Gaston Mall Theatre
401 Cox Road,
Gastonia,
NC
28054
401 Cox Road,
Gastonia,
NC
28054
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 27 comments found
We have put together a REMEMBERING PLITT THEATRE page on FACEBOOK if you ever worked at Plitt theatres.
Thanks Nick. wish it would have been a friday ad and not a weekday ad.
Problem with link above…this should work:
View link
Newspaper ad for “The Spy Who Loved Me” designed by Mike Rogers:
View link
Late Show by John Mackey,Big promotion with Flyers handed out all over Gastonia. “DEATH WISH” returns for a weekend Late show starting at 11:30 pm. Another big promotion with flyers{i have two} was the DOUBLE FEATURE “ELVIS THAT’S THE WAY IT IS” and “ELVIS ON TOUR” The shows ran close to three hours and Mackey said it was one of his highest grossing Late Shows.
Yeah,please do on the Diane 29. I have visited Kings mtn,but never caught a film there.Beautiful Drive-in with the Mountains behind the screen. Took a few pictures of Kings Mtn. Visited the old DIANE 29 site years ago, a shopping center was in part of the old Drive-in,but part of the booth/snack bar was still standing.
Didn’t even know the Belmont drive-in was still open. I thought the only still going in this area was the Kings Mtn-Bessemer City drive-in. I’ve really never heard of the story about the Diane 29 family being murdered but I’m gonna check it out.
He was a union Projectionist and like i wrote above worked on “LAST AMERICAN HERO” filmed in that area and made moonshine on the side. I was told the owner of the Diane 29 came home and found his family murdered and the next day closed the drive-in which I am told was named after a daughter. Is the BELMONT DRIVE-in going to open this summer< Iheard the lady that owned it,and I met her several times in the past when we would visit CAROWINDS and John Mackey,had died.She was a nice lady,even though I thought they should put some money in the place to fix the snack bar and restrooms.
By the way, the name Richard Hamilton sounds familiar but I can’t remember the guy in the booth at the old Gaston mall theater.
Mike, it did become a carpet outlet before they tore it down. I’ve never heard of the murder you talk about at the old Diane 29, North and South as we called them back then. However, there was a very gruesome murder not far from there in 1973 I think. The old Lincoln Academy is there at Crowders Mountain which the drive in sat next to. The girl’s name was Kathleen Smiley and I’m thinking she was from Atlanta. Very young, maybe late teens.
Yeah, John it was a great theatre.wehad nothing like it in Augusta.If you are from Gastonia go to the U.S. 29 DIANE Drive -in in Gastonia. I heard a horrible murder took place there and i have been trying to confirm it.It is one of those Theatre stories I heard years ago. Was Richard Hamilton Showing movies there when you worked there he certainly was wild guy in the booth. I think John Mackey told me the theatre became a carpet outlet.
Not really a theater buff but I worked as an usher at the Gaston Mall Theater in 1970. I think that was the first year it and the mall were open. I was 15 and worked there for 4 months. The first movie I worked was Bambi…how the heck do I remember that! The manager at that time was Leroy Russell. He was later elected sheriff of Gaston County and served in that office for many years. This theater is gone now as the mall is being renovated and actually turned into a strip mall. I’m sure that my time there was before John Mackey. Your mention of it just took me back in time for a minute.
I know most of the UA product played there.I don’t think it was open when Connery played Bond under the UA banner. I know in fact “A SPY WHO LOVED ME” played there cause John Mackey,Mgr,let me do a newspaper ad on that movie that i have even today.
Did the Gaston Mall Cinema played all United Artists features including all of the James Bond films with both Sean Connery and Roger Moore? I know some Woody Allen films made during the 1970’s released under United Artists also have played here as well as some films of various interest like family films including Disney flicks.
YEAH, I wasn’t sure on how to spell it and even tried to look it up.
wonder what happened to that old RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE trailer? Thing we did we did in the BUSINESS.
You know what i mean.I spelled it wrong!
Sublintial???
Now thats what they used to call sublintial advertising.
Another Richard Hamilton story. One night while visiting John Mackey .Charles Bruni came up with the idea of putting a frame of 35mm film of a nude lady taken from a adult movie Richard had run and place it in a film to see if we could see it
Old drive in operators used to show one frame of food and Hamburger sells went up at the Drive in.
Richard,not wanting to go to the trouble of putting it in a feature He had a trailer of RETURN OF A MAN CALLED HORSE and he spliced it in and ran the 3 minute trailer. I thought i saw the picture of the nude lady. But we were expecting to see it. He shipped the trailer out with the nude left in. TRUE THEATRE STORY.
Richard Hamilton did not create the camel used to promote HAWPS.My story made it sound like he did.In those days projectiontists did alot around the theatre, but they did not build camels,I am sure John Mackey’s staff built it.I had my girlfriend Beverly up there during that promotion on the road in front of the mall, She it looked better than the one Jerry Tinney had tied to the top of my car driving around AUGUSTA. Just don’t see things like that anymore.
The twin theatre in Gastonia that you were referring to was THE EASTRIDGE 1 & 2 THEATRES,which is NOT listed on this site,but will be avaliable soon. THE DIANE DRIVE-IN or U.S. 29 DRIVE-IN THEATRE is not listed on cinema treasures either,but will be soon.
Okay, I MESSED UP! John Mackey was NOT in the theatre business when this ad was run in the local paper witha painted on skirt. I HEARD the story either from John or my cousin Ray who managed a twin in Hendersonville,N.C. SORRY JOHN, but i have learned quickly to have facts 100%.
WHEN FOR YOUR EYES ONLY OPEN AT THE GASTON MALL THEATRE JOHN MACKEY CALLED AND TOLD YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT THE LOCAL PAPER IS MAKING ME DO? I HAVE TO DRAW A SKIRT ON THE BOND GIRL IN THE AD.
IT WAS PRETTY SUGESTIVE AD AS ANY 007 FAN CAN REMEMBER. I SAW THE SKIRT HE DREW ON WITH A MARKER AND I WISHED I WOULD HAVE SAVED ONE.
WHEN FOR YOUR EYES ONLY OPEN AT THE GASTON MALL THEATRE JOHN MACKEY CALLED AND TOLD YOU WON’T BELIEVE WHAT THE LOCAL PAPER IS MAKING ME DO? I HAVE TO DRAW A SKIRT ON THE BOND GIRL IN THE AD.
IT WAS PRETTY SUGESTIVE AD AS ANY 007 FAN CAN REMEMBER. I SAW THE SKIRT HE DREW ON WITH A MARKER AND I WISHED I WOULD HAVE SAVED ONE.
YES, YOU ARE RIGHT. BUT WHEN I WENT TO THAT MALL IN THE 70’S IT WAS A TWIN AND FROM WHAT I REMEMBER ONE OF THE WORST TWIN THEATRES EVER.DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING ON THE DIANE 29 DRIVR IN I HAD HEARD A TRAGIC STORY ABOUT A MURDER OF THE DRIVE IN OWNERS DAUGHTER,NAMED DIANE. I HAD HEARD THAT IS WHY HE CLOSED THE TWIN DRIVE IN UP IN GASTONIA.