Edina Cinema

The Edina Theatre opened August 31, 1934 with George Burns & Gracie Allen in “Many Happy Returns”. Seating 1,300, it was designed by the firm of Liebenberg & Kaplan in flamboyant Art Deco style. It cost between $80,000 and $100,000 to erect. At the time, it was the largest theatre in suburban Minneapolis.

Though initial reaction by the citizens of Edina Theatre to a glitzy movie house was mixed at best, especially to a glittering marquee in downtown Edina (which was remedied by switching the design of the marquee from a standard canopy marquee to a tower marquee), it was an almost immediate success.

The Edina Theatre boasted all of the most modern technology of the day, including hearing devices for the hard of hearing. However, it also featured enough glamour and luxury to remind patrons of the downtown movie palaces of earlier years, such as a large stage, a 300 seat balcony and seating for 1,000 on the orchestra level, air-conditioning, a large fireplace in the lobby for the cold Minnesota winters, murals in the lobby depicting old Edina, stylish Art Deco furniture, and even a nursery for children.

In 1951, during a severe wind storm, the towering marquee was bent in half but soon repaired. However, three decades later, when a twister hit Edina, the theatre’s marquee was totally destroyed, but was recreated in 1981 and is now a listed historic landmark.

The Edina Theatre was twinned and remodeled in December 1976, and it was planned that the Edina 2 would now screen art and foreign fare; however, this wouldn’t actually come to fruition until much later. In December 1980, the Edina Theatre was triplexed.

In 1988, the theatre’s then-operator, Cineplex Odeon closed the Edina 3 and all but its Art Deco landmark façade and marquee were torn down. A modern, two level fourplex was built behind the façade, opening December 16, 1988.

Loews Cineplex shuttered the Edina Cinema in January of 2003, but in March 2003, the theatre was acquired by the Landmark Theatres chain, and finally became the art house that it was originally intended to become in the late-1970’s. It was closed on March 16, 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In May 2021 Landmark Theatres announced the closure would be permanent. In February 2022 Mann Theatres announced that renovations would be carried out with proposed reopening in June 2022. It reopened in early-May 2023.

Recent comments (view all 14 comments)

rivest266 on June 9, 2007 at 5:22 pm

This was one of the typical Cineplex Odeon “Jewelbox” theatre built in the late 1980’s.

Typical Cineplex Odeon carpet, the same carpet is used in the Montréal area’s Langelier 6 (now Guzzo) and Cote des Neiges 7 (now Foutune)

MinnesotaJones on March 24, 2009 at 11:31 am

I saw a re-release of Star Wars here back in 1979 or so, as well as Robocop (while it was still a triplex). After the 1989 remodel, it became one of my favorite theaters to see new movies (if not my favorite). I saw Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Jurassic Park, Batman, The Lost World (JP2) all in their initial runs here and many other movies here in the 1990s.

DavidZornig on April 9, 2015 at 8:51 am

1959 photo with Edina on the far left. Copy & paste to view.

http://www.edinahistoricalsociety.org/blog/category/all/25

rivest266 on January 14, 2017 at 8:54 pm

20 years

Found on Newspapers.com

rivest266 on January 14, 2017 at 8:59 pm

August 31st, 1934 grand opening ad in the photo section.

rivest266 on January 16, 2017 at 1:59 am

August 31st, 1934, December 25th, 1976, December 5th, 1980 and December 16th, 1988 grand opening ads in the photo section.

dallasmovietheaters on May 30, 2021 at 7:55 pm

The Edina Cinema closed for the COVID-19 pandemic n March 16, 2020. Landmark Theatres announced in May of 2021 that the closure would be permanent.

Joe Vogel on February 24, 2022 at 9:02 pm

Mann Theatres, who operated the Edina briefly in the 1970s, announced that they were returning to the house with plans to renovate and reopen it. This article in TCB Magazine says that the plans include a bar and, in one small auditorium, a stage for intimate live performances. A mixture of first-run Hollywood movies and independent films is planned. They expect to have the theater reopened sometime this coming summer.

Joe Vogel on February 24, 2022 at 9:05 pm

I don’t know why the link in my previous comment isn’t working. Maybe this one will.

alex35mm on August 22, 2024 at 12:29 pm

Does anyone know if there were any other theaters that Cineplex Odeon remodeled and rebuilt in this fashion where they salvaged a vintage front facade, marquee and lobby but completely rebuilt the auditorium section? This was so well executed.