Parkway Cinemas

3768 S. Maryland Parkway,
Las Vegas, NV 89119

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: ABC Theatres, Plitt Theatres

Architects: Fred Bloch, Henry George Greene

Functions: Retail

Previous Names: Parkway Theatre

Nearby Theaters

June 14, 1980 print ad courtesy Richard Stegman Jr.‎

The 28,000 square foot Parkway Theatre was located next to the Boulevard Mall on Maryland Parkway. It was opened as a single screen on February 11, 1970 with Barbra Streisand in “Hello Dolly”. On March 27, 1975 two adjacent spaces were converted into two extra screens and was renamed Parkway Cinemas. The theatre was closed in 1995. In 1996, the Parkway Cinemas became The Good Guys, an electronics store. By 2022 a 99 Ranch Food Store operates at this address.

Contributed by Cine5

Recent comments (view all 18 comments)

johnnybatters
johnnybatters on October 9, 2010 at 9:43 pm

I saw “The Exorcist” there and I think there was an ambulance outside and they were handing out barf bags. Also, the line to get in was so long.

KimF
KimF on October 10, 2010 at 6:35 am

LOL, Johnny! Little bits of William Castle’s goodies carried on into the ‘70s!

Stunko
Stunko on June 19, 2011 at 4:47 pm

Saw “Star Wars” here as well in 1977. It was easy to sneak into from one screen to another later on, after they “multiplex” was set up.

Unrelated to this one but nearby, what was the name of the huge Cinerama Dome theater on Paradise Road near East Flamingo? The 1977 Clint Eastwood actioner “The Gauntlet” had a car explosion scene filmed right front of that Cinerama Dome style theater on Paradise. After it stopped being a theater, it became a church. But I don’t see the bldg any more on Google.

KimF
KimF on June 20, 2011 at 7:06 am

There’s a thread on the Cinerama Theater, Stunko. The building is gone and the entire area is built-up now. The former location is on Paradise across from the Hughes Business Center – a massive complex of office buildings and restaurants.

coffee4binky
coffee4binky on May 13, 2012 at 1:46 am

When I research Las Vegas history on microfilm/finche, I’m always running across ads from movies at this location, Skyway, and MGM Grand’s old grindhouse.

KimF
KimF on June 1, 2018 at 5:38 am

Ron, that is an awesome addition to this page… Love it!

JimPerry
JimPerry on June 24, 2018 at 1:09 pm

A message to KimF: INCORRECT on the Parkway’s original house being “divided up” – it wasn’t. When the theatre opened in 1970 (open feature: “Hello Dolly” with Babs Streisand & “Grumpy” Walter Matthau), the storefronts, next to it (on the left side), became a nightclub/bar/discotheque. It was unsuccessful – I believe the venture didn’t even last a year. Afterwards, that section sat idle for several years. The Parkway was originally owned & operated by ABC (yes, the TV network – they got into theatrical movie productions & running their own movie theatres, like the Parkway which was their only theatre here (Vegas) & probably their only one in the whole state of Nevada). ABC sold their theatres to Plitt sometime in either 1973 or 1974, and in ‘74 someone within the Plitt organization came up with the idea of turning those storefronts (spaces) into 2 dinky theatres (add-ons) to the Parkway’s “Big House”. The Parkway Theatre became “The Parkway 3” in early 1975, and the “grand opening” features were: Theatre 1 (a.k.a. “The Big House”): The Who’s “Tommy”, shown in Quintaphonic Sound. (I was there – went to the first matinee showing.)

Theatre 2 (a.k.a. “The Blue Dinky House”): “The Godfather II” – a “move-over” from “The Big House”, as the film (The Parkway’s big Xmas (1974) feature) was still doing business at the box office. This led to a postponement of Columbia Pictures' ‘X'rated (softcore) feature “Emmanuelle”. (Plitt’s newspaper ads for the “Parkway 3’s GRAND OPENING” originally announced that one, along with “Tommy”, were gonna be the opening features. This led to an “inside joke” – “Tommy”, in “the big house”, was promoted as “Your senses will never be the same!”, and “Emmanuelle”, in one of the dinky houses, going “You wanna make a bet on that, 'Thomas’?”)

Theatre 3 (a.k.a. “The Red Dinky House”): Richard Lester’s “The Four Musketeers” (a “sequel” / continuation of Lester’s “The Three Musketeers” which had its first run engagement at The Las Vegas Cinerama <– there’s your answer, Stunko.)

rivest266
rivest266 on September 14, 2019 at 11:42 am

This opened on February 11th, 1970. Grand opening ad posted.

rivest266
rivest266 on September 14, 2019 at 1:23 pm

3 screens on March 27th, 1975. Grand opening ad posted.

spectrum
spectrum on August 18, 2022 at 7:04 pm

99 Ranch Food Store now at that location. It looks like this nmight be a new building though.

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