The Mayor Fought Back
A recent story from the past in VeniVidiScripto brought numerous questions from readers as to what happened when Richard Stryker was elected Mayor and vowed to get rid of the smutty movies offered at the First Avenue theater.
With so many questions about how successful the former Mayor was in shutting down X-rated movies when he became Mayor in 1972, VeniVidiScripto contacted the former Mayor for an update on the story.
“It took two weeks of discussions and persuasion,” the former Mayor, now a resident of Middletown said, declining to identify what kinds of persuasion they used.
“But Lenny was very cooperative, and very happy to halt the dirty movies,” Stryker said.
Edwards, who owned a theater in Keyport, had purchased the Atlantic Theater from Maurice Parks before Stryker was sworn in as Mayor in 1972. The theater owner was showing what many referred to as dirty or obscene movies in both theaters, and Stryker objected to his borough being known as a town where people went to see dirty movies.
When he was sworn in at the reorganization meeting Jan. 1, 1972, the new mayor set as one of his eight goals a cessation to adult movies. He accomplished that goal in two weeks, he recalls now.
Stryker said shortly after the reorganization, he called Edwards in for a meeting, explaining to the theater owner their dislike for the films that were drawing people into the borough. Council assured the businessman of support and approval if he would eliminate those movies and instead focus on films that were more proper for both adults and children. The governing body also suggested an accent on family movies of all kinds, encouraging families to recreate together.
“Lenny agreed and we worked it all out,” Stryker recalls, “within a couple of weeks he had changed his choices from those that we all thought were unsavory to more entertaining and family-oriented films, from Hitchcock to Disney. It just took a matter of convincing him, which was not difficult to do, that Atlantic Highlands was a family town and encouraged others to visit and enjoy everything we had to offer, but not smut, filth, or anything that would continue the reputation the town had gotten from those X-rated movies.
