Cameron Village Theatre
511 Woodburn Road,
Raleigh,
NC
27605
511 Woodburn Road,
Raleigh,
NC
27605
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The Cameron Village Theatre was part of the first shopping center ever built in Raleigh, NC. The shopping center opened on November 17, 1949, and it became a destination showplace of shops and services. The stores consisted of several when it opened, among them was anchored by Colonial/Big Star Grocer, Roses 5 and 10 Discount Store, three major department stores: among them were Sears, Thalhimers and Penney’s (JC Penney), and speciality shops that included Boylan-Pierce, Balentine’s Cafeteria and the Village Pharmacy to name a few.
The Cameron Village Theatre was one of the first moviehouses to be built in what at the time was a suburban section of the city, not far from the greater downtown Raleigh, and less than three blocks from the campus of North Carolina State University. The Cameron Village Theatre was one of the South’s most modern single screen moviehouses and one of the most elegant in all of Eastern North Carolina. The grand opening of the Cameron Village Theatre was on Thursday February 22, 1951 with Ronald Reagan in “Bedtime For Bonzo”. It was located at the interesction of Cameron Street and Woodburn Road.
Beautifully designed and decorated inside and out, the Cameron Village Theatre was a showplace that had the most relaxing atmosphere in the most modern manner, that brought the Triangle area some of Hollywood’s best. At the time of its opening, the Village presented the latest projection equipment and futurist interior furnishings – a first for Raleigh and Eastern North Carolina. The auditorium itself was a huge 750-seat theatre, complete with extra wide aisles and it offered for the first ever ‘floating seats’ for maximum comfort and convenience when other patrons leave or enter your aisle. There was also acres of free parking.
The theatre was renovated in the 1960’s, and more parking spaces were added. By June, 1975, a second auditorium was created by twinning the original auditorium down the middle. It was renamed Village Twin Theatres and it was acquired by Martin Theatres chain. Operated by Carmike Cinemas, as more shopping centers were built in the city, the Cameron Village Shopping Center’s fortunes fell. During one of the Center’s many makeovers, the twin cinema closed in the early-1990’s.
The building was gutted in the mid-1990’s, and a K & W Cafeteria was constructed inside the former cinema.
Contributed by
philipgoldberg, Raymond
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Recent comments (view all 17 comments)
K&W Cafeterias is still listed at this address,as the header states.
Mike,
Do you have an email address? Write me sometime at
CORRECTION:
Sam Peckinpah’s 1969 violent western THE WILD BUNCH opened originally on June 18, 1969,but in selected cities like New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Atlanta,
and Charlotte for its original opening enagements.
The film itself wouldn’t be released nationally until July of 1969…However,THE WILD BUNCH did not played at the Cameron Village Theatre. However,it was released as a roadshow enagement in the Raleigh-Durham area for two area theatres when it opened on July 1, 1969….those theatres are:
RALEIGH:
-State Theatre (Downtown)
DURHAM:
-Lakewood Center Theatre
CHAPEL HILL:
-Varsity Theatre(It opened in mid-August of 1969)
However: The Cameron Village Theatre or the Village Theatre On June 18, 1969 had the exclusive showing of
“The Trouble With Girls” Starring Elvis Presley(in fact,a LOT of Elvis Presley movies did very well at the Village Theatre)that ran for three weeks.
On July 1, 1969,the Cameron Village Theatre had a one week enagement showing of “The Mad Room”,which was a horror flick from American International that starred Stella Stevens and Shelley Winters. The following week on July 8, 1969,the Village played “Mackenna’s Gold"
that became a roadshow enagement starring Gregory Peck and Omar Sharif,that ran for three and half weeks.
Sam Peckinpah’s THE WILD BUNCH did not played at the Cameron Village Theatre,just to clarify that,and I did make the necessary corrections here.
They did a hard ticket (roadshow) for a movie for only three and a half weeks. It was a general release elsewhere.
Raysson, How are you defining “roadshow”?
I would like to understand his definition of “roadshow” also. Most of the movies he mentioned as “roadshows” only ran a couple weeks, and they were general release elsewhere. McKenns Gold, The Wild Bunch, Blazing Saddles, Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark and Little Mermaid were general relsease features not hard tickets.
definition “Roadshow"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roadshow
Any questions? E-Mail me at
When I get extra time I like to look at the Raleigh theater descriptions. I have found many mistakes in nearly all of the main theater descriptions for the Raleigh theaters. In the case of the Village Twin, the original auditorium was not left intact after the twinning. The auditorium was split down the middle creating two horrible shoe-box auditoriums with smallish screens.
The Cameron Village when it was a single screen theatre mostly got a lot of the MGM product. A lot of the Elvis Presley films released by MGM got played here first-run.
A lot of great films played here. The Cameron Village on November 17,1963 played LAWRENCE OF ARABIA for it’s only first-run engagement showing. A Raleigh Premiere.
Also played here: Lee Marvin in THE DIRTY DOZEN
Mel Brooks' BLAZING SADDLES
JAWS played here on June 20,1975
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK played here on June 12, 1981.
STAR TREK V: THE FINAL FRONTIER
chuck 1231: Walt Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID played here first-run in 1989 on Screen One.
Screen Two: STAR TREK V:THE FINAL FRONTIER also released in 1989.
chuck 1231: Walt Disney’s THE LITTLE MERMAID played here first-run in 1989 on Screen One.
Screen Two: STAR TREK V:THE FINAL FRONTIER also released in 1989.