Bellevue Cinemas

607 Lincoln Avenue,
Bellevue, PA 15202

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Denny Pine
Denny Pine on October 9, 2023 at 9:38 am

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

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on October 19, 2022 at 5:42 pm

Opened Monday October 20, 1924 with “Monsieur Beaucaire” starring Rudolph Valentino & Lois Wilson. Grand Opening print ad added credit Avonworth Historical Society.

Denny Pine
Denny Pine on April 11, 2018 at 11:24 am

Final day of operation was September 2, 2002 with “Scooby Doo”, “Mr. Deeds” and “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood”

Wellington1
Wellington1 on March 10, 2014 at 10:47 am

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.

gwanner66
gwanner66 on February 7, 2014 at 6:15 pm

Movies I remember seeing at this theater: Car Wash, Ice Castles, The Outlaw Josie Wales, Capricorn One, Smoke.

RSM3853
RSM3853 on January 12, 2014 at 2:56 pm

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.

gwanner66
gwanner66 on April 18, 2012 at 6:24 am

I saw tons of movies here as a kid. In the late 80s, they had some independent films and then closed shortly thereafter.

SusanD
SusanD on March 23, 2010 at 4:52 pm

I vaguely remember this cinema. Interesting how the cinema marquee was refashioned as the dollar store sign.

filenz
filenz on February 15, 2010 at 11:26 am

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

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on July 3, 2008 at 6:43 pm

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.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on July 3, 2008 at 5:02 pm

I don’t think so.

edblank
edblank on June 6, 2008 at 8:58 pm

My reference to Dollar General above is incorrect. The theater has become a Family Dollar store.

edblank
edblank on June 3, 2008 at 6:00 pm

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.

edblank
edblank on May 29, 2008 at 8:36 pm

Toward the end, the Bellevue was a bargain house run by Richard Stern as part of his CineMagic theater circuit.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on February 22, 2008 at 5:05 pm

Not exactly hot news, but here is some local information from September 2002:
http://tinyurl.com/3dvnv2

dcooke
dcooke on July 6, 2006 at 8:52 pm

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.

carolgrau
carolgrau on May 10, 2006 at 6:52 pm

Had worked this theatre five or so times, sad to see this or any other theatre go.
Norelco

71dude
71dude on May 10, 2006 at 4:15 pm

Closed around Labor Day in 2002.