Fox Theatre
309 Main Street,
Hackensack,
NJ
07601
309 Main Street,
Hackensack,
NJ
07601
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 42 comments
Ad posted for opening of “What, No Beer” from the Hackensack Record. Free beer offered during run of the picture. Found on @busterkeatonsoc twitter
First movie I saw here was Mary Poppins about Christmas of ‘64.Then SOM summer of '67 on the film’s first Jersey non reserved seat engagement roll out. Maybe it had just ended its 2 year run at the Bellevue in Montclair. Also war movies like Patton and Midway. I also saw Rollercoaster in Sensurround. Others as well.
Airport played at the Oritani which I saw there after seeing it at Radio City. As opposed to the art deco Fox it was rather detailed ornate in the 20s fashion but at that point very shabby unlike the Fox whose interior which was maintained and quite beautiful and designed with gorgeous concealed lighting to show of its detailed art deco craftmanship. Look at the black and white interior photo and imagine it colorfully lit. One thing one does not get when looking at the interior photos of these theater at their completion is how beautifully they were lit. Certainly a lost art when they are restored. It’s usually lights on/lights off.
This opened on October 3rd, 1931.
Fox Theatre opening Sat, Oct 3, 1931 – 13 · The Record (Hackensack, Bergen, New Jersey, United States of America) · Newspapers.com
I met my first wife at the Fox in 1966 and I owe it all to Mr. Spector, the manager. She was then Marie Bassano and she worked at night selling tickets in the kiosk in front of the theater. My friends and I would “cruise the drag” at night and one night I saw her in the kiosk. I caught her eye and she smiled. Eventually I got the nerve to talk to her while she was selling tickets and every few minutes Mr. Spector would walk out in his tux to check on her (and me),so to avoid being chased away I’d have to keep buying tickets. Even at 25 or 50 cents a ticket it cost me more than a dinner just to talk to Marie. I always felt that I single-handedly subsidized the theater for at least a year! If it had not been for the Fox Theater I’d never have met my beautiful wife of 25 years!
The Fox Theatre was an amazing place. My father was the Manager for many years and I worked there as an usher while in high school. I can remember many live concerts including Jethro Tull, U2, Santana, Mountain, etc. I also remember when Muhammad Ali showed up on a bus tour promoting one of his fights which was being shown by closed circuit TV at the Fox. Great memories.
As one of murray Spectors last assistant managers at the Fox My thanks for the posting of the box office article. mr Spector, an old vaudeville man himself, was a true showman as that article oroves. I was there as a relief manager before being promoted to manager and moved to the late great colony theater . Did you know thw Fox had a two room walk in bank style vault in the managers office ?
I saw “The Jerk” (1979) there in June of 1981 so it was operational until at least then. It was never twinned. It had a very long entrance hall as I recall. The space is now a parking lot.
I too saw jethro tull at the old very small fox theater in hackensack nj back in 1971. We had second row center seats, truly amazing concert and experience. One of those things you never forget.
The Fox was closed for a number of years; I seem to recall it did open, but only for one night only closed-circuit sporting events, like fights, etc. After Jaws 2, I don’t recall it being open on a consistent basis. The theatre was to be torn down and another building was to be put up, but there were many delays and the theatre just began to rot away. Today there is absolutely no trace there was ever a theatre there; same with the Oritani, which was across the street.
Hi folks. I honestly don’t understand that 2003 article from the Bergen Record. Demolition on the Fox was actually begun back in 1993! You can see the stripped and decapitated facade at the end of the movie trailer for “Not for Today, But for All Time…” here:
www.knightskypictures.com/Not_for_Today,_But_for_All_Time/Trailer.html
Compare that image to this 1981 photo if you have any doubt:
View link
The shot from the movie trailer is certainly not one of a building undergoing any kind of renovation. Can any northern NJ residents shed light on this?
Here is a 1981 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dfu9uo
According to this stock certificate history, Fox was planning a theater in Hackensack around 1929. There may have been a later discussion with Warner Brothers:
http://tinyurl.com/2rdanw
“Midway” was featured in Sensurround (sic).
The Fox was a super artdeco theater that was never twinned as I recall. I saw “Midway” here with my parents and the building was palatial. The Fox was to be converted (gutted) into apartments but I guess that didn’t happen.
MikePSJ: “Jaws” was rated PG, with this addition: “… but may be too INTENSE for younger children.”
I remember going to the Fox Theater to see Jaws in 1975. It was the first R rated movie I had ever seen. We had to sit up in the balcony so he could smoke.
I saw Jethro Tull at the Fox in 1971 for the Aqualung tour. I was 13 and my friend’s parents drove us to Hackensack from Irvington. Lots of pot, headbands and long hair. I think the tickets were about $5 (that’s the service charge today).
Drove into Hackensack and couldn’t remember where this theater was it’s so “gone”. What a sad, sad place Main Street is now. What’s weird about it is that, unlike Paterson or Passaic, it’s all in pretty great shape. There’s just not a soul around. I was on Main Street one Saturday night about six months ago and the whole strip was deserted.
One can only imagine how a movie theater would’ve helped bring people into the town. Hell, there are so many vacant storefronts and so much parking there that you’d think someone would try it.
Listed as part of Skouras Theatres Corp. in the 1961 Film Daily Yearbook.
Listed as part of UA Theatres East in the 1985 International Motion Picture Almanac.
I saw the Three Stooges in the Fox back around 1960 or so. Ten years later in 1970 I saw 10 Years After, one year after Woodstock. Also saw movies like Dr. Zhivago, Thunderball, and Cool Hand Luke. The Fox was actually torn down around the late 80’s early 90’s period. The enterance by the store fronts remained but the theater itself was completely demolished say for a few brick walls. The rest came down in 2004 and it is now the beautiful parking lot someone wanted. mase4t4
Old photo:
View link
The Record (Bergen County, NJ), Sept 13, 2003 pA09
Bank gets OK to tear down theater. (NEWS) Tom Davis.
Byline: TOM DAVIS, STAFF WRITER
HACKENSACK – The Planning Board has unanimously approved Oritani Saving Bank’s plans to tear down the shuttered Fox Theater building on Main Street and add 53 parking spaces and a drive-through station for the bank.
The bank, in turn, says it will drop its lawsuit that sought to nullify the city’s decision last year to declare the theater property as a redevelopment site. This designation would have allowed the city to take over the theater, most of which was demolished a decade ago.
The city never announced specific plans for the land, however, and Wednesday’s vote was a sign that officials would rather see the bank develop the site, which many had called an “eyesore.”
“There’s much to be said when the private sector works well with government,” said Councilman Roger Mattei, a board member.
The Fox Theater was one of several movie houses that anchored the city’s downtown in the 1940s and 1950s. The theater closed two decades ago, although it was resurrected once or twice a year during the 1980s for closed-circuit boxing.
Last year, Oritani agreed to purchase the theater from a private company, but the city’s actions and the subsequent lawsuit held up the sale’s closing. Since then, however, the two sides have worked together to bring an end to the dispute.
At the end of the board’s Wednesday meeting, in fact, some members approached Oritani’s representatives and thanked them for presenting a solid application.
Under the plan, the bank will expand its own parking lot, adding 12 spaces that serve the bank. Oritani will also create a 41-space lot that will front State and Berry streets, behind the bank.
The bank’s president, Kevin Lynch, said he plans to lease spots in the 41-space lot to other merchants in the city’s parking-deprived downtown. He did say, however, that the new 41-spot lot may be only temporary; the bank is considering selling the 15,842-square-foot piece to a developer.
Lynch was excited about creating two drive-through lanes, one of which will include an ATM machine. The 92-year-old Main Street branch, he said, needs such a station to remain viable.
Article CJ107753056
In September 1953, the Fox was part of the short-lived 3D craze:
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The final movie wasn’t “Jaws 2” in 1978, it was “John Carpenter’s The Thing” in 1982. In The Record from 1982, they don’t show any more movies playing there after that. Some movies that played there during the time period between 1978-1982, were “National Lampoon’s Animal House,” “The Blues Brothers,” and “1941”. Funny thing is, they all stared the late, great John Belushi. I remember when I was about 4 or 5 I would go with my grandmother to Main St. all the time, and I vividly remember seeing inside the lobby right after it closed before they boarded it all up, and the marquee which was green and said “FOX” in red letters, saying “CLOSED,” where a movie title would be featured.