Roxy Theatre
1545 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
1545 Boardwalk,
Atlantic City,
NJ
08401
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Stanley-Warner Theatres, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: Paul J. Henon, Jr., William H. Hoffman, William Harold Lee
Firms: Hoffman-Henon Co.
Styles: Art Deco
Previous Names: Stanley Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This was one of the largest movie palaces in Atlantic City. It was located on the Boardwalk at Kentucky Avenue and was opened as the Stanley Theatre on July 3, 1925. It was originally designed by Philadelphia architectural firm Hoffman-Henon Co. and opened with 2,001 seats. Beautiful, large, wide auditorium with a large balcony and mezzanine restrooms and lounge. Later a giant CinemaScope screen was added but I don’t recall 70mm presentations. This theatre would have been much more suitable for 70mm than the somewhat disappointing Virginia Theatre. I recall a large chandelier in the lobby.
The theatre was sold by the Stanley-Warner Corporation in 1958, to the Hamid Chain, which also operated the Shore, Hollywood, Virginia and Center. They renamed it Roxy Theatre and booked some great movies there (“Longest Day”, “Planet of the Apes”, “Goldfinger”, “Woodstock”, “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf”). When you walked into this theatre, it was impressive.
It was later turned into a small indoor amusement park for small children and I worked at one of the food concession stands during summer vacation. The building was cavernous. A great theatre.
Contributed by
Howard Barbakoff
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
I remember Super Simplex projectors & Ashcraft arc lamps. The water circulator to cool the carbons was a sink of running water connected to the lamhouses. The theatre entrance was on the boardwalk, but the theatre ran paralell to it. You got to the booth though the back of the large balcony. I stood on the back roof on the way up to the booth and looked at the Traymore Hotel. One of the projectionist, Richard DeHaven, use to sunbath on that roof. He also use to swim around The Steel Pier at the age of 80!
The Roxy played “A Hole in the Head” for several weeks in the summer of 1959. Beautiful theater. I’d rank it second only to the Warner/Warren in Atlantic City in the 1950s. — Ed Blank
I vaguely recall the amusement park. I think there were a couple of childrens' rides and some skeeball games.
This may clear up the mystery. Look up the Stanley Theater in Atlantic City. There is a link to a picture. Looking at the picture and the other buildings surrounding the “Stanley” I’m almost certain that the Stanley became the “Roxy” we are discussing here. The “Stanley” is listed as having over 1900 seats, which seems about right from my memories of the “Roxy” in the 60’s.
The Stanley Theatre can by seen in the center background in this 1925 view of the Boardwalk:
View link
When a site is removed, what happens to the information and postings that were on it? Have they been threaded into this one or just erased? I’d hate to see the information just liquidated.
Renewing link.
Here is a 1968 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/cqdc9y
1957 photo added courtesy of the AmeriCar The Beautiful Facebook page.
1955 photo as the Stanley Theatre added, courtesy of the Kodachrome Heaven Facebook page.