Fremont Theatre

This theater hosted the World Premiere of "Oceans 11" in August of 1960.

It was owned by the Nevada Theatre Corp., who also owned the Huntridge and the Guild Theatre that was on either Second or Third off of Fremont. I worked as a ass. manager on the graveyard shift at the Fremont Theater in the mid 60's, before there was the 'Four Queens' hotel across the street. One of the owners was Harry Zumar. There were two other partners. I remember when Wayne and Jerry of the Newton brothers were playing next door at the Fremont Hotel in the lounge and would come over to watch the movies. Wayne wasn't even old enough to gamble in the casino.

lance1215@yahoo.com

What a fun theatre. I remember in 1966 driving from Los Angeles to the Fremont Theatre for the sole purpose of seeing Raquel Welch in "One Million Years B.C." and Martine Beswick in "Prehistoric Women", months before it they were to play in L.A.

There is an art print of this theatre available at:
http://www.art.com/asp/sp-asp/_/PD--10129892/Fremont_Theater.htm?sOrig=SCH&ui=B9720D0D022A4AC6BEF4E9137805D165#

Vegasite;
Thanks for the link to that great print, but it is of the Freemont Theatre, San Luis Obispo,CA (now known as the Freemont 4)listed here... http://cinematreasures.org/theater/2302/

Yes, this theater was right next to the Fremont Hotel & casino. I get this one and the El Portal confused since I was a teen and it was a long time ago. I think the Fremont was the better of the two. It's funny when the movie was over I'd go next door to the Fremont and play those pinball machines that were right in the door way. They were for adults but no security guards ever bothered me. Anyway, I spent most of my teen years downtown Las Vegas at the Fremont theater.

The Fremont was in "downtown" Las Vegas and opened in the summer of either 1946 or 1947. Douglas Burton was the architect. The seating capacity was reported as 800, including a small stadium section at the rear of the auditorium. There are photos in the 1946-47 edition of Theatre Catalog, which is the reason for my uncertainty over the opening date. The article says "last summer," but in a photo of the marquee, the double feature is "Red Stallion" & "Killer Dill," both 1947 releases.

Here are two images. The walls of the auditorium-- finished with Pearlite acoustic material on the lower portion, with the upper part retaining a quasi-unfinished effect-- were green, trimmed with beige. The ceiling was white, picking up reflected light from gold neon tubing in troughs on either side. The 32-foot wide proscenium was adorned with green festooned valances, a bright gold braile curtain, and light green legs. An Autodrape curtain machine controlled the travelers on the two 16-foot lengths of Besteel medium-duty track.
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fremont1.jpg
www.i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fremont2.jpg

Wow!
I lived in North Las Vegas in the early 80's. Just about a mile from Fremont St. Being a broke, 19-20 yr old punk, I, like many, cruised Fremont St on any given night looking for cheap thrills. Remember, Fremont Street is the OLD Vegas strip (the one you always see in old movies and the tv series Vegas). Like 42nd St in NY... wonderfully sleazy and slimey.
This theatre was a true grindhouse by the time I discovered it.
I first stepped in it when I had my eldest sister drop me and a friend off there for my 17th birthday to see Dawn of the Dead. Holy Hell! What a baptism by fire in the sleazehouse world!
I attended many a (cheap) matinee there, catching any low rent,z-grade shit that had a cool poster to sell it.
The Fremont Theatre was my $10 whore with a heart of gold.

One curious architectural feature I noticed:
As you entered from the street, you stepped down 5 or 6 steps into the nondescript, narrow lobby. Seems you were already entering the bowels of hoped for depravity. Nice.
I never bought popcorn or other from the singular concession stand. I was too broke for that. Always smuggled in my own candy, Who hasn't, eh?

Another thing; I recall the Fremont as being a 2 screener. They must have dualed it by the time I found it. They would certainly have to.

But...my fondest, sad, excited, frustrated memory has to be this:

I bought my ticket to a typical midweek matinee (alone, as always) of some bad B flick. I sat in my habitual seat (about a 3rd from front, always center seat). Maybe 6 people in the whole auditorium.
About 15 minutes in, a 30 something woman, attractive, but working it hard, came and sat directly behind me. As the movie progressed, she leaned forward and asked me what she missed. Dorky, polite me..I told her. She asked more questions. I answered. She then came around and sat next to me, claiming to not being able to hear my answers.
My teen heart pounded! Wow! A porn fantasy coming true? Yeah, she was old(er), but the cleavage. Oooh...the cleavage.
As the movie (don't even ask me what it was about at this point) progressed, she kept leaning into me. We ended up my arm around her, she nuzzling my neck.
The movie ended (How? Who knows.), the lights came up. The lone, bored usher came in, boredly sweeping. We got up and left. She asked, "what are we gonna do now?"
Long story short... she was a Fremont St hooker looking for a date. Seeing as I did not have any money (at ALL!), she ditched me in the next door casino faster than the old lady near me was losing her quarters in the slots.
Sigh.
At least she gave me a few weeks of jack off fantasies.
Guess she really was a cheap date.

I too remember the theatre well. Saw every scary movie they showed. The Spider. House on Haunted Hill, but none topped the Tingler. They put some cheesy vibrator under your seat and when the Tingler showed the buzzed the crap out of you. Would love to see a picture of the movie house again.
Good to see the Huntridge is still standing.

New direct link to an auditorium photo. Please read posting above on 10/29/05 for description:
http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a18/Warrengwhiz/fremont2.jpg

Wow. Great photo of such an obscure place. The balcony had been sealed up, I think, by the time I frequented this theatre (1978-1982), but I remember the curved walls with the exit doors down front well.

The Fremont marquee is on the right in this 1961 photo from Life magazine:
http://tinyurl.com/5tlt3g

1973 photo of the Fremont Theatre. Posedon Adventure is playing.
http://americanclassicimages.com/Default.aspx?tabid=141&txtSearch=CATAdvancedSearch1%2c28%2c3%2c-1&ProductID=29837

You can also see the marquee down the way in this 1973 photo
http://tinyurl.com/ddtsn3

Another street scene.

The world premiere of RKO's "The Las Vegas Story" was held here in 1952: http://blog.vegas.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/moviepremiere.jpg

There is an ironic story behind this theatre location for me. I was the opening General Manager of the Neonopolis 14 Theatre that is/was located less than a block from where the Old Fremont Theatre stood. My grandmother's first cousin is/was Jane Russell (my grandmother passed away last year). I have a print at home of "The Las Vegas Story" in storage. Turns out Ms. Russell was at that 1952 premiere.

When I learned all the above info, I just thought it was a great example of how small the world actually is and how everything is somehow related.