Menlo Park Twin Cinema

moviebuff82 on February 25, 2007 at 1:08 pm

When I was young, I remember reading the showtimes and already knew that the movie was playing on a lot of screens (e.g., Loews Wayne).

moviebuff82 on February 25, 2007 at 8:21 am

that’s kinda weird since most movies nowadays can be played on two or three screens; was “Star Wars” the first movie to play on multiple screens because of its increasing popularity?

moviebuff82 on February 12, 2007 at 6:22 pm

Which means that “Star Wars” played in plain old mono on one screen and another movie played on another with mono sound also. How many seats did each theater have after being twinned, and which one was larger, one or two?

JerryK on February 3, 2007 at 10:51 pm

Menlo was twinned around 1976. Tha actual building was owned by Menlo Park Mall and General Cinema was renting. If I recall, the option of a new multiplex in the mall (twins were becoming unprofitable by the mid 80’s) was offered to GC, but the company had already decided that it was pulling back on it’s theater operations. There was no room to expand the old Menlo Cinema site. As an aside, Menlo was twinned after the GC theater at Route 9 and Ernston Road in Sayreville was twinned in late 1975. That theater was eventually torn down to make room for the Route 9 realignment. I worked at that theater a couple of times, notably during the first run showing of The Blues Brothers. Those of us who remember Menlo before it was twinned remember a 60' by 30' screen with great magnetic stereo sound on all of the “big pictures”. A truly great house.

Knucklehead on February 3, 2007 at 1:16 am

When was the theater twinned?

Knucklehead on February 2, 2007 at 6:40 pm

What do you mean by “mostly a stereo version”?

Do you mean some reels were stereo and others were mono? Or do you mean the Menlo Park Cinema started with a print in one format and later in the year switched to a different type of print?

Did Menlo Park even have Dolby stereo as far back as 1977?

Knucklehead on February 1, 2007 at 8:43 pm

So which version of STAR WARS played here? The STEREO version or MONO version?

I read that the MONO version didn’t sound as good but had more soundeffects and extra speaking parts for C3PO and the Stormtroopers?

captnemo on July 24, 2006 at 7:31 pm

I worked at menlo from “Mahoghany” in Nov. 1975 until “Return of the Jedi” in the Fall of 1983. I did leave for a short time in mid-1978 to mid-1980 to work at different theaters, but that is another story. Mr. Rizzo was my boss ,and we had some great times together.
-6 weeks before “Star Wars” opened, we had a staff meeting to prepare for the summer. He thought that the film would last for about 6 weeks. I was the only person there who felt that this one was special. When he asked me how long I thought it would run, I said it would still be here until Halloween. That got a big laugh from everyone. I stuck my neck out and said it would break every record across the country, there were even more laughs. 7 weeks later, after we had just sold out for the 32nd show in a row, Mr. Rizzo took me aside and admitted I was right. He was a great guy, but never admitted being wrong. I was stunned. The real die hards on the staff worked from 10:30 am until 12:30 am every day from the end of May until well after Halloween. On Friday and Saturdays we also worked the midnight show, which got out around 2:45 am.
-I recall working about 7 weeks straight without a day off. Mr. Rizzo insisted I take off the next day. When the theater opened the next day, Mr. Rizzo was amazed that I was on line to see the first show. I loved that film. I volunteered to stay inside the auditorium for every show every day to watch for smokers and trouble makers. This gave me the opportunity to see “Star Wars” over 100 times that summer. By the end of its run on December 21st, I had become the Chief of Staff at Menlo. I still cherish all those days.

uffasan on March 8, 2006 at 4:01 pm

I’d like to see those pics as well. I’d also throw them up on my site and post the link here.

JackS124 on December 28, 2005 at 12:00 am

I am so happy to have found this site! I happened to do a Google search on the Menlo Park Cinema and located this site and immediately joined!

The General Cinema Menlo Park was probably the premiere first run theater in Central NJ during it’s heydays of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s. I had an aunt that lived in Spotswood, NJ at the time the theater opened and she told me stories of what a big deal the opening of the theater was in the early 60’s. By her description, the grand opening was on-par with Hollywood style opening night, with reserved seating and such.

The theater itself was very unique architecturally, designed in a very modernist style. The box office area was located on the left of the building, if you were facing it, with the theater auditorium on the right and probably in excess of 3 stories tall. The box office itself was a very modern affair with a low, white flat roof but completely windowed. On entering the box office, 2-3 box office windows were located in the front. You then entered the “lobby” area through 2 glass doors and were in the “gallery” area. Various modern artwork adorned the walls and there were low cushioned benches throuughout for sitting. I do recall at one time that the work of various local artists were featured in the gallery area.

As a kid, some of my fondest memories of going to the movies revolved around the Menlo Park Cinema. As mentioned before, the theater had a balcony area which if memory serves me, at one point was designated the “Smoking Loge”, which for an additional charge patrons could purchase tickets. The balcony area also had a full refreshment/concession area that was always staffed.

I recall one of the first films I have any memory of seeing as a kid was Disney’s re-release of Snow White, probably around 1967 or 1968. I recall that the afternoon showing we were at was over-sold because my friends and I had to sit on the floor in the aisle and the adults had to sit in the remaining single seats available.

All of the blockbuster films of the 60’s, 70’s and 80’s always where shown during the exclusive engangement runs at the Menlo. The Godfather 1, all of the Bond films, the Indiana Jones trilogy, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc. were all films I recall seeing at the Menlo. In fact, I think my love of the movies was born at the Menlo.

I believe the theater was made into a twin sometime in the mid-70’s. A huge wall was erected that basically spit the theater in half long-ways. For a time after the split, the balcony area remained opened to the public but subsequently was roped off and never accessible again, which was a shame. For a time, a local sponsors used to host a “Kiddie Matinee” on Satuday mornings which if I remember correctly were free. I recall one of the first sponsors was Valiant Aluminum, an aluminum siding outfit who’s owner, Dick Najar (sp?) used to call him self “Capt. Vinyl” for the vinyl siding he was selling. Later, I believe it was Fords Jewelers that sponsored the Kiddie Matinee.

Towards the end of the Menlo’s day’s I became convinced that General Cinema was intentionally running the theater into the ground. The Menlo no longer got first run films, the interior of the theater was becoming thread-worn, bathrooms were always broken and the like. In fact, all the first run showings that normally would have gone to the Menlo now seemed to go to the Woodbridge General Cinema, which was about 2-3 miles north of the theater.

When the planned reconstruction of Menlo Park Mall was announced in the late 80’s, the simultaneous announcement was made that the Menlo Park Cinema was closing to be replaced by a new 12-plex at the mall. To my horror, they also announced that the old Menlo would be demolished. Currently, a Macaroni Grill sits on the site of the old Menlo.

To this day, I still miss the experience of going to the movies at the Menlo, one my all-time favorite local theaters.

BillChyzik on October 14, 2005 at 9:27 pm

I came across this site and was completely blown away. My name is Bill Chyzik and I worked at Woodbridge Cinema in 1985 and 1986 before moving to Menlo and working for Tony Bryla in late 1986, I was Chief of Staff in 1987 at Menlo, and i actually remember you Jerry along with Abe and Crazy Gazi. If anyone has any old photos of the place i would love to see some, you can email me at

SPOK on August 21, 2005 at 9:35 am

Menlo Park was one great theater. My parents took me to see MARY POPPINS at Menlo Park way back in 1964. Unfortunately I did not make it back to this particular theater until THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK was released. It was Memorial Day, and there was a line of people stretching across the parking lot toward the old Menlo Park Mall. I took my younger brother and sister with me to see the movie. First we went into the mall to get some snacks, and I bought a paperback book, for the long wait in the line. Then we got in line for about three hours before we got into the theater.

My favorite story about that wait in line was how the best parts of the movie were spoiled by people exiting the theater by the back door. This mob of people had just seen the movie and had to cross through our long line in order to get to their cars. As they passed by you could not help but hear them comment about the film: “I can’t believe Darth Vader is Luke’s father.” “That was gross when Luke’s hand got chopped off.” “I hope they rescue Han Solo and unfreeze him.”

Thanks guys.

Yes, I was one of those fanatics who went to see EMPIRE STRIKES BACK a half dozen times.

The last movie I saw at Menlo Park was LION OF THE DESERT.

It was not until several years ago, while driving north on US 1 for the first time since leaving the Army that I realized the magnificant Menlo Park Cinema was gone.