10th Street Art Theatre

The original Tenth Street Theatre was at 990 Peachtree Street, NE. It stood in front of the apartment house where Margaret Mitchell and her husband lived for a number of years, and where she wrote GONE WITH THE WIND. If you visit the restored apartment house that is now a memorial to her, you'll find a framed picture of the Tenth Street Theatre on display. Margaret Mitchell was a movie buff and this theatre was a real favorite of her's because of the air conditioning in the summer, as well as its convenience.

The theatre was built circa 1926. The exterior was in a faux Spanish style with red stucco and a tile edged roof. My best guess is that it had about 500 seats. The theater ceased operation around 1956/57 to the best of my recollection. A few years later the space was converted to a chinese restaurant called House of Eng, that occupied the location throughout most of the 1960's.

With the development of the drug culture in the 1970's, this neighborhood deteriorated badly. As nearly as I can recall, I believe the theatre was demolished sometime in the 1970's or possibly the early 1980's.

My dad used to take me to see westerns at the Tenth Street Theatre back in the 1950's.

The Tenth Street Art Theatre at 1026 Peachtree Street, NE (north of Tenth Street) was a seperate venue that opened in the late 1960's as a legitimate art theater. They specialized in foreign films, such as Richard Lester's HOW I WON THE WAR, featuring Michael Crawford and John Lennon. The theater had a small auditorium with roughly 300 seats, or possibly less. Later on, they changed their policy to and an "adult theater" and I lost track of it.

Thank you for the update. Of the Atlanta Constitution archives that I reviewed, the only ones that listed a street address for the 10th Street were from the late 60s and early 70s. I wasn't sure if this was one of those situation in which the street had been renumbered.

If you have the chance, check the volumes of the Atlanta Telephone Directory at the Atlanta Public Library. They usually give accurate information on the street numbers that were contemporary with publication. As you know, some of those street names and numbers have been changed over the years.

Wish I could locate the actual street numbers for the Glen Theatre at the juncture of Glenwood Road and Candler Road in the Glenwood business district on the southeast side. I haven't been able to determine when this particular theater opened. Also, I'd like to get the street address of the Atlantic Theatre on Memorial Drive, SE, which opened in 1963. The last time that I was in Atlanta, the buildings that housed these theaters were still standing.

Since I am no longer a resident of the Atlanta, yea even the state of Georgia, a drop in to the main library would necessitate a bit of a journey for me.
Do have some information on the Glenn, which I am in the process of posting. Haven’t had any luck on the Atlantic either, but am still checking it out.

Yes, I know what you mean. Time and distance limits opportunities to explore interests like this for me as well. Although I was born in Atlanta and grew up there, I haven't actually lived there for many years. In fact, I've only been there a few times in the last ten years. Whenever I do get there, I try to visit the main library and do some research. The city has changed very dramatically since I lived there.

From what I can gather from this site, I may be one of the few people who actually remembers attending some of Atlanta's long gone neighborhood theaters, like the original Tenth Street, Ponce de Leon, Techwood, and Kirkwood. These days, I find myself impressed by how many of the old theater buildings still survive, like the Euclid, Hilan, Glen, Gordon, Little Five Points, Madison, and the Temple, not to mention the fact that the Plaza and Garden Hills are still operating as movie houses!

Of course, I keep hoping that someone who knows more about the Atlanta area movie theaters from before my time will comment on them.

Here are some movies that were playing at one of the 10th Street Theaters around 1938.

Hey folks... Was wondering if anyone would be able to confirm if this theater - depicted in a screen-shot from the documentary "Inside Deep Throat" - is the 10th Street Art Theatre? It sure looks like the marquee indicates a very similar name - I just can't make-out that first word as "10th" or "Tenth"... but the rest of it definitely reads "St Art Theatre."

Thanks.

The cinema in this photo was not the 10th Street Art, but rather a strictly porno venue set up in what was previously a storefront retail space.

Did it show film or was it a live theater? If films were shown, it could be listed here.

In the photo posted above by Ed Solero, the building next door has a sign 'Gay Paree'. In my edition of Bob Damron's Address Book;1977 edition, there is a gay pornographic cinema called the Gay Paree Cinema, 90 Walton Street, NW, Atlanta, GA listed.

Thanks, Ken. I've been trying to figure out what the darkened part of the marquee reads - as it really did not appear to be "Tenth St." I thought perhaps "Wilson St," but I know believe that "Walton St" fits perfectly. Do any of your theater resources list a "Walton Street Art Theatre" amongst their numbers? I think we have the makings of a new listing here.

Ed Solero;I can't find any other reference to a theatre located on Walton Street. However I have added the Gay Paree Cinema to this site and also added a seperate listing for the original 10th Street Theatre.

Just to sort out all of the different theatres from this strip of Peachtree, here they are starting from the south and working north:

10th Street Theatre @ 990 Peachtree was located on the SW corner of Peachtree and 10th. Its CT page is http://cinematreasures.org/theater/21354/ .

10th Street Art @ 1026 Peachtree was located on the west side of Peachtree between 10th and 11th Street. It was built in the late 60's, was nothing but a converted storefront and always played 35MM soft core porn. This is the page for that location. The Atlanta branch of the Federal Reserve Bank now sits on this site.

Metro Art: Located directly across the street from the 10th Street Art was also a 35MM soft core house. It was at this location that Russ Meyer's "Vixen" played for over a year. This theatre does not have a CT page. It is the only one of these locations with the building still standing. It has played host to several different nightclubs and restaurants over the decades since the theatre closed.

Peachtree Art: Located on the east side of Peachtree @ 13th Street. This is the true "Art" theatre of this bunch and is the one described by Don in the second comment of this thread. In addition to the movies listed by Don, the Richard Attenborough film "Oh What A Lovely War" played here. This is the theatre that Margaret Mitchell was either going to or coming from when she was struck and killed by a taxi while walking across Peachtree. In 1971, Weis Theatre Company took over and remodeled and renamed it the Weis Cinema. It's premiere feature was "Catch 22". Other notable releases to play here were "Cabaret", "Day of the Jackal" and "The Great Waldo Pepper" notable only because it was a Universal release and was the reason Universal held the Atlanta sneak preview of "Jaws" here. In the early 90's the entire block was demolished and a Bell South office tower now occupies the site. The CT page for this theatre is http://cinematreasures.org/theater/11690/