Paramount Theatre

211 N. Queen Street,
Kinston, NC 28501

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NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on April 11, 2012 at 5:06 pm

This theater was opened in 1915 as the Grand Theatre. Paramount Pictures (through Wilby-Kincey) took over the Grand in the early 1930s and renamed it the Paramount Theatre. The Paramount Theatre was damaged by fire in the late 1940s and subsequently remodeled.

NightHawk1
NightHawk1 on December 5, 2011 at 10:19 am

In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.

canibfrankwithyou
canibfrankwithyou on September 18, 2011 at 11:59 am

During the 60’s and 70’s the “Paramount” was operated as a single screen under the Stewart&Everett banner.

canibfrankwithyou
canibfrankwithyou on September 18, 2011 at 11:40 am

I was involved in the installation of the projection & sound equipment of the new “Mall Cinema” single screen also owned by Stewart&Everett chain. (1969) Don’t remember the seating capacity but the building was of similar style as the Pitt Plaza Cinema in Greenville, N.C. This was also my first installation as an apprentice technician.

lostmemory
lostmemory on August 27, 2008 at 8:24 pm

Here is a photo of the Paramount.