Willoughby Theater
260 Knickerbocker Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11237
260 Knickerbocker Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11237
2 people
favorited this theater
Listed in the 1914-1915 edition of the American Motion Picture Ditectory, at 256 Knickerbocker Avenue. In later editions of Film Daily Yearbook, the address is given as 260 Knickerbocker Avenue. The Willoughby Theater was located near Willoughby Avenue.
Contributed by
Lostmemory
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Recent comments (view all 10 comments)
Here’s a current view of the Willoughby Theater taken yesterday.
Click Here for Link
The theater is now a church, Iglesia Bautista Central. The building appears to have been refaced, although is well cared for.
Hello to everyone: I grew up on Willoughby Ave, in Brooklyn during the 40s and 50s……..When I lived there, the Willoughby Theater showed only Italian Cinema because its location was in an Italian neighbrhood……..It;s neighboring Theater was the Star Theater on Knickerbocker Ave between Willoughby Ave and Troutman St…….Iwent to the Willoughby on many occasions to see Italian Cinema with the Old Greats such as Gino Cervi, Amedeo Nazzarri, Alida Valli, Isa Miranda etc etc……….It was part of my childhood & now I have been a Classic film collector for over 40 years——First 16mm, then video, and now dvd…..My Family and I moved from the old neighborhood in 1959 and moved to Long Island….I have very fond memories of the neighborhood…as i grew older, I remember the Theater closing down…….I then would go into Manhattan to the Apollo Theater on 42nd St.(before the sleaze took over) to see European films including Italian……A few blocks from the Willoughby was the Wagner Theater on Wykoff Ave I beleive, which only showed German Cinema, since that area was predominantly German——These areas were known as the Bushwick/Ridgewood section of Brooklyn…..and we had many theaters all over the area….but that’s for another post…Ciao, Joe From Florida
I found a certificate of occupancy for this theater. On that document is the architects name which I am having a hard time reading. It appears to be Eric O. Holingren or something very similar to that. Is anyone familiar with that name? I can email you the document if you think you might be able to decipher the name.
Wouldn’t have a clue Lostmemory——-Perhaps BWAY or Warren…..maybe Gerry, since all they showed were Italian films——at least from when I can remember, the late 40s through the early 50s…….I think the Italian movies that started to be shown for free, on WOR-Channel-9, in the early 50s, may have led to their closing, or at least a change in venue……Joe From Florida—P.S. I notified the staff that my e-mail will be changing by the end of the month——-hopefully they will change it, since I would like to receive the updates from all of you fellows
Joe….The architects name was Eric not Guido. :) I got a second opinion and the name was most likely Eric O. Holmgren. The people that sign these documents write worse than I do.
Here’s an aerial view of the former Willoughby Theater, now a church:
View link
saw trader horn at the willoughby they had barrels of pickles and herring at the rear of theatre whew!! what DUMP
There might have been another theatre on Knickerbocker Avenue that hasn’t been listed at Cinema Treasures. In a 1932 trade journal, I found this memory of a decade or two before that: “There was one house on Knickerbocker Avenue, Brooklyn, which seated about 250. Every time there was a rain storm, the place would become flooded, and the customers were forced to sit on the backs of the chairs!”
Warren, in looking for a “phantom” theater on Knickerbocker, I just thought you might wish to consider the Ridgewood Casino, which has a page on this site, albeit a lightly used one.
I say this because the Ridgewood Casino, which was situated at 381-3 Knickerbocker at the corner of Stanhope, would appear to fit the profile – small, 200-250 capacity house that did not outlive the 1910’s – of your “lost” movie house. Also, since the building currently situated on that site almost surely predates the 1910’s, the old place might not even have been demolished.
In any event, you – or anyone else – may wish to check out this page and provide your thoughts.
I just put a link to a street view in the Ridgewood Casino’s page. Do you feel that is the corner, the corner with the one story buildings?