Movie City
NJ-18,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
NJ-18,
East Brunswick,
NJ
08816
4 people
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Great cinema teenager’s heaven back in the latter seventies buck fifty a ticket catered to the younger crowd. Went often as a new licensed seventeen year old driver with the girl that would eventually become my wife.
Opened on different screens with “Capricorn one”, “Coming home”, “High anxiety”, “Saturday night fever”, and “Close encounters of the third kind”.
This opened on June 16th, 1978. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
Trouble with the union:
Found on Newspapers.com
There seems to be some confusion here. There is no 1655 Oak Tree Rd in East Brunswick, only Edison. The theater we knew at that address, we called MOVIE CITY 6, and is now the site of BIG CINEMAS 8.
Was the East Brunswick theater part of the Woodbridge and Edison chain?
I worked at East Brunswick as an Usher 1979-1980, Projectionist at Woodbridge and East Brunswick 1980-1982, Assistant Mgr. at Woodbridge 1982-84, Mgr at Teaneck 1984-1986 and Mgr at Woodbridge in 1986 until leaving then to become an officer with the Monmouth conty Sheriff’s Office-Corrections. I am currently in my 25th year as a Lieutenant. I learned a lot from John D. about management, and that has helped me to this day. Howard was a fun guy and told funny stories. Bill McL… was a fun guy to hang out with and trips to A.C. It was my first real job and I learned a lot. My name is Rich Belowsky. If you remember me give a response.
anyone have any pictures on MC5 in EB, inside or out, my memory is starting to fade a bit! It would be great to see the old candy counter, box office, hallway, signs, anything from the gool ol' days!
Remember when the sidewalk outside leading into the theater had painted lines that you had to stand in? LOL~
Saw Animal House circa 1979 after warming up with beers and smoke in the parking lot…
My friend and former co-worker Steve Jonaitis at the GCC in Brunswick Square came to work at Movie City around 1992 until it closed I believe. I think he was some kind of manager at MC.
The Guns N Roses song Paradise City was a hit at the time and everyone renamed it to Movie City and came up with different renditions of the lyrics to the times at the parking lot. LOL!
I think the Movie City in East Brunswick is a furniture store now. I remember seeing Scanners there a long time ago.
Oh yes, the parking lot stories can go on forever (6 pack anyone?). In Woodbridge there was this guy named Darren who ran the air conditioning and heat for the building who always tried to keep an eye on the parking lot but was always too busy himself having a good time to really do anything. Plus, it was always colder in theatre 1 and 5 than in theatre 2, 3 or 4 which was a constant customer service issue but help keep the beer cold until the lobby closed and we could head out to the parking lot to drink. Good times.
Movie City parking lot was a great hangout in the late 80s into the early 90s.
Another outpost in the Movie City chain (see listing under Ft. Lauderdale) originally housed Grant City, W.T. Grant’s (very short-lived) attempt to compete with larger department stores in the early 1970s. Wonder if MC’s location scouts favored other ex-Grant facilities along the east coast?
I also worked at Movie City, both in East Brunswick and later Woodbridge. I think I know who all of you are. I started in 1982 as an usher, later promoted to projectionist. Due to several personal circumstances at the time (teenage drama mostly) I requested a move to Woodbridge where I worked till resigning (a now famous incident still discussed by a group of us) in the summer of 1985.
I agree with Lategirl and Goodfella (who referred me to this site last night)—although the place sucked, the friendships formed have lasted a lifetime. I’m even more fortunate than most, as having worked in both theatres, I have a group of friends from each.
My first stint of employment at Movie City Five in East Brunswick was from April 1984 – November 1984. I too – like the Lateguy above – was uncerimoniously fired. Reason: I attended a High School Homecoming Dance like every other Senior who worked at the theater at that time. (I just happened to be asked to the dance the
night before the dance and was supposed to work the night of the dance – but I say – my rights were violated and I was discriminated against!! LOL!)…I was rehired back in February 1985 – and remained a steady employee there until Sept 1986 – when I jumped ship to make great $ at Stuff Yer Face just down the road.
Now – despite the bad pay and the slave conditions (no soda or food
allowed)– I have friendships that have lasted almost 25 years!!! We have celebrated weddings and births of children. But best of all is that we have numerous stories that -even when we get senile – we’ll probably still remember and tell like it was yesterday…..the laughs were endless and still are. Were were truly some
bunch……wouldn’t have traded it for the world!
This theatre was owned and operated by Ed Grant. John Denicola was the GM who hired me. I actually started as an usher at the Woodbridge Movie City (which they also owned) and later promoted to projectionst which allowed me to travel back and forth to the East Brunswick location when needed. There were times when it was so busy that we ran the “interlock” function which essentially allowed us to string one piece of film across multiple projectors. I remember it often stretched and wound around the entire length of the projection room across the floor and near the ceiling. One wrong step and there would be hundreds of refunds and free passes and Denicola’s face would get really really red. Met some friends there though that will last a lifetime.
I worked at Movie City Five in East Brunswick form 1984 to 1987 when I was uncerimoniously fired. Where else could you earn $3.35 an hour, wear bad bowties, have an unlimited supply of Savor-All and be berated by management. Good memories include: cleaning garbage cans, disposing of rats falling from the ceiling tiles, breaking bon bon freezers and drinking in the storage room. Not a bad days work! Also, playing “Punch-Out” (and being formed to puch out as a result), ripping tickets and sleeping in the theartres became the highlight of each day. Then we would all go to Denny’s to eat!!!
The theatre didn’t close until the late 90’s. The theatre was open well into 1994,95,and 96
I worked as a projectionist here from summer 1993-christmas 1994. The theatre was still quite successful at this time, selling out many shows of Jurassic Park during the summer of 1993. When I got there in 1993, the only theatre that had stereo was #1 which also had DTS Digital Sound which was put in especially for Jurassic Park. The following year, Stereo was added to #2 and 3. All the rest were mono sound. By this time, a 6th screen was added. Basically, before the summer of 1993, a storage room was converted into a 30 seat theatre. The reason was that there was so much product that summer that the extra screen allowed the theatre to move more prints in and out. The projection system was Cinemacanica V-5 with Xetron Lamphouses and Potts Platters in 1-5. From what I remember, they were all 1000 watts. Theatre 6 was a Century SA on a R3 soundhead with a 1600 watt xetron lamphouse. It was a real fun time.
This theater opened as Movie City 5: all seats $1.50 at all times! There were union projectionists picketing outside the theater, because the theater had installed those new-fangled platter systems requiring only one operator to run all 5 screens. I remember the colored stripes painted on the sidwalk outside to handle the crowds (patrons waiting for Saturday Night Fever stand on the red line, patrons for Capricorn One stand on the white line, etc.) My dad bought me a ticket to see Altered States here (as a 13-year-old who had to see this R-rated movie, this was a milestone). I believe the large auditorium on the left side had Dolby Stereo, I saw Superman: The Movie here my second time (this was a 2nd run house).