Bellevue Cinema 4
260 Bellevue Avenue,
Upper Montclair,
NJ
07043
260 Bellevue Avenue,
Upper Montclair,
NJ
07043
7 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Bow-Tie Cinemas, Clearview Cinemas, United Artists Theater Circuit Inc.
Architects: John H. Phillips
Styles: Tudor Revival
Previous Names: Bellevue Theatre, Clearview Bellevue Theatres
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 17, 2013 — “South Pacific” 55th Anniversary – The Roadshow Engagements
- Dec 9, 2012 — Happy 50th, “Lawrence of Arabia”
- Oct 18, 2011 — Happy 50th, "West Side Story"
- Mar 2, 2010 — Happy 45th, "The Sound Of Music"
- Dec 12, 2008 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 15: Northern New Jersey)
The Bellevue Theatre opened May 13 1922 in a former horse stable. The building is in a Tudor style, as is most of that section of town. United Artists triplexed the theatre on December 16, 1983, and an independent operator converted it into a quad, destroying all original design. Clearview took over in the 1990’s. In June 2013, Bow-Tie Cinemas took over, as it took most of Clearview’s locations.
The Bow-Tie Bellevue Cinema 4 was suddenly closed on November 12, 2017, as the lease was due to expire on November 30. The owner of the building hopes to reopen the building by fall of 2021.
Contributed by
Joe Masher
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Recent comments (view all 62 comments)
Plans to reopen the Bellevue were announced last January, an article in the Montclair Local laying out plans can be viewed here. The plan calls for adding 2 screens bringing the total to 6, but with 400 less seats total than previously, to accommodate an indoor/outdoor bar on the first floor and a restaurant on the second. In addition, more restrooms and an elevator will be added. Theatres will range from 42 to 106 seats. Six of the seven partners in the project are from Montclair, currently plans have not finished working their way through the zoning board.
last week the Local ran an article mentioning the current status of the project.
The developers do have a website for those interested:
https://thebellevuemontclair.com/
I passed by the Bellvue on Friday and the marquee read, “Coming Soon”. Not sure how long that message has been up.
the longtime building owner says she will reopen by the Fall. https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/essex/montclair/2021/05/14/montclair-nj-bellevue-theater-reopen-fall/5074763001/
As a young boy I saw “Windjammer” (in Cinemiracle) and “How the West Was Won” at the Bellevue. During one of those screenings, I don’t remember which one, one of the film strips broke. As I recall, it took almost an hour to repair the broken film strip, and then sync up the three projectors to continue the show.
The Bellevue wasn’t equipped for Cinerama, so you most likely saw your shows at the Clairidge in Montclair.
CCPI - you are correct, I forget they ran the one CineMiracle movie.
Thank you for the mention, CCMPI. Those 10 years I spent up there were hard work but very rewarding.
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Bellevue’s lengthy run is mentioned in the piece.
It’s strange that in Montclair which was the roadshow center of North Jersey neither the Bellevue nor the Clairidge which had played the big roadshow hits up until that point neither played Oliver or Funny Girl two of the last big roadshow hits. Maybe not even Zhivago.
The owners of the Cranford Theatre in Cranford New Jersey. They are now the owners of this theater the Bellevue theater. They were supposed to open it up again May 2022. But it looks like there’s some delays. Hopefully they can get it open sometime this year.