Barrymore Film Center

Named in honor of the Barrymore acting family, whose patriarch Maurice and son John were early residents of Fort Lee, the Barrymore Film Center held its opening night gala on October 15, 2022.

The Film Center notes Fort Lee is considered the birthplace of the American film industry. In 1907 Thomas Edison’s “Rescued From An Eagle’s Nest” was shot at the Fort Lee Palisades. Studios such as Fox, Universal and Solax, the first studio operated by a woman, Alice Guy Blaché, were established here. The BFC says the last film shot in Fort Lee was in 1948.

The Barrymore Film Center is operated by the Fort Lee Film Commission and will include film retrospectives, festivals, foreign films and showcases for emerging filmmakers. The opening day to the public was October 21, with memberships available.

Designed by Hugh Hardy of H3 Architects, the cost of the 260-seat Film Center was $15 million.

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

rivest266 on October 19, 2022 at 5:07 pm

Grand opening ad posted.

Moviefan333 on December 7, 2022 at 10:42 am

This is a wonderful addition to the area. Went to see full metal jacket good turn out for a Sunday afternoon. Excellent projection and sound presentation top-notch. They have a lots of good movies upcoming make sure you go out and check out this gem. We are very lucky in this area to have movies that play here that normally would require you to go down to New York City. So far most of the presentation has been digital but they do specify when they’re showing 35 mm films.

Bill Huelbig on May 13, 2023 at 8:27 am

Really a beautiful theater. The screen was at least 40 feet wide. It reminded me of the screen at the Ziegfeld. Last night I saw my favorite James Bond movie, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, and next Saturday they’re showing 2001: A Space Odyssey in 70mm. The #158 bus from Manhattan takes you right to it.