Ramsey Cinema
125 E. Main Street,
Ramsey,
NJ
07446
125 E. Main Street,
Ramsey,
NJ
07446
2 people
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Cool theatre.
this theater now has 3d projection.
> and rebuilt seats by the new operator
Those were “balcony” seats, they were designed to be mounted on a level floor. Unfortunately, this theatre had a sloped floor, so the seat backs tilted slightly forward, making them rather uncomfortable. The rows were rather close together for a total seating of around 400. In the summer 1980, those seats were replaced with better seating purchased used from the closing little Willowbrook Mall Cinemas. At that time the seating was reduced to 296, giving more leg room with wider rows. There is no basement.
An item in Boxoffice of June 20, 1960, announced the reopening of this theater which had been closed for eight years. The item calls it the East Main Street Theatre, but I think the writer must have mistaken the location for the name. The house had been closed by the Board of health in 1952 following a series of fires. It was updated with new wiring, wide screen, and rebuilt seats by the new operator, Bertil J. Carlson.
Boxoffice gave the seating capacity in 1960 as 296, so I’m wondering how they’ve managed to not only twin it but increase seating to 380. From the photos it’s apparent that the building has not been expanded. Did they add an auditorium in the basement?
Looked much better with the old marquee, but at least its still in business.
The marquee was taken down in the 1980’s, but the theater’s front remains the same.
The marquee was already gone by December of 1979 and the flat marquee in use today was there. The only difference was back then, there was a picture of a crown between the words Ramsey and Cinema.
This was the Ramsey in 1988.
Hello – I am very happy to tell you I visited this theater last month and took a photo of the exterior of the building:
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I did go inside, but the photo I took of the stage and curtain was unusable. Other than the partitioned room, the theater itself is small and plain. I regret not taking pics of the lobby as that was somewhat more decorated, but according to the manager may not have been the original interior structure. The manager did recommend a Ron Kase book titled Images of America RAMSEY, published by Arcadia in 2001 and captioned the following photo:
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The Ramsey Theatre is shown as it appeared in 1940. The marquee was taken down in the 1980’s, but the theater’s front remains the same.
According to the Bergen Record on 3/27/07 Page L01, this theater once showed silent films, placing it older than my 3/2/06 post.
This is the only movie theater in Ramsey remaining after the closing of the Loews Interstate theater. Did most of the employees of the now gone Franklin theater in Nutley move to the Ramsey location along with the digital sound and projection equipment from that triplex?
This theater is very family oriented these days and usually runs the most current G or PG movies to attract all of the kids. They also frequently have personalized children’s birthday messages on the marquis.
I really can’t believe that this theatre has been twinned. The theatres must be the size of a closet! I used to go there with my parents in the early 70’s for their $1.00 double features like The Organization / Diamonds are Forever. The place would be totally sold out. I recall one showing I went to, the management would let people sit on the floor in the eisles along the walls! Incredible! Thank god there was never a fire!
I also recall the theatre was closed for a long time and reopened in the late 60’s – early 70’s.
Listed in the 1944 FDY. Listed as part of Island Theatre Circuit in the 1961 Film Daily Yearbook.
Listed as a single screen independent theatre in the 1991 International Motion Picture Almanac. Owner is P. Vivian, who also owned the Franklin in Nutley.