Cineplex Odeon Route 17 Triplex
85 South Route 17,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
85 South Route 17,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
16 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 127 comments
When it was twinned, they put a wall right down the middle – each side had orchestra and balcony seating. The auditoriums were then very narrow and the screens were on the small side if you wanted to sit in the rear. I know for certain that at least one side had 70mm capability.
I just saw “Land of the Dead” at a matinee…there were 3 people there…the $4 ticket price was nice…but yes, it’s the nail in the coffin, it’s amtter of time…
as I sat in theater 1, downstairs on the left, I keep trying to visualize what the theater looked like as a single, it must have been enormous….also as a twin, some have said it was cut down the middle, with a balcony for each, I still wonder if it wasn’t just the balcony and bottom ??? they both were 70MM equiped, any pictures??
They just lowered their ticket prices this past Friday (6/24) or the one before (6/17) not sure. It is now only 4 dollars for a matinee and 7 dollars for an adult ticket. I guess with the plans for the new 16-plex on the table, this reduced admission price is the final nail in coffin for this theatre. I rarely go here, I used too when I was younger, but the place smells like mildew everytime I’m there
The information in the description is inaccurate. This theatre opened as part of the Century circuit (their first foray into NJ) and was a single screen. It opened shortly before the Route 4 Tenplex (also a single screen upon its debut).
It’s probably not too far away, Robert. The triplex seems to be mostly (if not entirely) functioning as a move-over house for product from the Loews site on Route 4… and we know how short the shelf-life for major-chain move-over houses tend to be…
Has a date been set to close this? I would like to see it one more time.
QUOTE:
“Was this a roadshow house? Does anyone know what big films played here hard ticket?” (RobertR)
“Man Of La Mancha” (1972)
Was this a roadshow house? Does anyone know what big films played here hard ticket?
What a shame, I was only in this theatre one time when it was single screen. What a great house it was.
When are they actually closing down?
Want to take one last look myself.
Must have been a wonderful one screen place way back.
Thank You and Happy Holidays.
THIS THEATER IS VERY MUCH LIKE THE CENTURY ROOSEVELT FIELD THEATER LOCATED AT THE MALL ON LONGISLAND AND THE CENTURY GREEN ACHERSIN VALLY STREAM .ALL 3 MUST HAVE BEEN BUILT AROUND THE SAME TIME
Pete and Bill:
I wish I was there to see ET at Cinema 46. I saw it at the Wayne Theater in Preakness Shopping Center after all the hoopla and I loved it as well , being about to be a senior in college.
It must have been something, especially in the projector booth to have side by side 70MM showings of Rocky III and Poltergeist at Route 17. Was there 6-track sound also?? I bet the walls shook.
It’s amazing how we all took these showings for granted. Example: In July 1983 at the Cinema 46 they showed the double feature of Star Wars and Empire in 70MM 6-track…I kick myself now as “How the hell did I miss that?”…footnote : In April 1997 those were the last 2 films shown at the Cinema 46 before it closed. I saw them both, stayed to the end credits ( I did see Empire in 70MM there in 81) so it was nostalgic that that was the last one I saw. However it was shown in 35MM with an inferior projectionist.
Bill: You are right about Pete putting on great shows at the Lafayette. He is truly a great movie showman and worthy of tribute on this site. I wish I had a job like that…it would be a dream come true…The Lafayette is THE BEST theater around. No where else can you see the great movies on a big screen with superior presentation..I wouldn’t be surprised if one day they rent 70MM equipment for a special showing.
Pete, not only do you put on those great shows at the Lafayette in the present day, but you were also directly involved in one of my all-time best movie experiences from 22 years ago! My anticipation for “E.T.” was so high that I didn’t think “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” was ever going to end. And I’m sure I was being unfair to that movie. It was probably good. But “E.T.” was something else. I and my brother and my friends all came out of Cinema 46 with one of those great-movie highs that are all too rare these days, and we couldn’t wait to spread the word about the movie. But nobody seemed to care, or to get what we were talking about. Then, about two weeks later, the movie opened and the rest of the country caught up with us.
Bill:
I was working as an assistant manager at Cinema 46 the day of the E.T. sneak – we had folks lining up starting around 11:00am for the show. If you remember, you had to see “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” first at 5:15, then “E.T.” at 7:15. We sold the whole place out in about 30 minutes and added an “unofficial” second showing of it at 9:45 that night as well. The place was a zoo and somebody stole the original one-sheet that said “In his First adventure on Earth.”
Rhett:
Yes, both Rocky III (the 70mm prints were cropped from 1.85 to 2.20) and Poltergeist were in 70mm at the Route 17 Twin.
I saw Rocky III there in May 1982. I guess it was 70mm but the screen was too small for it to make the same big impact you’d get from something like Lawrence of Arabia. Another thing I remember about it was seeing the sneak preview of E.T. that same weekend at Cinema 46, a couple of weeks before it opened. I still have the “I SAW E.T.” button they gave out.
BTW….regarding the old Stanley Warner(the Paramus 10 plex)…I saw I Robot there the other day and as I was leaving I stopped by the open office by the entrance and on the walls were old pictures of when the Stanley Warner first opened. The interior with the balcony, the outside facade…awesome pictures I’d love to get a print of…I didn’t ask about them as i assume the mgr. and office workers seemed to be pretty unimpressed by my viewing of the photos.
In my research, I’ve found that they showed 70MM presentations when it was a twin…in 1982 they showed Poltergiest and Rocky III and the paper says both were 70MM. Does anyone remember seeing these…
This theatre might be forced to close soon. The theatre resides in the parking lot of Garden State Plaza, one of the biggest malls in the country. The mall is planning to build a 20 screen stadium style theatre litteraly right on top of this theatre, in which case, the theatre will be history.
I can only imagine what this theater was like as a single screen. But I have to say that I was a little impressed by the theater size when I saw The Alamo recently. Comparing it to alot of other smaller multiplex screens. The projection quality and sound were poor but it was the 2nd time I was at the theater. I was in the balcony theater last summer and was impressed. It’s hard to imagine there was a wall down the middle before the triplex. It’s ashame there’s no photos of the theater.
I’d say Theater #1 was on the left and Theater #2 was on the right. I saw Diamonds Are Forever on the right side. I remember thinking that the screen was smaller than I’d expected. This was the first time I’d been inside a twinned theater – little did I know that this was soon to be the wave of the future, sadly.
So, does anyone know which theater was Century #1 and Century #2?? right or left?? Just curious. I assumed it was always a top and bottom theater…didn’t figure it was split down the middle, then a restored balcony.
As a single screen I saw a double bill of In The Heat of the Night and West Side Story and in the summer of ‘70 The Boatniks. I remeber thinking how nice it was and then suddenly the wall went up.
I don’t know the year it opened – 1967, I think – but it was as a single-screen theatre and it was known as Century Paramus, Stanley Warner and RKO came later. It was twinned just before the release of Diamonds Are Forever (a friend of mine always mentions that his first screening there after the wall went us was DaF and was depressing). The twinning was originally a wall right down the middle, when it was converted to the Triplex format, they removed the wall from the balcony, so that area is the original width of the theatre. It’s one of the better balcony theatres, but the presentation isn’t very good any more.
It, along with the Route 4 complex, will be closing as soon as Loew’s get final approval and builds their new gigaplex on the other side of the parking lot.
Pete Apruzzese
I never saw this theater when it was single-screen, but I think it was split right down the middle to make it a twin. There was half a balcony and half an orchestra in both theaters on either side. I’m basing this on seeing Diamonds Are Forever there in 1971. I know in later years the full balcony was converted into a third theater.
It never drew the crowds that the Tenplex did over on Route 4, but this theater was packed when they showed Aliens in 1986. It also had anti-movie demonstrators on the sidewalk outside for The Last Temptation of Christ in 1988.
You know, I went there for the first time this year and I was impressed by the size of the theaters. It must have been something in the old days. I saw The Alamo there last week and the theater was huge, although the projection and sound were poor. There were a couple highschoolers working there. I couldn’t stop thinking about how that theater could be better used if spruced up a bit. I’d love to see pictures of the old interior. The theater still has phone booths. I was thinking about getting a part=time job there this summer.
Trivia question: When it was a twin theater…which theater was Century paramus 1 and 2. The top(converted bacony?) or bottom. It’s a matter of time before they knock this down too. I’ve never seen the parking lot full/