Stonemont Theatre

Was this theater also called the Hollywood Stonemont Twin or is that another theater. The address at the following website is slightly different.
http://www.e-pages.com/glblyellow/business.php?state=GA&b_id=38462&c_path=14605%2C14589

I think I figured this one out. An address search of 5400 Memorial Drive shows the Emerald Ridge Apartments. A search of 5241 Memorial Drive shows:
Bollywood Twin Cinema
Hindi & Gujarati movies daily
5241 Memorial Dr.
Stone Mountain
Phone: 770-438-6464

Thanks Sam! The ABC theatres were my favourite circuit during my tenure in Marthasville. Didn't they also build a triple down around Morrow before Plitt bought them out?

Cinematour lists this theater as the Stonemont I & II Theatres located at 5241 Memorial Dr.
http://www.cinematour.com/tour.php?db=us&id=5455

If the above address of 5400 Memorial Drive is correct, this theater was replaced by apartments. I don't think thats the case. I believe the address should be 5241 Memorial Drive.

Did ABC also own the Ben Hill Twin? It was on the west side of town and was later operated by Eastern Federal. It looked just like the Stonemont. There was a time capsule buried at the Stonemont's grand opening, I wonder what happened to that? It was still standing about a year ago. It did operate at the Hollywood Stonemont for a short time, then Bollywood. I think it is closed and teh Bollywood stuff moved to the old UA/GTC Green's Crossing up in Gwinnett Co.

I think the Ben Hill (est.1970 ?) was part of the Eastern Federal from the get go (they're attempt to cash in on the Greenbrier Mall/Westgate market controlled by the Georgia Theatre chain.) I recall seeing Willy Wonka there during its initial run. Aside from the fact that both the Ben Hill and Stonemont began and ended their careers as twins, I don't think there were any other similarities between the two.

The layout of the Ben Hill was the same as the original auditorium of the Town & Country and the single Cobb Cinema. Low ceilings, Cinemechannica (sp?) projection, restrooms under the booth down some steps, etc. There was always rumors around the company about what came from what since there were so many different designs and equipment scattered across town. Going way back, when the Thunderbird drive-in was still open, that was originally a Cobb property. I was told the North Springs, Miracle, Belvedere, Cherokee and Toco Hills were built for Cobb as well. I visited a Cobb theater outside of Tampa 15 years ago and it was the same setup as those.

The Brannon Square twin was another old ABC property that went on to Septum and, while I was never in the booth, it always struck me as similar to the Town & Country/Cobb Cinema/Ben Hill setup.

The 5400 Memorial Drive address was just a rough estimate on my part as I did not recall or never knew the actual street address. ABC did build a triple near the Southlake Mall in Morrow, a suburb of Atlanta, in the early 80's. I recall it being a block over and slightly west of the General Cinema Southlake II triple. It never did amount to much and it was closed by Plitt shortly after the original Georgia Theatre Company built an 8plex directly across the street from GCC. The ABC triple was a virtual copy of the Promanade Triple they had built on Cobb Pky in Smyrna, just as the GCC was a carbon of the Northlake II and the GTC 8 was a copy of the GCC Shannon 8 that was built in Union City across from Shannon Mall. Most of these Southlake theatres were closed by 1990 and those that wern't were killed off by the new AMC 24.

As for the North Springs, Cherokee, etc... mentioned in the above post, all of them were built and operated by the Eastern Federal Corp although the older ones were built when the chain was known as the H.B. Miselman Theatre Company before its name change to EFC. As for the Ben Hill Twin, its design, construction, and operation can best be described as "Is there a cheaper way to do this?" Town and Country, Ben Hill, and Cobb Cinema were newer construction than Toco, Cherokee, Belvedere, North Springs, and even the Coronet. They were quick to build, cheap to run and devoid of personality, built quickly with the intent of making a quick buck and keeping the investment down to a minimum. When I get a chance I will try to post individual comments on all of these as I worked them all at one time or another.

"Dolby was added to the #2 side in 1978."

"...it took the booking of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band to finally get Dolby installed." (StanMalone)
*******************************************

Dolby's listings of equipped theatres indicate the Stonemont was equipped as of November 1977. Is it possible the theatre simply never received any Dolby-encoded prints until "Sgt. Pepper" in the summer of '78?

(Stan: also see my recent comments in the entry for Phipps Plaza)

Stan....Thanks for the reply. You weren't that far off with the address. I was starting to think that I found another theater at 5241 Memorial Dr.

In regards to this Dolby question, I am ready to admit defeat. A friend of mine states that he saw "Close Encounters" at the Stonemont in 1977 and says that it was presented in Dolby which is why he was there. If it had not been Dolby he would have made the longer drive to Phipps. Since I trust his memory a lot more than mine, that is it as far as I am concerned.

As far as the "Sgt. Pepper" angle goes, I do remember without a doubt the manager telling me that he was going to get Dolby for "Sgt. Pepper." Back in those early Dolby years movies were released in both Dolby and non Dolby versions just as in earlier years a movie might be released with both magnetic and optical prints. (I can remember as late as 1982 running "Secret of NIMH" with a fine sounding Dolby track and later that year getting it back as a Thanksgiving kiddie show with a mono print.) So, he probably meant that he was going to get a Dolby encoded print for "Sgt. Pepper" to use in his Dolby equipped #2 house.

As far as my comment on the Phipps Penthouse being the first to premiere a movie in Dolby in Atlanta (which is what started this whole thread) that is technically true since Stonemont is in Stone Mountain, but in those days we considered anything in the 5 county metro area to be "Atlanta." So, perhaps that line in my Phipps posting should read something like "...along with its fellow ABC Theatre, Stonemont #2, the Penthouse was the first, etc..."

I have just visited the site of the Stonemont, and it is still there. The shopping center is pretty run down and about half enpty, especially down on the theatre end. Of course I could not see inside the auditoriums or the booth, but judging from the lobby and exterior, all it needs to return to its former glory is a good cleanup, a reasonable paint job, and an audience. I am afraid that latter requirement is unlikely to appear anytime in the forseeeable future.

Bummer, major bummer. Just noticed the referance to the Brannon Square. I didn't know that it was once part of ABC. I knew it was once a Jerry Lewis, then a Septum. It wasn't anything like the other ABC properties.

Re early Dolby Stereo presentations in the Atlanta area, another round of research and attempt to summarize yields the following:

Nov 24, 1977: "Star Wars" opens a sub-run at Canton Corners Twin in Marrieta. "Dolby System" logo + "Stereophonic Sound" text is present in the ad, with "Starts Today! Full Surround Stereo" in another part of the ad.

Dec 14, 1977: "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" opens in four area theaters, three of which were promoting Dolby Stereo presentations. (1) Phipps Penthouse, Atlanta (Dolby). (2) Stonemont, Stone Mountain (Dolby). (3) Arrowhead, Jonesboro (Dolby). (4) Akers Mill Square, Smyrna (mono).

Dec 16, 1977: "Saturday Night Fever" opens. The engagement at Mableton Twin in Mableton is advertised as a Dolby Stereo presentation. ("The Only Atlanta Engagement of 'Saturday Night Fever' Where You Can Hear The Bee-Gee's In Our New 4 Channel Stereo Sound")

Dec. 23, 1977: "Star Wars" begins sub-run at Buford Higway Twin in Doraville. Promoted as "Exclusive Engagement! For The 1st Time In Atlanta -- Dolby Sound! You May Have Seen 'Star Wars', But For The 1st Time, Hear It!"

July 21, 1978: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" opens. Stonemont's engagement advertised in Dolby Stereo.

Brannon Square was "never" under ABC, I was the city manager for them until Plitt came into the picture. I was also the opening manager of Stonemont, how awesome it was to find this site. And Stan, I appreciate you starting this forum about the theatres. It brings back some good memories. The Dolby instalation at Stonemont was correct for "Close Encounters". Wil-Kin installed it and it took Tom Paris 2 days and no sleep to get it working properly. When Animal House opened we did so much business that Universal Exec called me from Cal. to see if the figures I was turning in was correct. I suppose with all the crazyness there, it was appropiate that we won the bid to show it. I also opened the Penthouse Theatre as well, with of course "The Exorist". It was wild to watch everyone freak out during certain scenes. We would stand in the back and laugh. Stan, who was the city manager for Georgia Theatres when you were at Lenox? And do you remember the "continental" seating at phipps it was awesome. You could literally strecth out your legs and barely touch the seat in front of you.

Well, if it isn't my old friend and co-worker Tommy Young, who I have not seen in at least 25 years. I first met Tommy on the football field of Grady High School in the fall of 1974 when as manager of the South DeKalb Twin, I took part in one of those Georgia Theatre / ABC Theatres employee football games. I seem to recall the manager of Phipps Plaza being carried off the field with a broken leg during one of those grudge matches. For those of you who are interested not only in theatre buildings but the operation and culture of the employees, Tommy and I (and probably Raymond Stewart from this thread although I never worked with him) were fair examples of the type of people who worked at theatres in the late 60's to mid 80's. In those days when pay and hours were even worse than they are today, theatres were staffed by people who either enjoyed the movie business, liked working at night, liked the slow periods during the week or the entire fall when you could study or take care of maintenance, or just liked working without the aggravation of someone always looking over your shoulder.

For the most part theatre companies would give managers a set of keys and the combination to the safe and tell them to go manage. If the money made it into the bank and not too many complaints were received at the home office they pretty much left you alone. It was like working for yourself except that all of the profits went to someone else. I found this to be true of local companies like Georgia Theatre Company and national ones like Loews. Managing challenges consisted mainly of finding a good staff that would show up for work and behave, and keeping the theatre in good shape. There was always a fine line to be walked between making the theatre a pleasant place to work (an absolute necessity in view of the low pay) and letting the help turn the lobby into a frat house. (I remember stopping by Stonemont on the way home from my theatre on Saturday nights to join some off duty employees watching Saturday Night Live on the TV in the office.) The actual running of the place in regards to customers was much easier than now because people behaved themselves better back then, and with only two to four or five screens you never had the crush of people you do these days. The concession business was much simpler as well. Fewer items, fewer employees needed, and more down time between shows. I am sure the manager of the Burger King where I worked while in high school had an easier job than that of whoever is in charge of the concession operation in one of today's megaplexes.

All of this changed in the late 80's with the rise in consolidation as the local and smaller regional companies started selling out to the big national chains. ABC went to Plitt then Cineplex, etc... GTC sold out to UA, and Storey to Regal which later ended up with UA as well. With every transaction there seemed to be a new batch of bosses who had as their first priority the elimination of every single existing employee and replacing them with their "own" people imported from wherever they had come from. Managers, employees, projectionists, and even janitors were swept out for no other reason than they had been hired by the previous order and thus were not part of the new team. Later we had the pleasure of seeing the new team swept out by an even newer team, and so on down the line. Since most theatre companies seemed to look on their employees as recurring expenses, like the power bill, or even outright thieves yet to be caught, instead of potential assets, micro managing from HQ became the new way. The internet and email made it much too easy for the corporate bosses to dictate every single activity of the day, and towards the end of the General Cinema days there was talk of the folks up in Chestnut Hill working on a set up where they could view the security cameras of any theatre in real time back in Boston. This may well be the case now although I am happy to say that I would not know.

Those workers are just as much a "Cinema Treasure" as the theatres we talk about on this site. As sad as it is that those times are over, at least we did not get carted off to the landfill like so many of the places of which have these good memories. I know there are some who think this subject has no place in a forum such as this, but I disagree. While it is fine to admire the physical plant of the venues themselves, the people who worked such long hours to keep them running are an equally important part of their history. I am sure that the gist of what I have written here would apply to the vast majority of sites that appear on the Cinema Treasures website.

As for the question of who my city manager was, that gentleman would be Mr. Tom Pike Sr. Although not always the easiest man to work for at the Lenox Square Theatre, overall he was a good boss and an even better friend both then and after our days of working together were over. Sadly, Mr. Pike died of cancer about 4 years ago. Even sadder, his son, Tom Jr., a long time manager of the Village, South DeKalb, and Greens Corner, and my best friend from those years died in 1990 at the age of 40.

Tommy, you can contact me at s.malone@att.net If you are still in Atlanta we could get together and trade lies about the good old days.

Great posts here!

I was 9 years old when my family moved to Stone Mountain,
and I got to see quite a few great movies at Stonemont theater.

Something's been bugging me: surely one of you guys remembers
the "Time Capsule" that was embedded in the concrete outside
of the front of the theater. My hazy recollection is that there
was a small metal plaque marking the spot, and that the date
was sometime in the 21st century.

I just drove by the (sadly dormant) theater 2 weeks ago and
saw no sign of a time capsule. Perhaps the grand date has
passed and I missed the festivities?

thanks!

Man, I saw lots of movies here in the early 80s: Every Which Way But Loose, Flash Gordon, Airplane 2...

Here is a photo of the Stonemont Theater. Address needs to be changed to 5241 Memorial Drive.

Lost what year was this taken???

Movies....The date given with that photo is "Taken on October 21, 2006". I don't really know if thats the actual date the photo was taken. I'm also not sure if Jack took the photo or did Stan Malone take the photo. Maybe Jack will see these comments and give you a specific date. You could also email Jack Coursey. His email address should be on his profile.

lost do you know is the theater still there?

Torn down in 2006

I spoke to someone who works this area and he confirms that the theatre and the east wing of the shopping center has been torn down. It seems that these stores and especially the theatre had become a haven for the homeless who were constantly breaking in, which probably accounts for the appearance of the place that I noted in my last post. Not only was the theatre completely trashed on the inside, but it also had an overwhelming mold problem. I wonder if this is a problem common to old closed up locations as someone made a similar observation on the Town and Country page of this site. At any rate, the place was a public nuisance and had to go.

In total this theatre lasted 30 years, about 25 of those in use, about average for the more successful examples of theatres built during its era. This gives it about the same longevity as the Perimeter Mall, but a good bit longer than either of the Northlakes, the North DeKalb, South DeKalb, Akers Mill, Suburban Plaza, Village, and any of its later neighbors along Memorial Drive. It even lasted a little longer, counting its Bollywood days, than the great Phipps Plaza Theatre.

As I said in my post on the Town and Country, this was just an example, among the nicest in fact, of the stopgap between the movie palaces of old and the megaplex of today. For someone new to this business looking back on this era, it does not seem like a big deal. However, it was to those of us who grew up and worked during this time, and I am grateful that I got to experience this example of the movie theatre business before it turned into the fast food / amusement park atmosphere of today.

As for the time capsule, I do not know what happened to it but I hope whoever got it is an honest person. Among the many news items and theatre memorabilia items inside were hundreds of polaroids of the children who attended the opening showing of "Peter Pan" that I described in the original post that started this page. The idea was that years later, when the capsule was opened they would be sent the picture to remind them of what they were doing on June 27, 1976. And just how, you ask, were all of these children, many with different last names, going to be located? Easy. Their mothers supplied the children's Social Security numbers which were written on the back of the picture. I wonder how many of these now grown ups have had their identities stolen because of this well intentioned effort made in a more innocent time.

I pass by Stonemont about four times a day, as I live about a half mile down the street from it on Rays Road. I've lived there since the very early 1970s, so I grew up watching movies at Stonemont. Oddly enough, I never even noticed that it was torn down. I was talking about it last night with a buddy and while talking and searching the web at the same time, I found this article. Today I went by Stonemont and the other theaters on Memorial Drive. Yes, Stonemont is gone, but it does not appear that any other part of the shopping center was torn down. It appears that the theater was actually a separate building and did not share a common wall with the store next to it. The outside wall of the store next to it, which is now exposed, did not look new. Where the theater once stood is now a grass field. I don't see any signs of the lot being prepared for new construction. What shocked me most was that the lot seemed very small and I found it hard to believe that two movie theaters and a lobby once stood there.

My main interest in the subject stemmed from the Time Capsule and what happened to it. I started an investigation today. I called a friend that I haven't spoken to in years about it. I saw Silver Streak there with him in 1977. Anyway, I remember that he had his photo in the time capsule. He said that he never heard anything about it being opened in 2000, as was the plan. Of course, by 2000 anyone involved was long gone. He said that he brought a photo from home to place in the capsule and does not remember anyone taking Polaroids of the kids. He remembers that kids were told to bring stuff from home.

I told my brother about my search and he immediately said that a friend of ours told him that the capsule was never officially opened, but that after 2000 somebody broke into it and stole everything. I put a call into this guy but have not heard back. I will ask if he knows this for sure or if it's just something he heard. I'll write back about what I find out.

As for the other theaters, I can't remember which is which, but one located in the shopping center that, back then, had a Chili's restaurant is now the Atrium, a live venue night club. Across the street is another theater. I remember it as being the one with the game room with TILT on the outside marquee. It is now the Tupac Shukar Center for the Arts, though it doesn't look like that's gotten off the ground. I went by there as well. The main part of the building looks to be filled with abandoned construction projects, but there was a sign of life in one small area on the right of the building. There were four cars in the lot. Down the street is the Hairston 8, which is still there, just closed with an "Available" sign out front. I wasn't even aware that there was a fifth theater, or I don't remember it, but my friend said there was another one further down Memorial towards Stone Mountain. I drove by where I think it was and found a shopping center with a section that looked like a "movie theater." Part of it is now some retail store, part empty. On the empty part you can see the outline of a "Marshall's" department store marquee that was removed, so if that's the old theater building, it must have been a Marshall's after the theater.

I'll post any other news that I get.

Regarding the "Time Capsule"...yes, I was the opening manager of the Stonemont Twin. When the theatre opened we dedicated the capsule to the Dekalb County Library. It was to be opened June 25,2000, the theatre opened June 25,1976. And as usual my friend Stan was correct... we had children and parents bring poloroid pictures of themselves with social on the back so they could be located for a ceremony when it was opened.

Also in the capsule was a video of Nixon's resignation, the winner of the Atlanta Golf Classic putting the winning stroke, a letter from then Governor Jimmy Carter, to the Governor of the year 2000, MARTA's predictions for 2000, various letters from civic leaders, a letter from myself to the manager, and Chamber of Commerce predictions for 2000.

I went by the theatre in 1999 when it was BollyWood, or whatever, I tried to talk to the manager who was....foriegn, didn't have a clue to what I was talking about. We originally had a marble face placed on top of the capsule, which upon inspection had been broken. I asked the manager if I could dig and inspect to see if it was still there, and to no surprise it was gone.

I have a copy of the newspaper with me and my staff standing in front of the theatre - dated June 24,1976 - standing next to me was Toni Towers, a beautiful young lady, but the one who stole my heart was Sherri Ogle, who was not available for the photo.

Probably only fitting for the theatre to be demolished... she was a fine movie house where many people had a good time, and then would grab a bite to eat at Provino's. I know at one point, when we were still owned by ABC Southeastern Theatres, their was discussion about building a smaller third auditorium - in the adjoining parking lot - seating about 300. The thought was to move the longer running movies to the smaller screen, and get newer releases.

When we opened with "Superman" the Stonemont out-grossed every theatre in Atlanta in the 2nd weekend of release. The theatre did great business, and was a big money maker for ABC.

It would have been neat in a wierd sense to be there when it was demolished...to see it raise and fall. The wall seperating the two auditoiums had to be filled with sand, because of the sound bleeding over to each theatre. The installation used during construction proved to be inadequate.

Funny, when stonemont opened the closet first run theatre was at Northlake Mall(3), owned by General Cinemas Corp. The crop of theatres, which were built along Memorial Drive showed how much the area had grown, and the support the people gave Stonemont when she was at her glorious best. Because without the numbers or profit the theatre produced, it is doubtfull if other chains would have wanted to penetrate a lazy market.

Wow, I was surprised to find this discussion. I am the archivist at the DeKalb History Center and am writing a paper about the U.S. bicentennial celebration events in the county.

The time capsule was an official bicentennial event sanctioned by the DeKalb County Bicentennial Committee. It was implanted on June 25, 1976, and was supposed to be reopened in 2000. Tommy, the letter from the governor was actually George Busbee. Carter left office in January 1975. It's too bad the capsule did not survive. If I find a detailed list of contents in my research, I'll post it.

If anyone has pictures or other artifacts relating to DeKalb County theaters, consider donating them (or copies) to the DeKalb History Center.

BTW, I grew up going to the Northlake theater, now owned by AMC.

Greeting,
My name is Joseph Cantrell. I was a manager in the late 90s for Cineplex Odeon corp. Doug Sides was my district manager and I was just 17 years old managing the Lawrenceville Cinema Four (dollar house) and then the Snellville Cinema Six. I was out of the business for many years and wanted to return. I grew up on Ray’s road behind the Stonemont Twin and went there as a child/teen. I returned in 2001-2003 and gave the old girl Stonemont Twin one last run at it! We opened as the Hollywood Twin Cinemas. It was of course a dollar theatre but for a few short months I tried it first run. General Cinema was still open on Hairston and they got into short fight with Paramount at the time. So guess what the Stonemont twin cinema opened first run…The Titanic. I also stole saving Private Ryan from them. We did well..that was about all she had left.

I held on for a couple of years but the area would not support her... It went back to Indian operators and my H was changed to a B to make her Bollywood Cinemas.

I can confirm the time capsule was broken into one night before I came into work the next day. I always wondered what was is in it. My wife and I were so tickled to come across this website to finally know!

What a great theatre she was!!! I got to live a dream when I ran her as my own. It was for a short time but I did it! It breaks my heart to hear she has been torn down. I would have loved to purchase a few of the seats to have as keepsakes. I am a police officer now in Loganville and have not been in Stn Mtn in several years. I guess I will need to go a lay some flowers down on the site Stonemont once stood...

I so enjoyed reading Mr Malons account of the good old days of the theatre business! its stays in your blood that is for sure.

Take care
Joseph Cantrell

P.S it is absolutely 5241 Memorial Drive.

THE STONEMONT 1 and 2 THEATRES had a twin sister in Martinez,Ga.{AUGUSTA} We opened Nov,1976.and there is also another ABC theatre just like COLUMBIA 1 and 2 is the CEDAR BLUFF 1 and 2 THEATRES in Knoxville,Tenn. One thing at ABC THEATRES we did not call our theatres twin theatres or cinemas. it was STONEMONT 1 and 2 or COLUMBIA 1 and 2 Or CEDAR BLUFF 1 and 2 theatres . COLUMBIA 1 and 2 is listed under COLUMBIA SQUARE CINEMAS, but we NEVER went by such a title. I was Luckly to get a seat and a piece of carpet before it was gone. SHOULD HAVE GRABBED ONE JOSEPH!

Ihave a complete history on COLUMBIA 1 and 2,funny thing is you could change the name to STONEMONT, i bet the history/ STORIES would be the same.

By the way, I think that Henry Winkler movie that played Stonemont was "Heroes". Christmas 1977 South Dekalb picked it up when it got quaded is my guess. I saw it there, one week after seeing Pete's Dragon playing next door (on two screens? in '77!) and Looking for Mr. Goodbar was playing in the last house which I was way, way, too young for.

COLUMBIA TWO played HEROES first run ; an ABC THEATRE. I noticed on the end credits on HEROES the song CARRY ON WAYARD SON by KANSAS was in the film version because i heard it everynight walking down to check the exits. I could swear i saw HEROES on tv only it had a different music ending .like classical or something.

Yeah, that's right! I was eight at the time and that song blew me away when He and Sally Field were making out at the end. There's a silly cover song on the DVD. Must have been problems getting the rights from KANSAS. I wish a reperetory house (i'm in L.A. now) would play it.

DMORG,,, THANK YOU . I never was that crazy about HEROES, but i knew KANSAS did the ending. AND here is one ..IN AMERICAN POP the end song over the credits was FREEBIRD, If i am not mistaken when i saw it on HBO i could have sworn they put a cover song at the ending.Boy, when you work at a theatre you pick up on so much.

I don't know, guess I was just a kid and really dug the Fonz, that was his first big starring role then. And Sally Field was just so foxy from "Smokey and the Bandit". A pretty grown-up PG movie for it's time. Pity about the music, it really sucks. I never saw "American Pop" but I bet that's happened to a quite a few movies.

American Pop told the amimated story of 4 generations of men told in music ending uo in the world of psychedelic rock world. Directed by Ralph Bakshi .He was also the maker of HEAVY TRAFFIC and Fritz The Cat, both X rated when released. Standards today they would probably be R rated. Dmorg, I don't even know if it was ever onVHS much less DVD.

Yeah, I remember it was supposed to be some big state-of-the-art animated rock movie right? Didn't it come out about the time HEAVY METAL did?

Yes, both were released in 1981. We played HEAVY METAL on our Midnight Shows. Don't think we played AMERICAN POP. I saw it on HBO in the early 80's.