Roosevelt Theatre

796 Clinton Avenue,
Newark, NJ 07108

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Robzak
Robzak on February 5, 2020 at 3:45 am

My grandmother lived around the corner on South 16th street, and as a 10 year-old boy I stayed with her during Christmas vacation of 1960. She allowed me to walk down to the Roosevelt—alone—to see Elvis in “G.I. Blues.” I sat in the theater watching it three times in a row, and returned the next day to do it again! A second feature of Frank Sinatra’s “Some Came Running” was also showing, if I remember correctly, but I could have seen that the Christmas before. It would be interesting to see the movie schedule pages from the local paper of that week to verify my memories.

jacobms
jacobms on April 7, 2016 at 6:19 pm

I worked as a building superintendent in a building near the theater. As of April 2016 the theater building still stands and is currently owned by a church. The entrance part of the building is used as the actual church while the theater building itself (with some 1000 seats) is currently laying in disrepair as the pastor of the church is attempting to raise the funds to restore it and use it for his services. Parts of the roof appears to have collapsed but the rest of the exterior looks fine.

Southern Comfort
Southern Comfort on March 7, 2016 at 7:31 am

The photo at the top of the page comes from the Roger Katz collection on CinemaTour. If you go to CinemaTour you will see a much sharper version along with other photos.

JERSEYBORN
JERSEYBORN on August 19, 2013 at 7:59 pm

THE ROOSEVELT’S AUDITORIUM WAS OFFSET TO THE LEFT SIDE, AT THE END OF THE ENTRANCE LOBBY. IF YOU LOOK AT GOOGLE MAPS, YOU CAN SEE A RATHER LARGE BUILDING IN BACK OF THE BUILDING NEXT TO THE ROOSEVELT. I SAW ALL THE HORROR MOVIES OF THE 1960’s IN THAT THEATER. GOOD MEMORIES :)

Rocco
Rocco on July 29, 2013 at 1:28 am

I agree the church is what use to be the roosevelt. I watched the 7th voyage of sin bad, the Steve Reeves Hercules series and many other movies there. Lots of fun and it was an inexspensive adventure.

pmaguire
pmaguire on August 6, 2009 at 5:02 pm

I went to the Roosevelt every Saturday from 1949 to 1955. The Saturday matinee cost $.25. There were two movies and cartoons.
Candy was a nickel. We always sat at exit 4 because the aisle was wide. We lived on Voorhees Street and I went to Blessed Sacrament grammar school. Great memories of a wonderful,simple time.

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on January 30, 2009 at 5:12 pm

As I stated before, I did go to Newark. This theater is still there and is now a church. I did not get inside, but I did take photos of the exterior which are at http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=31433 .

bigmoviefan
bigmoviefan on January 30, 2009 at 9:21 am

Thank you Roger for the information on the Roosevelt. I stand corrected! I’m glad it’s still there, whatever it’s use. What a totally clever way to put a large movie theater in the middle of a crowded city block!!. I wish I could remember how long the entry was. When you’re a kid, your sense of scale is pretty skewed. I do recall that the interior was also white and that the screen and stage area had a gold-colored arch over the middle and a similarly-colored column on either side. As previously stated, this was a very nice theater in it’s day, definitely a cut above some of the lowlier neighborhood houses that could be found in the Newark area. I wonder what the interior looks like now.

Roger Katz
Roger Katz on December 25, 2008 at 6:18 am

Use maps.live.com and do the birdseye view. It seems the theatre is still there! Look at the building in red. It seems like a small lobby building with along tunnel leading to an auditorium. I’ll be there next week to take photos and see for sure, but this pretty positively looks like a theatre.

bigmoviefan
bigmoviefan on September 6, 2008 at 12:20 am

I did a satellite search of the Roosevelt’s address. Apparently, this theater is gone. There is a house on the address. I panned the satellite image, using the church on the corner of Leslie St and Clinton Ave as my starting point. I remember that parking was always a rather tricky thing. My parents would usually park somewhere on Leslie St and we would walk toward Clinton Ave, past the church and turn left onto Clinton Ave. A few hundred feet more and there was the Roosevelt. I do remember that the exterior was white. Back then, in the early 60s, you could still walk and not get killed. As a matter of fact, at one time, this part of Newark was home to a very large Jewish population. One of the largest synagogues in Newark was located a short distance doen the street from the Roosevelt. This temple had a huge swimming pool and gym!! Now, it’s a war zone. Very sad.

teecee
teecee on March 2, 2006 at 4:24 am

Listed in the 1944 FDY as part of Warner Bros. Listed as part of Stanley Warner Corp. in the 1961 Film Daily Yearbook.

asadsack
asadsack on January 18, 2006 at 4:14 pm

I went to the Roosevelt a few times in the early 60s. I saw “Sink The Bismark” and “The Lost World”. My parents grew up in Newark and
they told me what a nice place the Roosevelt had always been. Don't
remember much more about it.