bbrown, To add to the list of indoor theatres in 1972 is the Fox Theatre. Also instead of listing just the Capri, it should be the Capri Cinema, Capri-70, and the Capri Terrace. So there was a total of 10 indoor screens.
Mike, You are correct, it was one of the Ultra-Vision theatres that ABC was building in the 70’s. And it’s correct name was Westown Ultra-Vision. It was a single screen seating 800.
You are correct; the clouds were projections from a cloud machine known as a Brenograph Jr. Dry ice?? Just goes to show you that some reporters will write about something they know nothing about.
According to Boxoffice magazine, the Knoxville Drive-in opened April 2, 1949. It was designed by Park In Theatres Inc. in Camden, NJ and had a capacity of 512 cars.
The projectionist there had to be at his daytime job in the early morning, so my dad would finish at the Capri Cinema and then go to the Knoxville and cover the midnight show for him so he could go home and get some sleep.
I grew up only three blocks from the drive-in and vaguely remember them adding the “wings†to the screen tower for cinemascope. This would have been in the very early 60’s. I also remember when my dad would take me over there in the daytime to shoot off model rockets.
There was a shopping center on the other side of the RR tracks that had a bowling alley in it. When they put in the sodium vapor lights in the parking lot in the late 70’s, they would cast a shadow of a telephone pole on the screen. This was not a problem for the bright scenes, but on the dark scenes it was a big problem. I think light pollution was a big problem for the drive-ins that where built on the outskirts of town in the 50’s but found themselves in the middle of suburbia in the 70’s.
This theatre was originally the Tower Theatre /theaters/15656/ It was built ~ 1947 by Walter Morris who also owned the Pike Theatre and the Lee Theatre. In 1963 C.H. Simpson who operated the Riviera Theatre downtown, leased the Pike and Tower theatres and changed the name of the Pike to the Capri Cinema, and the Tower to the Lenox. The Tower/Lenox Theatre was torn down in the late 60’s to make way for the I-640/ Broadway interchange.
The Dixie Lee Drive-In was in Knox County, Lenoir City is in Loudon County. The 37934 zip code is considered Knoxville. If the site had been just a few yards to the west, it would have been in Loudon County and the zip would have been 37772 which is a Lenoir City zip code.
Photo of the Capri Cinema can be found here: View link The doors to the far right of the picture is the enterance to the Capri-70 which was the Cinerama house that was build in 1967. The window to the right of the photo was the boxoffice for both theatres.
The Regal Riviera had a great first year. It was the second highest grossing theatre in Knoxville. Here is the article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. View link
Actually I remember the old Horne Drive-In’s screen was the back of a retail building on Chapman Highway. The block rear wall extended well over the roof line of the building. I used to play golf in 1974-76 at an old par-3 course located across the street. This is when I noticed the strange looking building and realized that there was a drive in located there at one time. All of it was torn down in the early 80’s to build a K-Mart, which has since closed.
The Capri Terrace was opened in 1973 and originally seated 409. Charlie Simpson build this theatre as his “pride and joy†of the Simpson Theatres chain. The interior was laid out very similar to the Capri-70 and the projection was in Ultra Vision. Mr. Simpson also had a small sitting area on the left side of the lobby with a fireplace and antique furniture. It was designed with retail shops around the exterior of the theatre to insulate the auditorium from any outside noise, especially from the nearby railroad tracks. This was also Simpson’s first step into the commercial real estate market, and the beginning of the Homberg Place development which has become a quaint shopping area in Bearden.
The Capri Terrace is where “Earthquake†and “Midway†both played with Sensurround. This was an effect where large sub-woofers are placed in the front and back of the auditorium and low frequency sound rattle the movie patron’s teeth.
The Capri Terrace closed in 1980 and was converted into the Terrace Dinner Theatre. This is when the floor was turned into multi levels to accommodate tables and chairs. This lasted until1983. Mr. Simpson’s son, Jim Simpson, then converted the theatre into the Terrace Tap House. The theatre was twined in 1990 and even though the movies were good, the presentation was far less then adequate.
There was also the Lake Theatre located at 1100 Sevier Ave. It opened in 1947 and closed in 1950 and had 400 seats. It is now a small vacant lot that backs up on a railroad track. Maybe that is the reason it did not last very long.
There was a Horne Theatre on Chapman Highway located near the northwest corner of Chapman and Young High Pike. Mr. Baumann lists it as being opened in1947 and closing in 1956 with a seating capacity of 600. I do remember the building after it had been closed for some time. It was a typical post WWII suburban move theatre built with cinder block and painted white. I do remember the faded name HORNE painted on the north side of the building. My father told me that a Mr. Horne (do not remember his first name) built both the theatre and the drive-in.
This theatre seems to have had identity crises over the years. It first opened as the Picto in 1916. Then it became the Central in 1920, the Liberty in 1922, the Picto in 1923, the Central in 1925, the Cameo in 1931, and then the Joy in 1935. That only lasted until 1948 when the name changed to the Center. It remained the Center until it closed in 1955. This theatre was reported to have 400 seats.
bbrown, To add to the list of indoor theatres in 1972 is the Fox Theatre. Also instead of listing just the Capri, it should be the Capri Cinema, Capri-70, and the Capri Terrace. So there was a total of 10 indoor screens.
Mike, You are correct, it was one of the Ultra-Vision theatres that ABC was building in the 70’s. And it’s correct name was Westown Ultra-Vision. It was a single screen seating 800.
Don’t look for the footprint now. A large “Rooms to Go” store now sits on this location.
You are correct; the clouds were projections from a cloud machine known as a Brenograph Jr. Dry ice?? Just goes to show you that some reporters will write about something they know nothing about.
According to Boxoffice magazine, the Knoxville Drive-in opened April 2, 1949. It was designed by Park In Theatres Inc. in Camden, NJ and had a capacity of 512 cars.
The projectionist there had to be at his daytime job in the early morning, so my dad would finish at the Capri Cinema and then go to the Knoxville and cover the midnight show for him so he could go home and get some sleep.
I grew up only three blocks from the drive-in and vaguely remember them adding the “wings†to the screen tower for cinemascope. This would have been in the very early 60’s. I also remember when my dad would take me over there in the daytime to shoot off model rockets.
There was a shopping center on the other side of the RR tracks that had a bowling alley in it. When they put in the sodium vapor lights in the parking lot in the late 70’s, they would cast a shadow of a telephone pole on the screen. This was not a problem for the bright scenes, but on the dark scenes it was a big problem. I think light pollution was a big problem for the drive-ins that where built on the outskirts of town in the 50’s but found themselves in the middle of suburbia in the 70’s.
It may be a typo (maybe on my part) because everything that I have found has the spelling Lenox.
Here are some vintage pictures of the Tennessee.
Exterior Feb.1929:
View link
Lobby Aug. 1929:
View link
Auditorium 1929:
View link
Mike,the Lenox is at: /theaters/15656/
Here is a 1923 picture of the Strand:
View link
Distance shot of the front can be found here:
View link
Zoom the picture out and you can see the Riviera across the street.
A picture of the exterior taken in July 1921 can be found here:
View link
Exterior picture taken in October of 1928:
View link
A picture of the Lyric with audience can be found here:
View link
Lobby:
View link
Exterior:
View link
This theatre was originally the Tower Theatre /theaters/15656/ It was built ~ 1947 by Walter Morris who also owned the Pike Theatre and the Lee Theatre. In 1963 C.H. Simpson who operated the Riviera Theatre downtown, leased the Pike and Tower theatres and changed the name of the Pike to the Capri Cinema, and the Tower to the Lenox. The Tower/Lenox Theatre was torn down in the late 60’s to make way for the I-640/ Broadway interchange.
The Twin-Aire is here: /theaters/20397/
The Booth opened in September 1928, just two weeks before the opening of the Tennessee Theatre.
The Dixie Lee Drive-In was in Knox County, Lenoir City is in Loudon County. The 37934 zip code is considered Knoxville. If the site had been just a few yards to the west, it would have been in Loudon County and the zip would have been 37772 which is a Lenoir City zip code.
this theatre has been reopened for some time. the website is:
http://hallscinema7.net/
Photo of the Capri Cinema can be found here: View link The doors to the far right of the picture is the enterance to the Capri-70 which was the Cinerama house that was build in 1967. The window to the right of the photo was the boxoffice for both theatres.
The Regal Riviera had a great first year. It was the second highest grossing theatre in Knoxville. Here is the article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. View link
The vertical sign for the new Regal Riviera can also be seen on the right hand side of the above photo.
Actually I remember the old Horne Drive-In’s screen was the back of a retail building on Chapman Highway. The block rear wall extended well over the roof line of the building. I used to play golf in 1974-76 at an old par-3 course located across the street. This is when I noticed the strange looking building and realized that there was a drive in located there at one time. All of it was torn down in the early 80’s to build a K-Mart, which has since closed.
The Capri Terrace was opened in 1973 and originally seated 409. Charlie Simpson build this theatre as his “pride and joy†of the Simpson Theatres chain. The interior was laid out very similar to the Capri-70 and the projection was in Ultra Vision. Mr. Simpson also had a small sitting area on the left side of the lobby with a fireplace and antique furniture. It was designed with retail shops around the exterior of the theatre to insulate the auditorium from any outside noise, especially from the nearby railroad tracks. This was also Simpson’s first step into the commercial real estate market, and the beginning of the Homberg Place development which has become a quaint shopping area in Bearden.
The Capri Terrace is where “Earthquake†and “Midway†both played with Sensurround. This was an effect where large sub-woofers are placed in the front and back of the auditorium and low frequency sound rattle the movie patron’s teeth.
The Capri Terrace closed in 1980 and was converted into the Terrace Dinner Theatre. This is when the floor was turned into multi levels to accommodate tables and chairs. This lasted until1983. Mr. Simpson’s son, Jim Simpson, then converted the theatre into the Terrace Tap House. The theatre was twined in 1990 and even though the movies were good, the presentation was far less then adequate.
There was also the Lake Theatre located at 1100 Sevier Ave. It opened in 1947 and closed in 1950 and had 400 seats. It is now a small vacant lot that backs up on a railroad track. Maybe that is the reason it did not last very long.
There was a Horne Theatre on Chapman Highway located near the northwest corner of Chapman and Young High Pike. Mr. Baumann lists it as being opened in1947 and closing in 1956 with a seating capacity of 600. I do remember the building after it had been closed for some time. It was a typical post WWII suburban move theatre built with cinder block and painted white. I do remember the faded name HORNE painted on the north side of the building. My father told me that a Mr. Horne (do not remember his first name) built both the theatre and the drive-in.
This theatre seems to have had identity crises over the years. It first opened as the Picto in 1916. Then it became the Central in 1920, the Liberty in 1922, the Picto in 1923, the Central in 1925, the Cameo in 1931, and then the Joy in 1935. That only lasted until 1948 when the name changed to the Center. It remained the Center until it closed in 1955. This theatre was reported to have 400 seats.