the equipment out of it. And before you think about it the theatre is trashed.
Four years is a long, long time for a building to be sitting idle. The Marboro in Bensonhurst had deteriorated significantly in just one year. The Midway in Rockford, IL was in use in 2005; if you stand on the sidewalk in front of it today, the smell of mold is overpowering. All it takes is one leak, one burst pipe, or a couple of squatters or vandals.
Yes, I agree, the theater was obviously deliberately destroyed inside by the current owners, as there’s no way that theater could have gotten THAT bad in the 4 years since it closed to showing movies in 2002. It was an operating, working theater just 4 years ago!! In fact, the openning first two paragraphs above of the initial description of the Commodore was written around 2001, just before the theater closed, and it is even mentioned that it is “in good shape” (the 2002 parragraph was an addition, added later),
Dear JKane. I was a kid growing up in the 50’s in Williamsburg Brooklyn when this Theater was in full swing along with the Williamsburgh Theater and the Republic and the Marcy. To view Custer photo’s of the interior of that old showplace was horrible to say the least. I do not know how the owners could let that building get in such disarray. But the other moviehouses in the neighborhood are gone now so what is an old brooklynite like me to think anything in the neighborhood could be spared. Just my opinion. What do you think?anniegirl.
I met Angelo only once when I was covering the B-movie and bijou beat for the Daily News and Fox TV did a segment on me on my rounds. Part of it was taped at the Commodore, where Angelo was interviewed as well; I remember he said he was an Audie Murphy western fan. Another theater I covered, that I can’t find on CT, was the Hoboken Cinema, a twin at 5 Marine Plaza that probably began as a single screen.
I knew Angelo very well he was a great guy.
Found an article I did for the New York Daily News in 1986 that included an item on The Commodore and how it was being reinvigorated by general manager Angelo Delgado, as a twin with a double-feature policy. Anyone recall how long that lasted? I remember that incredible ceiling the theater had.
Dear Broadway go to Custer’s photo’s from 10-05-06,. They show the interior of the Commodore. I do not think the pic’s of that Video is in the interior of the Commodore Theater. It’s a mess in there. Not ever like it was back in the day when I went to the movies. It’s all in the past now. Anniegirl
I know the exterior shots of this video are in front of the COmmodore, and further along Broadway, but is the interior footage also from the Commodore? This is Avril Lavigne’s video “My Happy Ending”, which was filmed very shortly after the Commodore closed. The exterior is obviously the COmmodore, but what about the interior? The interior theater footage is of an old and what seems to be abandoned theater, but I am not sure if it’s the Commodore. If it’s not, anyone have any idea what theater the interior theater footage is from?
http://www.youtube.com/v/dH0mb-P3h38
Dear custer, Thanks for the pictures of a grand old place where I spent most of my Saturday’s with my friends at the moviehouse. For 50 cents we seen first rate movies there. Like Casino Royale with David Niven, Sci-Fi movies and Westerns and Musicals, with Doris Day and many more. In the 50’s we even had Costume Shows on Stage and got prizes for the best costume. The matrons with their flaslights used to hush us up if we were making too much noise. We were never allowed to sit in the lodge section. They were reserved for the late afternoon and evening patrons. The ladies room was painted green and had only 3 stalls. but had a lounge with fake leather seats, some had holes in them from smokers in the bathroom. Again thanks for the pictures. Anniegirl