“One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you guess which thing is not like the other,
Before I finish my song.”
The current PALACE theatre is located at 40 W. Broad street, so this theater would have been approximately at that location.
It is possible that this theatre was closed in anticipation of the construction of the AIU Citadel (Now Leveque Tower) at this location. That building opened in 1927 after some delays in construction.
One of my favorite film shots of all time is at the end of BATMAN where BATMAN stands on top of a building looking out onto the BAT Signal. I pulled that shot off the DVD and I use it as the wallpaper on my main monitor.
In the movie BATMAN, who is crazier…the Joker or Batman?
BATMAN RETURNS marked the beginning of the end of large scale 70mm releases. With BATMAN RETURNS came Dolby Digital, putting high quality 5.1 sound on 35mm film. Since many of the producers released in 70mm primarily for the sound, this gave them a way to get great sound at a much lower cost per print. JURASSIC PARK with DTS came along and really delivered the knock out blow.
Arnold was involved and donated an Austrian Army tank, which was stored west of the main shopping area. I believe the tank was donated to Mott’s Military Museum in Groveport, OH, just SE of metro Columbus.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
Cinemark bought 4 theatres from Muvico on 3/18/09 so Muvico can avoid bankruptcy. These include the Paradise 24 in Davie, Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach 14 (All in Florida) and the Egyptian in Maryland. Cinemark took over officially on 3/19/09. All Muvico passes and programs are supposed to continue until the end of May, 2009, and employees were offered positions with the new company. (All information from the Miami Herald)
The best website on the history of Widescreen films is Martin Hart’s Widescreen Museum (www.widescreenmuseum.com) It has information on every widescreen system. If you go there, say “Hi” to the Usherettes for me!
OKLAHOMA was a Todd-AO film produced by Michael Todd. His goal was to create a Cinerama type image with only one projector at a time. OKLAHOMA was the first TODD-AO feature. CINERAMA at that time used 3 projectors (and a separate sound unit). CINERAMA theatres could not show TODD-AO and TODD-AO theatres could not show CINERAMA films at that time.
Lynne, Mike’s list includes 3-strip and 70mm films released with the CINERAMA logo included on the film and in advertising. GONE WITH THE WIND was an MGM release, and the CINERAMA logo was never a part of that release. I realize that this is a very fine distinction, but it is an important one. There actually was almost no difference echnically between the later CINERAMA films and other 70mm Roadshow releases.
Can anyone pin down a better address for this theatre? From Google Earth, I think I have it located at about 8036 Reading Road, but I can not be certain. Does anyone have the exact location?
According to the County records, the theatre was originally owned by Leo Yassenoff, who owned a number of theatres. The original date was April, 1967. The title passed to his foundation in 1974 and moved to the Columbus Jewish Foundation in 1996. It passed through a number of owners until it was given to the city in 2008 by Syed and Tabinda Rehman.
Dave,
I lived about a block away from this theatre. (House is gone now…just a vacant lot.) The Drug Store was owned by Bernie Siegel, a pharmacist. It had a lunch counter and all the basic pharmacy stuff. Livingston Enterprises was the name of the store next to the theatre. It was a strange place that sold boats and other such things. Don’t know why they sold boats in such a landlocked place! There was also a radio-tv repair shop inside that we used for all of our TV work…back when they actually repaired TV’s.
There was a long empty area between the front doors and the doors of the theatre. There were a couple of display cases so the drugstore and Livingston Enterprises could show some wares. They only used the right door to the theatre to take tickets. The manager’s office was to the left of the theatre doors. It was always filled with papers and posters.
In July, 1965, RKO sub-leased the GRAND to Trans-Beacon Theatres. In ads, the theatre was listed as both a Beacon theatre and a Trans-Beacon theatre.
Contrary to information above, the theatre closed on May 13, 1969 following the run of ICE STATION ZEBRA and was destroyed by fire on January 8, 1970. The 3-strip presentation were from 11/3/60 until 2/11/64. (The previous poster reversed some digits). This information confirmed through Columbus Dispatch microfilm records.
For a short time in the early ‘60’s, this theatre had a few roadshow runs. CAN-CAN and KING OF KING were presented in 70mm (KING OF KINGS was a move-over from the Cinestage). This was the first non-downtown location to run 70mm.
“One of these things is not like the other,
One of these things just doesn’t belong,
Can you guess which thing is not like the other,
Before I finish my song.”
Sure is one BIG surprise in this list!
The current PALACE theatre is located at 40 W. Broad street, so this theater would have been approximately at that location.
It is possible that this theatre was closed in anticipation of the construction of the AIU Citadel (Now Leveque Tower) at this location. That building opened in 1927 after some delays in construction.
One of my favorite film shots of all time is at the end of BATMAN where BATMAN stands on top of a building looking out onto the BAT Signal. I pulled that shot off the DVD and I use it as the wallpaper on my main monitor.
In the movie BATMAN, who is crazier…the Joker or Batman?
BATMAN RETURNS marked the beginning of the end of large scale 70mm releases. With BATMAN RETURNS came Dolby Digital, putting high quality 5.1 sound on 35mm film. Since many of the producers released in 70mm primarily for the sound, this gave them a way to get great sound at a much lower cost per print. JURASSIC PARK with DTS came along and really delivered the knock out blow.
When this theatre was running 3-strip CINERAMA, was it using 1 booth or 3 separate booths.?
The South Drive-In is still open as of the summer of 2009.
Drove by there recently, and that land is still not developed.
Installed 2 Digital Cinema units in May, 2009. Both capable of showing 3-D.
Arnold was involved and donated an Austrian Army tank, which was stored west of the main shopping area. I believe the tank was donated to Mott’s Military Museum in Groveport, OH, just SE of metro Columbus.
So far, Mike has listed 74 theatres, which include 3 that only played THRILLARAMA and one that played 2 KINOPANORAMA pictures.
Of the theatres given so far, no theatre played all 24 CINERAMA films (Including THIS IS CINERAMA (70mm)). The IMPERIAL in Montreal played 23 of the films. That theatre also played the most “CINERAMA WEEKS” (weeks playing CINERAMA pictures) with 775.
So, it looks like things are about ½ way done. There are going to be some tough ones yet to go, though.
Mike,
Were they running a 70mm print of POSEIDON?
Cinemark bought 4 theatres from Muvico on 3/18/09 so Muvico can avoid bankruptcy. These include the Paradise 24 in Davie, Palace 20 in Boca Raton, Boynton Beach 14 (All in Florida) and the Egyptian in Maryland. Cinemark took over officially on 3/19/09. All Muvico passes and programs are supposed to continue until the end of May, 2009, and employees were offered positions with the new company. (All information from the Miami Herald)
I did some newspaper research on this theatre some years ago. The newspaper ads definitely said NEW FALLS.
The best website on the history of Widescreen films is Martin Hart’s Widescreen Museum (www.widescreenmuseum.com) It has information on every widescreen system. If you go there, say “Hi” to the Usherettes for me!
OKLAHOMA was a Todd-AO film produced by Michael Todd. His goal was to create a Cinerama type image with only one projector at a time. OKLAHOMA was the first TODD-AO feature. CINERAMA at that time used 3 projectors (and a separate sound unit). CINERAMA theatres could not show TODD-AO and TODD-AO theatres could not show CINERAMA films at that time.
I’m not aware of Century building any domes in Oklahoma.
Lynne, Mike’s list includes 3-strip and 70mm films released with the CINERAMA logo included on the film and in advertising. GONE WITH THE WIND was an MGM release, and the CINERAMA logo was never a part of that release. I realize that this is a very fine distinction, but it is an important one. There actually was almost no difference echnically between the later CINERAMA films and other 70mm Roadshow releases.
Can anyone pin down a better address for this theatre? From Google Earth, I think I have it located at about 8036 Reading Road, but I can not be certain. Does anyone have the exact location?
According to the County records, the theatre was originally owned by Leo Yassenoff, who owned a number of theatres. The original date was April, 1967. The title passed to his foundation in 1974 and moved to the Columbus Jewish Foundation in 1996. It passed through a number of owners until it was given to the city in 2008 by Syed and Tabinda Rehman.
Dave,
I lived about a block away from this theatre. (House is gone now…just a vacant lot.) The Drug Store was owned by Bernie Siegel, a pharmacist. It had a lunch counter and all the basic pharmacy stuff. Livingston Enterprises was the name of the store next to the theatre. It was a strange place that sold boats and other such things. Don’t know why they sold boats in such a landlocked place! There was also a radio-tv repair shop inside that we used for all of our TV work…back when they actually repaired TV’s.
There was a long empty area between the front doors and the doors of the theatre. There were a couple of display cases so the drugstore and Livingston Enterprises could show some wares. They only used the right door to the theatre to take tickets. The manager’s office was to the left of the theatre doors. It was always filled with papers and posters.
They usually shut down for the season in September or very early October.
In July, 1965, RKO sub-leased the GRAND to Trans-Beacon Theatres. In ads, the theatre was listed as both a Beacon theatre and a Trans-Beacon theatre.
Contrary to information above, the theatre closed on May 13, 1969 following the run of ICE STATION ZEBRA and was destroyed by fire on January 8, 1970. The 3-strip presentation were from 11/3/60 until 2/11/64. (The previous poster reversed some digits). This information confirmed through Columbus Dispatch microfilm records.
For a short time in the early ‘60’s, this theatre had a few roadshow runs. CAN-CAN and KING OF KING were presented in 70mm (KING OF KINGS was a move-over from the Cinestage). This was the first non-downtown location to run 70mm.
David,
Nice to hear you are taking on the Grandview. I wish you the best of luck.
Are you planning on adding screens? Upgrading equipment? Improving acoustics?
Mark L
Usually the theatre becomes a drug store, not the other way around! Must have been a big Rite Aid.