Stanley Theatre

2932 Kennedy Boulevard,
Jersey City, NJ 7306

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Showing 76 - 100 of 144 comments

barrygoodkin
barrygoodkin on May 17, 2006 at 1:24 pm

The Stanley Theatre in Jersey City opened on March 28, 1928. It was part of the Stanley-Fabian Corporation which was acquired by Warner Bros. in October 1, 1928. It operated as part of the Warner Bros. theatre chain until the US Justice Department required the motion picture companies to divest the theatre operations from film production. A new corporation, the Stanley-Warner Corporation was created and taken over from the Warner Brothers by Si Fabian who along with his father and Samuel Rosen operated the original Fabian Corporation. Stanley-Warner was acquired by RKO and it became RKO- Stanley Warner. The Stanley Theatre facade is prominently displayed as part of the Theatre Historical Society letter head on its stationery.

teecee
teecee on May 9, 2006 at 2:39 pm

If you go to eBay and type in “Stanley Theatre” in the search box you’ll find 7 vintage promotional photos. Hope this link works:

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GWaterman
GWaterman on April 23, 2006 at 12:42 pm

Helene Stapinski’s book “Five Finger Discount” has a great description of her childhood experiences attending shows at the Stanley and the Loew’s. Worth a read.

Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on January 28, 2006 at 9:54 am

In November 1962, the opening day of “What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?” at the Stanley broke the all-time attendance record for Jersey City (see the Stanley ad and also the caption under the picture of Bette Davis and Joan Crawford):

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Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on January 28, 2006 at 9:24 am

Here are some more old Stanley ads from the Jersey Journal, courtesy of the microfilm collection at the Jersey City Public Library.

1942 – Special Reduced Prices for Men and Women in the Armed Forces:

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In this ad from July 1961, the director of the Stanley’s attraction threatens to kill you:

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In another ad for the same film, try to read the small print on the right-hand side. Even after expanding the image, it might be hard to decipher, but it talks about having your admission “sneerfully refunded” if you’re too cowardly to see the end of the picture. That’s showmanship! :

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kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on January 18, 2006 at 4:16 pm

I agree, Bill. It reminds me of Oscar winners who use their podium time to decry the conditions in Tibet (not that I have anything against Tibet per se).

bturpen
bturpen on October 18, 2005 at 2:21 pm

MissPeaches' comment is so obviously biased and illogical that it doesn’t deserve a response. This site is about Cinema Treasures, not inflamatory religious accusations. The renovated Stanley Theatre is a fine example of what this site is all about; its ownership is irrelevant. I say “Three cheers to Jehovah’s Witnesses for preserving this masterpiece!”

MissPeaches
MissPeaches on October 17, 2005 at 5:22 pm

I am sure the Stanley Theatre is very beautiful.
However I feel it is such a shame that the Watchtower Bible & Tract Society (HQ for the Jehovah’s Witnesses) can spend such massive amounts of money on buildings like this. Especially when they criticise other religons for having opulent buildings. Especially when they have followers who are jailed for years and treated in inhumane conditions because they can’t afford to get around it.
Screams of hypocrisy and not showing true love to their own people.

Shame on the them.

teecee
teecee on October 15, 2005 at 8:02 am

Here is an old postcard that hasn’t been posted yet:
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bturpen
bturpen on October 3, 2005 at 2:41 pm

Luis H: Sorry for the slow response to your Aug 8 comment re the links not working. Please try again. I just opened both of them by clicking on them as posted. Here they are again:

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http://www.grago.org/organs/doc/vanandel.htm

stevenj
stevenj on October 2, 2005 at 6:34 am

Noticed that GabeDF’s Mar ll entry of the largest theatres ever built left out the Fox here in San Francisco. According to it’s listing on the Cinema Treasures website, the Fox had 4651 seats making it the 8th largest American theatre.

karenroz
karenroz on August 9, 2005 at 4:29 pm

what was the last film shown at the Stanley before closing its doors?

01081956
01081956 on August 8, 2005 at 3:56 pm

Re: GabeDF. Speaking about size in theaters(a rather delicate issue, and not intending to be too chauvinistic about)here in México we had two or three buildings actually larger than the Maximo: The Colonial had more than 5000 seats, the Orfeon opened with more than 6000 seats, and then there was the Florida, the largest one with 7500(some more than the Radio City Music Hall) The Florida was rather narrow but very long: probably more than 300 feet. I realize that wasn’t actually a “Movie Palace” (it’s difficult to compare mexican movie theaters to the great american ones), but was a very imposing building in its own right. Unfortunately the Florida was demolished many years ago after a fire.
And now, about the Stanley, it’s impossible to open the above posted links.
Speaking about the Stanley, it’s impossible to open the above link.

bturpen
bturpen on July 15, 2005 at 8:14 am

Ron R: You probably have this by now but there’s a photo on this site of the Stanley with the organ. Not the greatest photo but it’s there.
View link
Also: http://www.grago.org/organs/doc/vanandel.htm

Rizzy
Rizzy on June 29, 2005 at 10:34 am

CORRECTION…I meant to say “none of them have been during the time the organ was there”. R~

Rizzy
Rizzy on June 29, 2005 at 10:31 am

Does anyone have a picture of the Stanley Theatre in Jersey City when the Wurlitzer was still in it? I’m doing some research on the particular Wurlitzer that was in the Stanley, it being a “special” model – one of three of a kind built by the Wurlitzer firm. Opus 1836 was a 3-manual, 27-rank organ – very large for a theatre organ in that time, and of all the pictures I have ever seen of the Stanley none of them have been during the time after the organ was gone. If anyone has a picture they could scan (hi-res if possible) and E-Mail it to me, I would be forever greatful…!!! Thanks in advance, Ron Reseigh

karenroz
karenroz on June 13, 2005 at 2:09 pm

We visited the Stanley Sunday and the hostess/guide Deborah could not have been friendlier. We had a wonderful tour, enjoyed the short film, and had a nice conversation with the other tourists. Anyone who grew up in the Hudson County area should see this treasure. Thanks to the hard work and donations of the congregation, the Stanley is now the jewel of Journal Square. We are wondering if anyone knows what was the last film that played at the Stanley when it closed? Before going to the Jersey Journal archives, does anyone have an answer? Thanks in advance.

Theaterat
Theaterat on June 7, 2005 at 11:45 am

Rhett… Got no info on that, but I recently took the Stanley tour, and it was awesome! It truly is a pity that so many of these grand old theaters have fallen victm to the wrecking ball. Thank God the Stanley and the very nearby Loews Jersey still stand. The Jersey will have no events until September- the air conditioning is not working. Until then, I can only dream about the great experiences that I will have at the Jersey when it re-opens.Like travelling back to another time.

umbaba
umbaba on May 8, 2005 at 6:56 am

Last week I went to the Loews Jersey for the first time to see “Great Escape” and “Great Dictator”…what an experience…I went across the street to the Stanley and a security guard took me inside and talked to me about it…what a theater it must have been back then…question..the procenium where the screen would be didn’t look as though it would encase a huge screen fitting for the size of the theater…anybody have info on that??

sluggobeast
sluggobeast on April 18, 2005 at 9:01 am

I was only at the magnificent Stanley Theatre once — September 28, 1972 — my first Grateful Dead concert. The Dead did a three-night stand there (September 26-28), and the show from 9/27/72 was released commercially as part of the “Dick’s Picks” series of archival recordings. Fans consider that run of shows among the great ones by the band. Can anyone else comment on other rock shows held at this beautiful venue?

Bill Huelbig
Bill Huelbig on April 7, 2005 at 8:51 am

Here’s an ad from a local Jersey City newspaper in July 1960 announcing an upcoming show at the Stanley: Hitchcock’s “Psycho”.

JeffS
JeffS on March 29, 2005 at 7:45 am

No loss at all. The effect is there when the lights are out. Twinkling stars and floating clouds. The use of white for the current use makes complete sense and does not detract from the beauty.

JimRankin
JimRankin on March 27, 2005 at 7:32 am

The reason that the ceiling in the auditorium was repained white from the original blue, is that it must be a reflector of the white metal halide flood lights hidden behind the building facades along the horizon line in order for these up-lights to cast upon the ceiling to reflect enough light down upon the congregation in order for them to be able to read their Bibles during the discourses; remember that there is no original bright lighting in an ‘atmospheric’ movie palace. Other lights in blue are turned ‘on’ when these white ones are turned ‘off’ and then they turn the stars and clouds on and people see it much as it was. It would seem that the blue paint on the ceiling is no great loss when compared to the gem that was restored and survives today (and the ceiling had to be repainted in any case, since rain leaks during the years of darkness before the Witnesses took over the place, had produced many visible damaged sections of the plaster ‘sky.’

JeffS
JeffS on March 26, 2005 at 2:54 pm

Oh, and I forgot to mention the echo. That same warm, soft echo like the Loews across the street. You’ll hear it when they play the video presentation because they use the theatre’s sound system (a modern sound system, whose speakers have been placed in the ceiling above the stage).

JeffS
JeffS on March 26, 2005 at 2:29 pm

TC, wait till you see the auditorium. It’s a sight to behold! The stars come out, and the clouds float by. So cool! I’m told the cieling was once painted sky blue, and not the white color it’s painted now (maybe Bill can verify that since he went there alot when he was younger). Even so, the effect isn’t really lost in the dark.

Bill: the tourguides were learning as much from you, as we were from them. They only knew the place as it looked when they first walked in: a dump. Not as it was previously.

I wish I had remembered to bring my camera.