Continental 10

I still fondly recall my one trip to this theater, to see the 70mm CDS engagement of "Terminator 2: Judgment Day." It was, in a word, awesome. Ordinary spoken dialogue could be heard in the lobby. The screen was gigantic. Most of all I noticed how much SPACE was between the seats front to back! One could pass in front of other seated viewers and not bump into them!

What a shame that this has been multiplexed. As a single screener, this was a glorious modern cinema.

The Continental Theatre (please note that it originally used the "re" spelling and it was not part of the Commonwealth chain) was part of a three theater chain built by an Oklahoma oil man -- the other two theaters in Tulsa and Oklahoma City (also called the "Continental Theatre") were constructed from the exact same blueprints, so that each theater was identical. When this building was constructed in the 1960s, it featured the third largest screen in the world (for a contoured suspended screen) -- the largest at that time having been in Japan. The building featured three projection booths (plus a separate sound booth) as it was originally designed to handle Cinerama shows, but during the final stage of constriction the Michael Todd's D150 anamorphic 70MM process became available, so only the main center booth was used. (The left booth became storage, the right became the manager's office... and as it had a large window for the missing projector, it also served as a screening box for celebrities who would attend premieres.) The projectionist union required two operators whenever 70MM prints were used, because of their weight to mount on the machines, and the lenses were specially made for the screen because it was not only large, but curved to 150-degrees -- NOT a flat projection. Until 1970, all seating was sold as "hard tickets" (reserved seats) and the single refreshment stand sold only orange drink and Toblerone chocolates. Popcorn came later, and to save money, was often popped at off hours in Oklahoma, shipped to Denver in giant plastic bags, and re-heated before the doors opened. It was THE site for premieres of major productions ("The Bible", "Funny Girl", "Hello Dolly", "Hawaii", etc.) because it lended a very exclusive aire to the runs... and also because the Continental would agree to roadshow a film for an extended period. "Funny Girl" played there for 18 continuous months. The large theater chains in Denver stretched their muscles in the 70s and funneled the big releases towards their cracker boxes, so the Continental went through a period of "experimentation" for a while. We'd collect as many 70MM prints of films like "Sound Of Music", "South Pacific", "2001" etc. as could be found, then mix and match the prints until we could create one perfect assembly from the bunch... then re-premiere in 70MM 6-track surround. We'd play films no other theater would consider -- like the 8-hour uncut "The Sorrow & The Pity", or a Beatles marathon, a Tom Mix marathon, even "The Stewardesses in 3D". Finally, Highland Theaters bought it up and brought it down a bit in class with their ability to keep fresh films flowing through. But there's no comparison between seeing "2001" in 70MM and Burt Reynolds in "White Lightning" in 35MM... even if there are more people in the seats. Ah well....

Papibear, the main auditorium was not twinned or otherwise reduced in size. (A few seats were removed for ADA compliance.) The new auditioriums were built alongside the existing structure, and have allowed the theatre to thrive in the modern film booking environment.

The Main House offers the biggest screen and best presentation of any cinema I know. (Though I'd love to hear about others that are equal or better!)

They still book the "biggest" releases and even ran a fantastic revival series in 2006 on Wed PM and Sat AM.

The Continental is a true Cinema Treasure.

Starting Mid-April 2007, the Continental is getting a major facelift. Additional auditoriums (2, I think) are being added via a building expansion, all the theaters (except the main house) are being upgraded to stadium seating and the main auditorium is getting new carpeting and seats. The work is scheduled to be completed in Spring 2008 and the complex will remain open throughout construction.

An update on the planned expansion of this theatre: There will be 4 new auditoriums added for a total of 10. The added houses from the 2005 expansion will be converted to stadium seating and the new 4 houses will be built as stadium seating. Because of the loss in seats with the conversion, the total seat count for 10 houses will be marginally greater than the current number of seats with 6. The plan is for the Continental to be all digital. The current 6 houses will be capable of 35mm and digital and it is unlikely that the new 4 houses will be equipped with any film projection equipment. The original giant auditorium will be mostly untouched. The 70 mm Norelco projector has gone unused for many years and may be removed for a digital projector. I do not know of any digital cinema projector capable of filling a curved screen of that size, but if it exists it will surely be very expensive. Hopefully cost cutting will not lead to a poor use of such a beautiful screen. This remodel has still not begun as of June 2007, but Regal plans to start "any day now".

This is the last remaining Continental Theatre. The Continental in Tulsa was torn down in 1981, and Oklahoma City's was razed only a few months back.
All three designs were exact duplicates of one another. Seen on site below are photos of the one in OKC -
http://cinerama.topcities.com/ctcontinental.htm

My understanding is that the 70MM projector would need new aperture plates & a new mag sound head in order to be up and running again.

My family moved to the South East area - Hutchinson Hills in Denver in 1969. I recall attending Sunday mass at this theatre while construction was taking place on a new church being built - "Church of The Risen Christ" on Monaco Pkway. Does anyone else recall this? I remember the seats being very comfortable. By any chance would anyone have any pictures of this theatre to share. I would enjoy seeing some.

I was also living in that area in 1969 and recall the limited occassions when the Continental was used by this congregation. As I recall, when the "Church of the Risen Christ" was completed, it featured a very modernistic architectural front... and in a supreme bit of irony, Woody Allen used this church's fascade as a set in the early sequences of his film "Sleeper", which premiered at the Continental Theatre a few blocks up the street.

AT - That is a very intresting bit of information about W.A. using "Church of the Risen Christ's" facade for his "Sleeper" movie. I'll have to go and rent the movie. I understand that area is quite bulit up now. I'm going to try one of these days to get back and see the area. I have very fond memories of my elementary school years there grades 4-6. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

Any new info on the large auditorium renovation?

We need to remember, this is the last standing original big screen movie theater in Denver area. How can we get Regal cinemas to do a 70mm revival at the Continental.
Exploring this website to some extent I find other original large screen theaters around the country do this. LA, Santa Monica, Seattle, Austin. Why can’t Denver. I think we have a crowd that would support it. I go to the Continental on Wednesdays to see their flashback features, and to see a full house during a run of Jaws, Raiders, American Graffiti was a joy.
I remember at one time this city was always playing a first run feature in 70mm if it was available. Let see the Continental used for it intended purpose. We sadly lost one of the best movie houses in the world, the fabulous Cooper, Let appreciate the Continental.

Thanks for the updates everyone. I was an assistant manager at the original Continental and then when it reopened as a six-plex. I was sent to the Greenwood Plaza and the Cooper 5 during reconstruction to hire and train new staff members. That opening week was hell as we were so busy and understaffed. We were hiring as quick as we could.
I always thought the original Cooper was better but am so proud to have worked at the old Continental and still love the old auditorium. Hope the new seats don't ruin it.

All three Continental Theatres (Tulsa, OKC, Denver) were built by my grandfather R.L. Barton who owned Barton Theaters. BTW: he was not an oil man but made his fortune in real estate. It was his attempt to bring back audiences by providing a "classy" movie experience. My father served as the original manager for the first Continental in OKC and had to wear a Tuxedo eveny evening. The concession served juices and imported candy (not popcorn) to try and enhance the upper class experience. It was designed with state-of-the-art equipment and featured a cinerama screen composed of hundreds of vertical strips of reflective material set on a curve to precisely reflect the picture onto the audience. I watched it being built and went to the grand opening. The booth in the OKC Continental had a door that oppened into the auditorium about 12 feet above floor level so that the huge 70mm film cans could be moved to/from the booth.

Harold -- as one of the original Assitant Managers of the Denver Continental, I can attest that even the doormen were required to wear tuxedos to work there. When I started working there, I was attending a local high school, and wore the tux shirt to school so that I had less to change when I rushed to the theater to work the matinees... and it being a time of more outlandish hippie attire, the ruffled shirt really fit in to the whole aesthetic with beads and jeans (before dressing up for the job!). But in response to an earlier post: The Continental in Denver did not premiere the original Star Wars. That was at the Cooper Cinerama Dome, and it was initially presented in 35MM. After a few weeks, an extra 70MM print was struck and used... but the 35MM actually looked better on screen. The effects work was shot in 35MM (with the camera turned 90-degrees for more negative area), as was the overall picture itself. The 70MM prints were just 35MM blown-up, so they looked "soft" on the big screen, though the six track audio made up for some of the diminished picture. (It was very easy to see the occasional poor matting on the action sequences.) As far as 35MM presentations at the Continental, not only were the original theater lenses made for the specific throw of the house (including the curved screen installed for the D-150 effect), but the aperture plates on the projectors had to be re-filed by the projectionist to accommodate showings of earlier Academy Frame prints that were still available for classic films -- some of which included a special Tom Mix Film Festival that Harold's grandfather asked us to present.

Comment on Harold's entry above: Technically speaking, Cinerama screens were louvered not to reflect the the picture onto the audience, but to reduce cross-reflection from one side of the deeply curved screen to the other. The louvers allowed some light to escape, preventing a washed out appearance of the image.

That's very true about the louvered Cinerama screen at the Cooper. However the problem with the 35 to 70MM blow-up of Star Wars was the muddied focus as the film grain was simply magnified in the quick-and-dirty process to rush larger format prints to the market. (Another reason it was digitally enhanced later in life.) The Continental enjoyed a true D-150 screen that was carefully curved for the dimensional effect -- part of the specs demanded by Michael Todd when he was promoting an anamorphic alternative to the three-projector Cinerama process. As discussed here earlier, the Continental Theatre(s) were built for the three projectors (and fourth audio unit), but changed their hardware after construction for the single, switch-over 70MM system.

I understand that the large auditorium will be closed for renovation in August, with a scheduled re-opening in November. The carpet and wall coverings will be updated, and the seating will be re-structured to become "stadium" seating somehow.

It is my understanding that the screen will not be altered in any way.

I don't quite understand the need to change the seating. I'v never been in a theatre with better sight-lines or row spacing. Hopefully the changes will all be postive and minimal.

Chain should be changed to Regal Cinemas.

An update to the remodel: The theatre now has 10 screens, but all are film. No digital cinema for the Continental yet. The 4 newest houses were outfitted with used projection equipment from the Regal warehouse. All 9 of the newer houses are now stadium seating, and unfortunately the next remodel will be to retrofit the original house to stadium seating. I can't help but feel disappointed by this decision since, as Jonesy said, the large house has always had great sight-lines and is a wonderfully built auditorium. The current seat count in that house is 869 seats, expect that they will lose at least a couple hundred seats. Go see a film at the Continental before August! Hopefully, this renovation will get cancelled.

Ryan, Thanks for the update, And I agree with you. Hope the renovation gets cancelled.

Regal strikes again. A shame. Regal is truly the McDonalds of movie theatres. No style, no originality. Just Happy Meal McMovies in a plain brown box!

Sounds like a typical middle-management decision.

The only reason to renovate with stadium seating at the Continental is to compress the amount of space between the last row and the screen -- allowing for more lobby area to accommodate additional snack sales.

Back in the 1970's, when the film "Barry Lyndon" was about to be released, Stanley Kubrick sent out teams of theater inspectors to measure the distance between rows of seats. He understood that his film was quite long, and that the comfort of the audience in the theater would be key to their enjoyment of the film. His team approved of two theaters in Denver: the Century 21 on Colorado Blvd, and the Continental. At that time, Mann Theaters had more $$ for the film rental guarantees, and got the engagement. (Unless you were aware of the, um, "product split" that was going on at the time.) Today it would be difficult to imagine a filmmaker with either the clout or the interest to make such demands. And apparently, exhibitors lack the imagination to find ways of increasing revenue without destroying the atmosphere that brings audiences to theaters in the first place.

Unless we decide to be happy with our hi-def home flat screens, I suggest a campaign championed by AFI, the cultural departments of the city of Denver, or just a good old fashioned press event staged outside the Continental for the benefit of the local TV stations.

I've already stated that I don't think the renovation is necessary, BUT...

I also think that Regal has done and is doing an outstanding job with the Continental.

They could have easily chopped the main house into a bunch of smaller auditoriums instead of adding onto the building.

During the upcoming renovation, they are preserving the giant screen, and even have a poster up about it.

They book almost all of the biggest blockbusters on the giant screen, and they clearly advertise which films are on playing there.

AND, you can catch classic films on the giant screen on Wednesday nights and Saturday mornings (sometimes) through their Flashback Features program.

I caught Wall-E there recently and found the presentation to be spectactular, and I'm looking forward to Back to the Future later in July.

When I spoke w/ an employee about the renovations recently, the impression I got was that they wanted the auditorium to feel more "modern." Even though I don't agree with that assessment, I can see how it would be important to the bottom line, because of the perceptions of the average movie-goer who walks in off the street, and never visits a site like Cinematreasures.

I may change my tune after the renovations (hopefully not!), but for now, I'm optimistic, and thrilled to see movies at the Continental.

Cheers,
Jonesy
www.OnTheBigScreen.net

It would be great to see some films on that big beautiful screen in 70mm again! Other cities in the US and around the world continue to show 70mm.

AT,
I suppose you refer to my original theater description when you say that the Continental didn't premiere the original Star Wars. That's true, they didn't. But I didn't say premiere. I said played, which is true. In March of 1985, the Continental held a special charity 70mm triple-feature and again in May of 1990, the ran a week-long 70mm engagement of the original trilogy where they again gave the box office proceeds to charity (I know, I was there for the Tuesday show- It was the week before Total Recall opened). Jedi (as you know) is the only Star Wars film that premiered at the Continental (until the prequels, that is).

And for being part of the Commonwealth chain, it most certainly was from the late-1970s until the theater became United Artists. While I have no doubt that it was only part of the Continental trio at its birth, during the period of time that most people would remember this theater, it was with Commonwealth and then UA.

As for the remodel of the main house, I'm not really sure how that sits with me either. I really do love that theater. But as much as I love it, the main problem I remember having with that auditorium (and I haven't been there in a few years- more of a Chinese, Dome, Aero, Village guy now), the auditorium is so large that any seat in the back third of the theater feels really far away from the screen. That's a benefit of having such great row spacing, but I can remember coming back from the bathroom (happily still the original before the added theaters- hopefully they don't change them) and walking into the auditorium and think how incredibly far away the screen was from the back of the theater. If they can help minimize that without forgoing the row spacing (don't know that that's physically possible) they might be able to improve it. But it's probably better to leave well enough alone.

The Continental Theatre has been operating for at least 43 years (since around 1965) and though it became part of United Artists then Commonwealth in the late 70's, at least a third of its life was spent as either one of the three independent Continental Theatres, or with Cooper/Highland Theaters (as of about 1972-3). One third is a pretty significant chunk of time, and it was through these years that the theater established itself in the community and set exhibition standards.

Then again, you may be right that most people are only familiar with the later stages of the building's life. (After all, London has been around for centuries, though most people today never experienced a time when it didn't have a McDonald's.)

No doubt the Continental played Star Wars in 70MM, and even doing so nearly a decade after its release counts. But the fact that Cooper/Highland management decided to premiere the original at the Cooper instead of the Continental speaks to that fallow period in the theater's history.

There have been times when, for whatever reason, the theater didn't always use the D-150 lens -- sometimes because of a film's odd image ratio, sometimes because of screen or curtain problems. When that happened, and the full screen was not used, it did seem like a postage stamp on the wall. But when the full expanse of screen was employed (it was the third largest screen in a commercial theater when it opened, after all), the result was awesome. During the run of "Sound Of Music", we'd send rookie ushers to seat late arrivers towards the front of the house -- invariably they'd glance at the images of flying over the Alps in the opening sequence and get vertigo... stumbling over their feet to make their way up the aisle to the amusement of everyone. It was that enormous, filling the peripheral vision of those in the front rows.

Would a stadium seat help the presentation of a film in the Continental? Toss a coin. But it would negatively affect the audio dynamics of the auditorium... and it would certainly diminish the sense of grandeur and grace that are rarely available anywhere. Even in a temporal town like Los Angeles, the City Council and the audiences wouldn't allow that sort of modification to their Cinerama Dome or Chinese Theater.

Sometimes it's not what you do TO a theater, but what you do WITH it that determines its commercial value and protects the cultural history of the community. This effort, alas, is usually not the priority of large theater chains who don't always have the time or attention to maximize a venue with anything other than a cookie cutter. Stadium seats weren't integrated with the original design not because the technology was unavailable, but because it changes the experience aesthetics. That appreciation is subjective... and probably orchestrated by common contemporary experience.

AT & Cliff...

The original first-run of "Star Wars" back in 1977/78 started at COOPER, and then in mid-December when "Close Encounters Of The Third Kind" opened, it was moved to CONTINENTAL where it continued for another six months.

05.25.1977 … Denver, CO – Cooper (29 weeks) Dolby Stereo (70mm-Dolby Stereo from Aug.)
12.14.1977 … Denver, CO – Continental (26 weeks) 70mm-Dolby Stereo

I just found out that they AREN'T showing their Flashback series on the big screen. I guess TDK is too big a draw right now. Bummer. :(

Just curious, when the lenses were taken from a Drive-In that closed in 93/94, was this the North Star? It had the largest screen, and longest projection of all the drive-ins, and closed in 1993.

I'm also curious about the lenses...
Drive-in screens are flat... the original Continental screen was D-150 and curved, which is why it had specially ground lenses to accommodate the curvature. If they are now using old drive-in lenses, has the screen been re-configured at the Continental as a flat surface? Or is there major distortion and edge focus issues as such use would typically cause?

I'm not sure which drive-in lenses were used, I just remember having the conversation with one of the union techs that serviced the Denver theaters (I worked with United Artists at the time). I also know that, while the new lenses improved the screen size compared to the micro-machine 35mm of the late 80s/early 90s, they were not without problems. There was quite a bit of image masked on all four sides with the image projected larger than it should be. I wouldn't be surprised if the subtitles seen when the Chinese speak in The Dark Knight ride dangerously close to the bottom masking with the image framed higher than usual to accommodate. It was a problem they had when they ran Episodes I & II in 99 and 02.

From your description of the last 18 years of projection problems -- between micro 35 MM images, and now projection so out of proportion that images are cropped enough that subtitles are a problem -- it seems that stadium seating is the least of the Continental's problems. This is the "outstanding job" Regal is doing with the Continental Theatre? It's been a quarter century since the fire destroyed the original lenses, and this is the best that Regal can accomplish? The bar has been set quite low indeed. What a sad end to have this theater in these hands.

I don't know how things looked in '99 or '02, but in '08 the image did not appear to be cropped at all for Wall-E. (And I've seen plenty of cropped presentations.) I'm sure I'm not the pickiest moviegoer to ever post here, but I'm am on the picky side, and I found the sound and projection to be excellent.

Regal's current operations at the Contintal are not perfect, but I think they are a far cry from a "sad end." For a sad end, see the Cooper or Century 21 on CO BLVD, or any other giant screen theatre anywhere that has been torn down or twinned. I look forward to seeing more films at the Continental when the big screen re-opens, and promise to complain to mgmt if I notice any problems. :)

Cheers,
Jonesy
www.OnTheBigScreen.net

Thank you Jonesy!

Tickets are on sale for Madagascar 2 on the Giant Screen starting 11/07/08. (Fandango listings specify the "Giant Screen.") Quantum of Solace is also booked for the big screen according to Theatre Staff.

The entrance to the main auditorium is temporarily dry-walled closed (like in Dawn of the Dead!) but there is a large display behind the box office with photos of the remodel progress. The display is titled "Preserving the Giant Screen" or something similar. The screen is covered with plastic in some of the photos.

It looks like the new stadium configuration doesn't slope all that much more than it used to except for the back quarter of the auditorium.

Those are my notes from a less-than-perfect visit to see The Jerk on 10/22. (Details at my blog)

Jonesy
www.OnTheBigScreen.net

I had the opportunity to see how the big screen at the Continental is coming along last night.

First, the booth: The booth has been raised about 8 feet or so and is now very small in a tiny little room up a narrow flight of stairs with barely enough room for the projector, platter and sound rack. The old booth is still there, partially walled off to make room for the new booth and is now unused. The toilet is still in the old booth with the small privacy curtain which everyone loves. The old CP500 has been replaced with a CP650. The Norelco projector sits in the back room (which would have been the left booth), any hope of ever running 70mm in that house again is gone forever. The UA bar code automation has been replaced with a Strong CNA-150. The assistant manager was saying how he was glad to see the bar code automation go away because it would always shut down when the credits start. I wanted to tell him this was likely because it is generally a good idea to put a LIGHTS MID cue at the start of the credits instead of a SHOW END cue, but hey... that's just me. No other equipment has changed... same old cassette deck from the single screen days is on top of the sound rack and the old Dolby mag pre-amp is still in there as well for some odd reason. The little room the booth is in now has a linoleum floor, just like the booth for the four new screens. Fortunately it does not contain Strong equipment like the four new screens do. Projector is still the 35mm Christie. They may have even went all out and changed the belts. Spare no expense!

The auditorium: The seats have been tiered off into four sections and the aisles are still on the side. As one would imagine, the incline is not tremendously steep. The seats are now your typical Regal-style seats with the moveable cupholder armrests, etc. They did a surprisingly decent job with the conversion, much better than I thought they'd do. However now it looks just like all other Regal auditoriums, only bigger. Not much uniqueness left to it. The curved screen is still there, but they got new curtains which they will rarely use. Supposedly the curtain motor is new as well (the old curtains really squeaked). It'll be interesting to hear how this room sounds once the re-EQ is complete. They said they plan to use the curtains from time to time.

I was the projectionist at the Continental when it re-opened as a 6-plex, on loan from Greenwood Plaza 12. I built up the first movie to show during the re-opening… “Eraser” (assembled at Greenwood). I have some video from those days taken from my camcorder and some pics as well. THX was in auditoriums 1 and 6 only. They never bothered to renew the license so nothing is THX any more. The large screen was not capable of being certified for THX, didn’t meet the requirements. There is a silver screen in new a new auditorium, number 8 I believe, for digital 3D showings eventually. Don’t get any hopes up for 70mm since it is no longer capable of happening. Even if they did manage to install a Century JJ projector (the Norelco is obsolete and quite useless), the staff of this theater simply could not handle the task or responsibility of running 70mm. They can’t even handle 35mm without scratching the prints and getting them noticeably dirty. The Continental is just a typical multiplex run in the same fashion as others, unfortunately.

As part of their re-opening, they are showing a few past hits on the Giant Screen this week. Details here:

www.OnTheBigScreen.net

Jonesy

As part of their re-opening, they are showing a few past hits on the Giant Screen this week. Details here:

www.OnTheBigScreen.net

Jonesy

Short version: I have seen two films in the remodeled auditorium, and I was very pleased. In my opinion, they have done an excellent job. I'd love to hear other opinions.

Long version: www.OnTheBigScreen.net

Jonesy

What I miss the most is how close everyone was. It really was like family. Yet I have been in contact with no one. It makes me so happy to see past employees checking on places where they were, and how much those places still mean to them… even if most of them are nothing more than a reminder.

Are the changes, for better, or worse? I don’t believe the changes really matter to me one way or the other. I am stuck in knowing that I was there in one of the best times of my life, and nothing could bring that back anyway. My first day was the day before we opened “Die Hard”, we had a few small sleepers after that… “The Mighty Quin”, and “She Devil”, before we opened “The Abyss”. Seeing the pictures on the link above, of the “Identical” Continental, gave me shivers. I received the etched glass Common Wealth logo from the Box Office, the day we were acquired by United Artists. We did wear Tux shirts, carried flashlights, and in a 917+3 Seat auditorium we HAD to seat people. The tickets were not computerized, and could be torn with one hand. I can still hear the sound of the ticket machine. We loved to tell stories of what the lobby looked like before the fire, and how the fire started (I believe that it originated from the janitors closet.) I don’t remember if our “Ghost” had a name, but I do remember telling stories of our ghost, and how he came to live there.

Mom and Dad managed a small theatre in a mall in Arvada off I-25 and what is now Thorton. When I returned to Denver for college I was also worked at several of the theatres in Denver. I was employed by the Continental, while under Common Wealth. I was then “Lent” out to various Denver Theatres from the Cooper5 to the Cooper7, and every Cooper between them. Yes even the Copper Twin. After getting to know several employees, union projectionists, Managers, and District Managers, I moved to CA and worked at a Fox theatre for 2 years. When I moved back, I worked again at the Continental, before opening the Greenwood Plaza 12 (as an assistant). After a few years there I transferred to The UA Corporate Offices. I moved back to CA and Managed the “Golden State” theatre (Complete with Pipe Organ), until UA sold it to become a historical landmark.

I would like to be found by those who I’ve come to miss. Those who remember me and those worked at the same theatres, around the same time. I would even like to hear from someone who has worked at “My” theatres before, or after, me.
You can e-mail me from the email on my profile by clicking my Username.

Interesting comments on the recent additions to the Continental - I haven't been since they were completed. I was working for United Artists corporate in Denver when the theatre was first remodeled and added auditoriums in 1996.

At that point, the Continental could still draw a big crowd for a big film, but it often went many weeks without a hit, and that enormous room was expensive to heat/cool/maintain etc. UA had a good relationship with the landlord and the decision was made to completely revamp the entire area - new theatre, new restaurants, new retail, etc.

Unlike most remodels, there didn't seem to be any question that the big room would remain intact - distributors liked putting their film in what was by that time the last remaining deluxe auditorium in town.

Here are a dozen views of the 1996 remodel - the link takes you to the first shot, and hopefully the remaining 11 are in chronological order.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/34152329@N06/3475622596/in/set-72157617054310351/

1984 Photo

Having moved to Colorado in 1994 and not seeing a movie at this theater until 1996's Independence Day, I never had the pleasure of seeing a movie in the original Continental. I regret not rushing out in 1994/95 and seeing a film before the remodel.

I want to thank Kevin Dennis for posting photos of before and during the big 1996 remodel.

Does anyone have any photos from inside the lobby?

I have seen some publicity photos of the OK city lobby but I am curious what the lobby of the Denver Continetal appeared in 1980s/1990s. I have recently become obsessed with the history of this theater and would be honored if anyone emailed me with documentation.

I believe the architect's name is currently misspelled above. It should be Garrett, with a double t. Calvin Garrett wrote an article about the original Continental Theatre in Oklahoma City for the March 21, 1966, issue of Boxoffice Magazine.

While Boxoffice did sometimes (well, ok, frequently) misspell people's names in articles, it would have been an extraordinary event for them to have misspelled an author's name in a by-line.