Just a little clarification here; the building itself is still standing, but has been gutted and a new facade has been added. The rest of the stores, except for the bank, are totally gone. I don’t know if this means the theatre will return or not.
mikemovies, you could play the dvd on a all region machine, or you could buy a cheap dvd player, take it to a service center and have it modified so you can play any dvd from anywhere in the world. I think this involves removing the chip that reads the region code, or something along those lines. Good luck!
I’m surprised that nobody has posted their reactions to the festival yet, so I’ll start. Psycho looked great, and was in great condition for a 1960 print. The audience was totally into it. The Crawling Eye was ok, but I don’t care for the film anyway; a decent print. House of Frankenstein was a surprise. I told Pete there would only be about 25 people there; boy, was I wrong! More like 150 people, mostly parents with their kids. It did my heart good to see the younger (and in some cases much younger) generation appreciate the ol' monsters. Plan 9 never played. Only half the print arrived, so a very nice print of Bride of the Monster was located quickly and substituted. The home movie part of the Plan 9 show was shown before Bride, so it worked out ok. The trailerfest that followed was fun, but too brief, only about 20 minutes long. However, the trailers for Ghidrah, and Rosemarys Baby/Odd Couple were standouts. All the color trailers were original Tech prints. Sundays slate of films were less well attended, but fun nonetheless. It The Terror from Beyond Space looked great on the big screen, and still made a few people jump with fright! House of Usher looked incredible, even though it was a new print. The colors were deep, rich and almost Technicolor bright. A truely beautiful print! Rosemarys Baby closed the show and it too looked great. All told, a frightfully good time was had by all. Can’t wait for next year’s festival!
I agree totally. Seems like these kids are treating a theatre like it’s their living room, therefore they can do whatever they feel like. Show ‘em a little Texas justice – bounce their asses on the sidewalk! Now if only more theatres had policies like this….
Amen to that, bro! I mentioned this very thing in another post. I recently saw Hollywoodland at the AMC Ridgefield Park 12 and the pre-show was wall to wall digital commercials. Even when the “host” of the frigging thing said “thanks for your patronage and here is your feature presentation”, you think the trailers would roll next? NO! Heres another 5 minutes of boring commercials you have to sit through!! Grrrrrr!!! I don’t mind the 5 or 6 preview trailers; they can be the best part of the show. But the rest is just mind-numbing, boring c r a p!! And the lemmings in the theatre did'nt say one word about it! Not even a peep!! I’m glad that I’m not alone in feeling anger about this.
God bless the Lafayette Theatre, Suffern, NY. No commercials. Ever!!
I was thinking about this very subject when I saw Hollywoodland at the AMC Loews in Ridgefield Park. Since AMC took over, all 12 theatres have digital intermission stuff on the screen before the film begins. At first it was kind of interesting since it was done as a sort of TV show. When the “host” says thanks for coming, here’s the feature presentation, etc., you expect to see the trailers. But guess what – you get another 5 minutes of commercials! And the lemmings in the theatre did'nt say one word! Not a peep from anyone! Seems like I was the only one there who became more annoyed as the commercials continued to pile up! I don’t mind sitting through 5 or 6 trailers, sometimes they are the best part of the show. But this poor looking digital crap has got to go! Some of the bits did'nt look too bad but a lot of it looked like badly defined pixelated junk!
I’m afraid you’re right. I was looking forward to seeing a few indie films here, but all they show is the mainstream stuff now. Hopefully they will see the error of their ways? (pardon me while I laff) The only local screens that may show indies are Teaneck and Tenafly, and I refuse to go to Tenafly to see anything!
I saw Superman Returns here last Sunday at a matinee. Since the theatre is now under the AMC banner I wondered if anything was being done differently there. Commercials! Lotsa commercials! Ugh, no wonder theatres are not having a good year. Also the green “all audiences” footage was removed from the trailers that were shown; no big thing, but I just like to see them on the head of the trailers. The posters upstairs and down left something to be desired, especially downstairs, since they were all policy posters, with regular movie posters upstairs only. Otherwise, it was a good experience, far better than what you will get in Paramus. The theatre was clean and well staffed. Not a bad bargain for $6.50!
Justin, it’s my understanding that the whole complex will be torn down and a Super Stop & Shop and Marshalls will be built there. Yeah, progress, my foot! You would think that since the theatre is a separate building, there would be a way to save it. The Pascack in Westwood is about 2 miles away, so I guess the developers figure it’s no big thing. Especially if you like having the ushers growl at you!
I recall the Century triplex in Paramus was a Red Carpet theatre, when it was one screen. I know the early Connery Bond reissues were featured at Red Carpet theatres. I would also assume the Pink Panther films, the Eastwood spaghetti westerns were also Red Carpet features. Why they disappeared, I don’t know.
As Claude Kirschner and Clowny would say before a monster movie on channel 9, “ remember kids, it’s only a movie!” Then Godzilla would rise from the depths and stomp on Tokyo! Good stuff!
Thanks Bill. The best I can come up with out here in N.J. is the Hackensack Public Library for The Record. They have it on microfilm from, I think, the beginning up to now. Some of the films are really scratched and worn out, but it’s the only way to see them as far as I know. The Ridgewood Public Library has The Record from Jan. 1, 1970 up to now. Ridgewood also had the N.Y. Times from it’s inception up to today. That sucks about the Daily News. I’ve searched in vain out here and nobody’s got them on microfilm.
Excellent place to see a film! Usually very busy with a lot of customers of all ages. Very comfortable stadium seating with great sound and projection. Recommended for anyone in the NY/NJ area.
Well, considering you can go to Ridgefield Park and see the same film at a matinee for $5.00, and get more seats and a bigger screen, yes I would consider $9.50 high. But this would'nt stop me from going there again, if they played a movie I wanted to see. They do play foreign and independent films too, so the probability of me going back again is high.
I was only in the Oritani twice, once to see the double feature of Blacula/Dr. Phibes Rises Again, and to see the original Halloween. By this time it was cut up into 3 theatres but judging from what I can remember of the place, it probably was a huge cave inside back in the day. Frankenstein (1931), The Maltese Falcon and other classics played here, too. By the time the theatre closed for good, they were showing a lot of exploitation and blaxploitation films.
Yes, believe it or not, the Bergen Mall was the first mall in the area, predating the GSP by about 3 years. The cinema was located outside, with no entry from inside the mall. They did show films not easy to see, unless you lived in NYC, like Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane, The Last Wave,The Man Who Fell To Earth, etc. I recall the theatre was rather nice inside, with the entrance being in the middle of the theatre, along the right side of the wall. Unusual.
Today these is absolutely no trace that there was ever a theatre there. Also, there was never a marquee outside the theatre, either.
For my parents and me, this was THE place. As a kid, I loved the miniature train that you could ride around the property before the movie started. Whenever I smell fried chicken, it takes me right back to the Route 17 drive-in, and it’s snack bar. Deee-lish! I can still remember the ads for many local Rockland and Bergen businesses that would run between the features. They played many great films at the time; Planet of the Apes, Batman, You Only Live Twice, El Dorado, and too many more to mention. Unfortunately, the place was only open about 15 years. I think it closed in the mid to late 70’s.
The first film to play here was The King and I; I think the date was August 28, 1956. The place was still operational into the mid 1980’s. On weekends it doubled as a flea market, where you could have found all kinds of interesting stuff. I recall a year before it closed there was a wind storm and it knocked a couple of the tiles from the screen; the management never fixed it and continued to show movies on it till it closed!
I have'nt been to this theatre since last September, when new management took over. They were very stiff and rude. While the old management would let you buy your ticket and wait inside the lobby by the candy stand, the new regime makes you wait either outside or in the lobby and does'nt allow wandering around the theatre. When I asked if I could wait by the candy stand, I got a very curt “no!”. I felt that the cattle prods would come out if I asked any more questions. This situation may be better now, but I have'nt been back to find out.
Believe it or not, this is the last single screen theatre left in Bergen County! Frequented by many senior citizens, the theatre has decent legroom, a small stage, no balcony, and is a great place to see a movie. I agree with rhett; if they had a slate of classic films I think they would do very well with them.
I recently went to this theatre, about 6 months ago. Nice place, nice crowd. The price of admission is rather high though; $9.50! I was there only a couple of times when it was 1 screen, and remember it was clean and well maintained.
Ok, I’ll start the ball. This theatre was located in the still standing Interstate Shopping Center just off Route 17 in Ramsey New Jersey, not far from where the Route 17 drive in used to be. The theatre was located on the far north side of the complex; a eye doctor and a large bowling alley were next to the theatre. Standing in it’s place now are a large Borders bookstore and a Bed Bath and Beyond. Some improvement! The theatre had about 750 seats and was your basic box type theatre with no balcony. Why did I love this theatre when I was growing up? A few reasons: On Her Majestys Secret Service, Yellow Submarine, Marlowe, Let It Be, Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Harry, The French Connection, Horsefeathers (midnight showing),
Evil of Frankenstein(Saturday matinee), and too many more to mention. One of the main reasons too, is my love of old movie posters started at this theatre. The very first one I ever got was a 30x40 to Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price and I love it. But I think my friend who got me started got the better deal. He snagged a 30x40 to High Plains Drifter! He got to know the manager of the place at the time and was able to buy posters from him. One night, I came with my friend to the theatre, got in for free st see the movie (big shots!) and afterwards got to go upstairs to see the projection booth. The manager was in a generous mood that night (his girlfriend was there), so we were allowed to go through a bin with 1-sheets and 30x40’s in them. I pulled out about 10 1-sheets and 3 30x40’s including Dirty Harry and Soylent Green. But, big problem. I only had about $10. on me and $50. worth of posters that I wanted. So, what to do. Simple; I stuffed the folded 1-sheets down the back of my pants and just bought the rolled posters. I had to walk out to the car standing very straight or the posters would get bent and ruined. I will never forget the Interstate theatre for that memory! And no, I did'nt get caught. (perhaps I should have been!)
Oh, man. This theatre has a warm place in my heart, since I saw many films there as a youth. The Bond double features, especially. Before they closed, the lobby was pretty much the same as it always was, with damn little change. It really hurts to see it slide the way it has. Inside the theatre always smelled of damp mildew, which is never good. This was the first theatre in the area to be twinned, balcony included. Very strange, since all the seats are set to face toward the center of the screen. After the wall went up, you had to sit at a slight angle in your seat, causing your butt to go numb. When the balcony was made into the 3rd theatre, it was a big improvement, since it was a wide theatre and you got a sense of what it was like before the wall went up.
My favorite memory of the Century Theatre; 1968, on a Saturday night, they played a double feature of “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” and “In The Heat Of The Night”, plus a sneak preview of a upcoming major motion picture. My parents and I were at the show, and I was feeling sick; I probably had the flu or some childhood ailment. “Russians” comes on first, and I feeling ill, but I think I can make it through the whole show. Now me, being a dumb kid, heard “sneak preview” and thought – long trailer. Wrong! The sneak was for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, all two and a half hours of it! And I HATED it! Absolutely detested it! I honestly thought it would never end! Everything that happened on screen seemed to take 5 times longer than it should. I remember getting very queasy when Van Cleefs henchman beats up and bloodys Eli Wallach, especially when he digs his thumbs into poor Eli’s eyes. By the time Clint leaves Eli in the cemetary with his share of the gold and rides off, I remember thinking “ well, when is The End going to come up? Don’t tell me there’s more!!” I could'nt wait to get out of there! Of course if I could get into a time machine and go back to that day, I would appreciate the experience for what it was. In the back of my mind, I really hope that this theatre can be salvaged, but it would take a lot of money and effort. If not, I may just shed a tear when the wrecking ball does drop on it.
Just a little clarification here; the building itself is still standing, but has been gutted and a new facade has been added. The rest of the stores, except for the bank, are totally gone. I don’t know if this means the theatre will return or not.
mikemovies, the machine looks like just the thing you’ll need. Good luck with it!
mikemovies, you could play the dvd on a all region machine, or you could buy a cheap dvd player, take it to a service center and have it modified so you can play any dvd from anywhere in the world. I think this involves removing the chip that reads the region code, or something along those lines. Good luck!
I’m surprised that nobody has posted their reactions to the festival yet, so I’ll start. Psycho looked great, and was in great condition for a 1960 print. The audience was totally into it. The Crawling Eye was ok, but I don’t care for the film anyway; a decent print. House of Frankenstein was a surprise. I told Pete there would only be about 25 people there; boy, was I wrong! More like 150 people, mostly parents with their kids. It did my heart good to see the younger (and in some cases much younger) generation appreciate the ol' monsters. Plan 9 never played. Only half the print arrived, so a very nice print of Bride of the Monster was located quickly and substituted. The home movie part of the Plan 9 show was shown before Bride, so it worked out ok. The trailerfest that followed was fun, but too brief, only about 20 minutes long. However, the trailers for Ghidrah, and Rosemarys Baby/Odd Couple were standouts. All the color trailers were original Tech prints. Sundays slate of films were less well attended, but fun nonetheless. It The Terror from Beyond Space looked great on the big screen, and still made a few people jump with fright! House of Usher looked incredible, even though it was a new print. The colors were deep, rich and almost Technicolor bright. A truely beautiful print! Rosemarys Baby closed the show and it too looked great. All told, a frightfully good time was had by all. Can’t wait for next year’s festival!
I agree totally. Seems like these kids are treating a theatre like it’s their living room, therefore they can do whatever they feel like. Show ‘em a little Texas justice – bounce their asses on the sidewalk! Now if only more theatres had policies like this….
Amen to that, bro! I mentioned this very thing in another post. I recently saw Hollywoodland at the AMC Ridgefield Park 12 and the pre-show was wall to wall digital commercials. Even when the “host” of the frigging thing said “thanks for your patronage and here is your feature presentation”, you think the trailers would roll next? NO! Heres another 5 minutes of boring commercials you have to sit through!! Grrrrrr!!! I don’t mind the 5 or 6 preview trailers; they can be the best part of the show. But the rest is just mind-numbing, boring c r a p!! And the lemmings in the theatre did'nt say one word about it! Not even a peep!! I’m glad that I’m not alone in feeling anger about this.
God bless the Lafayette Theatre, Suffern, NY. No commercials. Ever!!
I was thinking about this very subject when I saw Hollywoodland at the AMC Loews in Ridgefield Park. Since AMC took over, all 12 theatres have digital intermission stuff on the screen before the film begins. At first it was kind of interesting since it was done as a sort of TV show. When the “host” says thanks for coming, here’s the feature presentation, etc., you expect to see the trailers. But guess what – you get another 5 minutes of commercials! And the lemmings in the theatre did'nt say one word! Not a peep from anyone! Seems like I was the only one there who became more annoyed as the commercials continued to pile up! I don’t mind sitting through 5 or 6 trailers, sometimes they are the best part of the show. But this poor looking digital crap has got to go! Some of the bits did'nt look too bad but a lot of it looked like badly defined pixelated junk!
I’m afraid you’re right. I was looking forward to seeing a few indie films here, but all they show is the mainstream stuff now. Hopefully they will see the error of their ways? (pardon me while I laff) The only local screens that may show indies are Teaneck and Tenafly, and I refuse to go to Tenafly to see anything!
I saw Superman Returns here last Sunday at a matinee. Since the theatre is now under the AMC banner I wondered if anything was being done differently there. Commercials! Lotsa commercials! Ugh, no wonder theatres are not having a good year. Also the green “all audiences” footage was removed from the trailers that were shown; no big thing, but I just like to see them on the head of the trailers. The posters upstairs and down left something to be desired, especially downstairs, since they were all policy posters, with regular movie posters upstairs only. Otherwise, it was a good experience, far better than what you will get in Paramus. The theatre was clean and well staffed. Not a bad bargain for $6.50!
Justin, it’s my understanding that the whole complex will be torn down and a Super Stop & Shop and Marshalls will be built there. Yeah, progress, my foot! You would think that since the theatre is a separate building, there would be a way to save it. The Pascack in Westwood is about 2 miles away, so I guess the developers figure it’s no big thing. Especially if you like having the ushers growl at you!
I recall the Century triplex in Paramus was a Red Carpet theatre, when it was one screen. I know the early Connery Bond reissues were featured at Red Carpet theatres. I would also assume the Pink Panther films, the Eastwood spaghetti westerns were also Red Carpet features. Why they disappeared, I don’t know.
As Claude Kirschner and Clowny would say before a monster movie on channel 9, “ remember kids, it’s only a movie!” Then Godzilla would rise from the depths and stomp on Tokyo! Good stuff!
Thanks Bill. The best I can come up with out here in N.J. is the Hackensack Public Library for The Record. They have it on microfilm from, I think, the beginning up to now. Some of the films are really scratched and worn out, but it’s the only way to see them as far as I know. The Ridgewood Public Library has The Record from Jan. 1, 1970 up to now. Ridgewood also had the N.Y. Times from it’s inception up to today. That sucks about the Daily News. I’ve searched in vain out here and nobody’s got them on microfilm.
Hi, JMags. I’m not sure. I usually go to the late Saturday night shows, so I’m paying full price. The matinees may be cheaper.
Bill, great ads from The Record! Do you know, or does anybody here know, if the N.Y. Daily News if available on microfilm too, and if so, where?
Excellent place to see a film! Usually very busy with a lot of customers of all ages. Very comfortable stadium seating with great sound and projection. Recommended for anyone in the NY/NJ area.
Well, considering you can go to Ridgefield Park and see the same film at a matinee for $5.00, and get more seats and a bigger screen, yes I would consider $9.50 high. But this would'nt stop me from going there again, if they played a movie I wanted to see. They do play foreign and independent films too, so the probability of me going back again is high.
I was only in the Oritani twice, once to see the double feature of Blacula/Dr. Phibes Rises Again, and to see the original Halloween. By this time it was cut up into 3 theatres but judging from what I can remember of the place, it probably was a huge cave inside back in the day. Frankenstein (1931), The Maltese Falcon and other classics played here, too. By the time the theatre closed for good, they were showing a lot of exploitation and blaxploitation films.
Yes, believe it or not, the Bergen Mall was the first mall in the area, predating the GSP by about 3 years. The cinema was located outside, with no entry from inside the mall. They did show films not easy to see, unless you lived in NYC, like Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane, The Last Wave,The Man Who Fell To Earth, etc. I recall the theatre was rather nice inside, with the entrance being in the middle of the theatre, along the right side of the wall. Unusual.
Today these is absolutely no trace that there was ever a theatre there. Also, there was never a marquee outside the theatre, either.
For my parents and me, this was THE place. As a kid, I loved the miniature train that you could ride around the property before the movie started. Whenever I smell fried chicken, it takes me right back to the Route 17 drive-in, and it’s snack bar. Deee-lish! I can still remember the ads for many local Rockland and Bergen businesses that would run between the features. They played many great films at the time; Planet of the Apes, Batman, You Only Live Twice, El Dorado, and too many more to mention. Unfortunately, the place was only open about 15 years. I think it closed in the mid to late 70’s.
The first film to play here was The King and I; I think the date was August 28, 1956. The place was still operational into the mid 1980’s. On weekends it doubled as a flea market, where you could have found all kinds of interesting stuff. I recall a year before it closed there was a wind storm and it knocked a couple of the tiles from the screen; the management never fixed it and continued to show movies on it till it closed!
I have'nt been to this theatre since last September, when new management took over. They were very stiff and rude. While the old management would let you buy your ticket and wait inside the lobby by the candy stand, the new regime makes you wait either outside or in the lobby and does'nt allow wandering around the theatre. When I asked if I could wait by the candy stand, I got a very curt “no!”. I felt that the cattle prods would come out if I asked any more questions. This situation may be better now, but I have'nt been back to find out.
Believe it or not, this is the last single screen theatre left in Bergen County! Frequented by many senior citizens, the theatre has decent legroom, a small stage, no balcony, and is a great place to see a movie. I agree with rhett; if they had a slate of classic films I think they would do very well with them.
I recently went to this theatre, about 6 months ago. Nice place, nice crowd. The price of admission is rather high though; $9.50! I was there only a couple of times when it was 1 screen, and remember it was clean and well maintained.
Ok, I’ll start the ball. This theatre was located in the still standing Interstate Shopping Center just off Route 17 in Ramsey New Jersey, not far from where the Route 17 drive in used to be. The theatre was located on the far north side of the complex; a eye doctor and a large bowling alley were next to the theatre. Standing in it’s place now are a large Borders bookstore and a Bed Bath and Beyond. Some improvement! The theatre had about 750 seats and was your basic box type theatre with no balcony. Why did I love this theatre when I was growing up? A few reasons: On Her Majestys Secret Service, Yellow Submarine, Marlowe, Let It Be, Where Eagles Dare, Dirty Harry, The French Connection, Horsefeathers (midnight showing),
Evil of Frankenstein(Saturday matinee), and too many more to mention. One of the main reasons too, is my love of old movie posters started at this theatre. The very first one I ever got was a 30x40 to Theatre of Blood with Vincent Price and I love it. But I think my friend who got me started got the better deal. He snagged a 30x40 to High Plains Drifter! He got to know the manager of the place at the time and was able to buy posters from him. One night, I came with my friend to the theatre, got in for free st see the movie (big shots!) and afterwards got to go upstairs to see the projection booth. The manager was in a generous mood that night (his girlfriend was there), so we were allowed to go through a bin with 1-sheets and 30x40’s in them. I pulled out about 10 1-sheets and 3 30x40’s including Dirty Harry and Soylent Green. But, big problem. I only had about $10. on me and $50. worth of posters that I wanted. So, what to do. Simple; I stuffed the folded 1-sheets down the back of my pants and just bought the rolled posters. I had to walk out to the car standing very straight or the posters would get bent and ruined. I will never forget the Interstate theatre for that memory! And no, I did'nt get caught. (perhaps I should have been!)
Oh, man. This theatre has a warm place in my heart, since I saw many films there as a youth. The Bond double features, especially. Before they closed, the lobby was pretty much the same as it always was, with damn little change. It really hurts to see it slide the way it has. Inside the theatre always smelled of damp mildew, which is never good. This was the first theatre in the area to be twinned, balcony included. Very strange, since all the seats are set to face toward the center of the screen. After the wall went up, you had to sit at a slight angle in your seat, causing your butt to go numb. When the balcony was made into the 3rd theatre, it was a big improvement, since it was a wide theatre and you got a sense of what it was like before the wall went up.
My favorite memory of the Century Theatre; 1968, on a Saturday night, they played a double feature of “The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming” and “In The Heat Of The Night”, plus a sneak preview of a upcoming major motion picture. My parents and I were at the show, and I was feeling sick; I probably had the flu or some childhood ailment. “Russians” comes on first, and I feeling ill, but I think I can make it through the whole show. Now me, being a dumb kid, heard “sneak preview” and thought – long trailer. Wrong! The sneak was for “The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly”, all two and a half hours of it! And I HATED it! Absolutely detested it! I honestly thought it would never end! Everything that happened on screen seemed to take 5 times longer than it should. I remember getting very queasy when Van Cleefs henchman beats up and bloodys Eli Wallach, especially when he digs his thumbs into poor Eli’s eyes. By the time Clint leaves Eli in the cemetary with his share of the gold and rides off, I remember thinking “ well, when is The End going to come up? Don’t tell me there’s more!!” I could'nt wait to get out of there! Of course if I could get into a time machine and go back to that day, I would appreciate the experience for what it was. In the back of my mind, I really hope that this theatre can be salvaged, but it would take a lot of money and effort. If not, I may just shed a tear when the wrecking ball does drop on it.