Bellevue Cinemas
607 Lincoln Avenue,
Bellevue,
PA
15202
607 Lincoln Avenue,
Bellevue,
PA
15202
2 people
favorited this theater
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Thank goodness, I found my photo of the marquee I took when it still indicated “Bellevue Cinemas” after its closing. It’s been added to the Photos
Opened Monday October 20, 1924 with “Monsieur Beaucaire” starring Rudolph Valentino & Lois Wilson. Grand Opening print ad added credit Avonworth Historical Society.
Final day of operation was September 2, 2002 with “Scooby Doo”, “Mr. Deeds” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”
I remember seeing Walt Disney’s Sleeping Beauty there when I was a toddler – perhaps the first movie I ever saw in a theater. Thereafter fond memories of most of the Disney films from the 1960s – Absent Minded Professor, etc., and also some Hammer horror flicks.
I also remember those lighting sconces on the walls. They had the feel of a medieval castle.
Movies I remember seeing at this theater: Car Wash, Ice Castles, The Outlaw Josie Wales, Capricorn One, Smoke.
I only got to see a movie at this theater once. I went on a date with Nancey Epperson to see “A Brief Vacation,” an Italian film directed by Vittorio de Sica, starring Florinda Bolkan. It was rare that sub-titled foreign language films played in neighborhoods like this one as a second-run.
I saw tons of movies here as a kid. In the late 80s, they had some independent films and then closed shortly thereafter.
I vaguely remember this cinema. Interesting how the cinema marquee was refashioned as the dollar store sign.
Thanks, Ed Blank. I grew up in Avalon and recall as a child standing in line at the “Bellevue”. On a Sat. morning the kids would be lined up to the corner and down around the corner, waiting for the doors to open at 11:00am to see 21 color cartoons, a newsreel or 1 or 2 shorts then double feature monster movies or a western. We would leave the theater sometime after 5:00pm (what a baby sitter) and it only cost a quarter. My mother worked there at the ticket booth in the late 40’s. I remember the theater had beautiful lighting sconces. The ceiling was painted with a sky and clouds and when the main lights were dimmed there where small lighted stars over the entire ceiling
Renewing link.
I don’t think that many people understand that you can find the photo on Google maps. I think people are more apt to click on the link than to surmise that they can see the photo on Google. Besides, three quarters of the country hasn’t been photographed yet. You would have to first go on Google, ascertain that the location has been photographed, and then determine that the building in the photo is the theater. Since many of the shots have the former theater off center, or not visible at all, I have done the work of following the arrows and figuring out which building is the theater. In cases where I can’t identify the former building, I don’t bother to post a photo.
I don’t think so.
Here is an undated photo:
http://tinyurl.com/6hzd66
My reference to Dollar General above is incorrect. The theater has become a Family Dollar store.
The theater was a 700-seater with distinctive light fixtures (clusters of little orange lights, if I recall) along the side walls.
Twinned roughly down the middle, it had 417 seats on one side and 390 on the other. Some of the original character was sacrificed, which is always the case nice old houses are halved or quartered.
The Bellevue closed Sept, 2, 2002.
The building is occupied now by something called (I believe) Dollar General.
Toward the end, the Bellevue was a bargain house run by Richard Stern as part of his CineMagic theater circuit.
Not exactly hot news, but here is some local information from September 2002:
http://tinyurl.com/3dvnv2
The Bellevue Theater originally was a single (huge) screen auditorium before being remodeled and split into two “shoeboxes” in the late 70’s. It was a wonderful neighborhood theater for many years when Cinemette operated it, before it was sold and allowed to deteriorate. I saw many films there as a child – “Planet of the Apes” and “Sound of Music” to name a few. The sad demise of this theater seems to be in step with the slow gradual decline of a once-vibrant Bellevue.
Had worked this theatre five or so times, sad to see this or any other theatre go.
Norelco
Closed around Labor Day in 2002.