Cinema 150
Baldorioty de Castro Avenue,
Carolina
00979
Baldorioty de Castro Avenue,
Carolina
00979
4 people
favorited this theater
Located in the Laguna Gardens strip mall, this theater opened with a lot of fanfare in 1971. It’s first movie was “The Andromeda Strain”. It boasted that it was the most up to date, modern theater in the island. Its main screen had a Todd-AO-150 system. This theater became THE place to see many epic films. It originally seated 1,000, then became a duplex, then more small screens were added.
Somewhere in early 1980’s the theater started to gain a reputation for attracting an unruly crowd. Like in the UA owned Paramount, the administration cared very little about the comfort of people who wanted to have a civilized, orderly experience while attending a movie. So many people started avoiding the Cinema 150.
In the late 1990’s, Caribbean Cinemas bought all UA theaters in Puerto Rico. They tried at apply its good standards to the Cinema 150, but it was too late. People would rather go to the nearby Plaza Carolina theaters and the Cinema 150 was closed in late-2002.
Contributed by
Jose Mendez
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater
Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
By the way I lived 10 mins from the UA 150 and since I was younger that was my kind of movie experience !and Its very true It opened in 1971 with fanfares!Although the building of Laguna Gardens Shopping beggan its construction around 69..I use to ride my byke near by the LAguna bridge,,I saw many films in 70 mm Star Wars , Patton, Quest for Fire,2001 A Space Odyssey//
I never forget the impression that was to be part of the movie experience…
Anyone has pictures of this theater?
Went in Puerto Rico for vacation I never had the chance to attend this theater but I do remember it because it always ran the best movies of those times sorry to hear is closed.
Here’s an article that I found on its opening, with some pics!!:
http://cinerama.topcities.com/b031571.htm
Eric,
Thanks for the posting! The photos and the article bring back wonderful memories. The “semi-abstract” art that covered the walls of the auditorium added a classy touch of modernism. There was also a rather large rectangular billboard facing the Baldorioty de Castro Avenue, which was erected around the mid 70’s, and was used to advertise the major attractions at the theater. Some of the designs in the billboard were rather elaborate and impressive, such as the ones for “Gandhi” and “Return of the Jedi”. By the way, the line to see “Return of the Jedi” on opening day was something else!
Those were the days!
JSA
From what I’ve noticed, the nearby Plaza Carolina theaters is closed. Caribbean Cinemas took over every theater on the island and bought out rival CineVista theaters. The only theater active in the Carolina area is Los Colobos. With no theaters in the Laguna Gardens area or nearby Plaza Carolina, this would be a great chance for someone to revive the Cinema 150. The location is still perfect with the airport nearby. Any motions from anyone trying to revive it? This would be the perfect time to do it.
BONUS!!! Here are pictures of the Cinema 150 as it looks today. These were taken by a real estate agent who is looking for tenants to occupy more of the shopping center’s empty spaces. The theater’s classic facade is now eclipsed by a giant billboard. Enjoy:
View link
Saw so many movies here, it’s hard to track. In the late 70’s this movie theatre brought back a limited run of two big Hollywood movie musicals, “Sweet Charity” and “Funny Girl.” Saw them both here. And speaking of movie musicals, the film “Hair” premiered here (as well as in the Music Hall in Santurce, and the Cinema 4 in Guaynabo) in 1979. Don’t know why the movie flops “Airport ‘77” and “Midway” come to mind, of all the many movies I saw here. I’ll remember others and will post the here.
My first movie ever was at this theater: Midway. I would love to see pictures from the inside. Bring back those great memories.
Described in this 1971 trade article: Boxoffice