Center Theatre

1517 Atlantic Avenue,
Atlantic City, NJ 08401

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Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on April 7, 2023 at 1:21 pm

I am. The original ad was in the ACP on a Sunday. It showed Funny Girl Starting May 23 and Oliver starting May 29.Both shows were roadshow and had the mail in order info. They did not advertise Sweet Charity at the Virginia. I also know Sweet Charity closed August 14 and they opened Krakatoa August 15. Now it is possible that the ads for FG and Airport were incorrect. As I remember it was not on the posters in store windows either. Hamid had posters for all his 5 theaters all over AC in store windows. Doctor Dolittle didn’t play all summer. The Hollywood got Boom with Liz and Dick on August 8, 1968.Movies were a big thing to me as a kid and I loved the old theaters. Now AC, Ocean City and Wildwood are are defunct of movie theaters even though that is going to change this summer in Ocean City. The Sound Of Music opened the Ocean Theater in Wildwood in 1966 and it may have been 70MM. I don’t know that for sure. I do know they had a great curved screen with double curtains. I love the 70MM sight and glad you put the information out there.

MSC77
MSC77 on April 6, 2023 at 10:01 am

Mikeoaklandpark: Thomas Hauerslev is the owner/editor of the In70mm .com website. I am one of the contributing editors and the one who did up the Atlantic City article we’ve been discussing here.

I will double check the ACP ads for the films in question, though it was only a few weeks ago I did the research and is still fresh in my mind whereas I’m guessing you’re basing your claim off of a 50-plus-year-old memory of looking at those ads?

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on April 5, 2023 at 10:51 am

There were several times the ACP showed in the ads for Funny Girl and Airport 70MM. yes, nothing showed on the marquee of either films that it was 70MM. I definitely remember the ads. So is the 70MM site yours? It’s awesome. I loved what you posted because I didn’t know WSS played the Virginia. And yes, the curved screen didn’t necessary mean 70MM. The screen at the Center was much better than the Virginia. The Virginia had no masking or curtains. The Center had both. So did the Roxy. I never understood why Hamid had the Virginia as the major roadhouse theater because the Roxy and Center were much better.

MSC77
MSC77 on April 4, 2023 at 1:56 pm

Mikeoaklandpark: The ACP did NOT include any “70mm” presentations notations for the three titles in question at any point during their run (unless you consider as evidence the “Produced in Todd-AO” credit embedded in the artwork of “Doctor Dolittle” and “Airport”). And having a “gigantic curved screen” is not necessarily indicative of a 70mm presentation. Ever notice the photo of the Center’s marquee during the “Funny Girl” run also lacks any mention of 70mm? As well, I’ve not found any evidence the Hollywood Theater was 70mm equipped at any point in its life. What’s your evidence it was so equipped? (And don’t you realize the “they” you keep referring to is me?)

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on April 4, 2023 at 12:40 pm

MSC77 interesting. The ACP showed it in the paper that all three were 70MM.I saw Funny Girl twice at the Center and they had a gigantic curved screen. You have any clue where they get their information from?

MSC77
MSC77 on April 4, 2023 at 9:51 am

Mikeoaklandpark: That is because “they” found no credible evidence to support what you are claiming.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on April 3, 2023 at 11:32 am

They left out Funny Girl in 1969. It was in 70MM. Also, the Hollywood next door presented Doctor Dolittle and Airport in 70MM. They don’t even list that theater.

MSC77
MSC77 on April 3, 2023 at 8:48 am

A chronology of Atlantic City’s 70mm presentations history has recently been published. The Center gets some mentions in the piece.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 11, 2023 at 8:25 am

This opened as the Colonial on July 2nd, 1913. ad posted.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 8, 2023 at 3:42 am

Closed or stopped its ads in 1976. Listed under the GG Northern listings late 1960’s-1972.

MSC77
MSC77 on October 6, 2021 at 11:59 am

m00se1111… It’s unclear to me if you are being genuine or snarky. My query was not a request for tips on how to conduct research (and you’d know this if you were familiar with my hundreds of articles and thousands of internet postings). Anyway, 1962 is the year in question (not 1961). And moreover the NJ State Library does not in fact possess the Atlantic City newspaper for the relevant timeframe.

MSC77
MSC77 on October 1, 2021 at 9:07 pm

Did “West Side Story” have a roadshow run at this venue?

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on December 16, 2017 at 10:22 am

I think Camelot played the Shore, but I am not 100% sure

MSC77
MSC77 on December 14, 2017 at 10:36 am

Does anyone know/recall if “Camelot” had its Atlantic City roadshow run at this venue?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on April 24, 2014 at 8:53 pm

The August 9, 1913, issue of Motography had this item about the opening of a house called the Colonial Theatre, but it gives a different location for it:

“Crowds flocked to the handsome new Colonial theater at Atlantic avenue, between New York and Kentucky avenues, Atlantic City, the afternoon of July 2, to attend the opening performance. Words of praise were heard on all sides for the up-to-date manner in which the new house is to be conducted and for its general appearance. Six capital pictures are shown each afternoon and evening. Chris S. Hand is the able general manager of the house and he has a competent staff of assistants.”
I don’t know if the magazine just got the location wrong, or if there actually was another, short-lived Colonial Theatre a few blocks from this one.

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on April 17, 2014 at 7:02 am

Funny Girl was shown here in 70MM

TheALAN
TheALAN on April 15, 2014 at 9:58 pm

In case we missed something —

This theater opened as the Colonial Theatre in 1914, two blocks from the boardwalk. Located at 1517 Atlantic Avenue near Mississippi Avenue, it seated 1,391. Renamed the Center Theatre in 1954. Yes, the theater was capable of screening 70mm as it was equipped with 35mm/70mm Philips/Norelco projectors and Ashcraft Super Cinex carbon arc lamps. “Greased Lightning” starring Richard Pryor (Warner Bros.—July, 1977) was the last motion picture to be seen at the Center Theatre. The lettering was still on the marquee when the theatre was demolished. The site is now a part of Renaissance Plaza, a shopping center built in 1996. A KFC/Taco Bell now stands where the Center Theatre once stood.

rivoli157
rivoli157 on November 13, 2011 at 9:46 am

Summer 1969 Funny Girl was playing at the Center.I have pics but am unable to upload

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on April 6, 2009 at 7:26 pm

This is a 1968 photo when the Center was showing adult films. In the 1970s it was showing first run films, as I recall, circa 1974-1976.
http://tinyurl.com/cmpktt

edblank
edblank on May 27, 2008 at 5:18 pm

I had not realized that only the Atlantic Avenue theaters stayed open in the off-season.

emayfieldz
emayfieldz on May 12, 2007 at 2:55 pm

I was an usherette at the Center in the mid-1960s for two long-run films, “My Fair Lady” and “Lawrence of Arabia.” I believe they tried the long-runs to revitalize attendance. Can’t remember how long each one ran, but seems to me over 10 weeks each. Long enough for me to know every line of every character in each film!

Crazy Bob Madara
Crazy Bob Madara on September 7, 2006 at 12:53 pm

The Center Theatre had 35/70mm Philips/Nelrelco projectors & Ashcraft Super Cinex carbon arc lamps. Ed Hiltner of Brigantine was the main projectoinist there. My last memory of the Center was in the Summer of 1976. I was running matinee’s at the Hollywood, next door, and Ed was showing a film called “The River Niger”. It was in the summer of ‘73 that the Center showed “The Devil And Miss Jones” for many weeks.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 25, 2006 at 9:55 am

I was in Atlantic City in January. The area by Columbus Park has been completely redeveloped with chain stores, but no movie theater. That seems like an odd omission if you’re trying to get people out of the casinos and into the mall several blocks from the boardwalk. If the retailers are counting on the locals, they are in trouble.