Queen Theater

When I was a high school student in the mid fifties, the Queen used to be a art house and I remember seeing a lot of them at that theatre. In the late fifties, the theatre was made into a first run venue by Royal Theatres. A 70mm-Six stereo system was installed for the showing of Disney’s SLEEPING BEAUTY and I saw it and it was fantastic. The theatre was also Royal’s only road show venue and THE LION IN WINTER and PAINT YOUR WAGON played there as reserved seat engagements.

The Kaimuki’s owners (Consolidated, I think) tried making it an art house in the early 1960s. I saw my first Bergman film, The Virgin Spring, there. Times were already tough for free-standing, single-auditorum movie theaters by then. I left Hawaii a couple of years later and don’t know what the Kaimuki was like in the years before it closed.

What “bad part of town”??? Obviously, none of you have been to Kaimuki Town recently. There has NEVER been a “bad part of town” in this area. I was born and raised in Kaimuki, patronized the old Queen Theatre (before it went porno), saw my first Rocky Horror Picture Show there, and if anyone still remembers, Kaimuki Theatre, located a block away from the Queen (well, it was a block away, now torn down and a new commercial building in it’s place. I also remember the old Kress/Ben Franklin store, Thrifty Drugs, National Dollar Store and my favorite eating place, Aotani Okazu. Now all long gone. I also worked in Kaimuki Town for nine years from the mid 70’s to the mid 80’s…and BTW, I still live in Kaimuki. There has never been a “bad part of town” in the Kaimuki district. Yeah, the building is really sad looking now, but that is the owner’s (Narciso Yu)fault. When you don’t take pride in your property and let it go undeveloped for 25 years, this is the result. There have been many groups that have wanted to restore the theater to it’s former glory, but he (Mr. Yu) has been resistant to any discussions (or answering phone calls) regarding this.

A local group has formed in an effort to preserve this theater: View link

Here is the Queen in October of 2008.

I remember back in 1954 when I was seven, coming to the Queen with my parents to see a movie, and being shocked by the poster for “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”. I was so scared that they were going to show a preview that I pleaded with my folks to take me home immediately. It wasn’t until many years later that I saw the film, and now I root for the monster!
I also recall the 1959 premiere of “Sleeping Beauty” and how the line went several hundred feet up Center Street.

I took some pictures today. Lots of graffiti, dicey neighborhood. I don’t see much of a future for this building.

Sad picture, I wish some of those old theatres could been saved.
The Queen had a huge wall to wall curved screen and was was equiped to run 70mm.

Thanks Chuck, I haven’t been back to Hawaii since 1982, but I still have a lot of friends I keep in touch with. I was chief projectionist for Royal theates for a while and then head of the sight and sound department for Consolidated theatres. Sadly, all the great theatres are gone. I was there to close the Royal theatre, I’m glad I did not see the end of so many more.

Who operated the theatre when “Rocky Horror” played, and when did it close?

A small photo of the Queen’s vertical sign can be seen here.

The build date given for the Queen Theater is 1936. The address listed is:
3588 Waialae Ave
Honolulu, HI 96816