Continental Art Theatre

East Cleveland, OH

13931 Euclid Avenue

, East Cleveland, OH 44112 United States

(map)

Status:	Closed/Demolished
Screens:	Single Screen
Style:	Unknown

Function:	Unknown
Seats:	Unknown
Chain:	Unknown

Architect:	Unknown
Firm:	Unknown

This theatre opened in the 1920's as the Wind-A-Meer, a neighborhood theatre, and was renamed the Continental Art Theatre in the late 1950's. The Continental was a sister theatre to the Heights Art Theatre in Cleveland Heights and the Westwood Art Theatre in Lakewood.

Like the Heights and Westwood, the Continental had shown art/foreign films; then porn. In its final years, the Continental had shown black-oriented action films before closing for good around 1974. The theatre was torn down afterwards -- a Wendy's is on the site now.

Contributed by Toby Radloff

YOUR COMMENTS

Toby: A minor correction: The theatre opened as the "Windermere" and remained under that name until the early 1940s when the marquee was damaged by a truck, removed, and then replaced with a smaller version and the new name, "Wind-A-Meer." When the Continental Art Theatre made its debut, I can remember the storm of controversy that erupted in East Cleveland over the scheduling of the Brigitte Bardot movie, "And God Created Woman."

posted by roger stewart on Oct 5, 2004 at 6:07pm

The Continental, along with the Heights and Westwood were part of a chain of "art" theatres with other theatres in Columbus. I think it was called Bexley Theatres.

posted by dave-bronx on Oct 5, 2004 at 6:57pm

The Continental was where manager Nico Jacobellis got in big trouble for showing the "dirty" movie, I Am Curious Yellow. Actually a very tame foreign pseudo-documentary in b&w.

posted by Jim Somich on Jan 10, 2005 at 12:56pm

Jacobellis was also the theater manager when the Louis Malle film Les Amants(The Lovers) got seized by authorities for obscenity. The case wound up going all the way to the US Supreme Court.

posted by scottfavareille on Jan 10, 2005 at 1:38pm

The Bexley and World theatres in Columbus were part of a chain called 'Art Theater Guild'.

posted by Ron Newman on Jan 10, 2005 at 2:08pm

Yes, that's it, Art Theatre Guild - I forgot, it was a long time ago...

posted by dave-bronx on Sep 5, 2005 at 9:56pm

This is a 1967 ad for the Continental Theater.

posted by Lost Memory on Jan 15, 2007 at 6:31am

Here's another ad for this theatre

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modestospeed/543956057/

posted by DeCoteau on Jul 1, 2007 at 2:54pm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modestospeed/542597669/

posted by DeCoteau on May 23, 2008 at 6:18pm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/modestospeed/1322119898/

posted by DeCoteau on May 23, 2008 at 6:22pm

Here is a 1970 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/ylag5xu

posted by ken mc on Mar 14, 2010 at 8:50pm

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Continental Art Theatre

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