Albemarle Theatre
973 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
973 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11226
8 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 71 comments found
I remember going there as a kid in the 70’s and early 80’s. If we couldn’t get into the RKO Kenmore over on Church we’d walk down the street to the Albermarle.
Saw the auditorium after the renovation. Nice job and friendly crowd.
Century leased the Albemarle for many years. See earlier in the thread. They specifically built the Rialto.
jinchelsea- The Rialto, down the street from the Albemarle was operated by Century. I don’t recall the Albemarle ever being operated by Century. I believe the last owner was Interbourgh Theatres. The Albemarle had a booth built into the loge, which would have been perfect for 70mm…but it was not to be.
I worked as an usher at the Albemarle in the summer of 1963, when it was still being managed by the Century chain (I got the job because my dad worked for them as a manager elsewhere). It was my first job, and because I was under age, I could only work during the day. I made the minimum wage then (maybe $1.15 an hour). It was the usual neighborhood movie palace, not on a par with the Loews Kings or the RKO Kenmore, but pretty amazing. I was always explaining to people that no, the theatre wasn’t “air-conditioned,” it was “air-cooled” (we used to joke that that meant they kept a door open to the street), and that the coolest place to sit was in the back of the orchestra (again, near the open door). Lots of complaints and lots of refunds (it was a hot summer). Century let it go at the end of the summer, and I moved on to the Nostrand Theatre.
As a child pre-teen living down the street I can attest to the family ownership the box office was very strict no one under 18 allowed without a parent. A very steril atmoshere in the lobby big glass windows with brass all over. I remember being seeing Conan on the Marque but was not old enough to get in. The owners played it smart by sticking to a certain genre of movies, but the age of action movies and martial arts was upon them an everyone flocked to the Kenmore down the street, with their pay per view antenne, and long lines for early shows and rampent ticket swapping in the bathrooms, the Albemare fell to its own high class successs and or failure.
Here’s another street view to compensate for none provided by Google Maps: brownstoner
Tinseltoes – rather than report Google problems, of which there seem to be a good deal, on the theatre site you might achieve better results reporting them directly to CT.
Surprised that Google Maps provides no street view for the introduction. Do they have a bias against Jehovah’s Witnesses? Nearby theatres such as Loew’s Kings and RKO Kenmore come under the Google cameras.
1969 Marquee.what ever happened to Christopher Jones?Great shot of a nice marquee.
Don’t know what the original auditorium decor was like but this is certainly impressive and tasteful.
Here’s a view of the auditorium as an Assembly Hall of the Jehovah’s Witnesses: View link
This was a nice theater and I went there on many occassions. But my only specific memory was my father taking myself, my sister and several friends to see “Goldfinger” there. The excitement created by the release of that third Bond film is still memorable today. (It would be repeated the following year with “Thunderball,” which we saw a few theaters done on Flatbush Avenue at the Rialto.)
The year given for this photo is 1969.
Hi Grace – The Albemarle Theatre on Flatbush Ave was built by my grandfather, Max Barr in 1918, and remained in the family until the mid-80’s when my father and uncle sold it to a church. it was never owned by anyone else. Perhaps your father had an interest in another property. (The Albemarle was managed by some theatre chains through the 40’s and 50’s but it was always owned by the Barr family – which owned most of that block,right up to – but not including – the Macy’s on the corner). Marge (Barr) Spector
my name is gracelyn johnston crispyn i was born in brooklyn in 1943 my family lived on linwood st near the entrance to highland park.
my father george bruce johnston (friends called him bruce) was born march 16,1912. he was a movie buff,he went to erasmus hall high school, and would take off many days to visit and hang out at one of the 4-5 local theaters.he lived at 51 or 54 stratford rd. and spent many hours compiling a scrap book of movie stars. the book was a green marble and white compositions school note book.i still have the book ,the pages are in ex. cond. he cut out all the current stars pasted them on the lined pages and wpuld write captions , star name picture,ect.
i have given a lot of background in hopes of anyone reading this might know of my father or my grandfather william b. johnston, he owned one of the first plumbing and heating stores in brooklyn, along with several other properties in the area, one being the albemarle theater. the plumbing store was located at 9 gates ave.
my family moved to l.i. when i was 8yrs old i didnt visit much but remember talking to my dad about brooklyn his growing up his love for the movies and the amt. of time he had spent at the theater his father had owned.
if anyone has any info to share with me re: my father,or grandfather i would appreciate it.
thankyou grace crispyn
The Beatles never performed “live” at the Albemarle. The ad is for their second movie, “Help!,” which was released by United Artists.
Robert – did the Beatles actually play live at the Albemarle? As the granddaughter of the builder – and daughter of the man who ran the theatre – I don ’t remember this…
The “NEW” Albemarle in 1965
View link
I graduated from Lafayette High School,in Brooklyn,in 1967.The graduating class numbered approximately 1500 students!(I think the entire student population was close to 6000!!) The school auditorium could not accomodate 1500 students and 2 guests per graduate. So graduation ceremonies were held on a weekday morning at,you guessed it, The Albemare.
No, they did not…
Considering the uniqueness of this theater and the obvious care that went into it’s construction and maintenance, did the Barr family build other theaters in the area?
A 1950s view of the Century’s Albemarle marquee and vertical sign. The vertical of Loew’s Kings can be seen at extreme right…The movies at the Albemarle are Universal re-issues, and “Fury At Sea” is a new title for the original “This Woman Is Mine."
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/centalbe.jpg
Laura – your Dad’s name was mentioned so often in my home…my Dad was Jerry Barr and my uncle was Bernie Barr, the owners of Albemarle. They really admired your Dad…
Marjorie (Barr) Spector
I am suprised and delighted to have found this website. I have a special place in my heart for The Albermarle Theatre, as my father, James Bradley, was the manager there from 1965 until 1972. Our family even moved from the Bronx to Brooklyn because of his job. My father took great pride in his job and was very dedicated to making “his” theatre the very best it could be. He even won quite a few awards given in the industry at the time for his performance as manager. Sadly, he is no longer with us, but I know it would make him very happy to know how fondly people remember The Albermarle.