From the Archives: Cinema Returns to Fort Lee

The Fort Lee Film Commission congratulates Mayor Mark Sokolich and the Council for the recent agreement reached as regards the former Centuria property, or Redevelopment Area 5. Mayor Sokolich announced the agreement with developers of both the east and west properties this month.

Our interest has always been in securing a 3-screen movie theater on that property in a visible location near Main St. as this will ensure a synergy with restaurants in the area and ignite the creation of a nightlife in downtown Fort Lee.  

The proposed movie theater will be on the eastern portion of the property near Main St. and Martha Washington Way with a marquee visible to commuters and pedestrians.  

The Fort Lee Film Commission will work with the future operator of this cinema to create film festivals, retrospectives and the screening of regular art-house and independent films.  

We hope to create an annual “REEL JERSEY FILM FESTIVAL” in this theater that will bring business into the community and will include film premieres and the involvement of film celebrities.  

In a nod to our past as the birthplace of the American film industry, we hope to dedicate a “Fort Lee Film Walk of Fame” outside the theater in the sidewalk area. The Fort Lee Film Commission also will work with the theater operator to use the lobby space to create a revolving exhibit of Fort Lee film history to include the display of rare archival photos and artifacts such as silent film cameras, props and costumes from the Fort Lee studios.  

In preparation for the return of a movie theater to Fort Lee, we showcase this week the cinemas of Fort Lee's past.  

Although Fort Lee's last movie theater, the Sharon Cinema (formerly the Grant Lee), closed over two decades ago, Fort Lee was once home to many cinemas. The photos in this article are from the Fort Lee Film Commission archive.

Ferrando's Fort Lee Auditorium dates back to the beginnings of the movie industry in Fort Lee. Ferrando's was in 1910 the first movie theater in Fort Lee—converted from a schoolhouse. Many early movie companies screened their daily rushes inside this building.  

Today the Fort Lee Post Office parking lot on Main Street occupies the site.

The Fort Lee Theatre, which was built in 1919, was the second movie house in Fort Lee and the first to be constructed as a theater. The theater was later renamed the Metro, in honor of Fort Lee native and MGM executive Eddie Mannix. The building still stands at 250 Main St. and today is home to the Parisienne Bakery and the Fort Lee VFW.

The Grant Lee is pictured in two photos - one looking from the corner of Abbott Blvd. and Columbia Ave. facing west with the theatre at the left. The other photo captures the marquee of the Grant Lee at 815 Abbott Blvd. in the Palisades section of Fort Lee. This movie-house was the last cinema in Fort Lee when it closed in the 1980s under the name Sharon Cinema. Today retail space occupies the building.

Built near the George Washington Bridge on Lemoine Ave. in 1950, the Lee Theater offered a large balcony area. The Lee was by far the most lavish of all Fort Lee cinemas. The Lee screened new films such as “The Godfather,” and showcased film retrospectives that included screenings of such classic films as “The Great Dictator” by Charlie Chaplin.  The Lee Theater operated until 1973, when it was demolished for a proposed large-scale development of the downtown area. This spot remains undeveloped and will be the site of the development of Redevelopment Area 5, which will include a new cinema.

The Linwood Theatre, near the Coytesville section of Fort Lee at 1681 Fletcher Ave. was a popular destination for moviegoers from the 1960s through the mid-1980s. Presently a CVS store occupies the building in Linwood Plaza.

Editor's Note: The author is Executive Director of the Fort Lee Film Commission.