King's Plaza Cinema 1 & 2
King's Plaza,
West Peabody,
MA
01906
King's Plaza,
West Peabody,
MA
01906
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Jerry Lewis Cinemas
Previous Names: Jerry Lewis Cinerma, West Peabody Twin Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The Jerry Lewis Cinemas opened on March 24, 1972 with Joe Don Baler in “Welcome Home, Soldier Boys”. It was a small, two-screen box (one auditorium in red, the other in blue). On October 5, 1972 it was renamed West Peabody Twin Cinema. it was closed in April 1977. It was reopened as the King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 on July 21, 1978.
This was the site of many a happy Sunday afternoon when I was a kid. I saw “What’s Up, Doc?”, “Murder On the Orient Express”, “Willy Wonka…”, “The Computer Wore Tennis Shoes” and, one life-altering summer evening “The Sound Of Music”. We could ride our bikes from our homes in Middleton to the West Peabody, Massachusetts location to enjoy the Sunday double-feature. How many hours I logged, I could never count.
The King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 was closed on January 19, 1984 with Tom Berenger in “The Big Chill” & Tom Cruise in “All the Right Moves”.
Contributed by
Frank Gayton
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Jerry Lewis sold out way before the mid 80’s.Did it keep the name? I wouldn’t think so if another chain bought it.
The above intro timeline sounds very much like the Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema my dad worked at in Carteret N.J. That one opened on June 7, 1972 and closed late in 1984. Its name was never changed, even thought the parent company, Network Cinema Corporation had folded up shop in early ‘74. Ours was also in 2 colors, cinema 1 was blue, cinema 2 was red, and the lobby was split with the candy stand. No way for the public to cross over. It was where I really got involved with the industry. Lots of fun times.
If was like the one I just described, then it probably had 300 seats in each cinema. That was JLC’s trademark. 350 seats in a single screen, 300 seats each in a twin.
With that configuration there must have been two separate sets of restrooms, one for each screen?
Yes.
I remember this place. The very first movie they showed when they opened for business was “Mark of the Devil”, and they gave everyone a vomit bag on the way in. It was pretty grisly but I didn’t throw up. They made that their very first movie for publicity reasons, to get the word out that the theater was open for business. Saw lots of movies there. never would have remembered that it was a Jerry Lewis theater without seeing it here, but i remember it now.
I remember this place. It was called West Peabody Cinema after the Jerry Lewis name was removed. A really oddball location. It was technically at the same location as a small mall. BUT at the edge of the mall was a wall of solid rock maybe 15-20 feet high which completely blocked any view of the theater from the mall parking lot. This cliff was only 3-6 ft thick and you could drive around it to get to the cinema.There was another entrance road but it was badly marked so place was isolated from view. I asked manager at cinema about the wall and he said place was built well after the mall and owner of mall refused to pay to take down wall. Like most small twins it ended up going porno before it closed, but I think it reverted back to regular films before closing.
Was this located at 649 Lowell St? The building there appears it could have been a cinema.
The Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema launched on March 24, 1972 in the Russell Plaza with “Welcome Home, Soldier Boys.” Peter Cerrone was the first-time operator of a one-button, automagically operating movie theater. And 15 people came to the opening of the theater. When the film’s follow-up, “A Man for All Seasons” played, Cerrone said that his weeknight attendance added up to one patron.
Typical of many operations, what seemed like a $20,000 investment automatically operated became a $60,000 investment and – added to that – was a cost of a union projectionist and a dozen other employees. Like each of the franchises, Cerrone got the bronze plaque with the caricature of Jerry Lewis on it. But when the cinema failed to attract an audience out of the gate, he hung his plaque upside-down in the concession stand area in a showing of derision. The theatre failed along with two other Jerry Lewis Cinemas in the market. Then Jerry Lewis left the company and its parent, Network Cinema Corp. The whole concept was dead in 1973.
The Jerry Lewis signage was removed in the Russell Plaza and the theater renamed under new operators as the West Peabody Twin Cinema on October 5, 1972. The West Peabody Twin closed in April of 1977. When the new King’s Discount Store opened in the Plaza, the plaza became known as the King’s Plaza. New operators took on the theater renaming it the King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2. It relaunched on July 21, 1978 as a discount, sub-run house with “Star Wars” on Screen #1 and Screen #2 was closed for repairs.
The King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 closed on January 19, 1984 with “The Big Chill” and “All the Right Moves.”