Mountview Cinema

On December 18, 1970, a groundbreaking ceremony spotlighted the forthcoming Jerry Lewis Cinema in Naugatuck. The theatre was part of a new-build shopping center which would open in 1972 as the Mountview Shopping Center. At the shovel were the franchisee of the cinema, James Hemstock of Hamden, the head of the shopping center, the area director of the Jerry Lewis Cinemas Circuit, and the theatre’s architect. Everyone was all smiles.

Fast forward three years later and the owners of the Jerry Lewis Cinema in Naugatuck Cinema were suing the Circuit and its parent company, Network Cinema Corporation. Network Cinema and Jerry Lewis had filed bankruptcy and moving to dissolution as other lawsuits were piling up. Such was the life of a Jerry Lewis Cinema franchisee in the early-1970’s. The theatre would later have a new name and two sets of new operators.

This Jerry Lewis Cinema launched December 17, 1971 with a double-feature of “The Organization” starring Sidney Poitier and “The McKenzie Break” starring Brian Keith. Like other JLCs, this one promised only family friendly features and had the one-button automation promising hassle-free turnkey operation.

The theatre struggled to find its audience and the turnkey automation was neither as easy as described nor at a fair price point to the operators. In fact, the Hemstocks sued Network Cinema Corporation and Jerry Lewis Cinema based on what they called false information in the 1969 information. They claimed that they were forced to buy equipment and supplies from Network Cinema Corp. and Delco Leasing Corp. (associated with Network Cinema) at highly inflated prices that they could have gotten elsewhere.

In 1973, the operators also felt that the marketing information and the marketing materials about their theatre location were seriously flawed. They sued for $500,000 and were in line behind a group of other disgruntled JLC franchisees. The operators changed the name of the theatre to the Celebrity Cinema and dropped the theatre to a sub-run, discount house with all seats 99 cents for two shows beginning October 28, 1972. The theatre became the Celebrity Theater and closed.

New operators relaunched the theatre as the Mountview Cinema on March 14, 1973 closing on June 3, 1973. Under new operators, the family-friendly shows were over as the theatre began showing X-rated films beginning with “The Stewardesses” at the height of the porno chic era of film exhibition. That didn’t meet with public approval and the theatre owners were in court against the city. In the interim, the Mountview Cinema went back to Hollywood fare in late-July of 1973 but went out of business in December of 1973.

New operators came on March 20, 1974 bringing back X-Rated films beginning with “The Devil in Miss Jones”. The City Attorney, Police Chief and two police officers got a private showing to ensure the sensibilities of Naugatuck’s citizens weren’t compromised. It also ensured that they wouldn’t get raided on opening day. In December’s of 1974, the Mountview Cinema held Naugatuck’s first Erotic Film Festival and had switched to “unrated” XXX-films. The Mount View Cinema eventually closed and was repurposed for other retail ventures.

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