After The Graduate opened at the Coronet in 1967 it became the theater where everyone wanted to open a film. The Walter Reade Organization (WRO) leased the property where they were located and they were indeed torn down.
The theaters pictured were Cinema I and II which were part of the Rugoff Chain and remain.
The Fine Arts burned about 1970 and the producer-screenwriter Dory Schary’s office which was housed there burned.
WRO operated 127 theaters in the late 60’s including drive-ins all along the Jersey shore.
It opened “Night Of The Living Dead” at midnight in a number of its theaters to make sure it wasn’t reviewed by the critics. The film cost slightly more than $100,000 and did about $30,000,000 in its initial run. As they say, the rest is history.
After The Graduate opened at the Coronet in 1967 it became the theater where everyone wanted to open a film. The Walter Reade Organization (WRO) leased the property where they were located and they were indeed torn down.
The theaters pictured were Cinema I and II which were part of the Rugoff Chain and remain.
The Fine Arts burned about 1970 and the producer-screenwriter Dory Schary’s office which was housed there burned.
WRO operated 127 theaters in the late 60’s including drive-ins all along the Jersey shore.
It opened “Night Of The Living Dead” at midnight in a number of its theaters to make sure it wasn’t reviewed by the critics. The film cost slightly more than $100,000 and did about $30,000,000 in its initial run. As they say, the rest is history.