Kenmore Theatre
2101 Church Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
2101 Church Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
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I’ve posted two ads with the Lugosi show in the Kenmore’s Photos Section.
it was that LUGOSI poster that sent me here!
On Friday 23 February 1951, Bela “Dracula” Lugosi presented his in person Horror and Magic Stage show at RKO Kenmore. Currently I am conducting research on all things Lugosi; if anyone out there actually saw this show and/or has memorabilia (handbill, photos) related to this show, please contact Bill at Thanks in advance for any assistance! I already have an image of the full size poster for this show.
Curiously, “Nearby Theaters” fails to mention Loew’s Kings, which opened a year later and was the RKO Kenmore’s top rival in Flatbush. And the CT listing for Loew’s Kings doesn’t list the Kenmore among nearby theaters. Figure!
Two pages of photos from a 1928 trade journal start here: archive
I always loved that style of letters on the this RKO theater. I first saw them when I was 10 while waiting outside a bank for my grandmother to complete her business. (Reflections in a Golden Eye was playing…I finally saw it years later, and oh, boy, would that have changed my life if I’d seen it at that tender age!!) It was love at first sight for those block letters. I think the Kenmore used them all the way to its closing, but I’m not sure.
I used to go to the RKO Kenmore as a child in the 70’s and 80’s. If I had Tens of millions of Dollars to spare I’d buy Modells out and rebuild the theater as a community landmark project. It’s sad it closed down the way it did but it’s even more sad what replaced it.
This nighttime photograph of the Kenmore Theatre was taken in 1931 by George Mann of the comedy dance team, Barto and Mann.
I happened to walk by the Kenmore site a couple of weeks ago. The temperature was soaring and I missed walking past a theater lobby and getting a blast of cold air. What a pity that the Flatbush movie palaces are all shuttered, although there is slim hope for the Loews Kings. The urban turmoil of the ‘70’s was a major contributor to the demise of these theaters and although it is easy to blame population shifts and major crime, we also have to consider the lack of product. Apart from the occasional Star Wars / Lady Sings the Blues / French Connection / James Bond movies, Hollywood (and the breakdown of the studio system) could not come up with enough product to consistently sustain these venues. The blax-sploitation flicks and the kung fu movies were sure to attract the very element that would want to act-out the violence and the mayhem represented on screen. With the increased availability and affordability of air conditioning and color TV, why go out. All in all, I could have dashed into Models for a quick respite from the blistering heat.
Does any ornamentation of the theater remain inside? I would like to visit the Models store to see the inside, but won’t bother if there’s nothing worth seeing inside.
2010 photo of the former Kenmore Theatre.
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I was thinking about my above comment about never seeing anything very good or memorable at the Kenmore and I vaguely remembered seeing “From Russia With Love” there. Since this is one of my 5 favorite Bonds, I take back my previous statement.
I did read the previous statements about the eventual fate of the Kenmore and what it deteriorated into and it saddened me. It is so depressing what happens to these beautiful theaters when the ethnic makeup of the area changes. I grew up in East New York and I never really saw my local theaters, the Biltmore and the Kinema, go down the drain since my friends and I had already graduated into going to see movies at “Showcase” theaters in Downtown Brooklyn, Flatbush Avenue and Manhattan. And I stopped going to beautiful theaters like the Loews Kings, RKO Albee and Loews Metropolitan when the areas started changing and getting more dangerous. However I remember being Downtown Brooklyn for some reason in the 1970s and seeing the Albee reduced to showing 2 Kung-fu films. They did not even have a 1 sheet poster for these films so a little ad from the newspaper was cut out and put under the glass where the poster should have been. Utterly pathetic. The picture of the Loews Pitkin from 1970 showing this glorious, mini-Radio City showing 2 low-grade Japanese horror films was sad also.
But even sadder were the stories of murders, metal-detectors, bullet holes and barbed wire at the Kenmore. I have the utmost contempt for the naive, pathetic jerks who actually defend and rationalize this barbaric behavior. And I have little pity on those in the area who allow this type of behavior to take place and then cry and whine to the media about not having anyplace to see a movie when the theater finally gives up and just shuts down. Too damn bad for you.
I went to the Flatbush Avenue theaters a lot during the 1960s and early ‘70s. And while I can remember seeing very good movies at the other theaters, I cannot remember seeing one very good movie at the Kenmore. I can remember seeing a mediocre western “Custer of the West” and a disappointing Robert Mitchum war film “Anzio” there. I just can’t remember seeing one great movie there. Isn’t that strange? I did go with my friends to the premiere of “The Lords of Flatbush” that was held at this theater. I remember that despite living in Brooklyn all my life I still could not understand one word Sylvester Stallone said. If you would have told me at that time that this guy would one day be the highest-paid star in the world, I would not have believed it. The Kenmore was a nice theater, I just don’t have any particularly good memories of the films I saw there.
What’s the latest on this building? Is it gutted?
This is a 1976 photo.
Here’s a January 1947 view with two WB releases on the marquee: View link 341
In this classic ad from November 1933, a legendary star appears to be fondling at least one of her precious assets:View link
On Friday January 26, 1962, the Three Stooges (Moe Howard, Larry Fine and Curly-Joe DeRita) embarked on a three day promotional tour for their latest feature film, THE THREE STOOGES MEET HERCULES. They were accompanied by “The Herculean Giant” (almost 8 foot tall Dave Ballard) and popular DJ Clay Cole, who was one of the stars of the co-feature, TWIST AROUND THE CLOCK.
On Sunday January 28, they appeared at the RKO Kenmore at 4:05 PM.
Warren – could you ever re-post those old pics of the Pogany murals from the Kenmore? The link no longer works and I’m trying to research another mural he did at the back of the lobby of the Eldorado apartment building at 300 Central Park West. Would love to see the Kenmore murals to compare. Thanks so much! And reading these comments has been really interesting and made me wish I could’ve seen the theater.
The Wurlitzer organ from the Kenmore Theater is for sale. More information and a photo can be found here.
Here are new links to ultra-rare images in my scrapbook:
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One of the major problems in recruiting theatre managers has always been that the work is mostly nights and weekends, including holidays. Many people are unwilling to give up their social lives, especially if the salaries are just equal to or less than “normal” day jobs.
In 1988 we had a twwenty year old manager at the KENNMORE he was paid 780.00 a week …That was pret good for 88
I worked on the Loews side when Cineplex was absorbed and we were amazed at how poorly the theatre managers and assistant managers were paid compared to their counterparts at Loews, at least here in the New York market. The merit raise formula had to be re-worked for those managers to bring them in line with wages at Loews. The service staff was certainly not paid any more than the Loews staff and didn’t have the benefits or the incentives that the Loews staff did until they came on board after the merger. To say that they were the highest paid in the country couldn’t be true, at least not in my experience.
The Kenmore Theatre! I went to the Kenmore to see “King Kong” in 1976. My brother and I sat in the balcony. The place was huge and the lobby was beautiful, this was just before the theatre was chopped into a multi-plex cinema. In 1980 I went to a few movies there with my sister and friends and the cinemas were so small and the picture and sound was so limited. Memories… :–)