Embassy Theatre
7212 Bergenline Avenue,
North Bergen,
NJ
07047
7212 Bergenline Avenue,
North Bergen,
NJ
07047
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it was closed by the time i moved to the area. remember playing bingo there a couple of times.
Does anyone recall the old button factory located around 69 th street behind the theater? I’m sure the building must be gone by now.
I agree Tinseltoes A.K.A. Loews Embassy.
The Loew’s circuit took over the Embassy in 1930 and operated it for at least twenty years, a fact that needs to be mentioned in the introduction and also in an “aka” Loew’s Embassy above the main heading.
The Theatre is still definately at 7212 Bergenline. The theatre you are thinking between 68 and 70-th could bethe Alvin. Which was listed as 32 Bergenline. But since the street numbers changed no one is really sure where it was.
Interesting Photo’s. I sure my memory has faded over the years but I remember the theater being located between 68 Th & 70 Th streets. I was only 4 years old at the time back in 1946 but I can still recall walking to the movies on a Sat afternoon all by myself. My grandmother would have to come to the theater & drag me back home since they would repeat the cartoons over again after the main feature.
The Embassy Theatre had an invitational unveiling on March 31, 1929, and opened to the public on April 1st, according to a report in The New York Times at the time: “In type of construction and interior decoration, the theatre closely follows the lines of the Italian Renaissance. It is a three-story structure of gray terra cotta. The ceiling of the auditorium is richly decorated with modeled plaster panels in polychromatic blending of Roman blue, crimson, and gold, while the side walls give the effect of highly polished Sienna marble. The Embassy is owned by the Theatres Development Corporation, of which Henry Botjer is president. The seating capacity is 2,500. Percy Viverttis was the architect and Henry G. Auf der Heide the builder.” As I noted above on 11/17/04, Loew’s Theatres took over the operating lease in June, 1930.
Exterior photos here, including this one: View link
Bingo and wrestling; picture says it’s from 1982.
1959 ad (center – To Catch a Thief) courtesy of Bill Huelbig:
View link
A Robert-Morton organ was installed in this theater in 1928. It is listed as the “New” Embassy Theatre.
Nice story Vincent. Here is a complete text link:
http://www.homestead.com/biffsboards/Guiliano.html
I was born and raised in Fairview, NJ the next town over and as a child, I took the 22 Hillside bus down Bergenline Ave. to the Embassy theater. It was one of those wonderful old theaters with dark red velvet seats, chandeliers, beautiful lobby. I moved out of NJ at 20 in 1972 and always wondered what happened to it. It lives in my memories, and I wrote a short story about it, you can access it online by typing in its title, The Last Cool Summer, or my name.
Vincent Guiliano
This theatre became part of the Loew’s circuit in June, 1930, according to a news item in the New York State Exhibitor at the time. Prior to that, the Embassy had been owned and operated by an “indie” known as Theatre Development Corporation.
In the “golden days,” this was one of only three Loew’s theatres in the state of New Jersey. Unlike Loew’s Jersey City and Loew’s State in Newark, Loew’s Embassy was a subsequent-run situation, playing the same programs but after they’d finished at the other two theatres.
The Embassy Theatre was located at 7212 Bergenline Ave. and it seated 2169 people.