Proctors is turning 100 years old, and the Schenectady landmark is celebrating with a deal almost nobody can pass up: movie tickets for a dollar. The centennial series kicked off this month in the GE Theatre, paired with a holiday food drive meant to help neighbors across the Capital Region who are struggling to put meals on the table.
The theater, which opened its doors on Dec. 27, 1926, as a vaudeville and movie palace, has kept movie screenings going ever since, according to WNYT. To mark the milestone, Proctors is marking its 100th anniversary with $1 movie screenings and a holiday food drive to support the Sycamore Collaborative, the station reports. The $1 series itself is sponsored by MVP Health Care and Price Chopper/Market 32, while Proctors says its broader 100th anniversary season carries sponsorship from Fenimore Asset Management.
A Dollar Buys a Movie — and a Can of Food Helps Too
Since Nov. 1, Proctors, MVP Health Care and Price Chopper/Market 32 have been collecting nonperishable food donations for the Sycamore Collaborative, with bins set up outside the GE Theatre. Patrons who drop off a nonperishable item get a small bonus: 10% off their next Proctors show. The pairing is intentional — the effort is meant to pair affordable entertainment with support for people facing food insecurity in the Capital Region, the station notes.
That need is not hypothetical. The Sycamore Collaborative has said food insecurity in Schenectady County continues to grow, per the same outlet's earlier reporting. Earlier this year, the organization's first mass grocery giveaway of 2026 delivered more than 7,000 pounds of free food to nearly 300 Schenectady-area households, and its seasonal mass distributions — held on the fourth Thursday of each month — require no registration or documentation to participate.
What's Playing, and When
The lineup so far spans decades of cinema. The Royal Tenenbaums screens at 7 p.m. Thursday, according to the Proctors movie calendar, with The Departed following at 7 p.m. next Tuesday. The schedule then jumps into December, with The Apartment set for 7 p.m. Dec. 10 and Phantom Thread for 7 p.m. Dec. 22, per the same calendar. Southern Comfort rounds out the announced slate at 7 p.m. on Jan. 21, 2027, the station reports — though Proctors has said more films will be added throughout the centennial season.
How to Grab Tickets
Tickets are available at the Proctors box office in person or by phone at (518) 346-6204, with phone sales running Tuesday through Saturday from noon to 6 p.m. Anyone looking to combine a cheap movie night with a good deed can simply bring a can of food to the GE Theatre on screening night — a dollar for the ticket, a little something extra for a neighbor, and a century of Schenectady history still playing out one film at a time.
