Hyway Theater

Unfortunately, I was there not when it was a single theater...I remember in 1974, they showed the premiere of "The Savage is Loose" with an appearance by George C. Scott (while his wife, Trish Vandevere appeared across the county at the Wayne Preakness)...must have been something , seeing George C. outside the Hyway. I remember the Hyway played Jaws...I have the newspaper ads from these. Must've been a great single screen theater.

Now, it's cut up into five screens. I was there when it was a twin. But the front 3 theaters are small with mono sound (at least when I was there)...these once great theaters are now chopped up into sardine cans to feed the public their daily dose of crap (meaning most movies)...I wouldn't go to the highway to see a flick that rquires a large screen, digital sound and good projection... anyone have any pictures from the Hyway's heyday?

Is that the correct spelling of the name? In the 1957 Film Daily Year Book, it's listed as the Hiway Theatre, with a seating capacity of 1,064. The address is given as "Broadway & Midland Avenue."

I believe the correct spelling is Hyway. It seems like it had more than the 1064 seats originally listed.

The vertical marquee and all advertising for the theatre spell it "HYWAY".

Can anyone tell me if this was ever a nice theater? I went there once about 8 years ago and won't go back again. Not that it was awful but it wasn't very nice either. And it's not like it's a bargain. But they still get first run movies.

It was a great theater in the 40's and early 50's when it was a single theater.

On a Saturday afternoon the placed was often filled to capacity because of the double feature, 10 cartoons, movie serial or the races. The races showed the worst stereotypes of all the ethnic minorities...would never be able to show those things today.

The HYWAY theater was my childhood movie palace. It was a single theater then ... and it was run by a tough all-business manager named Louis Lefkowitz. He ran it like a high class hotel. I recall him coming outside to make sure everyone was lined up correctly at the box office and that there was no horseplay. I saw some great films there in the 70's. PATTON, BANANAS, BIG JAKE, EARTHQUAKE, JAWS. The tix were 75 cents for kids, as I recall. I still have the stubs I saved in a jar. I even recall fauntly the premiere of THE BLUE MAX at the HYWAY complete with spotlight that rotated in the night sky. It turned into a twin and then into a 2nd and 3rd run
theatre at bargain prices. Then it closed up for a year or more and was turned into a 5 screener. It is now a shadow of what it was. It is dirty and unkempt. No regard is given to the marquee which
frequently dislays mis-spelled words. IT was once grand and is a monument to cramming in as many people as possible in shoebox auditoriums with bad sound and poor sight lines. I never go back.

JIM C. from NJ: nice to see someone posting about the Hyway. I actually live in Fair Lawn now and my wife and I were only in the theater once to see "Speed" back in 1994. I can't say the place was a nightmare (like the Hawthorne is...) but it wasn't very nice either. Then again, the Broadway corridor where the Hyway is must've been a LOT nice back then as well.

Because of it's location, it's managed to stay open and there seems to always be a bit of a crowd there. What's more amazing to me is that this place actually gets a lot of the firt run movies.

You'd think some smart person could turn it around and really make it nice, right?

I never was at the Hyway when it was a single (wish I was) as I was always at it's sister theater the Wayne Preakness (they both played the same films) I saw Amadeus and Dawn of the dead at the twin theater, it wasn't bad, but then I saw Species 2 at the 5 plex. What a dank, depressing mono sound bad projection uncomforatable, small theater. I'll never go there again. It's a big neighborhood theater so the townies go there.

I also will never go to the Hawthorne anymore (my God, what a shoebox) I saw The Poseidon Adventure and Blazing Saddles and Patton and One Million Years B.C there when it was a palace.

Those theaters with the Allwood and Claridge in Montclair. Former grand palaces now 5 plexes that are the dankest of hellholes.

In 1959 the Hyway is billed as a Fabian house.

Jim C. talked about the premiere of "The Blue Max". Here's the 1966 ad for it. Notice that not only the Hyway, but also the Teaneck Theatre was playing a reserved-seat engagement. It was a popular way to make a special event out of a movie in those days. Not like these days ... but the less said about that the better.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y231/billhuelbig/bluemax.jpg

WoW...The Hyway as a premiere theater...those were the days...in 1974, they had the premiere of "The Savage is Loose" with an appearance by George C. Scott. I have the ad. Wonder if anone has pictures from that. Have you seen the marquee now at the Hyway. Man, talk about bland.

As "bad" as the Hyway may seem, you get better service there and at the Teaneck 4 (or whatever it's called these days...) than you get at the mega-multi-whatever-plexes. Perhaps it's private ownership but these types of places are getting more appealing.

And the Hyway gets all the first run films. The presentation might be a tad shoddy but this place still gets crowds.

I went to the Hyway during the 1950's and 1960's. In the 50's you could get in for 50 cents, watch two movies, cartoons and the "race". A great afternoon of fun. Kids lined up around the corner down Midland past the parking lot to where the houses began. I think the last movie a saw there was the Beatles "A Hard Days Night." Been a Beatle fan ever since.

I believe the front 3 theaters (shoeboxes) are still mono sound....it's a good neighborhood theater but not one I'd travel to.

Last time I pasted the Hi-Way Theatre it was closed. It is going to be turned into a medical building.

For more info on it see the link below:

http://www.broadwaysid.com/index.asp

A medical building is what Fair Lawn just needs in this economy.

Let's face it: Broadway needs a lot of things and none of them will be easy. While I don't particularly like the Hyway theater, it's closing would remove one of the few things on the thoroughfare that brings in people after 5:00 PM.

Sad to see the Hyway go. Just another example of a local movie theatre disappearing.

1986 Photo

Great Pictute!

Is the theater actually closed now?

Even though it's not actually in Paramus, this was the last of the classic style theaters in the area. First the Paramus Picture Show went, then the little theater in front of Garden State Plaza, and lastly the Tenplex on rt. 4. It's sad that, other than that generic, cold, factory style AMC theater at the mall, there won't be any other movie theaters in the area. AMC, with their Walmart style of operations, has really found a way to eliminate the competition. I remember the days, not too long ago, when each movie theater in North Jersey was special in its own way, not cookie cutter copies of each other. It's a shame that the younger generation doesn't have the respect for the classics that us "old folks" do, and just accept whatever piece of "new" crud is put in front of them. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the Hyway was a cinematic gem, like the Tenplex was in its heyday, but I'd still take it over any AMC googleplex in a heartbeat. :(

I went by the theatre the other day and it was completely gutted inside and the "HYWAY" neon sign above the marquee was being removed.

Oh crap, I can't believe I just heard today that this theater had closed! There is an article about it in today's Record newspaper. I grew up in Elmwood Park and used to walk to this theater when I was a kid. Is the Hyway sign really gone? Had I known beforehand, I would've gone on closing night and seen a movie and snapped a few photos.

I wish someone could post some pictures of this theater when it was in its "heyday". I can't imagine what it must have looked like. Right now the false facade is ripped off the front of the theater facing Broadway/Route 4. You can see that the original building had some kind of curving front where I assume the marquee was (and I think is confirmed by the 1986 photo posted by 'Lost Memory' where it appears like the titles gently "curve" around the front of the building). I'd like to know what made the owners sell. Although I really didn't like this theater (it was a fairly typical neighborhood place, not overly well maintained but OK), I picked up my daughter once after she and some friends saw a movie and there was quite a crowd. This was only about 2 years ago.

The owner of the theatre where I work knows the owners of this former theatre. They weren't going to invest the money needed for digital projection, and they got a boat load of money for the building. Its like anything else today, show me the money.

Money. That makes sense because it certainly wasn't due to attendance being off. It was a decent, neighborhood place that people in the area could actually walk to. And the outside was never dirty or anything. Sad that it took money to finally bring it down.

The opening of the AMC Garden State Plaza 16 effectively killed the Hyway because AMC now had booking clearance over them and the Hyway would not have been able to get the top films any longer.

You'd never know a theater existed here if you saw it now. They've done a complete renovation on the site effectively wiping out anything from the theater.