Chuck1231 and MikeRogers:
I’m doing extensive research on this to why WEST SIDE STORY didn’t come to Charlotte until 1962. Charlotte was the first to book the movie as an exclusive enagement showing on June 23,1962. Other cities within the Carolinas didn’t get the film until July or August of 1962,since the film was originally released in 1961.
E-Mail:
Wait a minute….MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN was rated M?
I thought it was a family film so the MPAA rating on this was G for General Audiences. It was a kids movie.
M was for Mature Audiences-Parental Guidance Suggested
OR Parental Discretion is Strongly Advised
Granville County had two operating indoor movie theatres…The Granville Theatre was located in the heart of Downtown Creedmoor on Main Street. The other was the Orpehum Theatre in Downtown Oxford.
The exclusive NORTH CAROLINA showing of “WEST SIDE STORY” was a exclusive advance enagement at the Dilworth Theatre on June 23,1962 where it played to capacity crowds. Not only did WEST SIDE STORY played here but the exclusive run of CLEOPATRA broke all Charlotte attendance records during its run at the Dilworth in 1963.
FYI:
The IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kids Museum is closed to the public for extensive renovations including new projection and update equipment.
It closed its doors on January 8, 2011,and will reopen in mid-February.
This is scheduled to open either before the weekend of Easter or around Memorial Day.
Among the movies scheduled to be played in the new theatre will be recent blockbusters as well as standard Hollywood classics that will get the IMAX treatment.
HISTORY:
Located in the midtown section of Raleigh,North Hills opened in 1965 as a strip shopping center,but was expanded into a indoor mall by 1966. When North Hills opened in 1966,it became one of the largest malls in the Triangle,not to mention the state’s second indoor shopping center(following Charlottetowne Mall which opened in 1959).
North Hills had a retangular design with two floors. The upper level opening onto Six Forks Road with was the main entrance,and the lower level facing a parking deck onto Lassiter Mill Road. When it opened in 1966,North Hills Mall had three main anchor department stores: One was Penney’s,aka JC Penney that was located on the other side facing Lassiter Mill Road.
The others were Ivey’s Department Store(later Dillard’s),and a F.W. Woolworth’s that was in the middle of the mall on its upper level that was really huge with full scale pharmacy and restaurant. The speciality stores were a World Bazaar, Ronson’s,
Montaldo’s, Nowell’s Men Shop, Kerr Discount Drugs, and on the side next to Ivey’s was K&W Cafeteria.
The “plaza” strip was across the street from the mall.
It was anchored by a Winn Dixie grocer,and specialty shops and services along the intersection of Lassiter Mill and Six Forks Roads. The Cardinal Theatre was on the opposite end of the “plaza” facing Six Forks Road at the intersection of Lassiter Mill.
Charlottetown Mall became one of the first indoor shopping centers to be built in the Southeast between Washington,DC and Atlanta,GA. Charlottetowne Mall was North Carolina’s first ever indoor shopping center and became Charlotte’s most popular destination center that opened to the public on October 28, 1959.
The mall had two levels that included a Bon Marche' Department Store(later Ivey’s),a Roses Five and Ten,
Eckerd Drugs,another department store,and on the lower level on the opposite end was a huge Colonial/Big Stat grocer.
The Charlottetowne Mall cinemas opened in 1963 as it was the first twin theatres to be established in North Carolina. A third screen was added in the mid-1970’s(By taking the original auditoriums and splitting it down the middle and it was also done in the 1980’s).
A fourth screen came during the 1980’s until its closing in the 1990’s. It has since been demolished.
It was also known as the Cardinal Theatre of North Hills when it opened on Saturday July 1, 1967 as a 750 seat single screen theatre owned and operated by Wilby-Kincey Corporation. The main attraction and the premiere opening of the Cardinal Theatre was the Doris Day-Richard Harris flick “Caprice”. Other coming attractions to the Cardinal were Otto Preminger’s “Hurry Sundown”,“A Guide for the Married Man”,and the roadshow enagement of “Camelot”.
By 1977,a second auditorium with 625 seats was built that was adjacent to the huge original auditorium that seated 750,bringing the total of seats to 1,375. The grand opening attractions for the newly restored Cardinal I & II were in screen I:“For The Love Of Benji”,and in Screen II: “A Bridge Too Far” premiere on June 24, 1977. The original auditorium was equipped with full Dobly Stereo for its enagement of “The Empire Strikes Back”,which was one of five theatres in North Carolina that showed it in 70MM-6 Track Dobly Stereo on May 21, 1980.
It remained the Cardinal I & II until its closing in 1990.
I do recall seeing Nightmare on Elm Street 3 here when the Tryon was just dollar theatre. The projection was so bad it was unbelievable.
What a waste. During the 1990’s,there were several dollar movie houses throughout.
-The Tryon Hills Theatre-(In Southeast Raleigh off Wilmington Street)
-Terrace Twin-(Off Six Forks Road at Colony Shopping Center)
-Falls Twin-(at Falls Village which is now the Raleighwood Cinema)
-South Hills Twin-(Cary)
DURHAM:
-Yorktowne Twin-(Off Chapel Hill Blvd.)
-Center 4-(Lakewood Shopping Center)
-Riverview Twin-(Over off North Roxboro Road at Riverview Plaza)
CHAPEL HILL:
-Ram Triple-(Located Downtown Chapel Hill off Rosemary St./NCNB Plaza)
There were seven dollar houses in the Triangle during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Today,the ONLY dollar theatre left is the Blue Ridge 14.
The last twin dollar house closed in 2001.
After the Uptown Theatre closed in 1965 or 1969,Downtown Durham had four operating movie houses…..
1. Carolina Theatre(Roney and Morgan Streets)
Center Theatre(East Chapel Hill Street next to the Post Office)
The Rialto(Corner of East Main Street and South Roxboro Street)
The Criterion(Corner of East Parrish and Church Streets)
In 1965,the Center Theatre closed its doors and move to the suburbs by November of 1966 to Lakewood Shopping Center where the “New” Center Theatre opened on Thanksgiving week in 1966. The original theatre Downtown was demolished in 1967 to make way for the Mutual Savings and Loan Building.
By 1970,the Rialto closed it doors forever,leaving only 2 operating movie-houses located in Downtown Durham,which was the Carolina and the Criterion(The Rialto was demolished by 1974,and soon after around the corner was the Criterion by 1976 to make room for the Durham County Judicial Building which opened its doors to the public and all of Durham in 1978).
By 1975,when the Criterion closed its doors,the Carolina Theatre was the only movie theatre operating in Downtown Durham. To this day,the Carolina Theatre was the only establishment where you could see a movie Downtown. The Carolina Theatre stands as one of the last of the Downtown moviehouses that is still in operation.
They run an extensive line of classic films and second run features.
All shows are $3.00…..The Varsity’s line-up of timeless holiday films will run through December and probably into January 1st. Last week,they showed “The Wizard of Oz”,and this week its the James Stewart classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”,and just before Christmas they’re showing a newly restored 35MM print of the 1947 holiday flick “Miracle on 34th Street”.
For the record: All 4 of the Beatles films also played at the Carolina as well. From the record-breaking
“A Hard Day’s Night”, to the other Beatles movies like “HELP!”, “Yellow Submarine”,and “Let It Be” played to capacity crowds. They played first-run at the Carolina,because it was the outlet for a lot of films released under United Artists. And just like the Bond pics were huge boxoffice,of course UA re-released these Beatles films as double bills(one had a double feature of “A Hard Day’s Night”,and “HELP!” that was in re-release)which were huge boxoffice draws themselves.
The opening attraction for the June 24, 1977 opening of the Cardinal I & II was the WWII action flick
“A Bridge Too Far” with Sean Connery, Robert Redford and Hardy Kruger(Screen 2).
Screen 1,the original auditorium had the general release of “For The Love of Benji” on June 24, 1977.
Andrew:
You’re correct. At one time,there were at least seven moviehouses located in the vicinity of Downtown Durham which were: The Uptown, The Carolina, The Rialto, also
The Center, The Wonderland, The Arcade,and The Criterion. By 1965,three of its movie theatres Downtown Durham would suddenly vanished forever.
The Center(East Chapel Hill Street)closed its doors at moved to the suburbs by November,1966(to Lakewood Shopping Center)and was demolished to make way for the Mutual Savings and Loan building,leaving the Rialto,the Carolina,and the Criterion as the only three operating moviehouses located Downtown. By 1966,the Uptown,the Wonderland,and the Arcade were gone. By 1970,the Rialto closed its doors forever,leaving the Criterion and the Carolina as the only two operating movie theatres Downtown. All that was about to change by 1975 when the Criterion Theatre closed,leaving the Carolina Theatre as the last remaining place to see a movie in Downtown Durham(which is to this day still operational). All of the adult films and “B” movie pictures by 1975 either ended up playing at the Carolina Theatre downtown or you had to go to the northern edge of the city to see them(The Riverview Cinema in North Durham,which is posted on this cinema treasures site),and other movie houses in Durham.
Chuck1231 and MikeRogers:
I’m doing extensive research on this to why WEST SIDE STORY didn’t come to Charlotte until 1962. Charlotte was the first to book the movie as an exclusive enagement showing on June 23,1962. Other cities within the Carolinas didn’t get the film until July or August of 1962,since the film was originally released in 1961.
E-Mail:
Wait a minute….MY SIDE OF THE MOUNTAIN was rated M?
I thought it was a family film so the MPAA rating on this was G for General Audiences. It was a kids movie.
M was for Mature Audiences-Parental Guidance Suggested
OR Parental Discretion is Strongly Advised
Did you know that a local television station is right next door to Mission Valley facing the intersections of Western Boulevard and Avent Ferry Roads?
WRAL-TV,Channel 5 of Raleigh is right next door to Mission Valley.
WOW!!! What a marvel of architecture.
Granville County had two operating indoor movie theatres…The Granville Theatre was located in the heart of Downtown Creedmoor on Main Street. The other was the Orpehum Theatre in Downtown Oxford.
The exclusive NORTH CAROLINA showing of “WEST SIDE STORY” was a exclusive advance enagement at the Dilworth Theatre on June 23,1962 where it played to capacity crowds. Not only did WEST SIDE STORY played here but the exclusive run of CLEOPATRA broke all Charlotte attendance records during its run at the Dilworth in 1963.
The IMAX Experience at Southpoint Mall Cinemas is scheduled to open on March or April…maybe April 1, 2011.
Will reopen on Tuesday February 1, 2011
FYI:
The IMAX Theatre at Marbles Kids Museum is closed to the public for extensive renovations including new projection and update equipment.
It closed its doors on January 8, 2011,and will reopen in mid-February.
I saw Billy Jack here,during its re-release.
This is scheduled to open either before the weekend of Easter or around Memorial Day.
Among the movies scheduled to be played in the new theatre will be recent blockbusters as well as standard Hollywood classics that will get the IMAX treatment.
HISTORY:
Located in the midtown section of Raleigh,North Hills opened in 1965 as a strip shopping center,but was expanded into a indoor mall by 1966. When North Hills opened in 1966,it became one of the largest malls in the Triangle,not to mention the state’s second indoor shopping center(following Charlottetowne Mall which opened in 1959).
North Hills had a retangular design with two floors. The upper level opening onto Six Forks Road with was the main entrance,and the lower level facing a parking deck onto Lassiter Mill Road. When it opened in 1966,North Hills Mall had three main anchor department stores: One was Penney’s,aka JC Penney that was located on the other side facing Lassiter Mill Road.
The others were Ivey’s Department Store(later Dillard’s),and a F.W. Woolworth’s that was in the middle of the mall on its upper level that was really huge with full scale pharmacy and restaurant. The speciality stores were a World Bazaar, Ronson’s,
Montaldo’s, Nowell’s Men Shop, Kerr Discount Drugs, and on the side next to Ivey’s was K&W Cafeteria.
The “plaza” strip was across the street from the mall.
It was anchored by a Winn Dixie grocer,and specialty shops and services along the intersection of Lassiter Mill and Six Forks Roads. The Cardinal Theatre was on the opposite end of the “plaza” facing Six Forks Road at the intersection of Lassiter Mill.
Charlottetown Mall became one of the first indoor shopping centers to be built in the Southeast between Washington,DC and Atlanta,GA. Charlottetowne Mall was North Carolina’s first ever indoor shopping center and became Charlotte’s most popular destination center that opened to the public on October 28, 1959.
The mall had two levels that included a Bon Marche' Department Store(later Ivey’s),a Roses Five and Ten,
Eckerd Drugs,another department store,and on the lower level on the opposite end was a huge Colonial/Big Stat grocer.
The Charlottetowne Mall cinemas opened in 1963 as it was the first twin theatres to be established in North Carolina. A third screen was added in the mid-1970’s(By taking the original auditoriums and splitting it down the middle and it was also done in the 1980’s).
A fourth screen came during the 1980’s until its closing in the 1990’s. It has since been demolished.
HISTORY: Cardinal Theatre of North Hills in Raleigh
1967-1971 Wilby Kincey Corporation
1971-1978 ABC Southeastern Theatres
1978-1986 Plitt Southern Theatres
1986-1990 Cineplex Odeon Corporation
It was also known as the Cardinal Theatre of North Hills when it opened on Saturday July 1, 1967 as a 750 seat single screen theatre owned and operated by Wilby-Kincey Corporation. The main attraction and the premiere opening of the Cardinal Theatre was the Doris Day-Richard Harris flick “Caprice”. Other coming attractions to the Cardinal were Otto Preminger’s “Hurry Sundown”,“A Guide for the Married Man”,and the roadshow enagement of “Camelot”.
By 1977,a second auditorium with 625 seats was built that was adjacent to the huge original auditorium that seated 750,bringing the total of seats to 1,375. The grand opening attractions for the newly restored Cardinal I & II were in screen I:“For The Love Of Benji”,and in Screen II: “A Bridge Too Far” premiere on June 24, 1977. The original auditorium was equipped with full Dobly Stereo for its enagement of “The Empire Strikes Back”,which was one of five theatres in North Carolina that showed it in 70MM-6 Track Dobly Stereo on May 21, 1980.
It remained the Cardinal I & II until its closing in 1990.
I do recall seeing Nightmare on Elm Street 3 here when the Tryon was just dollar theatre. The projection was so bad it was unbelievable.
What a waste. During the 1990’s,there were several dollar movie houses throughout.
-The Tryon Hills Theatre-(In Southeast Raleigh off Wilmington Street)
-Terrace Twin-(Off Six Forks Road at Colony Shopping Center)
-Falls Twin-(at Falls Village which is now the Raleighwood Cinema)
-South Hills Twin-(Cary)
DURHAM:
-Yorktowne Twin-(Off Chapel Hill Blvd.)
-Center 4-(Lakewood Shopping Center)
-Riverview Twin-(Over off North Roxboro Road at Riverview Plaza)
CHAPEL HILL:
-Ram Triple-(Located Downtown Chapel Hill off Rosemary St./NCNB Plaza)
There were seven dollar houses in the Triangle during the 1990’s and 2000’s. Today,the ONLY dollar theatre left is the Blue Ridge 14.
The last twin dollar house closed in 2001.
The Manor Theatre,owned and operated by Eastern Federal Corporation.
After the Uptown Theatre closed in 1965 or 1969,Downtown Durham had four operating movie houses…..
1. Carolina Theatre(Roney and Morgan Streets)
Center Theatre(East Chapel Hill Street next to the Post Office)
The Rialto(Corner of East Main Street and South Roxboro Street)
The Criterion(Corner of East Parrish and Church Streets)
In 1965,the Center Theatre closed its doors and move to the suburbs by November of 1966 to Lakewood Shopping Center where the “New” Center Theatre opened on Thanksgiving week in 1966. The original theatre Downtown was demolished in 1967 to make way for the Mutual Savings and Loan Building.
By 1970,the Rialto closed it doors forever,leaving only 2 operating movie-houses located in Downtown Durham,which was the Carolina and the Criterion(The Rialto was demolished by 1974,and soon after around the corner was the Criterion by 1976 to make room for the Durham County Judicial Building which opened its doors to the public and all of Durham in 1978).
By 1975,when the Criterion closed its doors,the Carolina Theatre was the only movie theatre operating in Downtown Durham. To this day,the Carolina Theatre was the only establishment where you could see a movie Downtown. The Carolina Theatre stands as one of the last of the Downtown moviehouses that is still in operation.
They run an extensive line of classic films and second run features.
All shows are $3.00…..The Varsity’s line-up of timeless holiday films will run through December and probably into January 1st. Last week,they showed “The Wizard of Oz”,and this week its the James Stewart classic “It’s A Wonderful Life”,and just before Christmas they’re showing a newly restored 35MM print of the 1947 holiday flick “Miracle on 34th Street”.
Today’s edition of the Chapel Hill News:
The Varsity Theatre celebrates its first year after reopening one of Chapel Hill’s greatest landmarks.
More on this story:
www.chapelhillnews.com/2010/12/01/61049/now-showing.html
Coming Soon: The IMAX Experience at Southpoint Mall Cinemas
For the record: All 4 of the Beatles films also played at the Carolina as well. From the record-breaking
“A Hard Day’s Night”, to the other Beatles movies like “HELP!”, “Yellow Submarine”,and “Let It Be” played to capacity crowds. They played first-run at the Carolina,because it was the outlet for a lot of films released under United Artists. And just like the Bond pics were huge boxoffice,of course UA re-released these Beatles films as double bills(one had a double feature of “A Hard Day’s Night”,and “HELP!” that was in re-release)which were huge boxoffice draws themselves.
The Raleigh Road Drive-In must have been located off U.S. 401 North
The opening attraction for the June 24, 1977 opening of the Cardinal I & II was the WWII action flick
“A Bridge Too Far” with Sean Connery, Robert Redford and Hardy Kruger(Screen 2).
Screen 1,the original auditorium had the general release of “For The Love of Benji” on June 24, 1977.
Andrew:
You’re correct. At one time,there were at least seven moviehouses located in the vicinity of Downtown Durham which were: The Uptown, The Carolina, The Rialto, also
The Center, The Wonderland, The Arcade,and The Criterion. By 1965,three of its movie theatres Downtown Durham would suddenly vanished forever.
The Center(East Chapel Hill Street)closed its doors at moved to the suburbs by November,1966(to Lakewood Shopping Center)and was demolished to make way for the Mutual Savings and Loan building,leaving the Rialto,the Carolina,and the Criterion as the only three operating moviehouses located Downtown. By 1966,the Uptown,the Wonderland,and the Arcade were gone. By 1970,the Rialto closed its doors forever,leaving the Criterion and the Carolina as the only two operating movie theatres Downtown. All that was about to change by 1975 when the Criterion Theatre closed,leaving the Carolina Theatre as the last remaining place to see a movie in Downtown Durham(which is to this day still operational). All of the adult films and “B” movie pictures by 1975 either ended up playing at the Carolina Theatre downtown or you had to go to the northern edge of the city to see them(The Riverview Cinema in North Durham,which is posted on this cinema treasures site),and other movie houses in Durham.