Yes. There are no longer “professional” projectionists. It’s all done by the snackbar girls and boys as most theatres are “digital” and all they have to do is start the DVD by pushing a button. Yes, we pay big bucks to watch a movie that is basically on a DVD…only more technically advanced and cannot be played on a home unit.
One would think that as the projectionist at the Montclair Cinemas for thirty years I would take lots of photos. Didn’t happen. I did take few, very few, photos of the place but after ten years I can’t find them. I should look for them. A note to Lavar: The back five cinemas were operated by General Cinema until the last and final day of operation and were never ‘independent’; always GCC.
Looking at the original building from the Montclair Plaza parking lot, the “big” theatre on the left side was twined making the theatre a triplex in 1977. The back five opened in 1980 with “THE ELEPHANT MAN” at the first attraction.
As one of the two projectionists for thirty years at the Montclair “Twin” then “Triplex” then “Eightplex” then “Fiveplex” then nothing, I saw many changes in the facility from ‘twinning’ the large auditorium to adding the fiveplex in the back making it an eightplex to the distruction of the front theatre to the closure and distruction of the back five. The Montclair Cinema’s last day was September 2, 2000. I know. I was there to break down the film and start dismantling the projection equipment. A sad day. And a loss of a thirty-year-old job.
Yes. There are no longer “professional” projectionists. It’s all done by the snackbar girls and boys as most theatres are “digital” and all they have to do is start the DVD by pushing a button. Yes, we pay big bucks to watch a movie that is basically on a DVD…only more technically advanced and cannot be played on a home unit.
TimC: What kind of installations did you do at the GCC complex? I just remember the “RCA” tech’s doing the projection/sound service.
One would think that as the projectionist at the Montclair Cinemas for thirty years I would take lots of photos. Didn’t happen. I did take few, very few, photos of the place but after ten years I can’t find them. I should look for them. A note to Lavar: The back five cinemas were operated by General Cinema until the last and final day of operation and were never ‘independent’; always GCC.
The back five theatres were built from scratch, designed to be a five screen facility from the beginning.
Rich Jr’s 1979 date is wrong for the opening of the back five. It was 1980. I was there.
Looking at the original building from the Montclair Plaza parking lot, the “big” theatre on the left side was twined making the theatre a triplex in 1977. The back five opened in 1980 with “THE ELEPHANT MAN” at the first attraction.
As one of the two projectionists for thirty years at the Montclair “Twin” then “Triplex” then “Eightplex” then “Fiveplex” then nothing, I saw many changes in the facility from ‘twinning’ the large auditorium to adding the fiveplex in the back making it an eightplex to the distruction of the front theatre to the closure and distruction of the back five. The Montclair Cinema’s last day was September 2, 2000. I know. I was there to break down the film and start dismantling the projection equipment. A sad day. And a loss of a thirty-year-old job.