Central Theatre

lostmemory on September 27, 2008 at 11:19 am

The year given for this photo is 1954.

harryr on May 20, 2007 at 4:25 pm

As I recall, the Central took over the Paramount’s programming policy when the latter was demolished in 1960 — thus the “Always Paramount in Pictures” on the marquee in the photo posting above. My cousin and I used to go to double feature horror films at the Central for a while, though neither the product nor the viewing environment was the same. Still, it was nice to know that the Central tried.

Don K. on September 23, 2006 at 7:27 am

The Central was definitely declasse. It’s essential tackiness was hard to ignore. It was a remnant of an earlier day when downtown Atlanta had second run movie houses, also including the Cameo. Still, in the late ‘50’s and early '60’s I did manage to see several programs of double feature horror movies there. The interior of the theater gave you the sense that it was the product of a bygone era. The foyer was rather shallow and the auditorium was rather narrow. Curiously enough, the ceiling was “ribbed”, which was quite unlike the other Atlanta theaters that I attended in those years.

The programming was exclusively exploitation pictures in those days. They often consisted of second tier features that other exhibitors had passed on. At other times they were second run double features of B movies. The “atmosphere” of the Central did not inhance the dubious pleasure of seeing some of these pictures.

In fact, in attending the Central one had the distinct sense of stepping down in the world. It came as no surprise that it converted to a policy of booking so called “Adult” films. So, I never paid any attention to it after that time.

The story goes that the change of policy was due to a change of ownership. Allegedly, the Central was acquired by a notorious Atlanta racketeer who dealt in pornography. So, all in all the closing and demolition of the Central was no great loss.