Autumn Years Winter 2023/24

in 1928. When the 1,275-seat venue was being built, promoters claimed it would feature “the finest in motion pictures with high-class musical accompaniments.” Back in the olden days, some theaters painted their own “Coming Attrac tions” posters, and that almost caused the Pascack Theatre to burn down in 1936. A part of the building was used to paint the posters. One afternoon, while a matinee was showing, the paint mate rials caught fire. The Fire Department attempted to extinguish the fire but was forced back by an explosion. They soon had the blaze under control, however.

The second theater to be rebuilt in 1928 was the Westwood Theatre on Westwood Avenue. (The rebuilding was in response to competition from a second, grander theater that opened in town that year.) Days after opening,

In 1928, two theaters were rebuilt and made significantly larger (both older versions were mentioned in Part 1). In Bergenfield, the original 600 seat Palace Theatre was demolished to make way for the new 1,100-seat the ater. The Spanish architectural design featured solid-walnut panels with gold details, and Spanish tapestries hung from the walls. The theater promoted its “perfect ventilation” system (i.e., fans, since air conditioning had only re cently been introduced elsewhere.) The theater had a candy counter, but did not sell popcorn; that was sold next door in a store owned by the theater manager (affectionately known as “Pops”). In the 1980s, the Palace was carved into a “fiveplex.” It closed in January 2023, and there are plans to convert it into a restaurant.

the theater manager was ar rested during a Sunday after noon show for violating the Blue Laws. The manager was immediately brought before a judge and paid the $16 fine. The theater manager, who also happened to be a justice of the peace, decided to ex ercise his authority and pro ceeded to stop traffic (since driving on Sunday was also against the Blue Laws) and

Original Pascack Theatre auditorium, Westwood.

Incredibly, all of this took place without the theater being evacuated. A police man reported that only two people ex ited “because they smelled smoke and heard fire trucks.” The remainder of the audience, mostly women and children, continued to watch the movie, unaware of the near catastrophe they escaped. The theater was eventually divided into six spaces, and it still operates as

demanded that all store owners close their establishments or be arrested. Following displays of public support and some contentious mayor and coun cil meetings, the Blue Laws were altered to allow movies on Sundays. By 1943, the theater closed, and today it houses stores. The theater that caused competition in Westwood was the Pascack Theatre on Center Avenue, which opened

WINTER 2023/24 I AUTUMN YEARS 45