Loew's 46th Street Theatre

Too bad it didn'thappen.
As for the “evils” of cutting up an old theater into a “multiplex”, it’s a two sided street. What’s worse, take for example the Ridgewood Theatre in Ridgewood. It was cut up into 5 screens (two in the orchestra and three in the balcony). However, it is STILL puttering on, and showing movies after all these years, long after most theaters have been closed, altered, or worse, demolished. Is that worse than the fate of the 46th St, that never was cut up, but is rotting before their eyes being used as a warehouse? Or worse, like the RKO Madison, still existing, never cut up for multiplexing, but compltetely gutted? It’s a tough question. Multiplexing “may” have allowed the theater to survive, and still show movies like it’s supposed to….but then again, the glory of the interior would be altered and harmed. Hard to say what’s worse….
For me, I much rather see the Ridgewood cut up, but still showing movies, rather than being used as a furniture store warehouse…..

The night the Dead played was truly remarkable. The house was packed and people stood “armpit to armpit!” There was a sense of awe and excitement that the Greatful Dead had come to Brooklyn and to Boropark no less! Garcia’s piercing solos, the visceral base riffs and the songs we all knew… oh what an affirmation. We were part of a bigger world and the world knew we were here. Our ears rang for a week afterwards. Then it was a good thing. Now we call it tinnitus.

Warren, did you take any photos inside when you were in there?

When going to Loew’s 46th Street, I seem to recall a large statue on top of the proscenium. I do not notice it in Warren’s picture. Did Loew’s do some decorative changes when it bought the Universal? Also, unlike the Oriental and Fortway, I don’t think Loew’s 46th Street or Loew’s Boro Park had an organ.

That is a really wonderful picture you found Warren. Thank you for sharing that photograph. I used to live at 4615 New Utrecht about half a block from the Loew’s 46th. I’m going to email my dad a link to the photo so he can see what the theater looked like when he was 2 years old. I did notice the photo was cropped at the top. I guess the photographer didn’t like photographing the bottom of the EL. I’m not familiar with the silent film on the marquee, but I did recognize the actors. Rod Laroque is more well known for playing “The Shadow” and Warner Oland was the actor who portrayed Charlie Chan in the 1930’s and 1940’s. I also noticed there was a stage show advertised. The Universal Marquee certainly was grand. I have been trying to find a photograph of the theater from the 1960’s but I haven’t been able to get my hands on it. When I do I will try to share it with everyone on this page.

It would be great if there was someone who had the money to invest in restoring these palaces however we have to remember why they closed in the first place. The community in which most of these places exist did/would not appreciate these places as much as they should be appreciated. It is sad that the community didn’t do anything in the first place when these theaters first closed.

It is great that there are a handful of us that understand and appreciate these wonderful movie palaces, however in the grand scheme of things, we are too few and far between.

I lived in Flatbush from 1968 to 1975 and saw “Airport” at the Kenmore, “Romeo & Juliet” at the Astor, “The Anniversary” with Bette Davis at the Albemarle, “The Legend of Lylah Clare” at the glorious Kingsway, and “Mame” at the Rialto. Talk about an embarrassment of riches ! Flatbush Avenue was almost like Brooklyn’s Times Square. Remember the ice cream parlors, book stores, record stores,and coffee shops ? I was a young man on my own just out of the army, and I’m glad i came in on the tale end of it. Who remembers The Circus Lounge, a gay bar on Flatbush & Foster that became Kitchen City, I believe ? frankie from Brooklyn

11-11-70.

In one of the earlier paragraphs on this page one of the members was able to get in and see the remnants of the old theater. I don’t think too much could have changed in a year. I will be visiting New York next month to see my sister who lives in Long Island. I’m hoping she will drive us to see the old neighborhood and maybe walk around a little. I’m still looking for a good picture of the theater from the 60’s. I found one photograph, but it doesn’t have a real clear view of the theater. I will keep looking. I’ve seen some recent photos of the neighborhood along New Utrecht ave. and it seems like the area is recovering from the hard times in the 70’s and 80’s. A working theater would do wonders for this neighborhood, but it would have to provide entertainment that is suitable to the people that live and work there.

I hope the theater owners browse this web page theaterat. Maybe they will get the idea. Hey Bway…thanks for finding this bridgeandtunnelclub web page. I actually recognized some of the buildings in the borough park area. I was surprised that the old candy store and soda shop was still in business. The movie theater still looks pretty good. A lot of Architects would love to have that much to work with for a renovation and restoration project. The yellow brick always made the theater look like a golden palace. It’s a shame to see so many empty and defaced store fronts. Lostmemory I’m impressed. Where did you get this information? I think you are correct, the building on record predates the movie theater. I believe the street numbers are assigned to the buildings based on the city water meter that serves that building. I assume that the movie theater was built on the 4515 lot and the corner lot. I may have some photographs of the 46th street theater that go back to the early 60’s but it may take me a while to scan the photos.

Mike M…. You are right to a certain extent. Went to the Sheepshead multiplex recently, and the renovated plex did hace “stadium style"seating. This "feature” is kind of like a balcony with no orchestra level, and the seats were adjustable.But the theater was still very dirty and the stench from the popcorn and butter was so overwhelming, it seems to have been piped in through the air conditioning vents. Also, my idea of a good time is NOT seeing some overhyped movie based on a comic book or an old TV series.The kind of well made foreign films that Siskel and Roeper give “thumbs up” to just do not play at the plexes. Guess the owners feel they will not do good business, so films like “The Pacifier"are favored. In reality, they are not doing mature moviegoers a favor, so adult attendeace is dropping.It may be sad, but it is true.

You are not alone in your feelings Theaterat. With a few exceptions the quality of movies in general has slowly declined since the early 70’s. That decline in quality I think is partly due to the decline of the old studio system which prided itself on producing quality films even though it treated the actors like property. When more actors started making more money there was less money for production values. You might also notice that our greatest films came from some of our greatest novels and literary minds. With a few exceptions the quality of our literature has also declined since the early 70’s and I include comic books as literature, so it’s no wonder the quality of movies has gone down. To be honest it’s been an up hill battle for movie theaters in the battle with television for the audience. In the old days your movie ticket would let you see two movies, a newsreel, cartoons, a short movie feature, a serial episode. Now all you get is one movie not as good as last weeks movie trailer and overpriced popcorn and soda. The Loew’s movie houses were always top notch because they were owned by a big company. When movie houses were owned by independent operators the profit margins were very small so the theaters became simple no frills black boxes. That is starting to change now with larger multi-screen theaters incorporating some of the features of the old movie palaces such as better seating and retro interior design. Don’t worry Bway…no rocks being thrown here.