-I was only here once. We saw a great double feature: “Forbidden Planet” and “Planet of the Apes.” The place was falling apart around the edges. It was in 1980-81, I believe.
-I recall watching Damnation Alley, The Excorcist, Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob and Towering Inferno here. They had Sense-Surround equipment and used it once in a while. When I was a kid, I recall they were showing something called “No Sex Please, We’re British.” All of the adults talked about how horrible it was, but none of them ever went to see it. I think they also showed Deep Throat.
-One evening, I drove up to the marquee and saw that the letters compartment was open. I took the numbers “48”(my house number) and wanted to put them up on the side of my house. My Dad wanted no part of that plan. He thought we would all be arrested for theft. Maybe we would have been, but it would have been a unique way to tell everyone what our house number was.
If someone could recall the exact address of this theater, I will drive by and inquire about its interior. I live just up the street from it and would love to find out where it used to be. I spent many hours watching the old splotchy screen.
My goof. I was there when the 4 theaters had just been added on. What a mess that was! Nice big candy room, though. Not the smelly closet that was at Menlo Park.
-My favorite memory of Rutgers Plaza was being in the audience on October 31st, 1978 for a screening of Hallowwen on its first run. It was the 8 pm show. At one point in the film is a title reading “Oct. 31, 1978. 9:15 pm.” I looked at my watch and that was the exact time. I felt like I was watching the film in real time. Very spooky.
-Of course, I would later help re-open the theater when it was twinned in 1982-83. Mr. Camelli borrowed me from Menlo Park for a while. He was another awesome manager, along with Mr. Rizzo and Mr. Misareck(spelled wrong).
I worked at menlo from “Mahoghany” in Nov. 1975 until “Return of the Jedi” in the Fall of 1983. I did leave for a short time in mid-1978 to mid-1980 to work at different theaters, but that is another story. Mr. Rizzo was my boss ,and we had some great times together.
-6 weeks before “Star Wars” opened, we had a staff meeting to prepare for the summer. He thought that the film would last for about 6 weeks. I was the only person there who felt that this one was special. When he asked me how long I thought it would run, I said it would still be here until Halloween. That got a big laugh from everyone. I stuck my neck out and said it would break every record across the country, there were even more laughs. 7 weeks later, after we had just sold out for the 32nd show in a row, Mr. Rizzo took me aside and admitted I was right. He was a great guy, but never admitted being wrong. I was stunned. The real die hards on the staff worked from 10:30 am until 12:30 am every day from the end of May until well after Halloween. On Friday and Saturdays we also worked the midnight show, which got out around 2:45 am.
-I recall working about 7 weeks straight without a day off. Mr. Rizzo insisted I take off the next day. When the theater opened the next day, Mr. Rizzo was amazed that I was on line to see the first show. I loved that film. I volunteered to stay inside the auditorium for every show every day to watch for smokers and trouble makers. This gave me the opportunity to see “Star Wars” over 100 times that summer. By the end of its run on December 21st, I had become the Chief of Staff at Menlo. I still cherish all those days.
-I was only here once. We saw a great double feature: “Forbidden Planet” and “Planet of the Apes.” The place was falling apart around the edges. It was in 1980-81, I believe.
-I recall watching Damnation Alley, The Excorcist, Mad Adventures of Rabbi Jacob and Towering Inferno here. They had Sense-Surround equipment and used it once in a while. When I was a kid, I recall they were showing something called “No Sex Please, We’re British.” All of the adults talked about how horrible it was, but none of them ever went to see it. I think they also showed Deep Throat.
-One evening, I drove up to the marquee and saw that the letters compartment was open. I took the numbers “48”(my house number) and wanted to put them up on the side of my house. My Dad wanted no part of that plan. He thought we would all be arrested for theft. Maybe we would have been, but it would have been a unique way to tell everyone what our house number was.
If someone could recall the exact address of this theater, I will drive by and inquire about its interior. I live just up the street from it and would love to find out where it used to be. I spent many hours watching the old splotchy screen.
My goof. I was there when the 4 theaters had just been added on. What a mess that was! Nice big candy room, though. Not the smelly closet that was at Menlo Park.
-My favorite memory of Rutgers Plaza was being in the audience on October 31st, 1978 for a screening of Hallowwen on its first run. It was the 8 pm show. At one point in the film is a title reading “Oct. 31, 1978. 9:15 pm.” I looked at my watch and that was the exact time. I felt like I was watching the film in real time. Very spooky.
-Of course, I would later help re-open the theater when it was twinned in 1982-83. Mr. Camelli borrowed me from Menlo Park for a while. He was another awesome manager, along with Mr. Rizzo and Mr. Misareck(spelled wrong).
I worked at menlo from “Mahoghany” in Nov. 1975 until “Return of the Jedi” in the Fall of 1983. I did leave for a short time in mid-1978 to mid-1980 to work at different theaters, but that is another story. Mr. Rizzo was my boss ,and we had some great times together.
-6 weeks before “Star Wars” opened, we had a staff meeting to prepare for the summer. He thought that the film would last for about 6 weeks. I was the only person there who felt that this one was special. When he asked me how long I thought it would run, I said it would still be here until Halloween. That got a big laugh from everyone. I stuck my neck out and said it would break every record across the country, there were even more laughs. 7 weeks later, after we had just sold out for the 32nd show in a row, Mr. Rizzo took me aside and admitted I was right. He was a great guy, but never admitted being wrong. I was stunned. The real die hards on the staff worked from 10:30 am until 12:30 am every day from the end of May until well after Halloween. On Friday and Saturdays we also worked the midnight show, which got out around 2:45 am.
-I recall working about 7 weeks straight without a day off. Mr. Rizzo insisted I take off the next day. When the theater opened the next day, Mr. Rizzo was amazed that I was on line to see the first show. I loved that film. I volunteered to stay inside the auditorium for every show every day to watch for smokers and trouble makers. This gave me the opportunity to see “Star Wars” over 100 times that summer. By the end of its run on December 21st, I had become the Chief of Staff at Menlo. I still cherish all those days.