The Plaza theatre was a landmark in Dyersville, Iowa since 1915.
Much of the movie “Field Of Dreams” (1989) was filmed near Dyersville and in the town of Galena, Illinois, which “doubled” for the town of Chisholm, Minnesota.
In the film, the Ray Kinsella character (played by Kevin Costner) sees a PLAZA theatre marquee displaying “The Godfather” while taking a late night walk. That scene was filmed outside the former Stanley Theatre at 113 S. Main Street, Galena, IL 61036. The Stanley had long since been closed by the time “Field of Dreams” was being filmed, so a “temporary” marquee was applied to that building in Galena. Interestingly, the PLAZA marquee in the film looks to be identical to the Plaza marquee in Dyersville!
By 1997, the Plaza theatre (and hotel) in downtown Dyersville was slated for demolition. A deal was negotiated and the 1955 period façade of the Plaza (including the marquee, ticket booth and doors) was rescued from the destruction of the downtown site, refurbished and re-installed nearly two miles away as the new entrance to the Plaza Antique Mall at 1235 16th Avenue Court SE, Dyersville, IA 52040.
The front façade panels are made of porcelainized steel and fitted together with some precision. One account says that over half a mile of wiring, 280 light bulbs, and 500 man-hours went into saving the Plaza theatre façade!
Apparently the American Theatre appeared in the film “Suddenly” (1954) starring Frank Sinatra. There is a good picture of the front of the theatre in this web article: http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2010/05/suddenly-1954-film-locations.html
The site of Silver Cinemas 10 theatre on Aurora Avenue was formerly a retail space (“Best Buy” Electronics Store?). Construction of theatre space was completed in June, 1997 and Silver Cinemas 10 theatre began as a second-run theatre. In 1998 it changed to a first-run policy.
Trivia: On the commentary track of the “Back To The Future” (1985) DVD (released in 2002), Producer Bob Gale remarks about the “Town” theater façade as part of the Hill Valley town square set on the Universal backlot. He says “There was an old movie theatre in Burbank that had been changed into a church and that’s how we came up with the idea of making that movie theatre into a church in 1985.”
This must be that theatre.
Malcolm Leo’s documentary “The Beach Boys: An American Band” (1985) showed here. Janet Maslin reviewed the film in the November 22, 1985 edition of The New York Times.
“The Great Waldo Pepper” premiered at the Rivoli Theatre (1620 Broadway) on Wednesday March 12, 1975 and went into wide release in the U.S. the next day.
The Texas premiere for “The Great Waldo Pepper” took place on Thursday March 13, 1975 at the Americana Theatre (Austin, TX) with former First Lady Ladybird Johnson and actress Susan Sarandon in attendance. At the Americana, attendees arrived in period cars & costumes. The film’s (first) premiere was at the Rivoli Theatre in New York, NY the previous night.
In “The Great Waldo Pepper” (1975) the Robert Redford character (Pepper) meets Mary Beth (Susan Sarandon) while watching Rudolph Valentino in “Son Of The Sheik” (1926) in the Texas Theatre. In the final cut we see the INTERIOR only. According to the December 6, 1973 edition of the Seguin Gazette, this scene was filmed on Monday December 3, 1973, while other filming was delayed due to inclement weather.
The city of West Des Moines was known as “Valley Junction” until 1938, and the historic downtown West Des Moines area is still referred to by that name. The building that housed the Lyric Theatre was known as the Wegener Building.
Some interesting historic photos of the building and surrounding area can be found on the West Des Moines Historical Society’s website:
http://wdmhistoricalsociety.org/WDMHistoricalSociety/OldWDMPhotos.html
The ownership was the other way around. The Valley III was operated by Dubinsky circa 1988, then Excellence and then closed by Carmike in 2001.
On October 28, 1988 it was announced that Excellence Theatres would buy Dubinsky Bros Theatres (see Box Office magazine, January 1989 page 45).
In March 1991 Carmike Cinemas reached a deal to take over Excellence Theatres.
When it was opened in ‘75 it was known as the “Mann Park Mall 2”.
Photo dates from 1922.
The Plaza theatre was a landmark in Dyersville, Iowa since 1915.
Much of the movie “Field Of Dreams” (1989) was filmed near Dyersville and in the town of Galena, Illinois, which “doubled” for the town of Chisholm, Minnesota.
In the film, the Ray Kinsella character (played by Kevin Costner) sees a PLAZA theatre marquee displaying “The Godfather” while taking a late night walk. That scene was filmed outside the former Stanley Theatre at 113 S. Main Street, Galena, IL 61036. The Stanley had long since been closed by the time “Field of Dreams” was being filmed, so a “temporary” marquee was applied to that building in Galena. Interestingly, the PLAZA marquee in the film looks to be identical to the Plaza marquee in Dyersville!
By 1997, the Plaza theatre (and hotel) in downtown Dyersville was slated for demolition. A deal was negotiated and the 1955 period façade of the Plaza (including the marquee, ticket booth and doors) was rescued from the destruction of the downtown site, refurbished and re-installed nearly two miles away as the new entrance to the Plaza Antique Mall at 1235 16th Avenue Court SE, Dyersville, IA 52040.
The front façade panels are made of porcelainized steel and fitted together with some precision. One account says that over half a mile of wiring, 280 light bulbs, and 500 man-hours went into saving the Plaza theatre façade!
The Fine Arts theatre appeared briefly in the Walt Disney Productions film “Escape To Witch Mountain” (1975).
Apparently the American Theatre appeared in the film “Suddenly” (1954) starring Frank Sinatra. There is a good picture of the front of the theatre in this web article: http://dearoldhollywood.blogspot.com/2010/05/suddenly-1954-film-locations.html
The site of Silver Cinemas 10 theatre on Aurora Avenue was formerly a retail space (“Best Buy” Electronics Store?). Construction of theatre space was completed in June, 1997 and Silver Cinemas 10 theatre began as a second-run theatre. In 1998 it changed to a first-run policy.
Trivia: On the commentary track of the “Back To The Future” (1985) DVD (released in 2002), Producer Bob Gale remarks about the “Town” theater façade as part of the Hill Valley town square set on the Universal backlot. He says “There was an old movie theatre in Burbank that had been changed into a church and that’s how we came up with the idea of making that movie theatre into a church in 1985.” This must be that theatre.
Malcolm Leo’s documentary “The Beach Boys: An American Band” (1985) showed here on January 30, 1985.
Malcolm Leo’s documentary “The Beach Boys: An American Band” (1985) showed here. Janet Maslin reviewed the film in the November 22, 1985 edition of The New York Times.
The theatre was usually advertised as the “Sierra III” and was located in the “Westown Shopping Center”.
“The Great Waldo Pepper” premiered at the Rivoli Theatre (1620 Broadway) on Wednesday March 12, 1975 and went into wide release in the U.S. the next day.
The Texas premiere for “The Great Waldo Pepper” took place on Thursday March 13, 1975 at the Americana Theatre (Austin, TX) with former First Lady Ladybird Johnson and actress Susan Sarandon in attendance. At the Americana, attendees arrived in period cars & costumes. The film’s (first) premiere was at the Rivoli Theatre in New York, NY the previous night.
The Coronado Theatre is closed. A live (stage) theatre called the Gaslight Theatre now occupies the building (http://www.thegaslighttheatre.com).
Building is currently (2012) a retail sporting goods store (Golfsmith).
In “The Great Waldo Pepper” (1975) the Robert Redford character (Pepper) meets Mary Beth (Susan Sarandon) while watching Rudolph Valentino in “Son Of The Sheik” (1926) in the Texas Theatre. In the final cut we see the INTERIOR only. According to the December 6, 1973 edition of the Seguin Gazette, this scene was filmed on Monday December 3, 1973, while other filming was delayed due to inclement weather.
In about 1954, the 22nd Street Drive-In claimed to have the largest CinemaScope screen in the world.
Apparently was also known as known as “El Cine” (1969-1970), showing Spanish-language films.
Was known as the AMERICAN (GKC) c. 1997 http://www.tucsonweekly.com/tw/05-08-97/filmtime.htm
Seems that this theatre basically replaced the AMC “El Con 6”, which was closed around 1997.
The city of West Des Moines was known as “Valley Junction” until 1938, and the historic downtown West Des Moines area is still referred to by that name. The building that housed the Lyric Theatre was known as the Wegener Building. Some interesting historic photos of the building and surrounding area can be found on the West Des Moines Historical Society’s website: http://wdmhistoricalsociety.org/WDMHistoricalSociety/OldWDMPhotos.html
AMC operated this theatre as the “Showcase 2” when I last lived in Tucson (1988).
The El Dorado was part of the Plitt chain and then Cineplex Odeon when I lived in Tucson in the late ‘80s.
The Buena Vista was part of the Mann chain when I lived in Tucson in the late ‘80s.
This theatre was simply called the AMC “Oracle 4” (no “view”) & was advertised that way.