Kent Theatre

The Kent Theatre is located at 1170 Coney Island Ave..

The "New Kent Triplex" is independently owned... and is NOT new! In ANY way.

It is a little disgusting theatre with sound you can not hear.

I do not know how this place survives in today's world.

Mike

it still has that older day charm to it..........

The Kent Theatre opened in 1938-9. It only had 596 seats, so each of the screens now seat less than 170 allowing for the loss of seats during the "tri-plexing". From the outside, only the box-office and very small lobby are the only unmaintained remnants of this always independently run house. It only hangs on by being the remaining screens for the nearby Midwood section. This theatre was not used in "Purple Rose Of Cairo" for the interior or the exterior shots.
That film's "JEWEL" Theatre was inspired by the actual Jewel Theatre on Kings Highway where Woody Allen went to the movies in his Brooklyn days. The Jewel became the Cinema Kings Highway in 1965.

The Ciema Kings Highway.... Is that the one that was off Ocean Prkway and was an adult movie house (as long as I could remember)?

Mike

I could have sworn Woody Allen used The Kent, I remember the owner telling me that was how they afforded the original twinning after the closing for the movie shoot. It was stupid to not remodel the Kingsway it's such a densely populated area for a triplex thats only open nights.

The Kent has recently put in new seats and carpeting, although not the most comfortable, it's an improvement over what was there before.

yes, the kent was used in purpple rose...I remember my uncle telling me about it at the time...

Seats and carpeting?

How about that funnell sound system.

You can not even hear the diologue~!

The Kent had Charles Sandblom as architect. It was one of the last commissions of his long and prolific career.

How long will this place stay open?

It is independently owned. It is rarely full, even when taking in blockbusters. It's pricing is cheap considering $7.50 vs $8.75. It appeared to have a slight spike when the Kingsway closed. The screens are garbage, the sound is garbage, but they get many first run, and the parking isn't that bad. Now with the Fortway closing, that is less competition. However, I think less people are just going to the movies alltogether, and that is the real killer.

How many people remember the "Stop Pay TV" promotions at the theaters back in the 1960's! I guess they were right, cable killed the theaters. But so did VCR & DVD which weren't even inveted back then!

Today's Daily News reports Russian films are being shown. The idea of Gregory Davidzon, producer of local Russian radio programs. Initially, two to five films will be shown daily.
If successful, Davidzon will take a long term lease.

I saw the Russian film article too. That was a smart move, because that's the only way to keep Kent up and running. However, have to wonder why the Oceana (Brighton Beach theater) or cinema kings highway were not converted for such use. Both areas have higher percentages of Russians than Coney Island Avenue.

The time clock in the Daily News has two mainstream movies listed for the Kent, so I suspect that Russian films are being shown on only one screen of this triplex. The News article made a serious error in claiming that this is "the first Russian movie theater in New York" and that "there is no precedent for it." From the 1920s into the 1950s or even early 60s, there were showcases for Russian films in Manhattan and Brooklyn. In more recent times, Russian films were shown regularly at the ex-Oceana Theatre in Brighton Beach.

I just saw Transporter 2 this weekend at the Kent. If you check through moviephone and other venues, only two films are listed (Transporter 2 and 4 Brothers). I saw on all the windos the info for the Russian film, including a 1 page description/review of the film (in Russian) (I can't read Russian). Since I went to the first showing, I paid 4.50 for the Transporter 2 film. Normally the films will be $7.00 (less the Wednesday and first showing specials). The Russina film was $10.00.

This is not the first attempt by Kent to do films like this. A couple of years back they were doing Hindu/Indian films.

Listed by the city as a three screen theater. Seating is as follows: Theater #1-232 seats Theater#2-120 seats Theater #3-141 seats for a total of 493 seats.

What's the layout of the three screens at the Kent?

First take the theater and split it in half right down the middle.
Then, take the right side and divide it in half - 120 seats in back and 141 seats in front. In-between the back half (which is really theater 3) and the left half (theather 1) is a narrow hallway that lets people get from the lobby to the front half.

You know that scene in Gilmore Girls where that guy has a movie theater in his living room? That's the size of the Kent.

I remember when Caligula took over this theatre and showed for what seemed liked the longest time. At that point, I wasn't old enough to get into it, but I also remember looking into the theatre and watching the ticket taker watching the screen, a girl who did not look old enough to be seeing it either.

Some renovations. Last week the marquis was ripped apart only showing just the bare metal structure. They are going to rebuild and modernize the marquis.

A bit has happened in the two months. A new marquis was built, and doe not look too ugly. It just says Kent. Under the marquis and above the entrance doors is a sign that shows the movies playing. At one time they were putting up the movie times, but it looks like they stopped that.

In December I went on a Wednesday to see King Kong, and they shut down the theater for the rest of the night. Some lady (about 50 years old) was fond dead and in a box or barrel outside in the back of the theater. (in the alleyway)

Its amazing how a very small theater like the KENT can survive in this day and age. Quess it will be around for a while. I noticed a new marquee was installed recently. This neighborhood {wich is predominately Pakistani and Bangladeshi}probably has a core group that supports the theater to keep it in business. If that is the case, the Kent is a true survivor!

The theater becomes stronger and stronger as others die out. In the past 2-3 years we have lost the kenmore, fortway, kingsway, marlboro, all near and close to the kent. Meanwhile, the kent is still weak as many of the shows are poorly attended. Typically 10-20 people may be in a show, and I have been to shows with 2-3 people (including myself). But sometimes a big show (popular) comes in, and the reduced rate Wednesdays also bring in some money. During the summer the theater also rents out to peoples day camp and that brings in money too.

Here are some photos of the Kent Theater.

Here are some photographs I took of the Kent Theatre:
July 2003 showing old marquee:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199182076/
A couple of photographs from June 2006 showing the new marquee and restored facade:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199184542/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kencta/199184801/

Here is another recent photo of the Kent theater.

A recent view of the ticket booth can be seen here.

a buddy who resides in Brooklyn recently went here and said its an OK theatre. He also states he recalls it once being a porno theatre , can anyone confirm this?

i used to go here in highschool on weds when the tix were very cheap ( i think still the case). the theatre is small and actually had freinds smoke pot there on several occasion. im a born a bred brooklynite that grew up in about a mile away, near mcdonald ave.... this place is still open... i might go check it out for old times sake.. i dont ever remember it being a adult spot... but im only 25 and it could have been before my time...
i popped into cinema kingshighway to check out this old theatre and it is certainly a pornopalace... be wary of the old men crusing for somethin( unless thats your style)... i checked out a bad japanese film upstairs (they play regualr film becasue of the 60/40 law) and left after 25 minutes.
curiousity cost me $12

the area isnt the worst but it certainly can get somewhat desolate at night and kinda sketchy....
i wish cinema on kingshighway woud start playing foriegn film like i heard they did in the past.

I finally went back here Saturday after 20 years. Not bad ! 3 theaters, 2 of them are piggy-back. Nice little front & back lobbies. Screen & sound OK, seats so-so, price cheap, big concession counter. There were 5 of us there to see "10,000 B.C.", and a few people waiting for the early evening show; probably "Horton." I would go again. Lots of stores forced to close on Avenue J, including a bookstore open since 1947, "Harnick's Happy House." If anybody lives not too far away, please get here before we got another Ridgewood tragedy on our hands.

When The Kent became one of the first $1 movie theaters in the 1970's, I frequently went there, even though I had to travel all the way from Greenpoint. When my friends told me that I was crazy to waste all that time only to see a movie, I politely replied that I spent the travel time well reading by book or doing the crossword puzzle and that the cheap movie price was just an added plus.

Perhaps my most memorable moment at the Kent was viewing one of the early Woody Allen films - I forget which, though it could have been "Play It Again Sam". In one one scene, the Woody character talked about some embarrassing situation that had been inflicted upon himself when he was a student at Midwood HS. The reaction of the attendees at this Midwood theater was, as the credit commercial says, "priceless".

Long live the Kent!

My most memorable moment here was seeing "The Chosen". It was probably still a single then. What a beautiful movie !

The date given for this ad is September 1950.

Love the pix of the kent. There use to be a bar next to it and we'd go see a movie at the Kent then go have a drink. You couldnt beat it 25 years ago. Closeby and you only had to park say 2-3 blocks away-good for brooklyn. I mean for a last minute nite out that was fine. forgot the name of the bar night something i think. sometimes you just od on hbo you need to go see a movie. but with todays prices forget it. pay per view here i come.

i may go to the kent soon
i went to the pavillion to see the new woody allen movie the other night. Vicky, christina, barcelona
it was actually quite good
i enjoyed it

Don't wait too long ! I don't know how the Kent survives. You may be pleasantly surprised like I was. But hurry up & get there before it goes the way of the Midwood.

1968 Photo

1973 Photo

Warren provides this link to the Forgotten NY website page featuring a photo of the Kent near the bottom right hand column:

http://www.forgotten-ny.com/SLICES/south.prospect/southprospect.html

LM, thanks as always for your vintage views of this theater. It might have been during the 1973 run of "Play It Again Sam" that I viewed this film that I noted in my May 3, 2008 comment. Thanks for the not so lost memories!

I cannot believe how long it's been since anyone has commented on this theater. Is it that bad?

Okay, it hasn't been that long.

Tsk:
http://tinyurl.com/ya6gzmy