This theater is located at 214-216 North Main Street in downtown Tarboro. A plaque on the building indicates that the theater was built in 1935 and originally named the Majestic Theatre. The Salvation Army Thrift Store once occupied this building in the 1990s. Back in 2009, there was an attempt to open an adult bookstore in this former theater, but it was quickly blocked.
According to a plaque located on the Paramount Theatre the site was previously occupied by a Rialto Theatre from 1925 until 1935. I am not sure if the Paramount is a remodel of the Rialto or if the Rialto was demolished and the Paramount was built on the site. The Paramount was closed by Stewart & Everett in 1978.
UEC Theatres has been the sole owner of the Premiere 12/14 in Rocky Mount, the Premiere 12 in Goldsboro, and the Premiere 7 in Kinston (not currently listed on CT). The Premiere Theatres in Eastern North Carolina were never part of a chain called Premiere Cinemas.
This theater was owned by Martin Theatres from about 1979 (when the name was changed to South Hills Twin) until 1982. Carmike Cinemas took over in 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; the Carmike name was first used in the Raleigh-Cary market in 1985. The South Hills Twin was closed in 1994 when the Blue Ridge Cinemas opened (Carmike also shuttered the Terrace Twin in Raleigh at the same time); the Blue Ridge became Carmike’s only discount house in Wake County and eventually their only discount theater in North Carolina.
The Peoples Theater is located on the 200 block, east side, of Roanoke Avenue near the intersection of 2nd Street. It is the third storefront from the corner (the pink Art Deco building). It definitely appears to be in bad shape; i’m surprised it hasn’t been demolished yet.
The roadside marquee identifies this theater as the “Roanoke Cinemas”. This theater was probably built in 1971, as it strongly resembles the Neuse Boulevard Cinema in New Bern. The Roanoke (Rapids) Cinema was originally a single screen theater (as was the Neuse Blvd. Cinema); I remember passing it by going to visit my great-grandmother in the early 1970s and there was only one movie listed on the marquee in those days. If Martin Theatres did own this theater, it was their only North Carolina location east of Raleigh.
This theater was originally to have been operated by Marquee Cinemas, but they backed out of the project during construction (Marquee had previously canceled a proposed multiplex in Rocky Mount back in 2000). Eastern Federal Theatres took over the lease and operated the theater until selling out to Regal in 2005.
The South 17 was probably built in the 1960s. I used to pass by it on the way to Surf City in the late 1970s and 1980-81. It was torn down by 1982. There was another drive-in theater (X-rated) nearby, with a drive-in hamburger restaurant next to it, but I couldn’t find any remains of that theater or the restaurant. The South 17 Twin Drive-In advertised on local late night TV in the 1970s, WCTI-TV 12’s “Will C’s Red Eye Cinema”, which ran drive-in-type movies on Saturday late night long before Saturday Night Live existed.
In the early 1970s the Bright Leaf was Kinston’s mainstream drive-in, showing typical drive-in films (not X-rated adult films). The other drive-in in Kinston at the time, the North 11 Drive-In near Graingers, was showing only X-rated movies. The Bright Leaf shut down because Stewart & Everett decided to take over a failed indoor theater at Kinston Plaza; this left the North 11 Drive-In as the last drive-in standing in Kinston and Lenoir County.
Jacksonville has only one civilian theater currently, the Carmike 16. When it opened, the Brynn Marr, the Carmike 7 in New Market Square, and the Cinema 6 (a former Stewart & Everett theater identical to the Havelock Cinema 6) were all closed. To the best of my knowledge, the only discount theater east of Raleigh is the Howell Theater in Smithfield.
I would, but I’m not yet on Facebook (maybe this could finally get me on there). The Plitt Quad in Greenville and its predecessor, the Pitt Theatre (ABC/Plitt) were well-run theaters that were better than Stewart & Everett’s theaters (Plaza Cinema & Park). Carmike took over the Plitt Quad in 1990 and it went downhill: on the first week of Carmike’s ownership, “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” starring Andrew Dice Clay opened at the Plitt Quad (on Friday, July 13!). I saw that turkey and that’s when I found out Carmike was in charge-although the lack of a Cineplex Odeon logo in the newspaper ad should have been a tipoff. Carmike was apparently barred from using its logo in conjunction with the Plitt name, and the Plitt became the Carolina East 4 soon after.
The UA Litchfield 4 was one of two theaters east of Raleigh to run the infamous NC-17 bomb “Showgirls”. The other theater was the Southgate Cinema 6 in New Bern. Most of the other Eastern North Carolina theaters were owned by Carmike, who banned “Showgirls” from its entire chain.
The “Previously Operated By” information for this theater is not quite correct. The chain operating the Plaza Cinema prior to Carmike was Stewart & Everett, not Consolidated Theatres. Consolidated ran the Buccaneer 3 nearby on Arlington Boulevard (and later built the Greenville Grande); they were not involved with the Plaza Cinema.
The duplicate listings for this theatre have been removed. Also, when Carmike took over this theatre they renamed it the Cinema Triple, then changed it to Cinema 7 when it expanded to seven screens. It is now the only operating theater in Beaufort County, the Turnage Theater downtown closing recently.
The Cherry Theatre was located on Cunningham Boulevard, in the shopping center located at the intersection of Cunningham Boulevard and Jaycee Street. The empty lot on the north end of the shopping center (facing Cunningham Boulevard) was the site of the theatre.
I saw the original “Star Wars” here in 1977 when it was first released. My family lived in LaGrange at the time and chose to see movies in Kinston rather than Goldsboro. We still lived in LaGrange when “The Empire Stries Back” came out, but for some odd reason we saw it in Greenville rather than in Kinston. The Mall Cinema was a good theatre before it was split in two. It and the Park Theatre on North Queen Street were the best places in Kinston to see movies. I was in elementary school during the 1970s and the Mall Cinema was a significant part of my childhood. Unfortunately I never saw “Raiders” or “E.T.” in a theatre, I wound up seeing those movies on VHS.
Kinston Plaza was built in the mid-1960s and there may have been a theatre there when the shopping center opened. I’m just not aware of who owned the theatre before S&E reopened it in 1975 or what the previous name(s) of the theatre was. I do know that the theatre existed long before 1975.
When the Greenville Grande opened I was glad to have an alternative to the Carmike 12, which was showing its age. The first movie I saw in this beautiful cinema was “Grindhouse”. I had previously seen “Grindhouse” at the Carmike (which was a more fitting venue for that film) and the difference between the two multiplexes was like night and day. The Greenville Grande is the better of the two; why Carmike is still in Greenville I haven’t figured out.
I remember the Park Theatre very well. In the late 1980s when I hung out in downtown Greenville the Park was my preferred destination. I liked the vintage 1970s' pink and purple auditorium, and I loved the rocking chairs. The Park had the largest screen in Greenville at the time, perfect for watching slasher films such as “Nightmare on Elm Street 3” and “Shocker”. In 1990 the Park showed a first-run feature for the first time in over ten years, “Def By Temptation”. It was a Troma film, which normally would have played at the Plaza Cinema; it was also the last first-run film shown at the Park. In the early 1990s Carmike removed the rocking chairs from the Park Theatre, replacing them with cupholder seats. The Park closed in 1998 after the Carmike 12 opened; cheap movies moved to the Buccaneer 3 on Arlington Boulevard.
In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.
This theatre has received a facelift as part of a block redevelopment project that included the nearby Booker-T Theatre. The Ritz was also known as the Manhattan Theatre (which is the name most locals use).
This theater is located at 214-216 North Main Street in downtown Tarboro. A plaque on the building indicates that the theater was built in 1935 and originally named the Majestic Theatre. The Salvation Army Thrift Store once occupied this building in the 1990s. Back in 2009, there was an attempt to open an adult bookstore in this former theater, but it was quickly blocked.
According to a plaque located on the Paramount Theatre the site was previously occupied by a Rialto Theatre from 1925 until 1935. I am not sure if the Paramount is a remodel of the Rialto or if the Rialto was demolished and the Paramount was built on the site. The Paramount was closed by Stewart & Everett in 1978.
UEC Theatres has been the sole owner of the Premiere 12/14 in Rocky Mount, the Premiere 12 in Goldsboro, and the Premiere 7 in Kinston (not currently listed on CT). The Premiere Theatres in Eastern North Carolina were never part of a chain called Premiere Cinemas.
This theater was owned by Martin Theatres from about 1979 (when the name was changed to South Hills Twin) until 1982. Carmike Cinemas took over in 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; the Carmike name was first used in the Raleigh-Cary market in 1985. The South Hills Twin was closed in 1994 when the Blue Ridge Cinemas opened (Carmike also shuttered the Terrace Twin in Raleigh at the same time); the Blue Ridge became Carmike’s only discount house in Wake County and eventually their only discount theater in North Carolina.
The Peoples Theater is located on the 200 block, east side, of Roanoke Avenue near the intersection of 2nd Street. It is the third storefront from the corner (the pink Art Deco building). It definitely appears to be in bad shape; i’m surprised it hasn’t been demolished yet.
The roadside marquee identifies this theater as the “Roanoke Cinemas”. This theater was probably built in 1971, as it strongly resembles the Neuse Boulevard Cinema in New Bern. The Roanoke (Rapids) Cinema was originally a single screen theater (as was the Neuse Blvd. Cinema); I remember passing it by going to visit my great-grandmother in the early 1970s and there was only one movie listed on the marquee in those days. If Martin Theatres did own this theater, it was their only North Carolina location east of Raleigh.
This theater was originally to have been operated by Marquee Cinemas, but they backed out of the project during construction (Marquee had previously canceled a proposed multiplex in Rocky Mount back in 2000). Eastern Federal Theatres took over the lease and operated the theater until selling out to Regal in 2005.
The South 17 was probably built in the 1960s. I used to pass by it on the way to Surf City in the late 1970s and 1980-81. It was torn down by 1982. There was another drive-in theater (X-rated) nearby, with a drive-in hamburger restaurant next to it, but I couldn’t find any remains of that theater or the restaurant. The South 17 Twin Drive-In advertised on local late night TV in the 1970s, WCTI-TV 12’s “Will C’s Red Eye Cinema”, which ran drive-in-type movies on Saturday late night long before Saturday Night Live existed.
In the early 1970s the Bright Leaf was Kinston’s mainstream drive-in, showing typical drive-in films (not X-rated adult films). The other drive-in in Kinston at the time, the North 11 Drive-In near Graingers, was showing only X-rated movies. The Bright Leaf shut down because Stewart & Everett decided to take over a failed indoor theater at Kinston Plaza; this left the North 11 Drive-In as the last drive-in standing in Kinston and Lenoir County.
Jacksonville has only one civilian theater currently, the Carmike 16. When it opened, the Brynn Marr, the Carmike 7 in New Market Square, and the Cinema 6 (a former Stewart & Everett theater identical to the Havelock Cinema 6) were all closed. To the best of my knowledge, the only discount theater east of Raleigh is the Howell Theater in Smithfield.
I would, but I’m not yet on Facebook (maybe this could finally get me on there). The Plitt Quad in Greenville and its predecessor, the Pitt Theatre (ABC/Plitt) were well-run theaters that were better than Stewart & Everett’s theaters (Plaza Cinema & Park). Carmike took over the Plitt Quad in 1990 and it went downhill: on the first week of Carmike’s ownership, “The Adventures of Ford Fairlane” starring Andrew Dice Clay opened at the Plitt Quad (on Friday, July 13!). I saw that turkey and that’s when I found out Carmike was in charge-although the lack of a Cineplex Odeon logo in the newspaper ad should have been a tipoff. Carmike was apparently barred from using its logo in conjunction with the Plitt name, and the Plitt became the Carolina East 4 soon after.
The UA Litchfield 4 was one of two theaters east of Raleigh to run the infamous NC-17 bomb “Showgirls”. The other theater was the Southgate Cinema 6 in New Bern. Most of the other Eastern North Carolina theaters were owned by Carmike, who banned “Showgirls” from its entire chain.
The “Previously Operated By” information for this theater is not quite correct. The chain operating the Plaza Cinema prior to Carmike was Stewart & Everett, not Consolidated Theatres. Consolidated ran the Buccaneer 3 nearby on Arlington Boulevard (and later built the Greenville Grande); they were not involved with the Plaza Cinema.
The duplicate listings for this theatre have been removed. Also, when Carmike took over this theatre they renamed it the Cinema Triple, then changed it to Cinema 7 when it expanded to seven screens. It is now the only operating theater in Beaufort County, the Turnage Theater downtown closing recently.
Following its show on December 16, 2011, the Turnage Theater officially closed.
The Cherry Theatre was located on Cunningham Boulevard, in the shopping center located at the intersection of Cunningham Boulevard and Jaycee Street. The empty lot on the north end of the shopping center (facing Cunningham Boulevard) was the site of the theatre.
The Parkhill Cinema is accessed from the Western Boulevard side of the mall through the former Kmart entrance.
This theatre is now known as the Morehead Center for Performing Arts and Events, with address listed as 1311 Arendell Street.
I saw the original “Star Wars” here in 1977 when it was first released. My family lived in LaGrange at the time and chose to see movies in Kinston rather than Goldsboro. We still lived in LaGrange when “The Empire Stries Back” came out, but for some odd reason we saw it in Greenville rather than in Kinston. The Mall Cinema was a good theatre before it was split in two. It and the Park Theatre on North Queen Street were the best places in Kinston to see movies. I was in elementary school during the 1970s and the Mall Cinema was a significant part of my childhood. Unfortunately I never saw “Raiders” or “E.T.” in a theatre, I wound up seeing those movies on VHS.
Kinston Plaza was built in the mid-1960s and there may have been a theatre there when the shopping center opened. I’m just not aware of who owned the theatre before S&E reopened it in 1975 or what the previous name(s) of the theatre was. I do know that the theatre existed long before 1975.
When the Greenville Grande opened I was glad to have an alternative to the Carmike 12, which was showing its age. The first movie I saw in this beautiful cinema was “Grindhouse”. I had previously seen “Grindhouse” at the Carmike (which was a more fitting venue for that film) and the difference between the two multiplexes was like night and day. The Greenville Grande is the better of the two; why Carmike is still in Greenville I haven’t figured out.
The Carolina East Cinemas, originally the Plitt Quad Theatres, was the first four-screen multiplex in North Carolina located east of Cary.
I remember the Park Theatre very well. In the late 1980s when I hung out in downtown Greenville the Park was my preferred destination. I liked the vintage 1970s' pink and purple auditorium, and I loved the rocking chairs. The Park had the largest screen in Greenville at the time, perfect for watching slasher films such as “Nightmare on Elm Street 3” and “Shocker”. In 1990 the Park showed a first-run feature for the first time in over ten years, “Def By Temptation”. It was a Troma film, which normally would have played at the Plaza Cinema; it was also the last first-run film shown at the Park. In the early 1990s Carmike removed the rocking chairs from the Park Theatre, replacing them with cupholder seats. The Park closed in 1998 after the Carmike 12 opened; cheap movies moved to the Buccaneer 3 on Arlington Boulevard.
In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.
This theatre has received a facelift as part of a block redevelopment project that included the nearby Booker-T Theatre. The Ritz was also known as the Manhattan Theatre (which is the name most locals use).