Could this theatre be the building on Queen Street later used by the African-American Shriners? Their lodge was on Queen Street between Broad Street and Pollock Street, and looked like a converted movie house.
Chief Jensen is certainly right about lots of Marines going to this theatre, as it was THE grindhouse/porno theatre for Craven County from about 1974 until its closing in 1979. After the Tryon closed WCTI-TV 12(ABC) filmed scenes of the Tryon’s marquee for use on its Sunday afternoon movie. When New Bern Civic Theatre began using the theatre they originally named the building the Saax Bradbury Playhouse.
The Golden East Cinema was dethroned as Rocky Mount’s largest cinema in 2000 when the Premiere Theatres 12 (now 14) opened in the old Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse on Benvenue Road at Hunter Hill Road. The end of Carmike Cinemas in Rocky Mount followed shortly thereafter.
Raysson, you are correct about both the chains and the films at the Mall Cinema. Who put Cinemark up there? That chain has never been in Eastern North Carolina. S&E built upon its success at Vernon Park Mall by taking over the abandoned Plaza Cinema in 1975 and squeezed out the competing Park Theatre on North Queen Street (I can’t remember if S&E bought that one out or simply drove it out of business). By 1982 the Mall and Plaza Cinemas were Kinston’s only movie houses still in operation.
After Carmike closed this theatre it was taken over by the owners of the Kernersville Countryside Cinema, who ran the Quaker Cinemas for about three years before closing it for good. Also, Carmike acquired the Quaker and Golden Gate Cinemas in its 1986 takeover of Stewart & Everett, not using their own name in Greensboro ads until the Golden Gate was shut down.
The owners of this theatre also own theatres in Kinston (Premiere Theatres 7) and Rocky Mount (Premiere Theatres 14). They have been successful in ridding Goldsboro, Kinston and Rocky Mount of ancient Carmike theatres and giving these towns a first-class movie experience.
I remember Stewart & Everett used to run at least two other “42nd Street”-style grindhouses in Eastern North Carolina besides the Drake. The Paramount in Kinston ran grindhouse films (but no X-rated films)from at least 1974 until its closing in 1975 or 1976, charging 99 cents adult admission. About the same time, the Tryon Theatre in New Bern also ran grindhouse films, but they also showed XXX adult films. By 1977 the Tryon was strictly porn and remained so until it closed in 1979. What I find to be unusual about the Drake (for Eastern North Carolina anyway) is that it ran porn films in close proximity to another pornhouse (Wilson Theatre).
This theatre was a “Rocking Chair Theatre” when it first opened, and still had rocking chairs under Carmike. I haven’t been to the Neuse Cinema since the present owners took over, so I’m not sure if they still have rockers in the auditoriums.
The very last movie to play at the Pitt was “The Amityville Horror”. The theatre caught fire during the end credits of the film on the second evening show.I believe the date of the fire was August 13, 1979.
I was wrong about the “R” on the marquee; it is now an “F”. Also, I remember that back in 1972 or 1973 the movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (“Rated X by an All-White Jury”) played the Roxy, or at least was listed on the marquee. It was the first time I remember seeing the word “ass” (in this case an alternate spelling thereof) on a theatre marquee. I was shocked, but then again I was only four or five years old at the time!
The Roxy may be considered outside of downtown, since Albemarle Avenue was considered the"wrong side of the tracks" back when the Roxy showed movies. Also, Google screwed up on the location of the 264 Playhouse (I fixed that theatre’s Google picture), and several other theatres. The book “The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina” lists on page 122 the “Roxy Theatre, 629 Albemarle Avenue”. Maybe this information is wrong.
The Roxy Theatre is located at 629 Albemarle Avenue in downtown Greenville. The building still stands and is remarkably intact. The “ROXY” letters have been removed from the marquee and the “R” on the marquee front has been altered to a “P”. It has been used most recently as a church.
I have corrected the Google picture to show the correct location of the former 264 Playhouse Theatre. The theatre building is in the center of the picture (the building which is furthest from the highway). The address listed by Google is 5427 US 264 Alternate West (also known as US 13 South), which is between Bell Arthur Road and Nash-Joyner Road.
I remember seeing an ad for a “Carmike Ultravision” four-screen theatre in the Charleston newspaper in the early 1990s. Could this be the same theatre?
Was the Broadway Drive-Inn the same theatre as the North 11 Drive-In? That is the only drive-in I know of on Highway 11 that has any remnants still standing (in North 11’s case the marquee is all that remains). The North 11 played XXX movies until around 1980. The other drive-in I know of being on Highway 11 North was the Bright Leaf,closer to town near the Highland Avenue intersection and run by Stewart & Everett. Bright Leaf was demolished about 1975.
Stewart & Everett Theatres closed this theatre when they opened the Havelock Cinema 4 (later expanded to 6 screens)on McCotter Boulevard at US 70 around 1985. The Cherry Theatre, which was twinned in the early 1980s, burned down in the mid-1990s.
This theatre was definitely built by Stewart & Everett, as it appears to be identical to a 4-screen theatre S&E built in Havelock about the same time as this one (the Havelock Cinema 4 was expanded to 6 screens by Carmike in 1987). To the best of my knowledge, the Cinema 4 in Aberdeen and the Havelock Cinema 4/6 were the last theatres built by Stewart & Everett Theatres.
This theatre was originally operated by Cineplex Odeon, who also owned the Cardinal 3 theatres at Crossroads Plaza (formerly Kmart Plaza) located at the intersection of US 301 and Sunset Avenue. The Golden East 4/Cinema Grill is now a Books-a-Million bookstore.
Carmike Cinemas did not exist until 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; they used the Martin name until 1985. Was the Louisburg Theatre sold to Martin in 1980 or to Carmike at a later date?
Nealb1992 is correct about the closing date of the Colonial. It was replaced by the Parkhill Cinema 3 located at Parkhill Mall (now Riverside Plaza) in 1982. Progress is slowly but surely being made on the restoration of the Colonial Theatre. It now looks better than it did when it was a storefront church.
Carmike Cinemas took over this theatre in 1990 when they bought most of Cineplex Odeon’s North Carolina theatres. They were the last chain to operate this theatre.
Could this theatre be the building on Queen Street later used by the African-American Shriners? Their lodge was on Queen Street between Broad Street and Pollock Street, and looked like a converted movie house.
Chief Jensen is certainly right about lots of Marines going to this theatre, as it was THE grindhouse/porno theatre for Craven County from about 1974 until its closing in 1979. After the Tryon closed WCTI-TV 12(ABC) filmed scenes of the Tryon’s marquee for use on its Sunday afternoon movie. When New Bern Civic Theatre began using the theatre they originally named the building the Saax Bradbury Playhouse.
The Golden East Cinema was dethroned as Rocky Mount’s largest cinema in 2000 when the Premiere Theatres 12 (now 14) opened in the old Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse on Benvenue Road at Hunter Hill Road. The end of Carmike Cinemas in Rocky Mount followed shortly thereafter.
Raysson, you are correct about both the chains and the films at the Mall Cinema. Who put Cinemark up there? That chain has never been in Eastern North Carolina. S&E built upon its success at Vernon Park Mall by taking over the abandoned Plaza Cinema in 1975 and squeezed out the competing Park Theatre on North Queen Street (I can’t remember if S&E bought that one out or simply drove it out of business). By 1982 the Mall and Plaza Cinemas were Kinston’s only movie houses still in operation.
After Carmike closed this theatre it was taken over by the owners of the Kernersville Countryside Cinema, who ran the Quaker Cinemas for about three years before closing it for good. Also, Carmike acquired the Quaker and Golden Gate Cinemas in its 1986 takeover of Stewart & Everett, not using their own name in Greensboro ads until the Golden Gate was shut down.
On November 29,2011, it was announced that the Turnage Theater will be closing due to financial difficulties.
The owners of this theatre also own theatres in Kinston (Premiere Theatres 7) and Rocky Mount (Premiere Theatres 14). They have been successful in ridding Goldsboro, Kinston and Rocky Mount of ancient Carmike theatres and giving these towns a first-class movie experience.
I remember Stewart & Everett used to run at least two other “42nd Street”-style grindhouses in Eastern North Carolina besides the Drake. The Paramount in Kinston ran grindhouse films (but no X-rated films)from at least 1974 until its closing in 1975 or 1976, charging 99 cents adult admission. About the same time, the Tryon Theatre in New Bern also ran grindhouse films, but they also showed XXX adult films. By 1977 the Tryon was strictly porn and remained so until it closed in 1979. What I find to be unusual about the Drake (for Eastern North Carolina anyway) is that it ran porn films in close proximity to another pornhouse (Wilson Theatre).
This theatre was a “Rocking Chair Theatre” when it first opened, and still had rocking chairs under Carmike. I haven’t been to the Neuse Cinema since the present owners took over, so I’m not sure if they still have rockers in the auditoriums.
The very last movie to play at the Pitt was “The Amityville Horror”. The theatre caught fire during the end credits of the film on the second evening show.I believe the date of the fire was August 13, 1979.
The red bricks attached to the Hooker & Buchanan Insurance building to the right of the parking lot were part of the Pitt Theatre.
The Falls Twin was never a Cineplex Odeon. Martin Theatres owned this theatre before Carmike bought the entire Martin chain in 1982.
I was wrong about the “R” on the marquee; it is now an “F”. Also, I remember that back in 1972 or 1973 the movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (“Rated X by an All-White Jury”) played the Roxy, or at least was listed on the marquee. It was the first time I remember seeing the word “ass” (in this case an alternate spelling thereof) on a theatre marquee. I was shocked, but then again I was only four or five years old at the time!
The Roxy may be considered outside of downtown, since Albemarle Avenue was considered the"wrong side of the tracks" back when the Roxy showed movies. Also, Google screwed up on the location of the 264 Playhouse (I fixed that theatre’s Google picture), and several other theatres. The book “The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina” lists on page 122 the “Roxy Theatre, 629 Albemarle Avenue”. Maybe this information is wrong.
The Roxy Theatre is located at 629 Albemarle Avenue in downtown Greenville. The building still stands and is remarkably intact. The “ROXY” letters have been removed from the marquee and the “R” on the marquee front has been altered to a “P”. It has been used most recently as a church.
This theatre, formerly located on Albemarle Avenue(on the opposite side of the street from the Roxy Theatre), was demolished over forty years ago.
I have corrected the Google picture to show the correct location of the former 264 Playhouse Theatre. The theatre building is in the center of the picture (the building which is furthest from the highway). The address listed by Google is 5427 US 264 Alternate West (also known as US 13 South), which is between Bell Arthur Road and Nash-Joyner Road.
I remember seeing an ad for a “Carmike Ultravision” four-screen theatre in the Charleston newspaper in the early 1990s. Could this be the same theatre?
Was the Broadway Drive-Inn the same theatre as the North 11 Drive-In? That is the only drive-in I know of on Highway 11 that has any remnants still standing (in North 11’s case the marquee is all that remains). The North 11 played XXX movies until around 1980. The other drive-in I know of being on Highway 11 North was the Bright Leaf,closer to town near the Highland Avenue intersection and run by Stewart & Everett. Bright Leaf was demolished about 1975.
Stewart & Everett Theatres closed this theatre when they opened the Havelock Cinema 4 (later expanded to 6 screens)on McCotter Boulevard at US 70 around 1985. The Cherry Theatre, which was twinned in the early 1980s, burned down in the mid-1990s.
This theatre was definitely built by Stewart & Everett, as it appears to be identical to a 4-screen theatre S&E built in Havelock about the same time as this one (the Havelock Cinema 4 was expanded to 6 screens by Carmike in 1987). To the best of my knowledge, the Cinema 4 in Aberdeen and the Havelock Cinema 4/6 were the last theatres built by Stewart & Everett Theatres.
This theatre was originally operated by Cineplex Odeon, who also owned the Cardinal 3 theatres at Crossroads Plaza (formerly Kmart Plaza) located at the intersection of US 301 and Sunset Avenue. The Golden East 4/Cinema Grill is now a Books-a-Million bookstore.
Carmike Cinemas did not exist until 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; they used the Martin name until 1985. Was the Louisburg Theatre sold to Martin in 1980 or to Carmike at a later date?
Nealb1992 is correct about the closing date of the Colonial. It was replaced by the Parkhill Cinema 3 located at Parkhill Mall (now Riverside Plaza) in 1982. Progress is slowly but surely being made on the restoration of the Colonial Theatre. It now looks better than it did when it was a storefront church.
Carmike Cinemas took over this theatre in 1990 when they bought most of Cineplex Odeon’s North Carolina theatres. They were the last chain to operate this theatre.