A Lost Movie Theatre Recreated for the Cover of a Novel

On October 16, 1936, the Windsor movie theatre officially opened on the corner of Main Street and Erwin Place in West Orange.

The building itself (originally named the Llewellyn Theatre) is usually dated as "circa 1927" (the first newspaper ad I could find was in September of 1927). That year means it originally showed silent films. With sound motion pictures entirely taking over in the very early 1930's, small theatres were sent scrambling to update. The Llewellyn changed hands and its name becoming The Edison. That didn't last terribly long since the Edison family objected.

Management of The Edison seems to have been quite lacking and the building begin showing a variety of structural problems. It was closed for a week in Feburary 1936 due to a snow and ice storm which weakened a parapet on the facade so severely that twenty feet of it was in danger of falling onto the sidewalk. At some point, after the February incident, the building was put into receivership. In April of 1936, the theatre was also fined for emitting too much soot from its chimney onto neighbors' properties.

By mid 1936, ownership was taken over by Westor Theaters, Inc. The building was apparently gutted and completely renovated (perhaps even partially rebuilt) inside and out. An article in the Newark Evening News tells us that "the theater [is] constructed along modern lines". "Seating arrangements are wide and roomy, with spacious aisles". It had a "color scheme of red, blue, and gold"; a Western Electric sound system; and "electrical devices for the hard of hearing." All very high tech for 1936. It was also renamed The Windsor.

In 1936, the House of Windsor (the Royal Family of England) was very much in the news and the obvious inspiration for the theatre's new name. In January of 1936, King George V died and King Edward VIII ascended the throne only to abdicate in December of the same year. King George VI took his place.

The Windsor Theatre's opening night was October 16, 1936. West Orange's Mayor Erwin, for whom the side street next to the theatre was eventually named, gave a speech. The movies shown were High Tension directed by Allan Dwan and The Road to Glory directed by Howard Hawks. Both were produced by 20th Century-Fox.