Perimeter Mall Theatre

4400 Ashford Dunwoody Road NE,
Atlanta, GA 30346

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Showing 1 - 25 of 41 comments

RussellSmeak
RussellSmeak on May 5, 2020 at 10:58 am

You’re right about Perimeter’s counts being “legendary”. I remember having to call our figures in to their office every night and just being amazed at how well they always seemed to do, especially compared to our little triple at Regency Mall in Augusta. Their weekend midnight movie takes always blew us out of the water. Took me a long time to realize I was comparing apples with oranges. Our demographics weren’t near the same, but even with that, Perimeter’s were still great. A few years later we sort of got out of touch with everyone’s numbers because we started utilizing Telxon!!! (GCC finally hit the computer age!!). Good stuff.

Rstewart
Rstewart on May 5, 2020 at 5:48 am

Good to see the pics of the last night, sad to see the demo. I’m still surprised at how quietly this location closed considering how significant it was on the north side of town. Everyone knew Perimeter and the midnight movies were legendary. At least they didn’t just board it up and leave it to rot like so many others.

rivest266
rivest266 on April 8, 2018 at 9:47 am

This opened on December 21st, 1973. Grand opening ad in the photo section. This marks the entry into the Atlanta area by General Cinemas.

treadway
treadway on August 23, 2014 at 10:39 am

My favorite memory of this theater is seeing “Rocky Horror Picture Show” there at midnight showings. I certainly saw plenty of other movies there too. Went movies would sell out at our usual theaters we would drive out to Perimeter.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 7:50 pm

Loew’s and Shea’s in Toronto were operating partners of Famous Players Canadian Corporation. When the contracts for the theatre partnership were signed each of the parties agreed that if Famous Players so desired, they had the right to close any of the theatres at any time. Chuck, that is real power I hope you understand that!!

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 7:47 pm

I know Russ Bovin was a great showman and Loew’s operated some great theatres. We had two right in Toronto, AND that artwork would have been passed to the local Loew’s managers and then down to your home office. By the way The Loew’s Uptown Theatre in Toronto was pooled with Famous Players Canadian Corporation and booked by Famous Players. The profits were split in equal shares. The reason is because Loew’s had only two theatres in Toronto, and Famous Players had all the rest which isn’t exactly a strong position to be in. The Loew’s Yonge Street Theatre at 189 Yonge showed all the great MGM classics in Toronto, while Famous Players showed all the MGM product across the country. Maybe you can understand how Loew’s got ahold of some Famous Players advertising material.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 9:11 am

Famous Players Canadian Corporation was the Canadian arm of Paramount-Publix Theatres, the largest and greatest chain of them of all, proudly built by Adolph Zukor, Paramount founder!!

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 9:10 am

Chuck Famous Players Publicity was respected throughout North America and they certainly would be decent enough to share some of their art work with other chains, both within the Paramount Theatre Associates group and other chains. Other chains include Loew’s, General Cinemas — associated chains include ABC , etc.

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 9:08 am

Brock King I am on Facebook friend me and we can talk, I look forward to this. I will try and reach you by email, but I am just learning how to do it!!

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 15, 2013 at 9:06 am

Les Mitchell ran the old Capitol in St Catharines and did not like Roy Miller. I can’t print what Mitchell said about him!!

BrockKing13
BrockKing13 on July 15, 2013 at 6:24 am

Mr. Dymond: I recently saw your comment about the Capitol Theatre in St. Catharines. It would be interesting to talk to a person of your obvious theatre knowledge more personally. Your name sounds very familliar. I worked for Famous from the early 70’s untill 1985 both in Hamilton and St. Catharines. I remember Mr. Mitchell very well from those years.I can be reached at

DavidDymond
DavidDymond on July 14, 2013 at 8:41 am

When you look at the ad for Earthquake at the top of the page you see am awesome “STARTS TODAY” This came from the Famous Players Canadian Corporation art department in TORONTO, Ontario.

galateasca
galateasca on July 9, 2013 at 8:30 pm

Stan or Michael, is it possible that I saw, instead of Star Wars, one of the sequels at PM? Could that be why everyone is confused? I have no way of knowing, hence the question. Time Square was only a minor cult hit- no where near the caliber of cult status of Rocky Horror. In fact, Time Square was never released on DVD and since it was put out by RSO, it probably never will be.

StanMalone
StanMalone on July 9, 2013 at 5:21 pm

Russell: I first met Steve Crisp in 1972 when he was the manager of the Capri in Buckhead when it was a Weis theatre. In 1975 he followed me as manager of the Loews 12 Oaks. A couple of years later he joined GCC at Akers Mill. Within a few years I was working as a projectionist and worked for him there as his regular operator. He was a great guy, both as a friend and manager. He left Akers to open Merchants and a few years later, against his better judgement, moved to Parkside after a long series of managers failed to tame that place. He left in ‘97 after 20 years with GCC and retired to Ashville. I am sad to report that he died a couple of years ago of a heart attack, much like your friend Craig.

I knew Larry and Stu when we were all managers for Loews. Larry took Webb’s place at PM when Webb went to booking. Stu took PM when Larry went to Akers. I was not working in theatres in the late ‘70’s but would occasionally work for Stu at this location when he needed crowd control help. I always got along with Stu, but I know what you mean. He liked to do things his own way. The last time I saw him was in the late 80’s. He was working for NCN, the outfit that sold the slide projector ads, when he came by a booth I was working to check the presentation.

Larry left GCC as a DM to be COO of the Septum chain. I knew that would not last and sure enough he was back within a year, still as a DM. He later left and went to work for Storey shortly before they were sold to Regal. Last I heard he was in NC.

Aaron and Jim Williams both left Northlake to go to the new Gwinnett Place theatre and that is when I went to work at Northlake. The manager then was Lex Austin. In 1997 I took Aaron’s place at Gwinnett when he retired. Sad to say that he died a couple of years later. Jim is still alive and I see him when we have our retiree lunches.

I am afraid that most of this has nothing to do with the Perimeter Mall page, but there is not one for GCC itself. Hope this brought back some old memories.

RussellSmeak
RussellSmeak on July 9, 2013 at 1:42 pm

Stan, I hope you don’t mind, but I rarely get on here…really, only when I see one of these getting flagged in my email….but I just wanted to ask you a couple of questions about those days in Atlanta and at those theaters. And I honestly don’t remember, since it’s been so long on here, if you and I have traded comments. I started with GCC around 1980 or so…my memory is NOTHING like the rest of you guys! After stints going from usher to doorman to Chief of Staff to Asst. Mgr, my manager, Craig Zacker, convinced me to go on to Northlake as an asst. mgr….yeah, a lateral move, but he thought it’d be great for my career. I’m not going to go all into what went on up there, but I became one of the youngest managers in the region, worked by tail off, and then had enough of the then DM (before Larry Anderson). Anyway, did you work with Steve Crisp (sp?) at Akers, Stu Hoffman at Perimeter (NOT my favorite guy!)…and I think “my” projectionists at Northlake was Aaron Bouldin (sp?)?? I remember going back up to Atlanta (after I had left the company and then came back a few years later) and helped Steve open Merchants Walk. I liked Steve, but I grew to hate Stu…sorry if Stu is a friend. When I was first working in Augusta at Regency Mall, I remember thinking that Atlanta was “IT”, because the numbers up there were always blowing us out of the water! Thanks for the time, Stan! Hope my Stu-comment didn’t ruffle any feathers! I made sure NOT to say why I didn’t care for him…so I gotta get some points for that at least!

StanMalone
StanMalone on July 9, 2013 at 1:09 pm

Man, I hate to start down this road, but here it goes. I believe that Dune was a Christmas ‘84 release. At that time I was working the GCC Northlake and do not recall working Perimeter Mall at any time during the Dune run. I do not recall if Dune ran at Perimeter Mall or not but if it did is had to have been in 35 since PM never had 70MM equipment.

As I stated in my first long post on this page, I worked at PM more than any other single location during my projectionist years, at least up until the time it closed in 1999. I appreciate all of the work that came my way because of GCC, and not once did I ever have a paycheck bounce, unlike other companies I worked for. That said, I must be honest and also say that the GCC theatres of that era (Perimeter, Northlake, Southlake, and Akers Mill) had as bad a presentation as any I ever put on the screen. Shotgun theatres, shadowbox masking which left the sides of the flat picture raw, very slow installation of Dolby, and the atrocious two position seats made for a very poor movie going experience. Not that the public seemed to care since it obviously did not keep them from coming back.

My point is that none of these locations ever had 70MM projectors. PM got 4 track Dolby for Star Trek in 1979, and in 1995 Dolby Digital, but that was it as far as projection upgrades. The first GCC theatre in Atlanta to get 70MM capability was Gwinnett Place which opened in 1984. By then, GCC, in another downgrade in presentation, had quit equipping booths with Century projectors and had switched to Cinemeccanica’s. One house at Gwinnett was equipped with a Vic 8 35/70 as was one house of Merchants Walk and Parkside a few years later.

I wish I could tell you which if any theatres had a 70MM run of Dune. For a city of this size Atlanta played very little 70MM. The closest theatres to PM with 70MM were Phipps Plaza and Holcombe Woods. Next time that I am in the film room of the library I will try to find the Dune ads and see which theatres had a 70MM engagement.

OKCdoorman
OKCdoorman on July 9, 2013 at 11:36 am

Saw DUNE in 70mm at this theater while visiting Atlanta in late 1984, I know it was 70mm because we looked at the Atlanta newspaper and I was insisting it had to be 70, not 35 (we had missed RETURN OF THE JEDI in 70mm in Atlanta the previous year while visiting, and I had been in too many mono or weak 35mm stereo presentations by then), and the only one on Atlanta’s east side with a 70mm print was this Perimeter Mall. The multi-channel sound was remarkable, equal to 70mm presentations of ALIEN or ALTERED STATES I’ve been to where it almost becomes artistic, I distinctly remember—not just the loud weirding-module voice explosion effect they were using for weapons—but that soft, creeping, extrasensory “hearing effect” that Kyle Machlachlan’s character would experience, the effect would start from behind the screen, then begin audibly ‘walking’ to each speaker around the entire theater several times.

StanMalone
StanMalone on July 9, 2013 at 8:38 am

We ran Times Square at Lenox Square in the fall of 80. I was worried that it may become another Rocky Horror with all of the attendant crowd problems, but it bombed out after only two weeks.

All of these people that are sure that they saw Star Wars here makes me wonder sometimes. However, I have never known Michael Coate to make a mistake on this kind of topic, especially when Star Wars is concerned as he has some type of official release record. Also, just to make sure, I went back and looked at the newspaper ads for those days. No doubt that it did not play here during its initial release of summer 1977. After that, starting in spring of 78, who knows. It might have been brought back as a second run filler like so many theatres used to do with Gone With The Wind, 2001, Zhivago, etc…

I think that the all time record holder for Perimeter Mall was Driving Miss Daisy, followed by Forrest Gump and My Best Friends Wedding. As far as busiest seasons, the summer of ‘87 comes to mind with Roxanne, Predator, LaBamba, and the one that kept bringing them back time after time, Lost Boys.

galateasca
galateasca on July 8, 2013 at 9:27 pm

Spent much time at the Perimeter Mall Cinema. It was the closest one to my home (although I was also close to North Springs). We made the cinema circuit in the 70s/80’s. The lobby was pretty to look at, but incredibly crowded when all three theaters were letting out/letting crowds in. I remember more than once being herded like cattle into a theater. One of my fondest memories was going to a sneak preview of a film called “Time Square” at Perimeter. The film starred Tim Curry and many of the Rocky Horror crowd came to see this film, some in costume. The crowd got a bit rowdy, but still kept it cool and it was a wonderful night. The acoustics were fine for the music, but I do remember we had a hard time hearing the dialogue. I believe we won the ticket in conjunction with one of the radio stations.

Stan- I was sure I saw Star Wars there, too, but my memory isn’t what it used to be.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on January 17, 2011 at 5:42 pm

Citadel Mall cinemas.Can’t spell.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on January 17, 2011 at 5:34 pm

Russell,More theatre stories.I am running out!Check out Citidal Mall in Charleston,S.C. I wrote some stories from Barry days there.He said he was promised that theatre but was back stabbed.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on January 17, 2011 at 5:31 pm

Chris 32.I would like to know why you watched “BILLY JACK” 10 times.I lost count counting the Boom mikes and such. If you framed the movie above the border during the part of the rape scene in the Car you will see her nipples.Most places it was hidden behind the bottom masking. I had a Projectionist at National Hills Theatre show me.those union projectionists!

chris32
chris32 on January 12, 2011 at 4:27 pm

Wow….I never heard that story. A GCC scandal!

Yes, Mr. Brianerd’s first name was Webb. I don’t know what happened to him after I left, but I read somewhere on this site that he later worked at the corporate office in Texas, I think.

Mr. Edmondson, who was the assistant manager and about the same age as I was, was some piece of work. On the nights of “premieres” he would wear a really bad tuxedo to the theater. He told me he liked to dress up because he was on “one rung of the ladder of show business.”

He was about 6 ½ feet tall and the pants on his tux were always about 6 ½ inches too short.

I will now sing “Memories” from “The Way We Were”, one of the three movies that opened this theater in 1973. :)

RussellSmeak
RussellSmeak on January 12, 2011 at 3:33 pm

chris32, if you come back and read this, was the Mr. Brainerd the one (was his name “Web Brainerd”?) who later became a booker or “buyer” for General Cinema in the mid-to-late 80’s? Anyway, the only things that I remember about Perimeter, from my days working at Regency Mall and Regency Exchange, was that Perimeter always seemed to kick the Regency Mall’s butt in sales. The other thing I remember..and this is a bad memory…is that the manager there (won’t name him) was also the City Manager, and he got fired after it was found out that he would take his master-keys, go into other GCC theaters in the city, take new cups and buckets, and add them to Perimeter’s inventory, thereby covering up his shortages. Not sure how he was found out, but heard they canned him for it.