College Theatre

Closed in March of 87. I think the last movie that played here was hannah and her sisters.. and star trek IV played here a week before that.

I noticed that the college theater played moslty exploitation and B horror movies between 1979-1982, mainly 80 and 81.. but by 1983, they went more main stream, by 84 on up, they were like family and bigger budget films..

chuck, i really wish i was old enough to see movies at this theater. I pass it by almost everyday. You can see in the back of the shopping center that the one part of it stands out really far in the back, thats where the theater was….

what happened to the 1983 photo that was on here??

Any more memories or info on this theater would be appreciated. For example, i wonder what year they changed everything and turned it into a business office? Did the theater sit for a few years once it closed??

Mother’s day was shown here in sept of 1980.

I grew up in a house across the street from The College, from the 60’s to the 80’s. The first film I was ever taken to was there, Born Free. I remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey there multiple times. I saw Jaws there on it’s first run, and Raging Bull. The films that played there varied in type from kiddie features to the more mature films of the ‘70’s. They even occasionally showed foreign movies here (possibly to draw the university crowd from Swarthmore College). When Nagisa Oshima’s In The Realm of the Senses played there, it was picketed for its supposed erotic content (it’s a beautifully photographed but extremely tedious movie about a self destructive affair between a fallen samurai and a geisha, very unsexy arthouse pseudo porn).

I think it was an independent house originally, the Budco chain bought it in the late 70’s or early 80’s I think, but they didn’t know what to do with it and it became a cheaper second run house before it died. It was built in the middle of a row of shops on one level, so that the lobby had a fairly steep upward rake from street level, to accommodate the more gentle downward rake of the auditorium. Due to the floor structure, I believe it was partly demolished, the front facade and half courtyard were removed,
bringing the front of the row of shops into one continuous line. (You can see the former site on Google Street View View link)

Near the end I remember seeing a lot of bad low budget sci fi there, including Starcrash, and, as noted above Forbidden World (which was the second part of a double feature, during the opening credits I remember someone in the audience shouting “No wonder it’s Forbidden, it sucks!” which has become a running joke for my friends who were there ever since.

Nice 1983 photo.

Films. show here. were. Night Shift 1982. fast times 1982. humongous 1982, The Exterminator 1980.. And final exam 1981. and Forbdden World 1982.. to name a few.

My first memory of going to a hardtop was at the College. I believe it was the initial release of The Jungle Book, but it could have been one of the many releases and re-releases of the Disney films in the late 60’s.