I miss the the movie theaters that were built 20' and 30's, most were torn down in the 70's or remodeled to squeeze in 10 mini theaters that gives you a only seat and movie for your $8.00 ticket.

Does anyone remember your home town movie theater and their history of entertainment they brought to your town as well as there "Double Feature" movies newsreel of the day, free dishes or other give aways. They had live entertainment on their stage, for instance, many had Frank Sinatra in his beginings right in their home town singing and throwing his bow ties out to your Grandma when she was a Bobby Sockser or Burns and Allen comedy team breaking in new material or Saturday night Burlesque shows, they did all of these and more. Saturday matinees were for the kids, giving 25 cartoons, 2 shorts of " Our Gang Comedies" and a Flash Gordon weekly serial with cliff hanger endings so draw you back to the theater the next week and after all al those you got 2 feature films also, and all of this for 25 cents! it was your moms best baby sitter, it started at 12:00 noon and you were out of there by 5:00.

Those old theaters did all of those attractions, but what gave them grandure was the beautiful architecture and interior designs resembling Roman or Greek decore or the newer 30's theaters in Art Deco' styles as the Radio City Music Hall is in. The smaller home town theaters were just as ornate as the big city theaters made you feel like Royalty when you purchased a ticket, for around 60 cents, urshers would show you your seat and those seats were clean and soft cushioned to add to your enjoyment of a real entertaining experience.

Now there gone or does your town still have one of those Majestics, Rivoli's, Paramounts, Clairemonts or Roxies? When I was a kid, in our neighborhood we had the magnificent Rivoli Theater on Ferry Street in Newark NJ and our small town The Union Theater, smaller but was beautiful at one time with a lot of history to tell about...I really miss those giant theaters of yesteryear.

Hot Wax   

Hey Hot Wax, I grew up right over the bridge on Staten Island.

I used to go to a theater on New Dorp lane, called 'The Lane'...it was incredible.  It had a balcony (wasn't allowed to sit up there since the teenagers necked up there, LOL)Red velvet seats, red velvet curtain, crystal chandeliers and the ceiling had the solar system painted on it.

I saw my very first movie there, Dumbo.

I moved away in 1989, it has since been demolished.  :(

Hey Hot Wax, I grew up right over the bridge on Staten Island.

I used to go to a theater on New Dorp lane, called 'The Lane'...it was incredible.  It had a balcony (wasn't allowed to sit up there since the teenagers necked up there, LOL)Red velvet seats, red velvet curtain, crystal chandeliers and the ceiling had the solar system painted on it.

I saw my very first movie there, Dumbo.

I moved away in 1989, it has since been demolished.   :(


It's a real shame that they demolished those beautiful buildings...what were they thinking?
The Rivoli had a two level balcony and the teenagers weren't allowed in the upper level also because of the necking and what ever else they got away with. The theater closed down in the 60's and the new owners sub-divided the building and the US Post Office took most of it and the rest of it became small stores.

I remember the little things about theater, the air-conditioning was like the North Pole in the dead of summer, I still can see in my head the giant chandelier in the middle of the ceiling surrounded by ceiling paintings of Angels and clouds and and think immages of Greek or Roman Gods, carvings of cherubs coming out of the walls thick dark red carpets on the aisles with little lights at the end of the rows of seats shining on the aisle floor so not to trip, ushers in unifroms with flashlights to show you your seats and the most distinct thing I can remember was the word EXIT in the signs, it was my very the first word that I understood what it meant and how to spell it with the help of my older brother, I was about 4 years old but couldn't understand why it started with an "E" when it only sounded like an "X" and I would look at the exit signs all day instead of movies, that E bothered me every time I went to the movies, my fixation on that E went away as I got older.

My first movie experience was a Saturday Matinee with 25 cartoons a "Our Gang Comedy"  and "Superman and the Mole People"

This is weird, in the new Tom Cruse re-make movie of "War of The Worlds" the first space craft that came out of the ground was exactly in front of the old Rivoli Theater was on Ferry Street in Newark. 

I think in Elizabeth NJ there is an old movie theater still being used and in Jersey City also I read a few years ago the city saved an old theater as a land mark and spent millions to get it back to the way it was in when it was originally built in the 20's I wonder if it's finished and being used? I'll have to look into it. I'll let you know.

HW