The Kirkwood Theatre was one of a group of neighborhood movie houses that my dad took me to back in the 1950’s. As I recall, the façade had an art deco look, with the box office at one side of the lobby. It was a small (400 seats just right) movie house that was utterly unpretentious. Located in the Kirkwood business district at what was then 1965 Boulevard Drive, it was part of a largely blue collar neighborhood. They booked generous helping of westerns, science fiction, horror, and Tarzan movies. Some of my earliest memories of going to the movies in the early 1950’s are associated with the Kirkwood.
By 1960 the neighborhood was changing and the Kirkwood Theatre made a dramatic change. It was the first movie theater in the Atlanta area to convert to an â€Adults Only†policy, becoming the Kirkwood Adult Theatre. The neighborhood was definitely going down hill. By the mid 1960’s my family moved out of the nearby East Lake neighborhood. Not too long after that the Kirkwood Theatre caught fire and consequently shut down.
In 1985, I was visiting Atlanta and took a drive through the east side. It was somewhat surprising to see that a wrecking crew had opened up the front of the long closed theater and were preparing it for demolition. So, I parked the car and walked over to take a closer look. The front of the theater had been torn away and you could see the auditorium, or what was left of it. It looked even smaller than I remembered it. The seats and screen were gone and there was a large hole in the ceiling that was obviously the work of the fire. Striking up a conversation with one of the workmen, I mentioned that my dad used to take me to the movies at this theater thirty years earlier. He said to me, “It must bring back old memories.â€
It certainly did!
The last time I was in Atlanta in 2003, the site of the Kirkwood Theatre was an empty look.
Thanks for the nice photo, Jack. Of course, I saw GOLDFINGER in its original Atlanta run at the Lenox Square Theatre. In fact, I saw all of the original Sean Connery Bond films there, excluding DR. NO. The Bond films were great fun in their day, and the Lenox Square Theatre was really a nice venue for them.
The Atlantic Theatre was located in a strip mall anchored by the Atlantic Discount Center, a discount department store and supermarket. The theatre opened in the late spring of 1963 with CALL ME BWANA, a Bob Hope vehicle produced by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, in a wide first run. That summer they continued with the policy of booking first run movies on multiple runs.
The first move that I actually saw there was DR. NO, also produced by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and also in a wide first run. Of course, DR. NO introduced Sean Connery as James Bond and it was abundantly clear that he was a genuine movie star. This movie was released in the era when John Kennedy was President; the space race was on; and the Cuban Missile Crisis was still a comparatively recent memory. At that time, DR. NO was ideal Saturday afternoon entertainment for a teenage boy.
The Atlantic Theatre was built at a time when the racial makeup of the nearby Kirkwood neighborhood was changing. Those were the bad old days of segregation, block busting, and panic selling. In that economic climate there was no real chance for the theater to survive. Frankly, it seemed strange at the time that the theatre opened in that area at all.
The last time that I was aware of the Atlantic Theatre being in business was in 1967. By that time it had become a second run grind house for the area’s predominantly black audience. After that I lost track of it. However, the building did survive as a disco and later as a storage facility.
In 1983, I had the occasion to stop by the theater again. Oddly enough, the door was open and I was able to go inside and take a look. What struck me about it was that the screen was still intact. The matting had been removed and you could see that the screen was wall to wall.
That experience made me recall seeing Ray Harryhausen’s JASON & THE ARGONAUTS twenty years earlier. Fellow film buffs from College Park came over to the eastside to join me to see the movie on the Atlantic Theatre’s large screen. For us it was the right movie at the right time.
Well, I suppose you had to be there. It’s like the lyrics from an old rock song from the ‘60’s that goes, “… it’s like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll.â€
The photographs of the magnificent interior of Syon House give some idea of what the interior of Atlanta’s long gone Capitol Theatre must have been like.
Dave – GONE WITH THE WIND always played at the Loew’s Grand, which had exclusive first runs and prestige reissues of Metro Goldwyn Mayer pictures. “Loew’s, Inc.” was the “Metro” in MGM. The Paramount and the Fox were also my great favorites of mine when I was growing up in the 1950’s. Since the Capitol closed about 1948, it was before my time.
John – Superb post! You have absolutely outdone yourself this time! Where on earth did you unearth such research? Not that I’m doubting you! Do you know of any interior photographs of the Capitol’s lobby and auditorium? It seems that my deduction was basicly correct, the Capitol’s auditorium was at the rear of the Davison-Paxon building. Somehow I’m not surprised that the Asa Candler family was involved in the financing. They were literally pillars of society in their day.
From the way my late father talked about the Capitol, I gathered that it was a theatre that he really liked.
Dave – Thank you very much for sharing this information! Hopefully, more people who remember Atlanta in the 1940’s will comment on this site. By any chance, do you remember the Capitol Theatre on Peachtree Street, or any of the other long gone Atlanta movie houses listed on Cinema Treasures?
Jack – Thank you for the the link to the Vanishing Georgia Website!
John – Thank you very much for sharing this information with us! Someone once asked me to describe the facade of the Paramount. Not being an architectural student, I called it Florentine Renaissance. Although, I don’t claim that to be technically correct, it seems to strike my fancy. The vintage photographs of the Paramount do suggest a touch of Firenze on Peachtree Street in a bygone day.
My dad told me that the Buckhead Theatre booked Mae West pictures in the 1930’s because at that time Buckhead was outside the Atlanta City Limits. He said that in the ‘20’s and '30’s, a round trip from Atlanta’s southside to Buckhead could be an all day affair!
John – Thank you very much for sharing this information with us! Wonderful research! Having attended both the Madison Theatre and the Buckhead Theatre when I was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it’s not surprising to learn that both theatres were designed by the same architectural firm. Hope you can give us more information on Atlanta’s surviving vintage theatres and it’s long gone ones, as well!
Now, if only someone would fill us in on the current plans to renovate this theatre!
In this mid-20th Century nightime photo, you can see the Collier Building on the southeast corner of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street. The site of the Collier Building is presently occupied by the MARTA Station. The Paramount Theatre is one door to the south of the Collier Building.
Here’s another link to a 1951 nightime photo looking north on Peachtree Street, with the Paramount Theatre and the Collier Building on the right hand side:
No, not specifically. The southeast corner of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street, where the MARTA station is currently located, was previously occupied by the Collier Building. The Howard/Paramount Theatre was one door to the south, at 169 Peachtree Street. Off hand, I don’t recall when the Collier Building was demolished.
Speaking aproximately, the site of the Paramount Theatre is currently occupied by a grassy lawn behind a black wrought iron fence next to the Georgia Pacific Building. However, you’d probably need the specific measurements of the buildings that previously occupied that site in order to determine precisely where they stood.
Here’s a link to the website for the Atlanta Time Machine:
This link features a pair of then (1943) and now views taken from the intersection of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street. In the contemporary photo of the Georgia Pacific Building, you should just be able to make out the wrought iron fence that marks the aproximate location of the Paramount Theatre.
Would love to know the specific location of the Paramount facade! Could you furnish us with some particulars? The Paramount Theatre was a great favorite of mine when I was growing up in Atlanta. It was a terrific theater for seeing movies!
The acoustics of the Fox Theatre were even more wonderful if you had heard the Philadephia Orchestra perform there! For years, the Metropolitan Opera performed at the Fox for its spring tour. Supposedly, the singers really liked the accoustics of the Fox.
Of course, a good part of the auditorium is essentially a plaster shell. What appears to be an Arab tent at the back of the balcony is actually an accoustic foil. It literally deflects soundwaves and sends them back into the house! If you look at the top of the “Arab tent”, you’ll see what appears to be grease stains from cooking on the tent canvas. It’s all an illusion! It’s painted on plaster hung on a wire or steel frame.
Yes, the stairs in the balcony can seem a bit steep. They certainly seemed that way to me when I was a child. However, the sight lines for watching movies in the balcony were great! Some people preferred them to the sight lines in the orchestra.
With an optimum seating capacity of aproximately 4400 seats for movies, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house! Apparently it can be fitted with more seats for music concerts.
Interesting enough, the New York’s Radio City Music Hall is surviving with a policy of booking live events similar to what it’s creator, Roxy Rothafel, envisioned. The Fox seems to be surviving and prospering with a similar policy.
As nearly as I can tell, the Glen Theatre might have opened circa 1954/55. In going through the files of the Atlanta Journal at the Atlanta Public Library, I could not find any mention of the theater prior to about 1954. Located at the juncture of Glenwood Road and Candler Road in the Glenwood business district, it’s neon sign was a familiar sight to anyone who lived in the area in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. This theater was a just over a mile from the house where I grew up in East Lake, on the border of Decatur, so I knew it well.
The Glen appeared to have been independently owned and operated, as opposed to being part of one the major theater chains of that era, like Georgia or Storey Theatres. The theater itself was a nondescript, somewhat seedy, neighborhood grind house with about 600 seats and no pretentions whatsoever. It was essentially a bare bones operation, but it certainly did business in its prime years. What was fun about the Glen was the fact that they changed the program two or three times a week. On Saturdays, they typically booked a double or triple feature program of horror, science fiction, westerns, and action pictures. They even showed serials! If there was a Tarzan movie or Hammer horror picture you had managed to miss, or wanted to see again, you could expect it to play the Glen on a Saturday.
By the early 1960’s, fellow movie buffs that I knew from different parts of town would join me to catch screenings of vintage movies like the original KING KONG and the original THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (prints were excellent!). The Glen seemed to offer a veritable feast of cultural junk food to satisfy the cravings of baby boomers. What was really nice was that the audiences actually paid attention to the movies!
Whatever the Glen Theatre lacked in class it made up for in fun. If you ever have a chance to see a charming British comedy titled THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (1957), don’t miss it! In it a couple played by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna inherit a London grind house staffed by eccentric characters played by Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, and Bernard Miles. The people who made that picture must have really loved cinema, in all its declasse splendor. That movie might almost have been about the Glen Theatre!
Hopefully, you knew a movie house like the Glen Theatre when you were growing up!
Yes, I know what you mean. Time and distance limits opportunities to explore interests like this for me as well. Although I was born in Atlanta and grew up there, I haven’t actually lived there for many years. In fact, I’ve only been there a few times in the last ten years. Whenever I do get there, I try to visit the main library and do some research. The city has changed very dramatically since I lived there.
From what I can gather from this site, I may be one of the few people who actually remembers attending some of Atlanta’s long gone neighborhood theaters, like the original Tenth Street, Ponce de Leon, Techwood, and Kirkwood. These days, I find myself impressed by how many of the old theater buildings still survive, like the Euclid, Hilan, Glen, Gordon, Little Five Points, Madison, and the Temple, not to mention the fact that the Plaza and Garden Hills are still operating as movie houses!
Of course, I keep hoping that someone who knows more about the Atlanta area movie theaters from before my time will comment on them.
If you have the chance, check the volumes of the Atlanta Telephone Directory at the Atlanta Public Library. They usually give accurate information on the street numbers that were contemporary with publication. As you know, some of those street names and numbers have been changed over the years.
Wish I could locate the actual street numbers for the Glen Theatre at the juncture of Glenwood Road and Candler Road in the Glenwood business district on the southeast side. I haven’t been able to determine when this particular theater opened. Also, I’d like to get the street address of the Atlantic Theatre on Memorial Drive, SE, which opened in 1963. The last time that I was in Atlanta, the buildings that housed these theaters were still standing.
The Tenth Street Art Theatre at 1026 Peachtree Street, NE (north of Tenth Street) was a seperate venue that opened in the late 1960’s as a legitimate art theater. They specialized in foreign films, such as Richard Lester’s HOW I WON THE WAR, featuring Michael Crawford and John Lennon. The theater had a small auditorium with roughly 300 seats, or possibly less. Later on, they changed their policy to and an “adult theater” and I lost track of it.
The original Tenth Street Theatre was at 990 Peachtree Street, NE. It stood in front of the apartment house where Margaret Mitchell and her husband lived for a number of years, and where she wrote GONE WITH THE WIND. If you visit the restored apartment house that is now a memorial to her, you’ll find a framed picture of the Tenth Street Theatre on display. Margaret Mitchell was a movie buff and this theatre was a real favorite of her’s because of the air conditioning in the summer, as well as its convenience.
The theatre was built circa 1926. The exterior was in a faux Spanish style with red stucco and a tile edged roof. My best guess is that it had about 500 seats. The theater ceased operation around 1956/57 to the best of my recollection. A few years later the space was converted to a chinese restaurant called House of Eng, that occupied the location throughout most of the 1960’s.
With the development of the drug culture in the 1970’s, this neighborhood deteriorated badly. As nearly as I can recall, I believe the theatre was demolished sometime in the 1970’s or possibly the early 1980’s.
My dad used to take me to see westerns at the Tenth Street Theatre back in the 1950’s.
The Techwood Theatre was located on the southwest corner of the intersection of North Avenue and Techwood Drive. The theater was adjacent to the Techwood Homes, a Federal Housing Project that stood along Techwood Drive, which were originally built in the 1930’s. This project was demolished to make way for the dormatories that were built for the 1996 Olympics and are now a part of the Georgia Tech campus.
This information seems to have been deleted from my original post, so I thought I’d add it just for clarity.
Although the Georgia Cinerama never presented original three strip Cinerama to the best of my knowledge, I remember that they tended to specialize in 70mm films. Among the ones that I saw there were THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, GRAN PRIX, & PATTON. When they showed conventional 35mm films there, like REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE & THE STING, the deep curvature of the screen could create distortion effects that made the presentation much less effective. Fortunately, I never attended the theater after it was “twinned.”
Correction: The last phrase should read, “… an empty lot.”
THE KIRKWOOD THEATRE
The Kirkwood Theatre was one of a group of neighborhood movie houses that my dad took me to back in the 1950’s. As I recall, the façade had an art deco look, with the box office at one side of the lobby. It was a small (400 seats just right) movie house that was utterly unpretentious. Located in the Kirkwood business district at what was then 1965 Boulevard Drive, it was part of a largely blue collar neighborhood. They booked generous helping of westerns, science fiction, horror, and Tarzan movies. Some of my earliest memories of going to the movies in the early 1950’s are associated with the Kirkwood.
By 1960 the neighborhood was changing and the Kirkwood Theatre made a dramatic change. It was the first movie theater in the Atlanta area to convert to an â€Adults Only†policy, becoming the Kirkwood Adult Theatre. The neighborhood was definitely going down hill. By the mid 1960’s my family moved out of the nearby East Lake neighborhood. Not too long after that the Kirkwood Theatre caught fire and consequently shut down.
In 1985, I was visiting Atlanta and took a drive through the east side. It was somewhat surprising to see that a wrecking crew had opened up the front of the long closed theater and were preparing it for demolition. So, I parked the car and walked over to take a closer look. The front of the theater had been torn away and you could see the auditorium, or what was left of it. It looked even smaller than I remembered it. The seats and screen were gone and there was a large hole in the ceiling that was obviously the work of the fire. Striking up a conversation with one of the workmen, I mentioned that my dad used to take me to the movies at this theater thirty years earlier. He said to me, “It must bring back old memories.â€
It certainly did!
The last time I was in Atlanta in 2003, the site of the Kirkwood Theatre was an empty look.
“James Bond is back in action.”
Thanks for the nice photo, Jack. Of course, I saw GOLDFINGER in its original Atlanta run at the Lenox Square Theatre. In fact, I saw all of the original Sean Connery Bond films there, excluding DR. NO. The Bond films were great fun in their day, and the Lenox Square Theatre was really a nice venue for them.
The Atlantic Theatre was located in a strip mall anchored by the Atlantic Discount Center, a discount department store and supermarket. The theatre opened in the late spring of 1963 with CALL ME BWANA, a Bob Hope vehicle produced by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, in a wide first run. That summer they continued with the policy of booking first run movies on multiple runs.
The first move that I actually saw there was DR. NO, also produced by Albert Broccoli and Harry Saltzman, and also in a wide first run. Of course, DR. NO introduced Sean Connery as James Bond and it was abundantly clear that he was a genuine movie star. This movie was released in the era when John Kennedy was President; the space race was on; and the Cuban Missile Crisis was still a comparatively recent memory. At that time, DR. NO was ideal Saturday afternoon entertainment for a teenage boy.
The theater itself somewhat resembled the Cherokee Theatre on Peachtree Road. The Atlantic Theatre might have had as many as 800 seats. Projection and sound were very good. However, the theater was rather sterile and lacked any eye catching décor. The real trouble though was that the Atlantic Theatre opened in the wrong place at the wrong time.
The Atlantic Theatre was built at a time when the racial makeup of the nearby Kirkwood neighborhood was changing. Those were the bad old days of segregation, block busting, and panic selling. In that economic climate there was no real chance for the theater to survive. Frankly, it seemed strange at the time that the theatre opened in that area at all.
The last time that I was aware of the Atlantic Theatre being in business was in 1967. By that time it had become a second run grind house for the area’s predominantly black audience. After that I lost track of it. However, the building did survive as a disco and later as a storage facility.
In 1983, I had the occasion to stop by the theater again. Oddly enough, the door was open and I was able to go inside and take a look. What struck me about it was that the screen was still intact. The matting had been removed and you could see that the screen was wall to wall.
That experience made me recall seeing Ray Harryhausen’s JASON & THE ARGONAUTS twenty years earlier. Fellow film buffs from College Park came over to the eastside to join me to see the movie on the Atlantic Theatre’s large screen. For us it was the right movie at the right time.
In those days, James Bond was the coming thing and Ray Harryhausen’s work was the state of the art in movie special effects. Now, James Bond is probably passé and Harryhausen is regarded as a pioneer. But in the Summer of 1963, they were very much of the moment.
Well, I suppose you had to be there. It’s like the lyrics from an old rock song from the ‘60’s that goes, “… it’s like trying to tell a stranger about rock and roll.â€
What happened to the pevious comments posted for the Atlantic Theatre? They have been deleted. What is going on?
Here is a link to the website for Syon Park in England, the great Ducal Estate that includes Syon House, designed by Adams:
http://www.syonpark.co.uk/
The photographs of the magnificent interior of Syon House give some idea of what the interior of Atlanta’s long gone Capitol Theatre must have been like.
Dave – GONE WITH THE WIND always played at the Loew’s Grand, which had exclusive first runs and prestige reissues of Metro Goldwyn Mayer pictures. “Loew’s, Inc.” was the “Metro” in MGM. The Paramount and the Fox were also my great favorites of mine when I was growing up in the 1950’s. Since the Capitol closed about 1948, it was before my time.
John – Superb post! You have absolutely outdone yourself this time! Where on earth did you unearth such research? Not that I’m doubting you! Do you know of any interior photographs of the Capitol’s lobby and auditorium? It seems that my deduction was basicly correct, the Capitol’s auditorium was at the rear of the Davison-Paxon building. Somehow I’m not surprised that the Asa Candler family was involved in the financing. They were literally pillars of society in their day.
From the way my late father talked about the Capitol, I gathered that it was a theatre that he really liked.
Dave – Thank you very much for sharing this information! Hopefully, more people who remember Atlanta in the 1940’s will comment on this site. By any chance, do you remember the Capitol Theatre on Peachtree Street, or any of the other long gone Atlanta movie houses listed on Cinema Treasures?
Jack – Thank you for the the link to the Vanishing Georgia Website!
John – Thank you very much for sharing this information with us! Someone once asked me to describe the facade of the Paramount. Not being an architectural student, I called it Florentine Renaissance. Although, I don’t claim that to be technically correct, it seems to strike my fancy. The vintage photographs of the Paramount do suggest a touch of Firenze on Peachtree Street in a bygone day.
My dad told me that the Buckhead Theatre booked Mae West pictures in the 1930’s because at that time Buckhead was outside the Atlanta City Limits. He said that in the ‘20’s and '30’s, a round trip from Atlanta’s southside to Buckhead could be an all day affair!
John – Thank you very much for sharing this information with us! Wonderful research! Having attended both the Madison Theatre and the Buckhead Theatre when I was growing up in the 1950’s and 1960’s, it’s not surprising to learn that both theatres were designed by the same architectural firm. Hope you can give us more information on Atlanta’s surviving vintage theatres and it’s long gone ones, as well!
Now, if only someone would fill us in on the current plans to renovate this theatre!
Here’s a link to a photograph from the Lane Brothers Collection, housed at George State University:
View link
In this mid-20th Century nightime photo, you can see the Collier Building on the southeast corner of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street. The site of the Collier Building is presently occupied by the MARTA Station. The Paramount Theatre is one door to the south of the Collier Building.
Here’s another link to a 1951 nightime photo looking north on Peachtree Street, with the Paramount Theatre and the Collier Building on the right hand side:
View link
You could use these photos as a pretty good guide to the exact location of the Paramount Theatre.
No, not specifically. The southeast corner of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street, where the MARTA station is currently located, was previously occupied by the Collier Building. The Howard/Paramount Theatre was one door to the south, at 169 Peachtree Street. Off hand, I don’t recall when the Collier Building was demolished.
Speaking aproximately, the site of the Paramount Theatre is currently occupied by a grassy lawn behind a black wrought iron fence next to the Georgia Pacific Building. However, you’d probably need the specific measurements of the buildings that previously occupied that site in order to determine precisely where they stood.
Here’s a link to the website for the Atlanta Time Machine:
http://atlantatimemachine.com/downtown/ellis2.htm
This link features a pair of then (1943) and now views taken from the intersection of Peachtree Street and Ellis Street. In the contemporary photo of the Georgia Pacific Building, you should just be able to make out the wrought iron fence that marks the aproximate location of the Paramount Theatre.
Search the Georgia State University website at:
View link
for more views of the Paramount Theatre and the Collier building.
The theater closed in July of 1960. As I recall, the demolition occured shortly thereafter.
Hi, HLAsbell –
Would love to know the specific location of the Paramount facade! Could you furnish us with some particulars? The Paramount Theatre was a great favorite of mine when I was growing up in Atlanta. It was a terrific theater for seeing movies!
The acoustics of the Fox Theatre were even more wonderful if you had heard the Philadephia Orchestra perform there! For years, the Metropolitan Opera performed at the Fox for its spring tour. Supposedly, the singers really liked the accoustics of the Fox.
Of course, a good part of the auditorium is essentially a plaster shell. What appears to be an Arab tent at the back of the balcony is actually an accoustic foil. It literally deflects soundwaves and sends them back into the house! If you look at the top of the “Arab tent”, you’ll see what appears to be grease stains from cooking on the tent canvas. It’s all an illusion! It’s painted on plaster hung on a wire or steel frame.
Yes, the stairs in the balcony can seem a bit steep. They certainly seemed that way to me when I was a child. However, the sight lines for watching movies in the balcony were great! Some people preferred them to the sight lines in the orchestra.
With an optimum seating capacity of aproximately 4400 seats for movies, there wasn’t a bad seat in the house! Apparently it can be fitted with more seats for music concerts.
Interesting enough, the New York’s Radio City Music Hall is surviving with a policy of booking live events similar to what it’s creator, Roxy Rothafel, envisioned. The Fox seems to be surviving and prospering with a similar policy.
Long may they reign!
No, the Techwood Theatre was demolished circa 1970, as I recall.
As nearly as I can tell, the Glen Theatre might have opened circa 1954/55. In going through the files of the Atlanta Journal at the Atlanta Public Library, I could not find any mention of the theater prior to about 1954. Located at the juncture of Glenwood Road and Candler Road in the Glenwood business district, it’s neon sign was a familiar sight to anyone who lived in the area in the 1950’s and ‘60’s. This theater was a just over a mile from the house where I grew up in East Lake, on the border of Decatur, so I knew it well.
The Glen appeared to have been independently owned and operated, as opposed to being part of one the major theater chains of that era, like Georgia or Storey Theatres. The theater itself was a nondescript, somewhat seedy, neighborhood grind house with about 600 seats and no pretentions whatsoever. It was essentially a bare bones operation, but it certainly did business in its prime years. What was fun about the Glen was the fact that they changed the program two or three times a week. On Saturdays, they typically booked a double or triple feature program of horror, science fiction, westerns, and action pictures. They even showed serials! If there was a Tarzan movie or Hammer horror picture you had managed to miss, or wanted to see again, you could expect it to play the Glen on a Saturday.
By the early 1960’s, fellow movie buffs that I knew from different parts of town would join me to catch screenings of vintage movies like the original KING KONG and the original THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD (prints were excellent!). The Glen seemed to offer a veritable feast of cultural junk food to satisfy the cravings of baby boomers. What was really nice was that the audiences actually paid attention to the movies!
Whatever the Glen Theatre lacked in class it made up for in fun. If you ever have a chance to see a charming British comedy titled THE SMALLEST SHOW ON EARTH (1957), don’t miss it! In it a couple played by Bill Travers and Virginia McKenna inherit a London grind house staffed by eccentric characters played by Peter Sellers, Margaret Rutherford, and Bernard Miles. The people who made that picture must have really loved cinema, in all its declasse splendor. That movie might almost have been about the Glen Theatre!
Hopefully, you knew a movie house like the Glen Theatre when you were growing up!
Yes, I know what you mean. Time and distance limits opportunities to explore interests like this for me as well. Although I was born in Atlanta and grew up there, I haven’t actually lived there for many years. In fact, I’ve only been there a few times in the last ten years. Whenever I do get there, I try to visit the main library and do some research. The city has changed very dramatically since I lived there.
From what I can gather from this site, I may be one of the few people who actually remembers attending some of Atlanta’s long gone neighborhood theaters, like the original Tenth Street, Ponce de Leon, Techwood, and Kirkwood. These days, I find myself impressed by how many of the old theater buildings still survive, like the Euclid, Hilan, Glen, Gordon, Little Five Points, Madison, and the Temple, not to mention the fact that the Plaza and Garden Hills are still operating as movie houses!
Of course, I keep hoping that someone who knows more about the Atlanta area movie theaters from before my time will comment on them.
If you have the chance, check the volumes of the Atlanta Telephone Directory at the Atlanta Public Library. They usually give accurate information on the street numbers that were contemporary with publication. As you know, some of those street names and numbers have been changed over the years.
Wish I could locate the actual street numbers for the Glen Theatre at the juncture of Glenwood Road and Candler Road in the Glenwood business district on the southeast side. I haven’t been able to determine when this particular theater opened. Also, I’d like to get the street address of the Atlantic Theatre on Memorial Drive, SE, which opened in 1963. The last time that I was in Atlanta, the buildings that housed these theaters were still standing.
The Tenth Street Art Theatre at 1026 Peachtree Street, NE (north of Tenth Street) was a seperate venue that opened in the late 1960’s as a legitimate art theater. They specialized in foreign films, such as Richard Lester’s HOW I WON THE WAR, featuring Michael Crawford and John Lennon. The theater had a small auditorium with roughly 300 seats, or possibly less. Later on, they changed their policy to and an “adult theater” and I lost track of it.
The original Tenth Street Theatre was at 990 Peachtree Street, NE. It stood in front of the apartment house where Margaret Mitchell and her husband lived for a number of years, and where she wrote GONE WITH THE WIND. If you visit the restored apartment house that is now a memorial to her, you’ll find a framed picture of the Tenth Street Theatre on display. Margaret Mitchell was a movie buff and this theatre was a real favorite of her’s because of the air conditioning in the summer, as well as its convenience.
The theatre was built circa 1926. The exterior was in a faux Spanish style with red stucco and a tile edged roof. My best guess is that it had about 500 seats. The theater ceased operation around 1956/57 to the best of my recollection. A few years later the space was converted to a chinese restaurant called House of Eng, that occupied the location throughout most of the 1960’s.
With the development of the drug culture in the 1970’s, this neighborhood deteriorated badly. As nearly as I can recall, I believe the theatre was demolished sometime in the 1970’s or possibly the early 1980’s.
My dad used to take me to see westerns at the Tenth Street Theatre back in the 1950’s.
The Techwood Theatre was located on the southwest corner of the intersection of North Avenue and Techwood Drive. The theater was adjacent to the Techwood Homes, a Federal Housing Project that stood along Techwood Drive, which were originally built in the 1930’s. This project was demolished to make way for the dormatories that were built for the 1996 Olympics and are now a part of the Georgia Tech campus.
This information seems to have been deleted from my original post, so I thought I’d add it just for clarity.
Although the Georgia Cinerama never presented original three strip Cinerama to the best of my knowledge, I remember that they tended to specialize in 70mm films. Among the ones that I saw there were THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE, GRAN PRIX, & PATTON. When they showed conventional 35mm films there, like REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE & THE STING, the deep curvature of the screen could create distortion effects that made the presentation much less effective. Fortunately, I never attended the theater after it was “twinned.”