Bellevue Cinema 4

260 Bellevue Avenue,
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043

Unfavorite 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

Bellevue Cinema 4

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

Recent comments (view all 62 comments)

walterk
walterk on September 3, 2020 at 10:37 am

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/

Robert Kratky
Robert Kratky on June 20, 2021 at 2:21 pm

I passed by the Bellvue on Friday and the marquee read, “Coming Soon”. Not sure how long that message has been up.

HowardBHaas
HowardBHaas on June 20, 2021 at 2:42 pm

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/

kg4jup
kg4jup on June 23, 2021 at 9:03 am

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.

PeterApruzzese
PeterApruzzese on June 23, 2021 at 9:39 am

The Bellevue wasn’t equipped for Cinerama, so you most likely saw your shows at the Clairidge in Montclair.

PeterApruzzese
PeterApruzzese on June 24, 2021 at 7:52 am

CCPI - you are correct, I forget they ran the one CineMiracle movie.

PeterApruzzese
PeterApruzzese on June 26, 2021 at 8:23 pm

Thank you for the mention, CCMPI. Those 10 years I spent up there were hard work but very rewarding.

MSC77
MSC77 on December 31, 2021 at 12:18 pm

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.

vindanpar
vindanpar on February 6, 2023 at 3:16 pm

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.

Moviefan333
Moviefan333 on February 7, 2023 at 11:13 am

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.

You must login before making a comment.

New Comment

Subscribe Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.