Menlo Park Twin Cinema
390 Menlo Park Mall,
Edison,
NJ
08837
390 Menlo Park Mall,
Edison,
NJ
08837
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 76 - 90 of 90 comments
I grew up in Menlo Park Terrace. In the late 60s and early 70s they used to show free matinees for kids. Stuff like “Willie Wonka” and “Its a Mad, Mad, Mad World”. Great stuff.
I remember Star Wars ran there for like 18 months. So it there 4 times. Unheard of today.
If anyone has an old picture of the building, please let me know.
Thanks
Ken B
I too grew up in Edison and can’t tell you how many great moments of my childhood and teenage years took place in this theater. From seeing all three Star wars films there,(I remember being 5 yrs old sitting in the very first row, crinking my neck in amazment as I watched the imperial star destroyer fill the screen for the very first time, walking out in denial upon finding out that Vader was Lukes father, and feeling sadness thinking that Return of the Jedi would be the last I would see of the characters were like family.) Then only to have my friend work there as a teen and let me act cool as I snuck girls up to the closed off balcony to make out! I ended up working at the new Odeon when it opened in 91 and had some good times there too but it wasn’t the same.
The Menlo Park Twin was among the theatres included in the original limited-market launch of “Star Wars.” Nearly all of the 32 opening-day houses broke house records for opening-day business. Opening-day gross at Menlo Park was $5,398. (That may seem like a piddly amount of money by today’s standards, but for a mid-week 1977 day’s business it’s quite a bit.)
Source: Daily Variety (5/27/77). For more info about the original release of “Star Wars,” see:
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Joe,
Send me your E-Mail address and I will send you a few screen caps. I could tell you PLENTY of stories, but some of them could not appear here! :–) Some of the crazy stuff wasn’t only confined to the auditorium! LOL!
If memory serves me correctly, Menlo (along with Madison on Rt9 North) was twinned in 1976, much to my disapointment. The BIG disapointment was the sale of the Woodbridge Walter Reade to General Cinema and the subsequent twinning of THAT house. That was a great 70mm theatre with Norelco machines before the twinning. After the twinning, it never showed 70mm again and operated from a 5 tier platter system which fed both houses. Somewhere in my collection, I have a set of 35mm photos I shot of the Walter Reade before it was twinned.
Jerry
Jerry
Jerry
Hey Jerry, I took three shots of the theatre right before it was torn down in late 1991, when I lived in Edison right up the street. Could I exchange these for the screen caps you have … especially inside the theatre and the one of the marquee!
I grew up in this theatre as a kid from the mid 70’s throughout its closing … I’m sure to many movies YOU projected yourself for me and the audience. I went to film school and became an independant filmmaker and Menlo Park is largely responsible.
I’m sure there are a million stories you could tell. If you could maybe share a few that would be great. Anything about the theatre itself or it’s personnel. For example when did it become a twin?
I have a great story: While watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind in late 1977, during the part where Richard Dreyfuss’s character is sitting at a train stop … just as the UFO’s appear above him there was a small explosion (well more like a loud POP!) in the theatre and all the power went out! Turned out a car smashed into a pole a ways up on Parsonage Road and killed the power. The timing was great … and CREEPY!
I also have a tape recording inside the theatre during a screening of Star Wars in August 1977. I know I must sound like a nut, but hey, I was 14 years old at the time …
Joe Scotti
TomR,
I found the tape of the “final night” and I captured a few frames. One is a shot of the Marquee with three people sitting on it..Monica is one and a guy with a mustache…you perhaps? E mail me at and I’ll send them to you.
Jerry
Jerry Kampo: Would to see those pics of the theater on its last day. Abe & Joe were great guys to work with.
I worked at Menlo during the 70’s and 80’s as a part time projectionist. Many happy memories of that theatre, especially before it was, in my opinion, ruined by converting to a twin. I have some video I had shot of the interior of the theatre, including the booth, on the last night of operation. I will see if I can capture some screen shots and post them here. I feel a deep sense of loss everytime I travel past where the theatre once stood. Many good people worked there through the years, including Mr. Abe Levine and Mr.Joe Gazi, the original projectionists…two of the best!
QUOTE:
“On May 25, 1979, [the Menlo Park Cinema] was one of 91 theaters nationwide that ran the original limited release of Alien, which was shown in 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo”
Check out this article if you’re curious what the other 90 original locations were that screened “Alien”:
View link
One of the reasons I wrote this article is to capture the spirit of these nostalgia-inducing memories present in so many of these Cinema Treasures discussions. Enjoy!
Key passage from article:
“Those moviegoers who saw ‘Alien’ in a theatre in 1979 may feel a touch of nostalgia looking over the engagement list, particularly if the cinema in which they recall attending a screening is represented. As well, moviegoers with a fondness for classic or hometown cinemas may be saddened by the realization that most of the cinemas included in the engagement list are no longer in business, victims of what some in the industry consider progress: the megaplex.”
On May 25, 1979, was one of 91 theaters nationwide that ran the original limited release of Alien, which was shown in 70mm Six-Track Dolby Stereo
Filmakr1 – The manager of the theatre back in the EMPIRE/JEDI days was Tony Rizzo. He passed away about a year after JEDI was there. Would like to see the pics of the theatre. –
Thanks
I also have pictures of the theater right before it was taken down in 1991. If you’re interested in seeing them lemme know.
Hey Tom R. the Menlo Park Cinema was kind special to me as I sat in line overnight for both Empire and Jedi, plus saw Star Wars 20 times in the summer of 1977. I’ve been looking for a photo of the marquee while Star Wars was playing. I know you managed there later on, but would you have known who managed or worked there in the late 70’s- 80’s? Please e-mail me at , thanks
The theatre was operated by General Cinema, not Cineplex Odeon. Cineplex Odeons opened the new theatre within the rebuilt mall. The orginal theatre opened in 1960 with a reserved seat engagement of SPARTACUS. The twinning split the auditorium in half, so each side had balcony seating. After the twinning, 70mm was only available in one auditorium. We played INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM on both screens – one side in 35mm and the other in 70mm.
I was the manager that closed the theatre.
All I can remember about the Menlo Park Cinema was the exterior, and how big it was! You can see it within a half-mile driving either direction on US Route 1. BTW, the US Route 1 portion between Woodbridge Center and Menlo Park Mall was always jammed with cars, during rush hour and on weekends, because of 2 things: 2 lanes each direction, and the interchange to the Garden State Parkway.