General Category > Hackensack History

Oritani Theater

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Long Ago:
Growing up in Hackensack during the early 1950s, I spent many happy Saturday afternoons at the Oritani.  TV was still in its infancy then, and movies were a popular place to go. 

Admission prices were 25 cents for kids (under 12 years old) and 50 cents for adults.  Age was monitored closely by the theater, and if a kid was tall for his age he would sometimes not be admitted unless he paid the adult price.  Of course, some kids paid nothing by sneaking inside the emergency door to the side of the front stage.  On special occasions the normal prices were waived and you could get admitted for the price of one penny, but it had to be an Indian Head penny only.

A typical show would consist of a newsreel, often followed by a cartoon, and then a double feature with an intermission between the two films.  The newsreel often contained coverage of events happening in the Korean war.  Most of the cartoons were the classic Warner Bros. fare, and I was fond of characters like Yosemite Sam and Marvin the Martian.  Western and sci-fi movies were popular, and I remember the introduction of 3-D movies with special glasses for the patrons.  The first 3-D movie I saw was House of Wax with Vincent Price.  Those were good times.

johnny g:
Those side entrance sneak-in's were still going on in my day too. The exit to the left of the screen/stage

Long Ago:
Well, I never used the emergency door to get inside the theater, but I was tempted to do so on one occasion.  I had just paid my admission price and was sitting on an aisle seat waiting for the show to begin.  Suddenly someone threw a piece of candy at me, and I returned fire with my Boston baked beans just as an usher walked by.  I was then escorted out of the theater, and they wouldn’t even refund my money.  I thought about returning through the emergency door, but as Sheriff Buford T. Justice used to say, “You can think about it, but don’t do it!”

Speaking of ushers, there was a very friendly elderly gentleman that used to take your tickets from you when you entered the theater.  He was always dressed in a red uniform with gold trim, and his hair was all white.  He used to joke around with the kids and show us how he was able to wiggle his ears.  Does anyone else remember him?

Editor:
http://www.nj.com/#/0

Vintage photos of N.J. movie theaters

Caption for first picture below:
The Oritani Theatre in Hackensack is shown in a photo from the late 1920s. It opened in 1926, directly across the street from the Fox Theatre. Named for a local Native American chief, it closed in 1983 after first having been divided into a multiplex cinema. Courtesy of Vintage Bergen County

Caption for second picture below:
The Oritani Theater sign comes down in 1983 after 57 years in Hackensack. Courtesy of Bobby Cole

(Thanks Homer!)

johnny g:
Great memories of Friday and Saturday nights (uptown) hanging around by the theatres and the library. Anyone remember the name of the pizza place next to the Oritani?

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