Cinema 46
1 US Highway 46,
Totowa,
NJ
07512
1 US Highway 46,
Totowa,
NJ
07512
3 people
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I believe this theater opened in the 60s or 70s. It closed in April 1997 after Sony expanded a theater to 14 screens nearby on Route 46. It had 70mm projection capabilities.
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tc
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
Sorry – that date is August 12, 1964.
My own most vivid memory of Cinema 46—the original auditorium, anyway—is that it had to be the most comfortable theatre I’ve ever been in. Plushy seats and more legroom than I’ve encountered anywhere else. Felt that the screen was maybe a little undersized for such a big auditorium, but I enjoyed a number of 70mm blowups on that screen regardless (“1941” and “Superman II” come to mind). I think the last movie I saw there was “Unforgiven,” which looked and sounded pretty spiffy, so I guess I was lucky enough not to experience what other posters describe as the place’s sad decline in its last few years. The two tacked-on theatres really suffered by comparison to the main hall in all departments—screen size, picture and sound quality, decor, comfort—suggesting a juxtaposition of two completely different eras and philosophies (showmanship vs. sheetrock) in building theatres.
Listed as a 3 screen in the 1991 International Motion Picture Almanac under the United Artists listing.
Correction: Mikeoaklandpark (in a June 2005 posting) says that A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC never played in New York. Not true, as that is where I saw it during its original East Coast run in the spring of 1978. It opened at what was then (I believe) called the Gemini Twin. I don’t think there are many examples of NYC not playing a movie because it was considered “bad.”
Breaking news….the CompUSA which replaced the old movie theater will be closing this year…so much for a so-so computer store that took over a popular location…maybe the movies should come back there….too bad OfficeMax is still popular where the old GC Totowa Cinema was located. The last movie I saw at that theater was “Hook”, which was an ok movie to see in a small auditorium in Totowa, where there was no 70mm version. According to fromscripttodvd.com, the last 70mm movie that played there was the box office flop The Black Cauldron, Disney’s first PG-rated cartoon.
I only ever two films at this theater:
HARDLY WORKING – (yeeesh…remember that one?)
and
PINK FLOYD: THE WALL (in 70mm/6-Track if I recall correctly…)
Guess which experience I still cherish?
The latter. You can relive that moment since that movie’s out on DVD and in 5.1 surround sound, also shown sometimes on MOJO (formerly INHD) HD. Which theater profited well, this one or the GC where an Officemax used to be?
Some signs of life coming back to Totowa…a Sonic drive-in just opened on the same road.
I lived in New Jersey briefly back in the early ‘80s, and remember Cinema 46 with affection.
Saw “E.T.” there at a sneak preview (wow! remember those?) Memorial Day weekend 1982.
They actually passed out little metal badges that you could pin onto your shirt saying, “I saw 'E.T.’”
I still have mine, in fact.
The funny thing is, the theater was barely half-full, and I remember thinking that the movie was going to be a b.o. disappointment.
Also have fond memories of some other Jersey theaters I patronized back then on a regular basis: the Royal and Center in Bloomfield; the Bellevue, Claridge and Wellmont in Montclair; the Essex Green
triplex; the Verona and Nutley theaters; Cinema 23 (in Montclair??); the Paramus Mall single-screener and the larger Paramus ‘plex with 70 mm capabilities (saw “One from the Heart,” “Quest for Fire” and “Annie” in 70 mm there that same year).
I was working at Cinema 46 the day of the “E.T.” sneak preview – people started lining up at 11am for the show. I called up the house manager at little while after opening when it looked like we were going to have a huge crowd (we hadn’t anticipated a crowd as the trailer and poster were met with indifference in the preceding weeks) and said that he should come in to supervise the event. We called in all off-duty staff as well. The official sneak preview (7:15, IIRC, and tagged onto the 5:30 show of Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid) was a complete sellout by late afternoon. After the show went in at 5, the manager decided to run an “unofficial” second show of ET at 9:30 by itself, which had about ¾’s of a house.