Brook Theatre

I saw my first movie at the Brook, the 1960 (or 61) re-issue of Pinocchio. I remembered how big the screen was and how fancy the theater was. I was 5 years old.

I also went to St. Thomas Aquinas school, but in the early sixties. I recall the school taking us to the Brook to see Disney’s ‘Fantasia’ and we didn’t like it at all, but we were made to stay in the theatre until the time that school would be out. In 1962 my friend Tommy Foley and I were going to see a kid friendly film at the Marine theatre and walked over to the Brook to see what was playing and saw the posters for ‘Dr. No’, which we saw instead. My mother was stunned to find that her eight year old son had seen the new James Bond movie, which I am sure was not approved by the Legion of Decency in the Catholic ‘Tablet’ newspaper. I lived on Schenectady Avenue and Avenue M, it was wonderful.

I always believed the Brook and Marine would last forever-Saw many a flick at the Brook-The one that sticks in my mind is “Rodan”-One of those crazy imports from Japan-I was there with the very lovely
Carol. (Don’t remember the movie too much)LOL.

The Brook had an unusual feature not shown in most photos of the marquee. The right side attraction board extended down past the front of the building and into the alley.

The buiding which was once the Brook Theatre is now available. Maybe someone once th rent or purchase the whole building & reopen the theatre. Below is a link of a picture of how the building currently looks. This picture was taken on 03/25/2010
http://www.atomictimetronics.com/brooktheatre.html

I was at St. Thomas Aquinas grade school, across the street when it opened. We were given the afternoon off to watch the opening. The star of the opening was a young comic named Zero Mostel who showed up in a tiny, open roofed, sports car. I think he was a clown at the time. When we went into it one of the neat new technologies was the presence of UV Blower hand Dryers in the bathrooms. It was the latest technology at the time and it was reported that this was one of the first installations of its kind.

This site brings back some wonderful memories for myself as well; i grew up in Brooklyn in late 50’s early 60’s….fondest memories was going to the movies on the weekend when you could see a kids feature movie for 35 cents; then it was 50 cents unless it was a Disney which was 60cents! you could spend the whole day at the movie, watching the movie over and over again; in the early evening the feature movie would change – one day, my sister and I went to see a kids feature and stayed so late the feature changed to the Hitchcock movie “Marnie”; we stayed until Tippi Hedren dropped her towel – the camera panned over to her husband, Sean Connery – that was more than enough for two little catholic school girls to handle, and we scrambled out of the movie and ran all the way home… it wasn’t until i was young adult that i saw that movie again, past that infamous scene (great movie by the way). There was a pizza parlor around the corner from the Brook – you could get a slice and a coke for a quarter (yikes, i sound old!) There was a candy store across the street named I think Dave and Lou’s – two guys who wore long white aprons and always had a cigar stogie in his mouth…one of them was missing a finger, maybe the same guy who smoked the stogie….at any rate, another regular was, Joe the cop, he was either directing traffic or keeping an eye on us kids! On Flatbush Ave just north of Flatlands on the corner was a bank, i think it was Chase Manhattan (they had a beautiful wooden gate inside the bank behind which were the desks…i remember all the tellers were men) Next to the bank was a bakery, i think it was called Rutta’s and they had the most delicious Charlotte Russe…further along Flatbush walking towards Kings Highway was a 5 and ten cent store; a Keyfood, a few more stores and a pharmacy on the corner of Flatbush and Kings Highway – which was across the street from the Marine movie theater. The Marine and The Brook were two mainstays growing up in that neighborhood; I walked to the bus stop on Kings Hwy and Flatbush in late 60’s on my way to high school – saw all the great movies of the day, yes, the Spaghetti westerns, disneys – Pollyanna was one of them; as i mentioned before, they often would have a kids feature movie and then a different movie in the eveing…maybe that was just on Saturday, but that is what i remember……I tried to access the photo images but the message said they were no longer there. I see now that that message goes back to
2004 or so. Great site i will be back!

Wow! What memories this site brings back. I was a regular at both the Brook and Marine theaters from 1953 to 1958. I believe admission was a quarter back then. The balcony was a great place to make out with the girls. Many of my friends worked at both theaters. We all hung out at the dinette (don’t remember the name) next to the Marine when I was 15 & 16. They had juke boxes on the tables. I loved the knishes at the Coronet deli. Another favorite hangout was the candy store on the corner of Flatlands and Flatbush Ave. and I dated a girl who lived in the apartment building next door to the Brook. I graduated from St. Thomas Aquinas, (Brother Armel) class of January 1955. Hard to believe theyâ€\ve shut it down. I still have the class graduation photo album and the names of all my classmates. If you would like a copy or any other information e-mail me at

Gustavelifting- Yes. The New China Inn was right next door to McManus Funeral Parlor. My grandafther actually had his wake in that establishment, as well.

Richard;
Was that Chinese Restaurant the one next to the McMahon Funeral Parlor?

Warren-
It was built on a vacant lot. And yes, the location is Flatlands, not Flatbush.

Unlike most of the other Brooklyn theaters, the Brook was built after WW2. It opened, in the Spring of 1951 when I was a senior at Madison HS. The first picture to be shown was a film version of “Macbeth”. I remember that special tickets were sold in English classes at Madison. If you went to see the film, you got extra credit. Of Course I went! (I didn’t like the film)
Karl

I was the asst manager of the Brook Theater in the late 50s. Busines for a small theater in the Century chain was always at the top of sales. The work crew at this theater was second to none. If problems arose at the Marine my crew would go and get it solved. In all the years I have been gone from the theater, my memories are still fond of the Brook and its wonderful staff from 1957 to 1960.. I became a Doctor and spent 31 years in the military and working in West Africa and Eastern Europe but my fondest memories have been and always will be the little Brook Theater…