Fords Cinema
537 New Brunswick Avenue,
Fords,
NJ
08863
537 New Brunswick Avenue,
Fords,
NJ
08863
2 people
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In 1972 this theatre was open when the Poseidon Adventure went on a huge neighborhood run.
Also….there WERE balconies located in the Fords Playhouse back in it’s “glory days”. They were located on each side of the projection booth and had about 20 seats apiece. Back in the early 50’s they were closed off due to structural problems and a wall was built across both, flush with the front wall of the projection booth, hiding them from view. I remember them being used for storage in later years.
As a kid growing up in Fords in the 50’s, the Fords Theatre was THE place to be! It was owned, at the time, by a lovely Hungarian couple, Mr.& Mrs. George Lang. The shows would run Sunday through Tuesday…Wednesday a Hungarian movie would run…Thursday though Saturday would bring another double feature. During the summer, special kiddie shows would run on Saturday afternoons, starting at 2 PM. In 1962, the Langs sold the theater. By the late 60’s it was showing Spanish language films. It reopened for awhile in the mid 70’s (I installed a new sound system), but closed not too long after. Conversion to retail space was begun by the family who owned the building, but the project was never completed. Oh, to have a time machine!
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 gives a seating capacity of 590 for the Fords Playhouse. In the 1943 and 1950 editions of F.D.Y. seating is given as 738.
I can’t tell you much about this place other than when I was a kid in the early/mid 1970s I remember going to see ‘Oliver’ and maybe one or two of the ‘Pippy Longstocking’ movies. I can barely remember the exterior.