Rogers Theater
333 Rogers Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
333 Rogers Avenue,
Brooklyn,
NY
11225
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Photo of the Rogers, circa 1940, added to Cinematreasures gallery.
Interesting mezzanine lounge just below the projection ports. Was this a smoking lounge that was conveniently set in the auditorium so patrons wouldn’t miss any of the movie when stepping out for a smoke? With chairs that were not fixed to the floor… and a phone booth?!
This Rogers Theatre must be the one that can be seen in the two photos at the top of this page of the November 14, 1936, issue of Boxoffice. At the bottom of the page are two photos of the Central Theatre in Yonkers, New York. The last paragraph of the text says that both houses were designed by architect William Hohauser.
Warren G. Harris’s earlier comment on this house attributing the design to Charles Sandblom says that it was a 1935 project, but didn’t open until 1936. The belated opening must have been related to Sandblom’s 1935 plans being dropped, and Hohauser designing the theater as it was finally built.
The el ran near the OTHER Rogers Theater; not the one on Rogers Ave.
I didn’t realize that there was an el running on Rogers Av. until I saw Walter H’s post from two years ago. Anyone have other info on this?
I did not know there were so many RODGERS theatres.
I’m sorry, I posted the wrong email. It’s not easy getting old! My email is
I faintly remember seeing the marquee of the Rogers Theater while passing on the old el above. What memories. I never went inside though. I often went by on the el above.
Someone mentioned having photos of the Rogers above. If anyone does, I would love to see them. I am now 82, and found this site through a site I also just joined and found called Bushwick Buddies. They have wonderful phtoos, but haven’t had time to go through all their stuff yet. I read about this site there, and now I am hooked here too! I also made a whole comment about dish night in the Rivoli Theater. The memories are faint, but these sites are helping jog the memory!
Well, if you do have a photo of the Rogers, I would love to see it. My email is
I remember going on a class outing to the Rogers Theater in (I believe) 1961. I attended St. Francis of Assisi grammar school on Nostrand Ave. a few blocks away. In 1961, the Rogers showed the movie the St. Francis of Assisi Story. The nuns arranged a class outing to go see the movie. We kids were pretty bored by the whole thing, but the nuns loved it.
I grew up not far from the Rogers and spent a lot of time there too. I remember going there with my mother to see “From Here to Eternity,” and other great films. I lived across the street from the Crown and we used to go to the Rogers, the Astor in Flatbush, Loews Kameo and Kings and the Patio too. I have great memories of all these wonderful places.
Hello-
I grew up on Crown between Nostrand & Rogers. I lived there from 1958 until 1977. My family and I were regulars at both the Rogers and the Kameo movie houses. I have very distint memories of the children’s section of the Rogers and the matrons dressed in white with their flashlights! What a great place to grow up!
Scott from Brooklyn
OK Warren……..I did not notice the address up top———When I saw Rogers, I said HOORAY!!!!……but as you pointed out——Wrong Rogers!……….Thanks for your efforts———-I’m sure everyone who reads and posts here appreciate them……Joe From Florida
Hi Warren: My Cousin, now deceased, lived on Stockton St, right behind the old Loew’s Broadway, in the old appartment buidlings where he grew up——-He would have been about 85 years old now, and he remembered going to the Rogers, which was only a few blocks from Stocton St, to see westerns as a Boy————It sure looked older then 1935!……Joe From Florida
Thanks Ken: I didn’t even see the address up top——-Old age setting in———Thanks for the grest Photos———-You and the rest of the regulars at this ite do a great job……..Joe From Florida
Joe From Florida; The photo’s are of the Rogers Theatre, Rogers Avenue, Brooklyn, which is the theatre this page is dedicated to.
The ‘other’ Rogers Theatre, Broadway, Brooklyn would still have the J & Z Lines Elevated running against it (but the theatre has been torn down!)
Ken: Has the Jamaica Elevated Subway been torn down?……..The Rogers on Bway was on a corner…….Check upwards for Moondog’s [post who lived right by it on a corner——and it definatly was under the Bway Elevated which ran from Broad Street in Manhattan over the Willimasburg Bridge, to 169th Street in Jamiaca Queens by the Loews Valencia———The Flushing Ave Station was just above the Rogers, and on Flushing Ave itself was the Alba theater……Joe From Florida
The Rogers Theater opened in either 1936 or 1937 and closed in 1967. Here are a couple of exterior photgraphs I took of the building in May 2006. The facade has had a new brick cladding, but the side walls remain the old brick:
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183463409/
http://flickr.com/photos/kencta/183463786/
This was the other Rogers theater in BKLYN….The one I went to was on Broadway, under the Jamaica El……Joe From Florida
That’s the one…..In 1957 I was working as a day camp counselor for Christadora House, a non-secterian Day Camp on First Ave and First St…..the day camp was housed in a basement in a building on Ave.D……..One week in August it rained everyday keeping the kids inside for 3 days…….On Thursday the kids were getting Cabin Fever ad so were the Counselors, including me…..We looked after kids 6 to 10 years old whose parents both worked, or who only had one parent…….Anyway, My older Cousin Rosie, who was a receptionist for Christadora House, who got me the Summer Job which paid fairly well for those times, suggested we take the gang iof kids….about 70 of them, to the movies……The closest one was the American…..She called the American and spoke to the MGR and told him to clean out the bums that we were bringing about 70 kids to the movies…..and that one time I remember this house….a painted brick wall was the screen, and the film that was playing was “Sign of the Pagan” with Jeff Chandler & Jack Palance……I got my Social Security Card before I started to work…I was 16 yeras old, but looked older, so I got the job of taking care of about 15 10 year olds….What an experience that was……….The American Movie House….I dont remember if it had a marque or not since we all were under umbrellas, as we walked about 5 blocks to the movies….and a Summer I will never forget….Thanks LostMemory——you are a wealth of info….Hopefully will be on tomorrow——Joe From Florida—-sasheegm——
Hi Lostmemory; No, they won today….WOW! One in a row!…….Still say the old Rogers on Broadway looked like the oldest theater in the old neighborhood…older then the Empire, Alba & Decatur all put together——you had to be inside to see what I mean…….I remember it very well now……especially after a couple of days thinking back……Hope to list some missing Houses from Lower East Side this week…..Approx locations, names like the American somewhere around 1st ave and 3 rd St……in the middle of an old tenement with a painted white brick wall for a screen….Check your ref, books on that name for Manhattan…..and another very old house around the corner from the Academy on 14th St.in Manhattan…..Looked somewhat, on the outside, like a nickelodean from an Edison Documentary—-Gem comes to mind, but not certain——Heck, I’m going back some 50 years!….but my Father, who grew up in Little Italy, may he rest in peace, used to say he went to the American to see Tom Mix & Joe Bonomo when he was kid—-he was born in 1911—-died in 2001—-same year as my Mother…….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm——
Hi Lostmemory: Took time out from the Yankees game——I pay for MLB-Extra-Innings so I can see them over-paid bums…..This site is not the Rogers on Broadway under the El……Just checked some of the posts, and the Botanic Gardens was no where near Broadway…..I really appreciate your efforts….Joe From Florida—-sasheegm
The second Rogers Theatre (mentioned in the first post) at 835 Broadway was on my corner. It cost 25 cents in the fifties to see a movie and 5 cartoons. It wasn’t exactly first run movies being shown
there, as a matter of fact sometimes you’d see a film there that was shown on Channel nine’s Million Dollar Movie the week before. I always wonder where the name (Rogers) came from. I guess it was owned
by the same people as the Rogers Ave theatre.
My family went to the Rogers Theatre every weekend in the 50’s and 60’s. I never took any photos of the marquis. Admission was about $1. I am glad that the theater was not demolished. They always showed double-features and did good business; it was my home away from home as I lived near the Botanic Garden. I never kept any ticket stubs. It was a nice theatre but not big enough for a large screen. Often, the film jammed and the film stopped and we would clap until the projectionist woke-up. We still mention all the great films we saw there. When crime got bad and my father got shot, we had to move out of the area in 1971, but the area was great once. Botanic Garden and Prospect Park and a movie house minutes away. Once, a single woman could walk alone down Empire Building in the middle of the night without fear. I attended Lefferts JHS and had a great time!
Hello,
Can someone give me more information on te Rogers Theatre or tell me where to look. My church is now on this property and I am doing research.
Thanks,
JenJen