Valleyview Cinemas

I saw Marooned there in 69 when it was the Jerry Lewis Cinema. It was the roadshow version with an intermission. Through the mid 70's I was there constantly. It was the best small cinema I've ever been to. The screen had a "in your face quality" that the the moviegoing experience very special there. Mom would take us every week there. They had 99cent shows. In the 70's it was called the Wayne mall Theater. Then it went to pornography and became an eyesore for wayne NJ.
I was overjoyed when in 1996 it was refurbished as the Valleyview Twin. They cut the theater in 2 and made a nice neighborborhood twin cinema. The prints are sharp and the atmosphere good.I do miss the single screen cinema but it's great that it is restored and not a victim of the wrecking ball

Here is the homepage:
http://www.galaxy-movie-theatre.com/wayne/index.html

I found an ad from May 1972 and the there is a theatre listed called The Little Cinema in Wayne. It is showing an adult feature (the ads then were so classy, it looks like a regular movie). Was this the Jerry Lewis before it became the Valleyview?

Owned by the father-son team of Spiros and Stefan Papas as of 4/9/98.
The Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), April 9, 1998 p045

This theatre has been part of the Galaxy Theatre Corp. since January 2001.

RobertR:

The Little Cinema was actually located inside the Willowbrook Mall. I believe the Valleyview/Jerry Lewis was known as the "Ramapo Plaza Adult Cinema" during its x-rated run.

Interesting fact Peter. Check out this article, which talks about a Ramapo Theater at this location that burned down in 1994 and was then part of an insurance scam:


http://web1.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/infomark/538/575/64645857w1/purl=rc1_SP02_0_CJ70523741&dyn=6!ar_fmt?sw_aep=njslnews_hcl

TC....how do you get on that site...there's a password login??

The Little Cinema stated in 1970 as one theater then they made another down the hall. Both small but descent theaters.

The p/w is my library card number (a NJ perk). Here is the article:

The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Dec 8, 1999 pL3
ADULT-THEATER OWNER SENTENCED IN INSURANCE SCAM; GETS 4 YEARS FOR SUBMITTING INFLATED CLAIMS ON WAYNE FIRE. (NEWS) Dan Kraut.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 1999 Bergen Record Corp.

By DAN KRAUT, Staff Writer

The owner of a defunct adult theater in Wayne was sentenced Tuesday to four years in prison for trying to scam two insurance companies after his business burned down.

The sentencing came five months after Jack Chesner admitted submitting claims to two insurers in 1994 in which he said the Ramapo Theater was worth more than $100,000, even though he knew it to be worth less.

Chesner's scheme unraveled when investigators found the insurance policies were not purchased until hours after the fire at the Ramapo Plaza Mall at Valley Road and Hamburg Turnpike, authorities said. He tried to cover his tracks by submitting premium checks dated before the fire.

Chesner, a retail and entertainment consultant who lives in Union, was indicted in January on charges that could have led to a maximum of 10 years in prison. Under a deal reached in the summer, however, authorities agreed he would be sentenced to between three and five years in exchange for a guilty plea, said Edward M. Neafsey, state insurance fraud prosecutor.

Because Chesner never collected any money in connection with the scheme, he was charged with attempted theft by deception.

Chesner, who was 67 when he pleaded guilty this summer, asked for a reduced sentence Tuesday because of poor health. Superior Court Judge John Triarsi, who presided over the case in Elizabeth, rejected the request, Neafsey said. The judge also imposed a $2,000 fine.

The fire was never fully explained. Officials initially suspected that a natural-gas leak at the Plaza set the stage for an explosion and subsequent blaze. But the structure was demolished before the investigation was completed, Neafsey said, leaving questions unanswered. Prosecutors do not suspect arson.

Chesner has also pleaded guilty in federal court to filing false tax returns and to obstructing an Internal Revenue Service investigation. He is scheduled to be sentenced for those crimes in February and remains free on bail until then, Neafsey said.

Chesner will begin his prison time after federal sentencing and will ultimately serve the longer of the two sentences.

Attempts to reach Chesner or his lawyer Tuesday evening were unsuccessful.

Chesner made news in 1994 during an unsuccessful bid to open an adult shop in Rochelle Park.

*****


Article CJ70523741

Photo from the old Galaxy website:
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y147/Chuck1231/New%20Jersey%20Theatres/ValleyViewCinemasWayneNJ.jpg

This theater closed recently - it's being converted to a Panera Bread restaurant.

This theater is closed?? NOW I'm depressed. I was at the first show ever when it was the Jerry Lewis...I saw "Marooned" there...then in the 70's it turned porno for many years..then a fire...then I remember being overjoyed reading that it was going to be re-opened as a regular movie house..only twinned...I remember walking inside during the construction and going down memory lane...I thought the Valleyview as a twin was a great throwback to the small intimate theaters from the 70's. The projection was crisp and the sound good. I saw many movies there from 1996...took my Mother there alot as she took me there when I was a kid. I saw the re-released "Exorcist" in 2000, I saw it there in 74 too when it was a single screen...I think I know why it's out of business..

IT WAS RUN WRONG..

I never could understand why they didn't have more shows... They would only have 1 evening show on weeknights and weekend shows didn't start till late afternoon...the surroundings consisted of many apartment complexes and William Paterson College for Godsake!!! Most residents where elderly who go to movies...they had the perfect location for a neighborhood house..I even wrote to the powers that be to incorporate a classic film show , the same way the Lafayette does...I mean, with the apartments and the college, they would have done fine....but they just continued to have late shows only and only 1....If they had an afternoon show and even a late afternoon, 4-5pm, they would have gotten the after school crowd and more....there was no effort....that's why these theaters are dying...now another one from the past is gone for a freakin restaurant....and there's no reason....I applied for a manager job before it opened...I wish I got it...

a bummmer

can someone post a photo of the theater...all of a sudden I can't find one and the links here don't work...I'd appreciate it

The May 18, 1970, issue of Boxoffice ran an article about the Jerry Lewis Cinema. They gave the opening date as March 25, 1970. The company that built the Jerry Lewis theaters, Network Cinemas Corporation, had been formed in September, 1969, so they had managed to get their first theater open in about six months. The interiors of the theater were designed by Robin Wagner, but Boxoffice didn't give the name of the architect.

This is how it looked at the end.