Mall Theatre
W. Spring Valley Avenue,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
W. Spring Valley Avenue,
Paramus,
NJ
07652
8 people
favorited this theater
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Yes, believe it or not, the Bergen Mall was the first mall in the area, predating the GSP by about 3 years. The cinema was located outside, with no entry from inside the mall. They did show films not easy to see, unless you lived in NYC, like Twinkle, Twinkle Killer Kane, The Last Wave,The Man Who Fell To Earth, etc. I recall the theatre was rather nice inside, with the entrance being in the middle of the theatre, along the right side of the wall. Unusual.
Today these is absolutely no trace that there was ever a theatre there. Also, there was never a marquee outside the theatre, either.
Listed as part of B.S. Moss Theatres in the 1970 FDY & 1976 International Motion Picture Almanac.
Listed as a B.S. Moss Theatre in the 1985 International Motion Picture Almanac.
World-theatres.com lists the opening date as 1960.
I think the Bergen Mall (and the Garden State Plaza) were among the first of their kind in the whole state. They’re the only malls I was ever aware of as a kid, so they were special places to me back then. Hard to believe nowadays, with thousands of malls having sprung up all over the place like weeds.
Strange to consider that in it’s heyday, this theater was pretty much an art house. Strange because the mall it’s located in is definately NOT associated with the type of crowd that would normally go to an “art” or foreign film. Was the Bergen Mall once considered upscale? I know they’re trying to turn it around but nowadays, it’s kind of a trashy place.
Here is an ad from when the Mall had the exclusive area showing of one of the biggest hits of 1967:
View link
I saw it there with 4 other people, and it was so crowded we had to split up and sit separately (first time I ever had to do that). Other films I saw here: “Swept Away”, “Seven Beauties”, “Days of Heaven”, “The Man Who Fell to Earth”.