Any photos of this theater? I only remember seeing the re-issue of the Columbia serial THE BATMAN (they were cashing-in on the popularity of the TV show in the 1960s) and of seeing DEEP THROAT (upon my 18th birthday in 1972 … it was my first porno film) there. I’m sure I’ve forgotten much more entertaining fare there but memory is sometimes sketchy.
If memory serves … The Byrd Theater was downtown next to the Monticello Arcade and had the reputation as the “pervert theater” since young boys (usually sailors) could make some money servicing older gay men. They also showed really good horror double bills but after seeing THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and ATOM-AGE VAMPIRE (both are fun movies but not great movies) there I decided against ever going there again. Mom and Dad were right! The action in the auditorium was scarier than what was going on the screen. AS an adult (in the late 1970s and early 1980s) I went to The World Theater on Hollywood Boulevard (in Hollywood, CA) and it had a similarly nasty reputation (mostly for fist fights) but I was older then and less easily frightened.
I saw GOLDFINGER there on it’s initial release (at age 10) and didn’t know whether to s**t or go blind! I still feel tingly when I hear the opening bars to the title theme. I saw some more “age appropriate” Disney fare there such as THE LIVING DESERT. One of my fondest memories is when the management got a bunch of cartoons and shorts from the regional film exchange and the theater was packed and we all laughed until our sides literally hurt. Does anyone have photos of the place and are any in color? I have an overwhelming impression of red (from the seat backs) and blonde plywood from my hazy memory. Was I accurate?
The Park Theater as it is now … as a church! Blasphemy! Before they closed the regional film exchanges (about 1974)the locals “4-walled” the place and showed an odd mix of old movies from the local exchange there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I saw 35MM prints of THE VAMPIRE’S GHOST and a bunch of similarly obscure genre films there. God I loved that place!
Any photos of this theater? I only remember seeing the re-issue of the Columbia serial THE BATMAN (they were cashing-in on the popularity of the TV show in the 1960s) and of seeing DEEP THROAT (upon my 18th birthday in 1972 … it was my first porno film) there. I’m sure I’ve forgotten much more entertaining fare there but memory is sometimes sketchy.
If memory serves … The Byrd Theater was downtown next to the Monticello Arcade and had the reputation as the “pervert theater” since young boys (usually sailors) could make some money servicing older gay men. They also showed really good horror double bills but after seeing THE LAST MAN ON EARTH and ATOM-AGE VAMPIRE (both are fun movies but not great movies) there I decided against ever going there again. Mom and Dad were right! The action in the auditorium was scarier than what was going on the screen. AS an adult (in the late 1970s and early 1980s) I went to The World Theater on Hollywood Boulevard (in Hollywood, CA) and it had a similarly nasty reputation (mostly for fist fights) but I was older then and less easily frightened.
I saw GOLDFINGER there on it’s initial release (at age 10) and didn’t know whether to s**t or go blind! I still feel tingly when I hear the opening bars to the title theme. I saw some more “age appropriate” Disney fare there such as THE LIVING DESERT. One of my fondest memories is when the management got a bunch of cartoons and shorts from the regional film exchange and the theater was packed and we all laughed until our sides literally hurt. Does anyone have photos of the place and are any in color? I have an overwhelming impression of red (from the seat backs) and blonde plywood from my hazy memory. Was I accurate?
The Park Theater as it is now … as a church! Blasphemy! Before they closed the regional film exchanges (about 1974)the locals “4-walled” the place and showed an odd mix of old movies from the local exchange there on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. I saw 35MM prints of THE VAMPIRE’S GHOST and a bunch of similarly obscure genre films there. God I loved that place!