Plainfield Edison Drive-In
1659 Oak Tree Road,
Edison,
NJ
08820
1659 Oak Tree Road,
Edison,
NJ
08820
2 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Architects: Drew Eberson
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Jun 18, 2010 — "Jaws"... Happy 35th!
- May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
Opened March 25, 1964 with Gregeory Peck & Tony Curtis in “Captain Newman”. It had parking for 1,400 cars and an indoor Edison Theatre which seated 1,000. The Edison Theatre was twinned December 3, 1976. This former UA drive-in closed on September 3, 1984 with Michael Caine in “Jigsaw Man” & Tom Selleck in “Lassiter”. It was afterward demolished and replaced by a strip mall.
Contributed by
RobertR
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Recent comments (view all 28 comments)
Oh yes I remember that popcorn room very well. Thankfully when I worked there the manager put whoever he didnt like or who was under age to work long hours back there. I only did a few shifts back there in my years there.
Roderick, unfortunately i do not recall the colors of the trains. I also never got to ride it, but recall seeing it in operation. I remember the concession stand excatly as you described it. Yes, that drive-in had to be the place to go on weekends back at its peak. I remember being in an architect’s office and seeing the rendering for this very drive-in. I saw it in his office back in the late 80’s. It was a full sized framed painting and must have been the conceptual picture of what the theatre would look like when it wss built. Funny, I recall staring at that picture and all my memories of that place played out in my head. Those were certainly good times, when family values and togetherness meant something.
We all must have been travelling in the same circles, or at least very close. While you guys worked the vinema, i was next door working at Roy Rodgers,1976-1978. When your movie let out on a Friday or Saturday night it was like a flood at Roy’s. In fact, our store did the highest $ sales in NJ, no doubt thanks to your theatre. We would close Roys and go to Jack in the Box on Parsonage across from the mall. Life was so simple then.
saw Mark of the Devil and another horror flick I can’t remember somtime in the 70s…also, I worked at the Turnpike Indoor/Outdoor in 79 and 1 nite had to drive bags of popocorn to this place (both UA owned) and it was a rainy nite and I almost got creamed at the notoriously dangerous Green Street circle
I grew up in the area, but never went to this drive-in; I was too young when it closed, but I remember driving down Oak Tree Road with my parents from Edison into Iselin and checking out the movie that was visible on the big screen as you came down the hill. I thought that was so cool. Thanks for posting this and to all the other commenters; it brought back great memories.
This opened on March 25th, 1964. I uploaded the grand opening ad and an aerial of the indoor theatre.
This drive-in complex had three screens. The December 3rd, 1976 grand opening ad for the indoor twin can be found in the photo section for this cinema.
Final night of operation for the drive-in was September 3, 1984 with “Jigsaw Man” and “Lassiter”. That was also the final night for another Middlesex County drive-in, the Turnpike.
Why the Plainfield part of the name?
James E. Thompson architect – sketch in photos.