HISTORY

The history of Bow Tie Cinemas begins over 100 years ago, in the era of the Nickelodeon, when B.S. Moss began his long and illustrious career providing popular entertainment to the public.

The business of operating street front Nickelodeons quickly gave way to Vaudeville, which was the heart of B.S. Moss Theaters until the 1930s when B.S. Moss sold his last Vaudeville theater and dedicated himself fully to building and operating motion picture theaters.

B.S. Moss’ Theaters were the springboard of many famous vaudevillians. The former Colony Theater on Broadway was home to premieres and exclusive engagements of early Walt Disney films. The cartoon that launched Mickey Mouse to the world, Steamboat Willie, had its first showing here. The Colony also premiered Disney’s Fantasia, followed by an exclusive run of that film for more than a year in “Fantasound” a revolutionary sound process for the time.

In 1936, B.S. Moss opened the Criterion Theater, known then as The Theater of Tomorrow, on Broadway in the ’bow tie’ of Times Square. The Criterion was the first motion picture theater built exclusively for the exhibition of talking motion pictures. It operated continuously for 63 years and was the home of several major New York film premiers including Sleeping Beauty, My Fair Lady, Funny Girl, Lawrence of Arabia and Alien.

Throughout the 20th Century, B.S. Moss Theaters provided entertainment to many, becoming what was then the largest independently-owned theater circuit in the New York Metropolitan Area.

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BOW TIE CINEMAS TODAY

Today, Bow Tie Cinemas, now a four generation family-owned company, is dedicated to returning style and elegance to the movie-going experience. In each of its 21 locations and 177 screens, Bow Tie Cinemas provides the best possible presentation and service to its patrons, continuing in the tradition of its founder.

In November, 2004 stylish movie going returned to Downtown New Haven, CT, with the grand opening of the Criterion Cinemas. Twice expanded, the Criterion now boasts nine screens of first class entertainment in a classic 1936 building.

In 2006, Bow Tie Cinemas expanded again with the purchase of twelve theater locations in Connecticut and Maryland, and in the spring of 2007, first-run movies returned to Downtown Schenectady, NY with the opening of Movieland. In the fall of 2007, movies returned to the town center of West Hartford, CT, with the opening of Criterion Cinemas at Blue Back Square.

Richmond had its first new movie theater in more than forty years when Movieland at Boulevard Square opened in early 2009. Featuring seventeen stadium-seated auditoriums, Movieland is a themed adaptive reuse of a 19th Century former locomotive assembly plant.  In 2012 the company debuted the newly rebuilt Marquis 16 in Trumbull, CT and newly rebuilt Reston Town Center Cinemas in Reston, VA.  Each theater features 100% stadium seating and contains one of the company’s BTX: Bow Tie Xtreme - The Ultimate Digital Cinema large-format auditoriums.  Finally in December, 2012, Bow Tie Cinemas opened Criterion Cinemas at Movieland, a deluxe art cinema with special focus on design and comfort in Richmond, VA.

In the summer of 2013, Bow Tie Cinemas will open its brand-new Criterion Cinemas 11 in downtown Saratoga Springs, NY, which will feature luxury leather rocking seats and a BTX Auditorium.  Later this summer, the company will also open the newly rebuilt Wilton Mall Cinemas in Wilton, NY, also featuring a BTX Auditorium.

Stay tuned for more announcements as Bow Tie Cinemas is growing!

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