Loew's Oriental Theatre

1832 86th Street,
Brooklyn, NY 11214

Unfavorite 31 people favorited this theater

Showing 126 - 150 of 252 comments

rigelstar
rigelstar on August 5, 2005 at 3:45 am

JohnG409-Angie was film on 81st between 18th and 19th Avenues. I think you may know the block.

Also, I remember a Steven Segal movie being filmed at the intersection of 86th Street and 18th Avenue. Has anyone seen it and if the Oriental can be seen?

ERD
ERD on August 2, 2005 at 8:11 am

The Garden theatre was demolished in the 1950’s. I went there as
a child. It was called the “dump” in its last years. It was built before World War I. Originally, before air conditioning, the roof opened at night. A supermarket and now a lumber store and yard occupy the site where the building once stood. (The theatre is listed
in Cinema Treasures.

ERD
ERD on August 2, 2005 at 8:11 am

The Garden theatre was demolished in the 1950’s. I went there as
a child. It was called the “dump” in its last years. It was built before World War I. Originally, before air conditioning, the roof opened at night. A supermarket and now a lumber store and yard occupy the site where the building once stood. (The theatre is listed
in Cinema Treasures.

ERD
ERD on August 2, 2005 at 8:10 am

The Garden theatre was demolished in the 1950’s. I went there as
a child. It was called the “dump” in its last years. It was built before World War I. Originally, before air conditioning, the roof opened at night. A supermarket and now a lumber store and yard occupy the site where the building once stood. (The theatre is listed
in Cinema Treasures.

YMike
YMike on July 31, 2005 at 1:11 pm

I saw the Incredable Mr. Limpet at the Tilyou. Was the Garden Theatre demolished. Never remember seing another theatre building across from the 46th street from the subway.

YMike
YMike on July 31, 2005 at 1:10 pm

I saw the Incredable Mr. Limpet at the Tilyou. Was the Garden Theatre demolished. Never remember seing another theatre building across from the 46th street from the subway.

ERD
ERD on July 30, 2005 at 2:12 pm

The Garden Theatre was left out of the list of theatres along the West End line route. It was across the street from Loew’s 46th Street.It closed in the 1950’s. (See Garden theatre)

Theaterat
Theaterat on July 30, 2005 at 8:05 am

Yankee Mike… Did the Tilyou 2 or 3 times. It was a decent thearer that sort of resembled the RKO Dyker. Remember seeing “The Family Jewels” with Jerry Lewis and a double feature horror show- Cant remember the name.

YMike
YMike on July 29, 2005 at 8:36 am

I was never there either. Did get to the Tilyou once.

Theaterat
Theaterat on July 29, 2005 at 8:28 am

Yankee Mike… Almost forgot. I was never there, but I remember seeing it a few times.

YMike
YMike on July 29, 2005 at 8:13 am

Then we should include the Mermaid also.

Theaterat
Theaterat on July 29, 2005 at 7:50 am

yankee mike… Lets not forget the Deluxe and the Tilyou theaters that were within walking distance from the West End subway.

YMike
YMike on July 29, 2005 at 7:33 am

Hard to believe that if you rode the West End subway line into the 1950’s you would pass 8 theatres. Normandie,Loews 46th,Loews Boro Park,Hollywood,Loews Oriental,Benson,Stillwell & The Loews Coney Island. All gone now but at least except for the Boro Park, all the theatre buildings still exist.
As for the Oriental its a shame it could not have been saved. Even after the theatre was twinned and tripled the orchestra section, stage,walls and cieling were still intact. Since the restrooms were on the mezz. level there were no changes there either. Even in its last days the only thing missing was a few seats in scattered rows of the orchestra.

CelluloidHero2
CelluloidHero2 on July 27, 2005 at 5:39 am

Lady Rigel – What street was that where they filmed the house scenes in Angie? Just wondering if I know the block. I grew up on 81st and 18th Avenue.

During the release of The Bellboy, Jerry Lewis did a promotional tour of Loew’s theaters where the film was playing. Got to see Jerry do about 15 minutes or so of bits before he got back on the bus for his next stop. Along with the Oriental I do know the tour included the Loew’s 46th Street. YOu can see Jerry’s home movies of this tour which are included as extras the DVD.

Theaterat
Theaterat on July 26, 2005 at 11:27 am

Yes. Its sad but true. ALL the great theaters in Brooklyn are now memories, With the recent demise of the Fortway, we are down to 9 theaters.Somehow, going to a multiplex like the Sheepshead or the awful Alpine just isn`t the same as going to a majestic theater like the Oriental, but thats showbiz.

rigelstar
rigelstar on July 26, 2005 at 10:33 am

Yes, I grew up about six blocks away from it as well. They shot the house scenes from Angie on my block.

I remebered thinking as a child what a glorious place it must have been in its prime. It had already been uncared for by the time I started seeing movies there regularly. I remember seeing movies there and my feet where sticking to the floor and random chairs where missing.

It is too bad the Oriental wasn’t appreciated as it should have been.

CelluloidHero2
CelluloidHero2 on July 26, 2005 at 10:11 am

lady Rigel
– The Oriental was a wonderful theater. I grew up in Bensonhurst and lived about six blocks away from it. Spent a lot of my teen years in the dark of that theater. The Loew’s Oriental can be seen in some scenes of the 1994 film “Angie” with Geena Davis and James Gandolfini.

rigelstar
rigelstar on July 26, 2005 at 9:51 am

From the plans from the Dept. of Finance, it looks like there where plans to demolish the balcony. Does anyone know whether the balcony is still there?

rigelstar
rigelstar on July 26, 2005 at 9:12 am

My goodness. I’m sitting here reading all these posts and I almost what to cry. Unfortunately, I’m probably younger than most of you but I still remember being a small child in the early 80s walking into the lobby. It seemed so grand. I practically grew up in that theater but moved out of the neighborhood in 1994. When I returned around 98-99, I was horrified to see what had happened. Marshall’s? Such disrespect. I remember hearing from relatives about the marque with Innocense Lost (something like that) but later found out that it was for a movie filming.

I believe the last movie I saw there was either Friday the 13th: Jason goes to hell or Jurassic Park. They were both playing in the orchestra. I wish I had known that there were still dressing rooms and a backstage. I had always (since I was a small child) wanted to be a performer. Many of my dreams where bred it that theater.

If I was to ever win the lottery (or become famous but right now I have more of a chance of winning the lottery) I want to buy the Oriental and restore and bring it back to a one screen movie palace. Of course, I will perform as well as anyone else who wants to.

We all still have the right to dream.

theatrefan
theatrefan on July 13, 2005 at 3:43 am

br91975, you can just google the word “ACRIS”. I find ACRIS much more informative about theatre properties than the NYC Department of Buildings BIS lookup system.

br91975
br91975 on July 13, 2005 at 3:36 am

How did you access the ACRIS system on the NYC Department of Finance website, Theatrefan? I couldn’t find it… (Maybe a lack of ginseng or something…)

theatrefan
theatrefan on July 13, 2005 at 2:58 am

The Loew’s Oriental Theatre was sold by Hawthorne Amusement Corp.(Loews/Sony) to 1832 Realty LLC on May 3rd 1995. The lease for the Marshalls Store was signed on January 10th 1997.

theatrefan
theatrefan on July 12, 2005 at 12:26 am

On the New York City Department of Finance website in the ACRIS system there is a copy of the original lease between 1832 Realty LLC (Oriental’s Lanlord) and TJX companies (Marshalls). In the lease are several architectural drawings that shows what the Marshall’s did to the former Oriental Theatre such as leveling out the lower theatre floor for retail. Based on some of these drawings it looks like the upper balcony portions (including the marble staircases) of the theatre are in fact intact but most of it is hidden behind false drop ceilings and new walls, the auditorium’s original ceiling is also hidden. Also based on some of these drawings it looks like the former stage area of the theatre where vaudeville once played has been gutted out unfortunately.

Theaterat
Theaterat on July 7, 2005 at 5:53 am

Shoshana… Mazel tov! The Oriental was a great theater. We are all a bit poorer due to its closing. As long as people remember this great theater, it will live forever in our memories.

Shoshana
Shoshana on July 6, 2005 at 9:39 pm

Until I was 6, we lived above my grandparent’s candy store on 15th Ave and 86th Street. We used to go to the Oriental all the time. It was a scary place for a little girl. My grandfather would keep the store open late as the people walking home from the theatre would stop in and get the night edition of the Mirror or the Daily News. In 1957,my parents bought a house in Sheepshead Bay. There were many fine theatres in that area – the Sheepshead, and a bit further north – the Avalon, Kingsway, Mayfair and the Elm on Ave M.
When I got older my husband and I used to go to the Oriental on Christmas Eve. It was a tradition for us. (We are Jewish and did not celebrate the holiday.) It was a great place to see a blockbuster movie such as the Godfather without waiting on a long line.
The last time we did that was on December 24, 1979. On December 24, 1980, our first daughter was born. Our Christmas Eve tradition ended.
A few years after that we moved to California. i will never forget the Oriental.