Stanley Theatre
2932 Kennedy Boulevard,
Jersey City,
NJ
7306
2932 Kennedy Boulevard,
Jersey City,
NJ
7306
25 people
favorited this theater
Showing 101 - 125 of 144 comments
I called first and asked if they were open on Good Friday, and they were. The only times tours aren’t given are on weekends when the Jehovah’s Witnesses hold meetings and Bible studies in the theater.
TC, it’s really worth the road trip. The theater is wonderful and the two tour guides we had were very friendly and knowledgeable. They even gave us free hot chocolate.
Did you guys get in on Good Friday? I will take your advice on the tour. I went to a show at the Loews in the fall and at the time didn’t know about the tours of the Stanley. Oh well, another road trip.
Wow! What a theater. I just got back from the tour, and I see my friend Bill has already commented on it. You can’t describe the beauty of this theatre. You really must see it for yourself. I congradulate the Jehovah Witnesses for the splended job of restoration they did on this building. They have preserved a gem of a building for all to marvel at.
What is even more amazing is that TWO architectural marvels stand together just across the street from each other. I’m of course referring to the Loews Jersey, which is another amazing building you MUST see.
I and another Cinema Treasures poster, Jeff S, just got back from the Stanley tour. It was so beautiful, words can’t really describe it. Every Cinema Treasures person in the New York/New Jersey area should take the trip to Jersey City and see the Stanley for themselves.
I agree with you completely, Ziggy. Both Jersey City and the Stanley Theatre deserve better than half researched and written articles.
To answer RobertR’s question:
I clearly recall the Stanley Theatre just before it closed, having been a teenager in Jersey City in the 1970s. Apparently, even in the early 1960s, it was a place to get dressed up in order to visit. My aunt and mother both said that it still had its statues and furniture then. They went their to see “Romeo and Juliet,” the musical version from the 1960s.
However, I recall this theatre from the 1970s when, yes, it was an RKO grind house—and it deserved better.
Still the management tried to keep it going as best as they could. They still turned on what lights they could and the usher (a very elderly man as I recall, perhaps he was also the manager) wore a nice but tattered uniform.
But in the 1970s, if you can believe it, all of the beautiful metal work in the theatre was painted in a terrible glossy coat of blue paint. (Ask the Jahovah Witnesses about that blue paint and its removal.) Also, you couldn’t even see the proscenium arch because the theatre was so dimly lit. Of course, the balcony was closed and much of the front orchestra was closed as well. The downstairs lounges were still open.
What was oddest about the place is that although it was in a state of true disrepair, it was completely intact—completely. It was quite literally a window to the 1920s, covered with a thick layer of brown (cigarette) grime, and a leaky roof. I used to love to wonder about the theatre and pretend I was there in 1920s.
The theatre also had offices and these were also period piece 1920s architecture. These offices housed the Hudson County Democratic Headquarters in the 1970s. One of the stores on the ground floor was a pizza place. The offices have since been modernized and the stores are gone too.
The movie I best remember seeing here is “The 7th Voyage of Sinbad” in 1976 or so. Out of the 4,332 seats, perhaps 60 were filled. Not a very good business model I suppose.
The only changes to this building that I regret is that the former orchestra pit is now a baptismal pool, and the organ was removed in the 1970s. If any theatre should have a big Wurlitzer pipe organ, it is this one. The organ is now in Grand Rapids:
http://www.grago.org/organs/doc/vanandel.htm
The sensitively designed pool is fairly easy to live with, given the wonder of a restoration job that has been accomplished. If any theatre is a timewarp and flashback to the 1920s, this is the one. From the fountains to the lighting to the downstairs lounges to the various lobbies and galleries. It is a magnificent and perfectly cared for vintage theatrical building.
I am still completely amazed that my two childhood theatres still remain—the Stanley and the Loew’s Jersey. Rather, it is more like I am dumbfounded that they still remain. My third childhood theatre is gone. This was a 2,000 seater called the State Theatre.
Was the Stanley very run down in it’s last years as a movie theatre? I assume it was on the RKO grind run by then.
Hey! I wasn’t slamming the Stanley Theatre! I’ve admired the place ever since the first time I glimpsed its marquee from the PATH train. I was only commenting on people who get to write articles without doing research. The same series of articles on Jersey City history mentions the “gold leaf brocade” in the lobbey of Loew’s Jersey. Well, brocade is a type of expensive fabric, and gold leaf is a faux metallic finish for plaster and wood. So which is it? I think these theatres, and Jersey City, deserve better write-ups that are factual and accurate. It’s annoying to see someone get paid good money to do a lousy job. Anyway, as I said, I think the Stanley is great, the article about it is not so great.
Correction: It is the 10th largest ever built (according to these statistics).
Some stats about the much under-appreciated Stanley Theatre of Jersey City.
I played with Cinema Treasure’s statistics and it proves to be interesting.
If one looks at the ranking by number of seats for older, one screen movie theatres, the Stanley ranks as the 9th largest movie house ever built. If you include those still standing, it ranks No. 4. It is behind Radio City, and the Detroit and St. Louis Fox Theatres, and that’s about it.
In addition, unless the Virginia Theatre was an atmospheric theatre, these stats also make the Stanley the largest atmospheric theatre ever built—larger than the Atlanta Fox, Loew’s Paradise, etc.
Here is a photo of the auditorium. Judge for yourself:
View link
It looks pretty big to me…
1 Radio City Music Hall New York, NY Open 5940
2 Roxy Theatre New York, NY Closed/Demolished 5920
3 Capitol Theatre New York, NY Closed/Demolished 5230
4 Hippodrome Theatre New York, NY Closed/Demolished 5140
5 Fox Theatre Detroit, MI Open 5045
6 Virginia Theater Danville, VA Closed/Demolished 5000
7 Mastbaum Theatre Philadelphia, PA Closed/Demolished 4717
8 Teatro Maximo Mexico City, Mexico Closed/Demolished 4553
9 Fox Theater St. Louis, MO Open 4500
10 Stanley Theatre Jersey City, NJ Closed 4332
Nice photo of the marquee in that article, but the article itself starts out with such a blatantly false statement you have to wonder if anything in it is factual. They state the Stanley was the 2nd largest theatre in the country when it opened, with Radio City Music Hall being the largest. That’s a neat trick since RCMH wouldn’t be built for another 4 years, and right in Manhattan were the Roxy and Capitol, both larger than the Stanley.
Another photo & brief history at this link:
http://www.jclandmarks.com/stanleytheater.shtml
States that the Jehovah’s Witnesses bought the property in 1983.
The tour guides told me as a rule, on the weekends when they have services you can go into the theatre but they will not give the full tour or demonstrate the atmospheric effects. You must have been there on a rare Sunday where nothing was happening. They must have better hot chocolate during the week also. Mine tasted alright.
YankeeMike, There must be weekend tours. On Sunday, Nov. 21, 2004 I got the grand tour. That was the same day that the opera company was performing across the street at Loew’s Jersey. The tour ended with a dixie cup filled with hot brown water that the guide referred to as hot chocolate. However, it was a nice gesture on a cold day.
Recent online photos:
View link
View link
http://community.webshots.com/photo/85867744RuYnQK
http://community.webshots.com/photo/85868312CUfDnx
TC: What do you mean, please, about a “backlit” sky? Usually, ‘backlit’ implies that the ‘sky’ is of a translucent material such that lights behind it can shine through, and the TAMPA is a traditional movie palace with a plaster sky, as far as I know.
The Tampa theater has a working backlit “sky”. Sit in the balcony for the experience.
Thanks Jim for that information. If The Paradise ever opens I will go there to see it. If you want see the inside of The Stanley, the tours are only given during the week. Not weekends. And they will give the tour regardless to how many people show up for it. I was the only one on the tour when I went there and I had 2 guides!
YankeeMike: There are several theatres around the nation that have either the clouds or the stars working, and a few that have both. The unforgetable CORONADO in Rockford, Illinois comes quickly to mind and it has a wonderful new book out about it. The fabulous FOX in Atlanta is a notable example, even the little PATIO in Chicago had both before it closed a couple of years ago and now stands idle, as does the AVALON in Milwaukee, but its cloud machine disappeared years ago. The 3700-seat PARADISE in the Bronx is supposedly restoring its ‘sky’ too, but if it will ever reopen remains to be seen.
Two recent small (and non expandable) photos are at the bottom of this link:
View link
PS I wish I knew about the free tours of this theater a few months ago when I went to a show at Loews!
Took the tour of the “Stanley.” What a great theatre! When they show the slides the lights are darkened in the theatre and the atmospheric effects (Stars and Clouds) are demonstrated. I wonder if this is the only theatre left that still has these effects in working order. After the tour you can get a set of postcards (at no charge) of the interior of the theatre.
No. I had my two children with me. Believe me, I wanted to. The two theaters seem very accessible. My only issue with the Loews Jersey was that they had some kind of carnival like flags hanging from top of the theater down to the marquee. It looked so stupid against the classical architecture.
I saw the Loews and then saw the Stanley. I did a double take and was like “ooooooo, what’s that?!” The way they have the name, Stanley, in the marquee is remarkable. And the entrance seems to be completely intact with the box office right in the middle.
I’ve been inside both. Even though it’s been years since I was in the Stanley (it was still showing movies at the time). I’d have a hard time saying which had the better interior, but I truly believe the Loew’s has the better exterior. I think its “French Baroque collides with Art Deco” 20’s romantic type facade is a marvel! It’s as if Hugh Ferris became the court painter for Louis XIV. What a great thing it would be if the vertical and marquee could be replicated! I hope Jersey City is aware of what a couple of treasures they have in their downtown.
They’re two completely different kinds of theaters. An atmospheric as opposed to a hard top. Both are magnificent. Did you go inside either one?
I was in the Jersey City area on Sunday and went to Journal Square to see the much heralded Loews Jersey. Ok…yeah…it was very nice.
BUT…it pales to this sucker…at least from the outside and from what I’m reading here, it’s as beautiful inside as it is outside. What a smashing looking place!!
Kudos to all who lovingly restored it!
Since the Add-Photos feature of this site is now “Off-line” one cannot add any photos, and I don’t know of any current ones that are on-line, but if you write to the Overseer of the Assembly Hall at the above address, and ask for a packet of their large color post cards as well as the color photo brochure of the place, he will probably send it to you.