Branford Theatre
11 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
11 Branford Place,
Newark,
NJ
1 person
favorited this theater
Built in 1920 with Fred Wentworth as architect, the Branford was long one of the top movie theatres in downtown Newark due to its link to the Stanley-Warner circuit. To achieve a seating capacity of 2,844 in the auditorium, lobby and stage facilities were kept to a minimum, earning the Branford a reputation as a “big barn” without architectural distinction. It was demolished in 1985.
Contributed by
Warren G. Harris
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Recent comments (view all 24 comments)
The October 17, 1933 issue of weekly Variety reported that the Branford Theatre was “topping everything in town” with WB’s “Footlight Parade,” but “the tilted price scale, going to 55 cents and 65 cents weekdays, is meeting resistance. Balcony is jammed at all times, but the orchestra was only partially filled during matinees. Nights filled, but no big holdouts. Film greatly liked and might pull a grand $22,000 in opening week, with seven shows daily.”
The direct link to the photo posted above on 3/10/08 has been changed to: View link
What an incredible marquee! The “upgraded” marquee posted by TC on 7/10/07 is also handsome, but IMO, doesn’t compare to the original plus what must have been a beautiful Blade. Another shame for Newark that it appears that none of its palaces was able to survive whereby “lowly” Jersey City was able to keep two.
The RKO Proctor’s, Paramount and Adam’s Theaters are still standing, but have been closed for MANY years.
Thanks Bob, I’ll look those theaters up on CT. Is there any hope (or desire) on anyone’s part in Newark to restore those theaters? Is there anything to restore? It seems things are finally starting to look up in Newark.
Here is a 1942 news story from the Pittsburgh-Post Gazette:
http://tinyurl.com/8qfvam
Here is a 1981 photo. It looks like there were four screens at that time:
http://tinyurl.com/c8vuzm
Here are two more 1981 photos:
Photo1
Photo2
1933 medal:
View link
The only time I recall being in the Branford was in 1982. I was in downtown Newark with a couple of hours to kill, and it was about the only cinema still open. By then it had been cut up into a four-plex, the interior was coated in that ugly color scheme of dark red and blue that the Stanley-Warner chain was so fond of, and this once proud first-run movie palace was showing crap like “Drive-In Massacre.†How very sad.