Glen Theatre
3183 Glenwood Road,
Decatur,
GA
30032
3183 Glenwood Road,
Decatur,
GA
30032
1 person
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The only time I can recall ever seeing the Glen Theatre was back in the mid-1970’s while enroute to a shindig in Candler Park. If my memory serves me right, the theatre had a rather large facade with giant red neon lettering. The Glen Theatre apparently opened in the mid-1950’s, and went porno in the late-1960’s.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Here is a photo of The Glen Theatre building now.
View link
The earliest mention of the Glen Theatre I’ve found in Boxoffice appears in the January 10, 1953 issue. The owner/operator was named William Greene. William and Lavinda Ann Greene are noted as owners of the Glen in a Boxoffice item on March 20, 1961. That is the most recent mention of the Glen I’ve found in the magazine.
Prior to 1953, William Greene is mentioned a few times as operator of the Palmetto Theatre in Palmetto, Georgia.
I’ve been unable to find any references at all to a Glenwood Theatre at Decatur in Boxoffice, though the Glenwood Drive-In is mentioned a few times.
The Glen opened September 1952. The owner/operator was William Greene who also was owner/operator of Palmetto Theater in Palmetto, GA.
The Glen was the only theater in the Atlanta,GA area that had push back seats installed. If someone needed to get by, you only had to push the seat back and they could pass without you getting out of your seat. There were also 2 cry rooms for crying babies. The total seating was 480 with a small balcony that seated 54. The projection booth had 2 Simplex XL projectors with Peerless carbon rod lamp houses and Simplex sound heads.
I started to work at the Glen on opening night in September,1952 (I was 16 years old) as usher/doorman. Later on I also worked the Concession stand and as Projectionist. I worked there untill January 1957.
When the Glen opened in 1952 the admission was Adult-35 cents, Children-15 cents. Popcorn was 10 cents a bag.
The weekly schedule was:
Monday thru Friday open at 3:00pm
Sunday & Saturday open at 1:30pm
Sunday & Monday———– Feature, Cartoon & News Reel
Tuesday & Wednesday——Feature, Cartoon & News Reel
Thursday & Friday———Feature, Cartoon & News Reel
Saturday———————-Double Feature, Cartoon & Serial
In late 1953 Mr Greene made the decision to change the Monday thru
Friday opening time to 6:15pm due to declining afternoon attendance.
The Projectionist was a union member and the union told Mr. Greene
that he would have to pay the Projectionist starting at 3:00pm. Mr.
Greene refused and the union operator walked out.
Mr. Greene bought in a Projectionist (a WWII disable veteran from
the Palmetto,GA Theater) who was not union. The union set up a picket line and kept up this line for over a year and then quit. A strange thing was that the men who walked the picket line were not union projectionist but were hired to walk the picket line. Those of us that worked at the Glen durning this time had a good relationship with these men.
The Projectionist from the Palmetto Theater taught Me, Eugene Leftwich and Bill Anglin how to be Projectionist. Bill and I did this untill 1957 and Eugene untill late 1961.
I do not know when the Glen started showing X rated movies. When I got out of the Marine Corps in 1960, I did some relief Projectionist work showing regular movies for about 6 months.
See photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgw55swd Photos made September,1956 durning Kiwanis Club free kids day. William Greene is standing at lower back door and I am stanting at projection booth door in balcony
Ron W
I remember the Glen Theatre very well. When I was a kid, a lady named Miss Mandy Reese used to drive me, my cousin Bo, and a good friend of ours named Wicky Boyd from Palmetto, Ga. to Decatur every Saturday morning to clean the place up. This was back in the late fifties-early sixties. Miss Mandy would pay us fifty cents each, and we could keep any loose change that we found.
Henry, do you remember the name of the theater that Mr Greene owned in Palmetto. I remember that it was in a Quanset Hut type building and had a balcony for Blacks.
Ron – Thanks for sharing your great memories – and for the link to the photos! Whenever I post my own memories of these theaters, I always hope that someone who knows more will join in the fun! I remember attending The Glen from about 1957-1965, when it was becoming somewhat seedy. Nevertheless, The Glen was great fun and I remember it very fondly!
See new Photo of Glen in 1953 that I just posted.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rgw55swd
Thanks for the photos Ron W.
Thanks Don,So glad pictures remain.
If anyone has any stories about going to/ working at this threatre in its adult days, I would love to hear them. I am chronicling the histories of adult theatres in the US. Please contact me at Thanks!