The Bellevue, an historic theater in Montclair, has been named one of the 100 greatest cinemas in the world right now by Time Out.
It ranked No. 94 on the list which put the pagoda-shaped TCL Chinese Theater in Los Angeles at No. 1.
“You don’t need to be an old-timer to be glad to see this suburban cinema restored to its former glories, because the historic Bellevue is evocative enough to transport you back in 1922 on its own,” Time Out said.
The Bellevue was shuttered in 2017 but was reopened in October 2025 by Montclair Film, a local nonprofit that runs the Montclair Film Festival and Montclair’s other movie theater, The Clairidge.
The Tudor-style building was a horse stable before opening on May 13, 1922 as a movie theater.
United Artists turned it into a triplex in 1983 and then an independent operator made it a four-screen cinema. Clearview Cinemas took over The Bellevue in the 1990s and operated it until 2013 when Bow Tie Cinemas bought 41 Clearview theaters, including this one.
The Bellevue shut down in 2017 when Bow Tie declined to renew the lease. A petition calling for the theater’s reopening gathered 6,000 signatures.
Several plans were made to reopen The Bellevue, including making it a dine-in theater and building apartments and retail space.
The now three-screen theater shows current releases.
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