Village Theatre

Boardwalk,
Ocean City, NJ 08226

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Historic Boardwalk Theatres -- Village Theatre

Additional Info

Operated by: Hunt's Theaters Inc.

Previous Names: Doughty's Pier Theatre

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News About This Theater

Village Theatre

Opened as Doughty’s Pier Theatre around 1900. Initially presented vaudeville and then silent movies. Survived a 1927 fire that destroyed much of the Boardwalk. When the Boardwalk was rebuilt and moved east (closer to the ocean), the theatre’s entrance and seating had to be changed to the opposite side of the building. Added a sound system in 1929. By 1931 it was operated by Hunt’s Theaters Inc. By 1941 it was operated by the Strand Theater Co.

Operated continuously until 1989, when it was sold to a paper company. The building burned to the ground on June 12, 1990.

Contributed by tc

Recent comments (view all 11 comments)

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on May 23, 2005 at 8:26 am

This was Ocean City’s premiere theater for roadshow engagments.

jlaymon
jlaymon on May 29, 2005 at 4:59 pm

I should have been more clear in the original text. “Paper company” does in fact mean that the three theater properties were sold to a company that concealed the actual owners. The former owner, Helen Shriver Schilling, did not wish to sell the properties to the local competetors, with whom she had an unfriendly history. But the sale went through anyway without her understanding who was behind the deal.

The building was very interesting, however, in that you could see places where the place had been changed many times over the years. A hidden deck behind the South Seas shop was at one time a pier overlooking the ocean.

JL

jlaymon
jlaymon on January 21, 2006 at 10:46 pm

Web site updated with more pictures…

http://www.moorlyn.com/Village.htm

teecee
teecee on March 2, 2006 at 5:13 am

Listed as part of Shriver Theatres Co. in the 1976 International Motion Picture Almanac.

edblank
edblank on May 21, 2008 at 2:39 pm

Am I correct in remembering that this was the nicest theater in Ocean City, NJ, in the mid-1950s? If so, it’s where I saw “To Catch a Thief” in the summer of 1955. – Ed Blank

RahnAtTheShore
RahnAtTheShore on July 8, 2008 at 3:31 pm

“Thank you” to everyone who provided pictures of the Village, both exterior and especially the interior shots. The decoration, though minimal, was great in the main auditorium.
I enjoyed seeing the photos showing the billboards on the back of the theater as well as those on the roof. I seem to remember when they actually had advertisements for movies on them (an on-set of old age maybe).

Rahn

Mikeoaklandpark
Mikeoaklandpark on August 17, 2012 at 4:10 pm

This was Ocean City’s roadshow theater.

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