BTM Cinemas (formerly known as Bow Tie Cinemas) is an American

movie theater A movie theater (American English) or cinema (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth English), also known as a movie house, cinema hall, picture house, picture theater, the movies, the pictures, or simply theater, is a business ...

chain, with eight locations in

Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States. It is one of the Mountain states, sharing the Four Corners region with Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah. It is also bordered by Wyoming to the north, Nebraska to the northeast, Kansas ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

and

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

. It is the oldest surviving movie exhibition company in the United States, having been founded in 1900. As of 2013, it was the eighth-largest movie theater chain in the United States, when it operated 63 multiplexes across the East Coast states. Since then, many former locations have been sold to AMC or other competitors, with only seven venues remaining as of May 2025. BTM Cinemas has been family-owned for four generations. The company was established by Benjamin S. Moss (1878–1951) who opened

nickelodeon Nickelodeon (nicknamed Nick) is an American pay television channel and the flagship property of the Nickelodeon Group, a sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on April 1, 1979, as the first ca ...

venues, then shifted to Vaudeville venues, before settling on movie theaters.

History

B.S. Moss immigrated to the U.S. from Austria in 1900. He opened venues for

s. He soon changed to operating venues for the

Vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment which began in France in the middle of the 19th century. A ''vaudeville'' was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a drama ...

circuit and also established a film production company. The film production company produced

Margaret Sanger Margaret Sanger ( Higgins; September 14, 1879September 6, 1966) was an American birth control activist, sex educator, writer, and nurse. She opened the first birth control clinic in the United States, founded Planned Parenthood, and was instr ...

's film ''

Birth Control Birth control, also known as contraception, anticonception, and fertility control, is the use of methods or devices to prevent pregnancy. Birth control has been used since ancient times, but effective and safe methods of birth control only be ...

'' which was banned from release in New York in 1915. B. S. Moss Motion Picture Company presented '' Three Weeks'' (1914) and produced '' One Day'' (1916), '' Boots and Saddles'' (1916), '' The Power of Evil'' (1916), and '' The Salamander'' (1916). B. S. Moss Enterprises operated several movie theaters. In 1910, Moss organized the syndicate that built the $100,000

Washington Theatre Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A m ...

at Amsterdam Avenue and 149th Street, known as the first "real" movie palace in New York City. Moss' Vaudeville theaters included

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

's Colony Theater, notable for being the venue of several high-profile

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly referred to as simply Disney, is an American multinational mass media and entertainment industry, entertainment conglomerate (company), conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios (Burbank), Walt Di ...

premieres including

Fantasia Fantasia may refer to: Film and television * ''Fantasia'' (1940 film), an animated musical film produced by Walt Disney ** '' Fantasia 2000'', a sequel to the 1940 film * ''Fantasia'' (2004 film), a Hong Kong comedy film * ''Fantasia'' (201 ...

and

Steamboat Willie ''Steamboat Willie'' is a 1928 American animated short film directed by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. It was produced in black-and-white by Walt Disney Animation Studios and was released by Pat Powers (producer), Pat Powers, under the name of Cele ...

, the third Disney cartoon to feature

Mickey Mouse Mickey Mouse is an American cartoon character co-created in 1928 by Walt Disney and Ub Iwerks. The longtime icon and mascot of the Walt Disney Company, Mickey is an anthropomorphic mouse who typically wears red shorts, large shoes, and white ...

, but the first to be released. In the 1930s, Moss decided to focus more on the movie business and phased out his vaudeville program. In 1936, he opened his Criterion Theater in

Times Square Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and Neighborhoods in New York City, neighborhood in the Midtown Manhattan section of New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway (Manhattan), ...

, which lasted as a successful movie theater until 2000. Since then, Bow Tie Cinemas has continued to concentrate on the presentation of films.

Bow Tie Cinemas

The company changed its name to Bow Tie Cinemas in 2004, upon opening its Criterion Cinemas complex in Downtown New Haven, Connecticut. The name honors the company's flagship property, located where Broadway and 45th meet in Manhattan, known as the "Bow Tie" of Times Square. In 2013, Bow Tie Cinemas acquired 41 theatres from

Clearview Cinemas Clearview Cinemas was a chain of movie theatres within the New York metropolitan area. Most of the Clearview Cinema locations were purchased by Bow Tie Cinemas in April 2013. A subsidiary of Cablevision from 1998 to 2013, Clearview Cinemas was ...

a movie theater chain within the

New York metropolitan area The New York metropolitan area, also called the Tri-State area and sometimes referred to as Greater New York, is the List of cities by GDP, largest metropolitan economy in the world, with a List of U.S. metropolitan areas by GDP, gross metropo ...

founded in 1994. From 1998 to 2013, Clearview was a subsidiary of

Cablevision Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...

. Ownership of Clearview's 42nd location, the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York City, was retained by Cablevision, but Bow Tie assumed operations of the theater until it closed in 2016. In 2017, the company debuted its new "Ultimate" locations in Norwalk, CT, featuring luxury electric recliner seating with an in-theater restaurant and a full bar. Bow Tie Ultimate(TM) locations feature fresh-baked artisan pizzas, and an array of dining options. At its peak, Bow Tie operated Ultimate locations in Norwalk, CT (Ultimate Royale 6 and Ultimate Regent 8); Trumbull, CT (Ultimate Marquis 16 & BTX); and Annapolis, MD (Ultimate Annapolis Mall 11 & BTX) and Stamford, CT (Ultimate Majestic 6 & BTX). In 2022, seven Bow Tie theaters in Connecticut, upstate New York, and Annapolis, Maryland, were sold to

AMC Entertainment AMC Entertainment Holdings, Inc. (doing business as AMC Theatres, originally an abbreviation for American Multi-Cinema; often referred to simply as AMC) is an American movie theater chain founded in Kansas City, Missouri, and now headquartered ...

. Bow Tie would also discontinue the Ultimate and BTX concepts as part of this deal. Most BTX theaters eventually ended up getting converted into PRIME or Dolby Cinema theaters. They had previously closed three theaters, one each in Greenwich, New Canaan, and Wilton, Connecticut. On September 30, 2023, Bow Tie announced their Criterion Cinemas location in New Haven would close on October 12, 2023. It was the last Bow Tie Cinemas left in Connecticut.

BTM Cinemas

In October 2023, the company announced it would be retiring the Bow Tie Cinemas brand and would be rebranding the remaining 7 theaters as BTM Cinemas, which would become the movie theater division of Scene One Entertainment. BTM stands for "Big Time Movies." In January 2024, it was announced that the last Bow Tie Cinemas location in New Jersey, the Warner Theater, would be permanently closing after 92 years in operation. Their last day of operation was on January 28, 2024. Bow Tie is considering options for possible redevelopment of the space. This was the last theater under the Bow Tie Cinemas brand, retiring the name after 20 years.

References

{{Major USA Cinema Chains Movie theatre chains in the United States Companies based in Fairfield County, Connecticut Cinemas and movie theaters in New York (state) Ridgefield, Connecticut Entertainment companies established in 1900 1900 establishments in New York City Family-owned companies of the United States