Majestic Theatre

The scan is a bit blurry, but in Boxoffice of August 17, 1946, there are two pairs of before-and-after photos depicting the results of a remodeling of the Majestic. The auditorium looked atmospheric originally, but the whole house became Art Moderne when remodeled. No architect or designer was credited in the article.

Unfortunately, the city powers-that-be STILL love to tear things down. They actually envision making half of downtown a PARK of some sort, demolishing further structures. Amazing. The Capri and Majestic should have been saved. The Capri was covered with one of those horrible plastic/aluminum false fronts, so popular in the 60s, for its final two decades.

Saw many films there, when on vacation visiting my grandmother – 60s/70s. Specifically, I remember “Willy Wonka”.

Here is another circa 1920s photo:
http://tinyurl.com/le4wc

Great older theatre: inlaid tile entrance, free-standing ticket booth, thick-carpeted lobby, long velvet drapes and a dark, hidden balcony. I remember seeing two films there: Apocolypse Now and Earthquake with Charlton Heston. Earthquake featured some Hollywood gimmickry called
“sens-a-round”, in which large motors were placed in the rear of the auditorium that shook the building during the tremor scenes in the film. This was a little too realistic as it caused structural damage to the building which ultimately led to its closure. No one stepped up to have the old theatre renovated, so it sat for years until finally becoming condemned by the city governement. Eventually it was demolished and a small city park sits in its place. Unfortunately with its passing, so went all the beautiful old theatres in Johnson City.