Savoy Theatre

During the 40's the seating capacity was lisited at 2468 people.

For a large theatre this had a very small foyer and virtually 8 feet of lobby space before the start of the last row of the orchestra. The 8 feet however rise the rake of the top of the balcony last rows. The rake is so steep that lounge area on the second level overlooks the 8 foot lobby. When you walk through the foyer, you have to look straight up or else your right in the auditorium. The upstairs space afforded the restrooms. On the Sunday I was there the congregation was having a breakfast or lunch in the large promenade under th lower balcony. The last movie that played here was in early 1969 and then was closed. The marquee and vertical survived on the building another ten years. The building is huge when viewed from Eastern Parkway and Bedford Avenue. The Lincoln was located accross the street.

A recent view of the Savoy's exterior can be seen here:
http://www.disassociate.com/movie_theatre.jpg

I often visited the Savoy. They had a large Cinemascope screen. I saw "The Robe", "The Egyptian", "Desiree", "There's No Business Like Show Business", "Bus Stop " and most other 20th Century-Fox films there. They also showed "Godzilla" with Raymond Burr and "House On Haunted Hill" with Vincent Price. I'm glad the building was not demolished as I had great times there.

I am so happy to at last learn about the theatre of my childhood. I was six years old in 1962 when we moved to nearby Franklin ave in Bklyn. The Savoy theatre on Bedford ave was only a couple of blocks away. I'm sure I caught "Jason & the Argonauts" there as well as possibly a Cartoon? There were double features there but indeed the neiborhood had slowly began to change and the Apt. buildings nearby hit rock bottom so quickly -and we're talking "1963"! As the Savoy mysteriously closed my brother & I had to venture down Eastern Parkway to that other theatre on "Nostrand ave" which picked up the lost revenue of the late great "Savoy" theatre. R. Clinton

The Savoy is my favorite among the Fox "nabes," so I decided to post this item here, although it also applies to the Japanese Gardens, Audubon, Ridgewood, Folly, Star, and Crotona. In June, 1927, according to a report in Billboard of that time, these seven threatres were the first Fox houses in Greater New York to install Vitaphone sound equipment. The opening feature was "The Better 'Ole," a comedy with Syd Chaplin (Charlie's elder brother), which had synchroized music and sound effects but no spoken dialogue. With the exception of Japanese Gardens, which was strictly a movie house, the six other Fox theatres would continue to present vaudeville as part of their programs. But Billboard predicted that vaudeville would eventually be dropped from those theatres if Vitaphone proved successful and a steady supply of sound movies became available.

Here's a 1999 view of the auditorium as church, with a baptismal pool in the stage floor. Much of the original decor is intact, but whitewashed over. Please note the wall tapestry in the right hand boxes. A much larger one covers half a wall in the vestibule. These were probably purchased in Europe by Mrs. William Fox, who did the interior decorating for many of her husband's theatres:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/128-2862_IMG.jpg

Here's a 1944 image of the Savoy's second and probably final marquee.
By that time, the Savoy was run by the Randforce Circuit, which also had its executive offices in the building. The Randforce Savoy played the same programs as the RKO neighborhood circuit, and simultaneously with RKO's Brooklyn "break":
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/138-3820_IMG.jpg

Can anyone help me to settle an argument about the Savoy's location? What section of Brooklyn is it? Some say Crown Heights, others Bedford-Stuyvesant. Perhaps neither, but some other section of Brooklyn? I would appreciate a reply as soon as possible. Many thanks.

I thought that this address would be listed as Bed-Sty but a real estate search shows this address as being in Brevoort. Brevoort has its own Post Office which is:
Post Office - Brevoort
1205 Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216
(718) 638-7099

This theatre being a church now would certainly give one a different perspective and certainly a different theatre experience.

There will be a major article with color photographs about the Savoy as church in the next issue of Marquee, the quarterly publication of Theatre Historical Society of America.

Warren: Thanks for this information as I was aware of this being the case. I plan to join THSA in the near future and receive Marquee issues.

brevoort is not considered an actual neighborhood. the theater is located in crown heights, just south of bed-stuy.

Here are a couple of recent exterior photographs I took of the Fox Savoy Theatre in May 2006:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183529587/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183530562/

In 1928 as part of a Fox foursome presenting vaudeville, a feature movie, and the latest in sound innovations:
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/foxfour.jpg

A silent home run (1927): www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/homer27.jpg

Even though William Fox built and first operated this theatre, I don't think it was ever actually called the Fox Savoy. It was just the Savoy, as witness the 1927 ad that I displayed earlier today. When Fox Theatres went bankrupt, the Savoy fell under Randforce management, which rarely advertised it with the circuit name attached. Last year, Marquee Magazine published a seven-page article by historian Craig Morrison which not even once mentioned William Fox, Fox Theatres, or Randforce Theatres. On the front cover of Marquee and throughout the article, it was just Savoy. I think that the main name in the introduction should be changed to simply Savoy. Fox Savoy and Randforce Savoy could be listed above in smaller type.

A Kimball theater organ opus KPO 6865 size 3/8 was installed in the Savoy Theater in 1925.

The Savoy first opened in September, 1926. I somehow doubt that an organ was installed in 1925. I'm not sure that the Savoy had even started construction in 1925. It was built simultaneously with Fox's new Academy of Music in Manhattan, which opened in October, 1926. Thomas Lamb was architect of both theatres, and they were similar in design, although the AOM was larger and had a more spacious lobby.

The year given on the list is 1925. No specific month is given. I post the information that is on the list. I don't alter the information so it will match the information given on this website. A certificate of occupancy was issued to a new building at this address on May 7, 1926. Purpose of building was a 2494 seat motion picture theater. This building was available for use about four months prior to its official opening. I don't know when construction started but a permit for a new building was issued in 1925.

The main entry name needs to be changed to Savoy Theatre, which was used from the early 1930s until final closure. For most of its life, the Savoy was run by the Randforce circuit, which took over most of the Fox theatres in Brooklyn after Fox went bankrupt. Randforce did not attach its name to theatres as rivals such as RKO and Loew's did.

Warren, Could you re-post the operating pictures? The ones above are not working. Thanks very much.

Here are new links to previously posted images:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/128-2862_IMG.jpg
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/138-3820_IMG.jpg

A long article with many color photos about the Savoy as church can be found in Marquee Magazine, Vol. 37, No. 3. The magazine can be purchased for only $5 plus postage through the "Back Issues" link at: http://www.historictheatres.org/

Thanks Warren

The color picture of the interior is excellent.

Warren's introductory header above states that the interior had been re-painted in whitewash in most areas. I recall that in the late 1950s when I attended the Savoy a few times, the color scheme was largely pale green with dark-green trim and dark-green stage curtain, house drapes, etc. That color scheme might not have been the original one. A neighborhood theater that I'd spent much more time in, the RKO Dyker, switched in the early 1950s from a cream-tan-and-ivory scheme that I remember through the 1940s to a pale-green/dark-green scheme introduced as part of a general remodeling.

I also recall that the Savoy seemed more dimly lit than most, with a cavernous glare bouncing off the screen onto the far reaches of the ceiling and rear seating areas. The large balcony overhang might have accounted for some of the darkness in the rear orchestra.

Street ad seen in this 1946 Life photo:
http://tinyurl.com/5k3nqa

1970 Photo

1972 Photo