Red Rock 11 Theaters
5201 W. Charleston Boulevard,
Las Vegas,
NV
89107
5201 W. Charleston Boulevard,
Las Vegas,
NV
89107
5 people
favorited this theater
This was the theater of my childhood back in the late-1960’s and early-1970’s. Red Rock started out as one 512 seat theater (date of opening unknown) then the addtional four theaters were added at a later date.
The last of the additions (six) were added based on a style of an early-1900’s downtown theme. There were stores inside which were later removed and stores that had entrances outside the entrance to the theater.
As I remember it there were two snack bars — one was in the center of the downtown area and one was pushed up between the two entrances to the 512 seat theater.
The Red Rock was closed and finally demolished in April 2002.
Contributed by
Randy Hill
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Recent comments (view all 29 comments)
The Red Rock was built and owned by Horst Schmidt. As I recall, the Red Rock 4 (1971) was the first multiplex theater in the world. Mr. Schmidt sold the Red Rock 11 to a theater chain after seeing the handwriting on the wall that single theater owners, like himself, would have a tough time competing.
I worked at the Red Rock 11 Theaters from 1985 to 1987. Started fresh out of the Marine Corps, worked my way from usher up to In-house manager. Had a great time at the place and worked with a great group of people, enjoyed every day at that job. It was challenging to run the projectors, sometimes you would have to run across the rooftop to the other side of the theater to start the movie on time, it was great.
The architecture of the place was incredible; you don’t see theaters built like that anymore. There were two snack counters, one in the town square and one on the other side and for awhile we had an ice cream parlor in it and an arcade along with a nice couple who ran a little sales booth with trinkets and such.
I left Vegas in 1991 came back five years later to discover the theater was closed, by the time I came back again, 3 years later, it was torn down after the fire. Still saw some of the old floor tiles on the empty lot, brought back some great memories of old friends.
I was probably one of the managers you talked to when your cars got broken into; I was only 19 years old when I started, caught one vandal once. Reading some of the post on this sight brought back some great memories, I am glad others recall the place fondly.
The opening of the Red Rock 4 was the beginning of the end for the first generation of single screen movie theaters clustered around the downtown area. It effectively siphoned off customers from the newer growth areas of town and, with four screens (originally), provided just about all the movie entertainment a person could want back then.
What I haven’t read yet is that towards the end of this theater’s run in 1999, it actually became a bargain theater for its last year or two (right around the time the Mountain View and Torrey Pines went out of business). When the Century Orleans 12 (now 18) and Act III (now Regal) Village Square 18 opened in December 1997, it pretty much put the nails in the coffin for both the Cinedome 12 and the Red Rock 11. Why go see a movie at either of those theaters when you can see a movie in a THX-certified auditorium that also provided stadium seating with rocking chairs and foldable armrests?
I had great memories of this theater from my childhood/pre-teen years. Saw many great and many terrible films here with many friends.
Interesting to note that almost nothing exists now in the strip mall that ended up replacing it.
Wow, it’s a blast reading everyones post on the old redrock, I really enjoy them and laugh at all the old memories. As a kid me and my friends would go to the cinedom across from cashman school. Used to go on saturday buy the first ticket and spend the whole day sneaking into all the movies. Must have saw rocky 3 20 times back then, lol.
I worked at the Red Rock 11 from Jan 1980 to April 1983. It was the best job to have as a high school student. It was a bad day when I found out Syufi(possible spelling error) bought it in (or around early 1985).
I worked as a “candy girl/cashier” at the Red Rock from 1976 until 1979. It was the best job that a teenager could have in Las Vegas at the time! My first job, and it was there that I met a cute usher, who I would later marry. We’ve been married for 30 years now and have two children! Boyd Mosley was the manager, and he was a fabulous man! He was tough, expected a lot from the teenagers that worked there, and was a wonderfully kind man! The plaza theaters had an old time popcorn wagon that I loved to work in. We served freshly popped popcorn from this wagon and REAL butter on the popcorn! It was THE place to come to see a movie! When it was being torn down, my husband went and got a brick from the rubble, so that we could remember all of the wonderful kids we worked with and THE place that we fell in love at!
Thought those who remember the Original “Red Rock” Theatres would like this story from 1989: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hz841zbq8ao
I was lucky enough to get hired at the Red Rock as a candy girl in 1976. The previous poster “radams” was my very best friend in high school; and we had a great time working together at the Red Rock!! I have so many wonderful memories! I can’t tell you how many times we watched “A Star is Born” there! There were so many good kids who worked there. There were two ice cream parlors, the original candy counter in the front, and the “gazebo” candy counter in the back. The back had planters and benches with a large, standing clock along with the popcorn wagon. I’ll never forget working in the popcorn wagon with another girl when one of us (probably me) had forgotten to put the lid down on the popper after pouring in the oil and the popcorn kernels. Within minutes popped popcorn was flying all over the place! We could barely stop laughing long enough to put the lid down on the popper! The Red Rock was a very special place.
Saw over 50+ movies here (almost beating out my viewings at Torrey Pine and Mountain View), but I can only recall Batman, Big Hit, Kindergarten Cop, Kiss of Death, Back to the Future III … everything else is just faded memories. I used to shop at Kool Kollectibles, but after the theater closed and they opened the other locations, the owners of Kool Kollectibles accused every single customer of being a thief, and would not let a customer browse in peace at the large comic book selection. And they wonder why they went out of business. For the record, the owners of Kool Kollectibles claimed he owned the Red Rock Theater lot and building.