Southbrook Theatre
1260 E. Shelby Drive,
Memphis,
TN
38116
1260 E. Shelby Drive,
Memphis,
TN
38116
1 person
favorited this theater
This was allegedly one of Elvis' haunts. It was located in the Southbrook Mall. Am uncertain regarding the current status of this property aside that it was no longer listed as a cinema prior to the dawn of the current millennium.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 13 comments)
I, too, visited this theatre many times as a child and teenager. I worked at the Service Merchandise next door to the three add-on theatres. It was a great place to catch a movie after the store closed for the night.
I too remember this theatre and saw a number of films in both its core four and the three in the annex.
Now does anyone remember the name of the twinplex that was also in Whitehaven that was located in the shopping plaza where the J.B. Hunter used to be? As a child, I remember seeing Deliverance posters in the Now Playing frames when that movie was in its first run there. I always thought this theatre was in an odd place since there was no streetside marquee and I don’t believe it was there very long.
Could that have been the Whitehaven at 1243 Laudeen Dr? It opened as a single screen in 1966, was twinned in 1973 and demolished in 1983.
No Jack you’re on the wrong side of Elvis Presley but I know the theatre you are talking about as I saw a number of movies there as well. The theatre you are talking about was behind the shopping centre that used to have the Youngtown and York Arms stores in it. Directly across the street from that shopping centre was a shopping plaza that had a J.B. Hunter store, a Giant food store, and a Kat’s drugstore. There were a few other shops there as well but they were the anchors so to speak. The Kat’s was on the opposite end of the plaza (next to East Raines) from the J. B. Hunter store. Right across from it was a long squat building with the theatre I’m referring to and a few other shops. This theatre was always a twinplex. It had a fairly prosaic name but I just can’t recall what it was.
Thanks for the update! It’s a challenge getting definative information on these places.
If I ever get time Jack I’ll pop in at the Main library and look through some old CA issues and see if I recognise anything. As I said this theatre wasn’t there long and they always seemed to show movies aimed towards the older demographic. No porn but always movies with an R rating and the very occasional PG (or GP back then).
The one movie I remember seeing here was Blazing Saddles. My father took me to see it. During the scene when Mel Brooks, as the Indian chief, was speaking to the sheriff’s parents, my father was translating it for me – he was speaking Yiddish, which my father knew from growing up in Philadelphia. He and I are laughing, and everyone else is staring at us will somebody says “What’s so funny about him speaking Indian? At which point Dad fell on the floor laughing even harder!
Address according to an old Rentrak listing I found is 1260 Shelby Dr.
And that would be East Shelby Dr.
Southbrook Mall still exists but I wasn’t able to go inside the day I was nearby. I took a photo of the exterior which hasn’t changed much.