Marchwood Theater
Route 100 and Marchwood Road,
Exton,
PA
19341
Route 100 and Marchwood Road,
Exton,
PA
19341
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Jerry Lewis Cinemas
Functions: Retail
Previous Names: Jerry Lewis Cinema
Nearby Theaters
The Jerry Lewis Cinema was located in the Marchwood Shopping Center, to the north of Exton. PA. It was opened by Jerry Lewis Cinemas on October 29, 1971 with John Wayne in “Big Jake”. In May 1974 under new owners in was renamed Marchwood Theater. It later became a XXX Rated theater and screened adult films. It was a large single screen theater. It was closed on December 12, 1985 with “Shauna” & “Pleasures of Innocence.
It became a gymnasium, and now houses several retail units.
Contributed by
ronnie21
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Recent comments (view all 7 comments)
Theater showed x rated movies on a big single screen. I dont think it made it out of the 80’s, Was a lot of things after theater closed.. A gym and a salvation army type thrift way.
This was originally a Jerry Lewis theater, but when that franchise died out, it started showing the X-rated stuff. The Lewis people made a big stink about it, if I remember. I lived in Exton from 1955 till 1973, then from 1977 to 1984, and lived just about a mile from Marchwood.
I lived in the Marchwood apartments in the mid 2000s and had no idea that there used to be a skin flick theater right across the street. Hilarious. I would imagine that the families with young children or teenagers in the Marchwood neighborhood subdivision were not happy about a xxx theater within kid-bike-riding distance.
It’s a shame there are no photographs of this theater when it was open.
This was my dad’s theater at the end. He ran this and the Thorndale cinema for about 15 years. I grew up in both of these cinemas.
This theater opened as the Jerry Lewis Cinema on October 29, 1971 with “Big Jake” and was franchised by the creator of the Marchwood Shopping Center, Bernard Hankin. The theatre got new ownership and changed names to the Marchwood Cinema in May of 1974. The last shows advertised as the Marchwood Cinema were on December 12, 1985 with “Shauna” and “Pleasures of Innocence.”
There’s a story that Jerry Lewis quit making movies after he spotted his film “Which Way to the Front?” playing on a double bill with “Deep Throat”. It’s probably just a story, but you have to wonder if it wasn’t inspired by a Jerry Lewis Theater switching to adult films after the franchise went bust.