Austin Cinema I & II
1001 North Westshore Boulevard,
Tampa,
FL
33607
1001 North Westshore Boulevard,
Tampa,
FL
33607
4 people
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Architects of the theatre were Jacob L. Gottfried and Genaro Garcia, Jr. of Gottfried & Garcia Architects of Tampa. The broader complex encompassing the cinema in early stages appears to have been executed by architect Harry A. MacWen.
Reopened as Austin Cinema on July 18th, 1972 and split into 2 screens opening on November 16th, 1973. 2 more ads in the photo section.
Here’s the grand opening ad (Full page)
Found on Newspapers.com
Rivest266: Thanx for posting the nice ad. Is this from the St. Petersburg Times? I have the opening day ad from the Tampa Tribune which is much too large to scan. It’s a huge 2-page spread advertising both Loew’s Theatre and the opening attraction “Candy.”
Found the grand opening ad for the Loews from December 20th, 1968. It opened the same day as the Trans-Lux in Clearwater.
What happened to the Loew’s marquee photo that was posted on this page?
I moved to Tampa in 1983 and the theater was already torn down.
I thought Ewa had faded into oblivion but following CANDY she appeared in several Italian films during the 1970s and one other American film, START THE REVOLUTION WITHOUT ME which did very little box office in the U.S. According to Wikipedia she was forever typecast as a “blond nymphet” by the industry and her dream of becoming a serious actress never materialized. She eventually gave up acting, went to University and became a teacher. Good career move!
Candy? What were they thinking? Well, at least it got them some attention. Too bad Candy was such a crummy movie. But then, how could it miss. Wonder what Ewa Aulin is doing these days.
To whomever posted the great marquee photo—THANKS— very nice! I scanned the Tribune for days but could not find a single shot of the Loew’s building inside or out. This shot is from the evening of the grand opening on Friday, December 20, 1968. Nice memories of a great theatre before it was twinned and totally ruined.
thanks for the info! hard to believe that it has been over 38 years since my shadow cast upon the tampa soil. bummer that both of these venues were spliced up before just weeks my madien visit to the area.
Thanks Nick.
Jack: Yes, Saturday Night Fever opened first-run here and played for several months in 1977. I believe it also opened at one other area theatre during the same time (either University Square Mall or Floriland Cinemas.) Unfortunately my search for a photo of the Austin/Loew’s has proven to be very elusive. If I do manage to locate one I’ll certainly post it here.
The other GCC theatre on Dale Mabry you’re thinking of was the single-screen Britton Theatre which became a triple-screener in 1973 and was renamed Britton Cinemas III. The twinning of the Austin followed soon after. Check the Britton on CT. I posted an article on the renovation which includes an interior photo showing a portion of the original large theatre after rennovation. The article mentions similiar plans are being considered for the Austin Cinema.
I think that this is the theatre where I saw Saturday Night Fever. Looking For Mr. Goodbar was showing in the other auditorium. Both of the auditoriums were extremely large and long. The twining was definitely done on the fly with as little of an expense as possible but there were still some vestiges of its former glory. Would love to see a photo or two of the Austin/Loews. Was there another GCC theatre on Dale Mabry that had a similar twin job?
Thats what I thought thanks for the info.
The newspaper ads usually listed LOEW’S TAMPA so as to not confuse it with the LOEW’S across the bay in St. Petersburg since they also advertised in the Tampa papers.
Thanks again Nick,I had been on the page before just did not realize that this was A.K.A. LOEWS TAMPA,or was it just LOEWS and they used the Tampa just in ads?
Thanks Bob! Glad you enjoyed it. Don’t know how many actually read and enjoy the little stories and personal rememberences but I believe they add a sort of nice touch to the posting.
Yep, they did a pretty awful twin job on the Austin. The first time I saw it I couldn’t believe it. What was once just about the most beautiful theatre in town was now the most ridiculous looking. It might have been different had they angled the seats properly and maybe installed curtains over the bare screens. But it was done very fast and cheap to get ‘em open again quickly…pure greed.
Nick, GREAT write up, CONGRATS! If only every theater on Cinema Treasures had a story like this.
It’s bad enough when they twin a theater, but I really hate it when they don’t even bother to change the angle of the seats after they put the wall down the middle.
Kendra Drive-in was all ready on even though i checked a search and got nothing.so wrote about what sent in below.
Yep, those are the Drive-ins AND SOME OF MY BEST WRITING! LOL. I got them on,Plus Hi-way 56,Dixie,and Melody Drive-ins tonight. I haven’t seen the KENDRA ON YET.The others are already on,hope they didn’t have a problem with what i wrote.The Kendra Drive-in had the Hooker story in it. Okay, you look so young i was 12 in 68 and wasn’t getting in any R -rated flicks. TLSLOEWS would be proud of you.
Oh yes! I was there opening night. I pleaded with my friend to work my shift so I could be off that Friday evening. I wouldn’t have missed the grand opening of Loew’s for the world. In December of 1968 I was 18 so no problem getting in. There were two showings of “Candy” that night and they played her recorded message again before the second showing. But I didn’t stay to see film again.
I left just after it began. Sitting through it once was more than enough although I wouldn’t mind taking a peek at it today (42 years later!) just to see if it’s aged well which I suspect it hasn’t.
The Orangeburg, Bon-Air, and Kendra…are these the same drive-ins you mailed me awhile back to put on CT? If they are I apologize for not getting them up sooner! Yes, I remember the Kings Mt. D/I. We had left the film convention and followed you there before heading back to Tampa.
Kings Moutain Drive-in is on CT,We visited it years ago with Charlie and Mike and maybe Miss Ollie. Check it out,Nick.
Did you see “Candy” opening night, You wrote she had a recorded message,but you were not old enough to see it in 1968? I submitted those Drive-ins,Orangeburg,Bon-Air,and Kendra Drive-in with Jennifer’s help. It was a task to do,so i really appreciated all those theatres you got on for me. So please keep an eye out for them I guess Ct has to read them over before printing them.I tried to keep YOUR high standards,Nick.
Left you a message on CARVER site, Glad you all are dry.