Albee Theatre

when I would visit relatives in Cincinnati as a youngster from Chicago in the 50’s, there was definitely de facto segregation in public places, like movie theaters and the Coney Island amusement park.

No surprises here. In his autobiography, the comedian Dick Gregory wrote about having to sit in the segregated balcony of a Carbondale Illinois movie theater. Illinois and Ohio did not have Jim Crow laws on the books, but they existed in unofficial practice,nonetheless.

I am writing a book about running a movie palace in the nineteen seventies, and I am a native Cincinnatian (living currently in New York City). My favorite movie palace of all times was and is The Albee, and I remember with great sadness its demolition.

Does anyone remember what the policies were towards black patrons in movie theaters, in the years when the Albee was an active theater? Some theaters were segregated, with black patrons required to go to the balcony; in other cases, there were movie houses in black neighborhoods. I was a child at the time I went to the Albee, naive and unaware , but I need to be enlightened on what black patrons were doing.

I wonder if the poster was referring to the Skywalk cinemas (I don’t know the true name of the theater, but there was a Showcase on the Skywalk in downtown Cincinnati at one time)

There were seven Showcase Cinemas in Cincinnati, listed here: http://www.cincyworldcinema.org/linkscwc.php

The Showcase Cinemas “Cincinnati” was the 12-screen unit that was constructed on the site of the old Twin Drive-In on Reading Road. The Twin closed circa ‘87 and is listed on CT.

This Showcase was (and still is) listed as house #4030 on movietickets.com, although I believe it closed sometime in the the mid ‘90s.

The Showcase units were named after neighborhoods – Showcase Cinemas Eastgate, Erlanger, Florence, etc., but the locals often referred to the location in question as the Showcase Norwood or Showcase Central.

This Cincinnati Mills Mall is right off I-275. According to the Rivest List, the theater was opened as the Forest Fair Cinemas and was rebranded as a Showcase when National Amusements acquired it.

Is it this theater, listed here on CT as Showcase Cincinnati Mills 10?: /theaters/31043/

The mall it was in was also called the Cincinnati Mall and the Forest Fair Mall. The theater recently closed.

Melissa –

Contact me via PM on this site. If that fails, visit the ‘contact us’ page at http://www.cincyworldcinema.org

This photo is INCORRECTLY identified in the Life Magazine archive as Indianapolis. It is actually in Cincinnati and shows the Albee Theatre in the background: View link

That’s all there is.

Here is a November 1974 article from the Hamilton (OH) Journal-News:

CINCINNATI, Ohio (AP) â€" The City Planning Commission on Friday held a public hearing concerning the fate of the Albee movie theater, a landmark in downtown Cincinnati. Several groups asked that the movie house, which has been slated to be torn down along with several other buildings during renovation of the center city, be classified as a listed property by the commission. Such a classification would delay any permits to demolish the old theater for six months while it was under review.

The planning commission said it would announce next Friday whether to endorse the proposal to city council. “The Albee reflects a facet of our culture,” said Tracy Cropp, one of those speaking to save the theater. “It is important for its craftsmanship, its design and because it was a focal point for the community.”

The Albee theatre organ now a done thing to be re-installed in Cincinnati Music Hall Ballroom by 2009.

I was told that the Daytona 500 was shown on closed circuit Television at the Alee Theatre. Does anyone know if this is true, and if so what years did they show it and who was involved in putting on the event. I am in the process of putting together a web site on Motorsports related things that are a part of the Tri State area, and was trying to find out more on the 500 being shown. This had to be before the 500 was shown live in 1979, after the Albee had closed.
If you have info, contact me or post here.
Thanks

I considered it a privilege to have worked at the Albee. I was an usher, ticket taker, and barker in the late 40’s. All the ushers were barkers at one time or another. The movies always started with the curtains closed and then slowly but surely, the curtains opened revealing the screen. Their were basements, sub-basements and so forth which had once been dressing rooms for the many acts which played on the stage. The side doors, on Vine, were used to bring in props and costumes. I always thought it was a shame to put the facade on the Convention Center facing away from traffic. Only those walking North on Elm and the drivers who viewed it in their rear view mirrors saw how fantastic it looked.