Roxy Theatre

The firm of R.E. Hall & Co.Inc. were the architects and engineers of the Keith-Albee Georgia Theatre which opened on 15th November 1926 with the movie "Her Big Night" starring Zazu Pitts and five big acts of Keith vaudeville with Julian Leonard at the Grande Symphonic Wurlitzer Organ.

It was re-named Roxy in 1938 when it was leased by Independent Theatres Inc who promised a deal had been done with the famous Roxy Theater in New York to bring the stage shows from that theatre the following week after their Manhattan appearance. The Roxy became a 'de-luxe' movie theatre for several years until the last stage show was a part of the programme on 30th October 1943. From then on, it was movies only.

In the 1960's it became a Cinerama theatre and this meant the removal of the two loge boxes either side of the stage and the auditorium was draped.

Regular movies return for the final years, the film "Willard" set a house record and Rock Hudson made a personal apearance when his movie "Pretty Maids All In A Row" was screened. The Roxy closed on 21st May 1972 with the screening to a small audience of a camp B grade horror movie, "Twilight People". The wreckers moved in early summer 1972 and there were still portions of the theatres walls still standing as late as September 1972.

The Roxy Theatre played 3 strip Cinerama from 4/26/56 thru 6/0/57 then it was removed. The screen was 68ft. by 25ft. 18ft. deep and a 25ft. radius. Today the Peachtree International Hotel sits on the site of the Roxy Theatre. The theatre originally seated 2550 but was reduced to 1406 for Cinerama.

That should have been from 4/26/56 thru 6/9/57.

Here's a link to a site where you can find a number of photos of the Atlanta Roxy:

http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/collections/AV/lane/

It's the website for Georgia State University's Pullen Library. It houses the photo collection of the Lane Brothers, professional photographers whose work spans the the 1930's through the 1960's. Use the search engine to search for the Roxy and/or Peachtree Street and you'll find some nice photos.

When I was growing up in Atlanta in the 1950's and 1960's, I attended the Roxy frequently. Although they did show their share of typical commercial releases in those years, they tended to specialize in road show attractions. Pictures like AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS, BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, BEN HUR, SPARTACUS, THE LONGEST DAY and MY FAIR LADY played on a road show basis there.

The demolition of Atlanta's Peachtree Street movie theaters robbed the city of a considerable amount of it's charm and character. A pity.

I liked the Roxy and I remember it fondly.

I understand your sorrow.

After the demolition of East Town Theatre[of Hong Kong]in February 1974,I felt very sad too.

The East Town theatre was the few theatres in Hong Kong which can shown movie in 70mm version.I still remembered that I saw THE GREAT RACE[70mm version]、MY FAIR LADY[70mm version]、THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE[70 mm version]、WOODSTOCK、GODFATHER 1、THE GREAT ESCAPE、THE WILD BUNCH[70mm version] IT'S A MAD、MAD、MAD、MAD WORLD......in this
theatre.
I like East Town Theatre [東城戲院]and have fond memory of it too.

According to a 1954 Atlanta Telephone Directory, the correct street address of The Roxy Theater was 204 Peachtree Street,NW (on the West side of Peachtree Street).

Don K., what was the address of the Capitol Theatre that was right next to the Roxy Theatre. The theatres were so close together that the sides of the marquee were butted up to each other.

My reference sources are incomplete. As nearly as I can tell, The Capitol Theater closed down around 1948-49. If you can consult an Atlanta Telephone Directory prior to that time, you should be able to find the street number.

Here's a link to a photo of the Capitol and the Roxy:

http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBGPF2-071a.jpg

Search the Georgia State University website and you'll find several more photo's of the Capitol:

http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/collections/AV/lane/

As you probably know, the theater was gutted and the space was incorporated into the Davison-Paxon Department Store. The theater was actually inside (or possibly in back of) the Davison's building. Although I was very familiar with the interior of Davison's, it was not easy to tell exactly how the Capitol Theater was laid out.

Does anyone know the precise layout of the Capitol in relationship to Davison's interior? What about the seating capacity?

My father had vivid memories of seeing the 1931 FRANKENSTEIN at a midnight sneak preview at the Capitol Theater.

Does anyone know at what point the Roxy installed 70mm projectors? My best recollection was that it might have been for the road show engagement of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in Todd AO, circa 1956. Frankly, I don't know if the exclusive booking of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, circa '57-'58, was the 70mm blowup version or not. What I do recall with reasonable certainty was that when BEN HUR opened as a road show in December, 1959 it was presented in MGM Camera 65 (Ultra Panavision 70).

Hopefully someone can enlighten us.

To correct Mr. Hall's comment about the Roxy organ being re-installed in the Strand Theatre, Marietta:

The actual organ being re-installed in the Strand is from the Roxy's next-door neighbor, "The Capitol". The Capitol's organ is a 3/15 Robert Morton, Opus 2310. The Roxy organ, a Wurlitzer Style 260 Special, went to the J.B. Nethercutt Museum in San Sylmar, CA. Over the years this organ has been significantly enlarged and now reigns as the second largest privately owned theatre organ in the world. Almost every major theatre organist has recorded it.

For more information on the Strand Theatre's Robert Morton installation, see the listing for that theatre in Cinema Treasures.

Don K. My best recollection of when the 70mm projectors were installed was when the Roxy ran a film titled either "Cinerama" or "The Best of Cinerama". These were some of the first films that gave you the feeling that your are part of the action. I saw this film at the Roxy around 1960 plus or minus a couple of years. The most memorable part was the roller coaster sequence.

Not too long after this the Martin Theatre company opened Martin's Cinerama just down Peachtree close to the corner of Peachtree and North Ave. Here I saw many cinerama epics of the day: "How The West Was Won", "The Sound of Music".

Here's a photo from the collection referred to above by Don:
http://tinyurl.com/k6tdn

For more on the history of the Atlanta Roxy go to the Atlanta Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society January 2007 Newsletter

Ladies, keep an eye on your purses:
http://tinyurl.com/2b8kbk

The Longest Day
http://www.library.gsu.edu/spcoll/spcollimages/av/lane/jpeg/LBMPE2-026a.jpg

STARTS FRIDAY AT THE ROXY.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24391992@N00/525258842/

Over the past year I have been doing a series of articles of Atlanta's theatres that had pipe organ's. These articles were published in the Atlanta Chapter ATOS newsletter. Not only is there a history of the organ but also a history of the theatre along with photo's of the interior and exterior, and in this case its demolition. The Keith's Georgia/Roxy article is covered in two newsletters.
The articles are on the chapters web site for a limited time (1 year)
Just go to the newsletter portion of the website and pull up the January 2007 and the Febuary 2007 newsletters. Hope you enjoy.

THE ROXY THEATRE TICKET STUB.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/24391992@N00/645068638/in/photostream/

The Walt Disney movie "Herbie Rides Again" opens with a series of implosions of old buildings during the titles. One of those is the Henry Grady / Roxy.

The Roxy auditorium shared a wall with the old Capitol which, as mentioned above was later taken over by the Davison's department store. Since that was the extent of the demolition, about a third of the auditorium was not part of the implosion, but was removed by machine over the course of the next couple of months. inside this shell, some drapes, seats, and part of the balcony were visible, especially to those of us who rode the bus by the site.

I remember seeing "Viva Max", "The Parent Trap" (reissue), and a Richard Brooks double feature of "The Professionals" and "In Cold Blood" here. In addition to "Willard", I seem to recall that the first run engagement of "Bullitt" was here, and in the spring of 1970, the first run of "Z". During its final weeks it played such epics as "The Thing With Two Heads", with Rosey Grier and Ray Milland (as in Academy Award Winner: Ray Milland), "Big Bird Cage", and "Caged Heat". On opening day of "Caged Heat" they had some models in very skimpy prison outfits handing out flyers on the sidewalk in front of the box-office. Showmanship at its best, right up til the end.

Reguarding the demolition of the Roxy and its relationship tothe Capitol theatre. The Roxy was built several years before the Capitol and did not share a common wall although both building where next to each other. The Roxy auditorium was a little strange in its layout. the south was was next to the Capitol/Davison Store. the stage house was free standing and the north wall was common with the Cain street addition to the Henry Grady Hotel (this was a loft and office building). The entrance, lobby, and projection booth were all tucked in under the 13 story back side of the Henry Grady.
When the theatre and hotel where torn down everything from the front of the projection booth all the way to the back of the flyhouse and on each side was torn down with the wrecking ball method.
The only parts of the theatre that where imploded where the lobbies and projection booth area. In may articles for the Atlanta Chapter ATos I have several of the demolition photographs.
One of the photographs shows a large beam running over the projection booth which held up that side of the hotel structure.
For much more on the Roxy google up Atlanta Chapter ATOS and pull up the January and Febuary newslettlers for a more indepth history of the theatre.

A 1943 view of the marquee and some related images can be found here: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=Eugene+Talmadge+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEugene%2BTalmadge%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den&imgurl=1c5c09aef5408b6c

This is a view of the auditorium from the same group of 1943 photos: http://images.google.com/hosted/life/f?q=Eugene+Talmadge+source:life&prev=/images%3Fq%3DEugene%2BTalmadge%2Bsource:life%26hl%3Den&imgurl=901344662928a9bc