Warren Theatre
2015 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
2015 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 72 comments
There’s an IMAX over on the walk, which is a batch of stores close to Columbus Park. That area looks like a huge shopping mall. My former school at South Carolina and Pacific is now a Marriott hotel.
Ken, Any interesting changes in Atlantic City? Is there a functioning moviehouse of any kind within a mile or two of the area where the many Boardwalk and Atlantic Avenue theaters used to be?
I’m not sure about the eligibility. The theaters were part of the amusement pier and never really had their own identity. We had this discussion a while ago about the theater on the Queen Mary. I will take some pictures if I get over that way, though.
Ken, Sure would appreciate it if you’d take a photo of what’s left of Steel Pier and open the blog on Steel Pier with it. I’m sure many of us would like to contribute to that link. It had three moviehouses within it(though only two were used for films during the second part of the 20th Century), so it should be eligible. – Ed Blank
I’m going back to Atlantic City this weekend. I would take some pictures but offhand I can’t recall any theaters that are still standing. Even the Warner is down to a facade.
Thanks, all. Saved me a trip to the A.C. library.
The Roxy is here:
/theaters/11706/
Thanks, when I’m in AC I’ll check the AC “Press” for the time period I was there and see if the address in the ad matches that of the Stanley. Stay tuned.
I liked the Roxy a lot. I remember seeing “A Hole in the Head” there in the summer of 1959. Can’t remember any other specific films I saw there, and I don’t know when it closed. – Ed Blank
Yes, Ed, me, too. Do you have information about the Roxy on the boardwalk? Even Mr. Hauss hasn’t been able to uncover much history of that palace. I saw “The Big Country” there in October of 1958..a luxurious palace with a tremendous screen. All I know is that when I started researching “Windjammer” at the Warren/Warner which ran in the late summer of 1960, the Roxy was already not oprational, but I don’t know if had been demolished by then. I’m going to the A.C. library sometime in the next couple of weeks. Will keep you posted. Vince
Thank you very much for that start, VEYoung. Every year from 1954 through 1961 or maybe 1962, I spent a week in Atlantic City with my folks. I always went straight to the Steel Pier to get that week’s schedule and to work out a one-day itinerary so we could see the diving horse, the main movie, which was always in the Casino, the secondary movie, which played the larger Music Hall with that week’s name attraction (Guy Mitchell with his leg in a cast one year, a pairing of June Valli and Jean Carroll another year), as well as the water show at the end of the pier featuring the diving horse. For whatever reason, we never bothered with “Tony Grant’s Stars of Tomorrow” show, which was in a third theater. The Grant show might have been in the auditorium you refer to as the Ocean. I sure wish Steel Pier had a Cinema Treasures entry. – Ed Blank
Hi, Ed. I was just speaking yesterday with Allen Hauss, author of “Images of America: South Jersey Movie Houses.” In his book there is a little information on the Steel Pier and its theatres.“Steel Pier, Atlantic City, 1941. Built in 1900 at Virginia Avenue and the famous boardwalk, the Steel Pier is one of the most recognizable landmarks of Atlantic City. Movies arrived as an occasional attraction in the early 1900’s. By the 1930s, there were three theatres on the pier; the Music Hall (2,250 seats) with a vaudeville and film format, the Casino (2,000 seats), and the Ocean (1,406) seats.” That’s all that appears for the Pier itself, although the book goes into more detail about other locations in the Shore communities. Hope this helps.
Can anyone tell me how to find the Steel Pier’s theaters in Cinema Treasures? As I recall the two moviehouses on the pier were called the Music Hall and the Casino, but neither of them, nor Steel Pier, seems to have an entry here among the Atlantic City cinemas. – Ed Blank
Thanks. I saw the Traymore implode when I was in sixth grade. That’s the large hotel seen in the distance.
Warren, can you post the 1949 photo again?
I recall the Warner/Warren as being the most beautiful of all Atlantic City theaters when my family was vacationing there annually in the 1950s. I was always eager to see what was playing there when we got to town. An oddity: During the summer of 1956 the theater played “Pardners” (Martin & Lewis) and “Moby Dick” on alternate weeks, apparently to encourage two visits by vacationers regardless of when they arrived. – Ed Blank
Here is a postcard that shows the interior:
http://tinyurl.com/2op369
Here is a photo when the Warner was a restaurant:
http://tinyurl.com/ytb2su
When it was a bowling alley in the seventies, there wasn’t much left of the interior. I never saw it when it was a theater.
What a gorgeous facade with or without the beautiful old marqee. Anty pics available of the auditorium.
Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/2lo4bb
Anyone recall the Surf near Convention Hall? Possibly an AKA? The story is dated 11/21/63 from the Auburn Advertiser:
Arson Suspected As Fire Destroys Theater
A general alarm fire destroyed the Surf Theater and threatened a nearby chemical plant early today shortly after three eyewitnesses told police they smelled gasoline and saw a man running down the street carrying a can.
The blaze, in this shore resort’s business section, broke out only hours after a known arson suspect was cleared of any suspicion in the Surfside Hotel fire which killed 25 elderly persons last Monday. The scene was about a mile and a half from the tragic hotel fire, and less than two blocks from the famed Convention Hall. Five children and seven adults were routed from their apartments above the theater. No injuries were reported.
It did stand alone, but that was in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I wasn’t around when Ballys built the add-ons. I recall there were no buildings on either side.
Yes, Ed, and I believe it was in the 90’s before Ballys Casino took over the block. The entranceway and lobby were intact. The auditorium had been razed and became a parking lot. As you faced the entrance, this parking lot was on the left (south) side of the building itself.
Was there a time – in the ‘90’s perhaps – when this facade and a portion of the old structure (the lobby/foyer area) stood alone on the boardwalk with no adjacent buildings on either side? I seem to recall photographing this facade when I was in AC about 8 or 9 years ago. At the time, I think it was merely a storefront and I don’t recall any signs of a 4000 seat auditorium behind it… only the long rectangular shape of the lobby vestibule. I’ll have to see if I can dig out that photo and scan a copy to post.