Lewis and Clark Theatre

A night view of the attraction board on a cover of The Modern Theatre section in 1957: boxoffice

Grand opening ads from November 20th, 1956 and December 16th, 1982 (as 7-plex) posted in the photo section.

What GREAT photos from cinematreasures!! I had almost forgotten what that main auditorium and those murals looked like! It was huge! I actually saw my first R-rated movie there, “Blazing Saddles” in the mid-70’s. And for a period in the late 70’s they ran “Rocky Horror” at midnight on Fridays & Sats in Auditorum 3.

A pre-renovation photo of the auditorium of the Lewis And Clark Theatre can be seen on this page of Boxoffice, June 8, 1957 (upper right corner.)

Moviefone still lists the theatre? Its been closed for a while…

Matt, Do you remember Greg? It would have been around 1986.

I’m looking for an old friend who worked at Lewis and Clark in the 80’s. His name is Greg and he was from Auburn.

I grew up a few miles from the Lewis & Clark, and when my family or friends saw movies it was usually there. I’m sure I saw 500 movies there… And of course, even in its single-screen era it was never a fabulous movie palace, but it was so much better than any cinema I’ve seen built after the 1970s.

Mostly, what made the Lewis & Clark terrific was the ownership, management, and staff that kept the place spotless, the seats comfy and clean, the projection sharp, the service friendly, and the popcorn hot and yummy, right up until the day SRO sold it to Cineplex Odeon (or as we called it, Cineplex Odious). The broken chairs, unfocused presentation, and odd odors started within a few months of that switch, and within a year or so of the sale I gave up and started driving miles out of my way to see movies elsewhere.

My sincere thanks to Allet’s father (the 1960s manager) and projectionist Mike Bridgham for their good work. It was appreciated, and at the risk of sounding really old, it was a level of giving-a-damn that’s rarely seen any more.

And, Spencer, I forgot to add: I love your memories of Lewis & Clark. I wish I could’ve experienced that movie-going experience.

I was a doorman (in a green and gold uniform) at the Lewis and Clark when I was in high school starting in 1957. At that time the theater was the pride of John Danz who owned Sterling Theaters, and was already quite elderly.
It was an enormous single-screen house with a gracious lobby, a children’s nursery with a nanny and a television lounge for patrons waiting for the film to start. In the back of the auditorium there was a sound-proofed room for people with small children and a party room that could be reserved for special family or group gatherings. It was not at all unusual for all 2000 seats to be sold-out for huge films like “Spartacus” “The Vikings” “Auntie Mame” and “Peyton Place.”
The theater managers wore white dinner jackets in summer and tuxedos in winter. The ushers wore snazzy uniforms, and people who worked the concession counter had to pass a fingernail inspection before their shift and wore washable clothes and aprons that were color coordinated with the décor. On weekend evenings there was an usher at the top of every aisle to show people to their seats.
The grounds were professionally maintained and there was a rather lavish garden of exotic looking plants on both sides of the walkway between the theater and bowl up to the box-office.
Later I became an assistant manager (got my tux and dinner jacket paid for by the company) and subsequently worked at other theaters the company owned. (One was the Palomar in downtown Seattle that I don’t see mentioned on this site. Too bad, because it was a gorgeous house.)
In those days the theater was located in a family district. It was the biggest and most successful venue for miles. The airport with its attendant problems hadn’t dominated the area. The streets around the theater weren’t havens for thugs, druggies and hookers as they are now.
In its day the Lewis and Clark was elegant and successful.

P.S I forgot to mention That Dad was an excellent painter, he worked in SRO’s graphics dept. also, likening the possibility it was him, Im almost certain he must have helped if it had been the lady mentioned.The original owner did care, he visited my father at home once when he was not doing well. Allet

I can sympathize with “bluejack’s” horrendous “Spiderman” experience at the Lewis & Clark toward the end of its life, but what made this theatre a treasure is what it was, not what it became. But it sounds like the treasure had already turned to trash by the end, and I’m sure there was no going back.

I went to this theatre almost every week between the years of 1963 and 1966. Then it was truly a rather “posh” mid-century modern movie palace in its own way. Even if it wasn’t the ornate sort of Hollywood movie palace of the 20s and 30s, it was still a far cry from the utilitarian black-box multiplexes of today. Yes, there was only one very large screen. You walked up a long plushly-carpeted curving incline to get to the theatre, and it split halfway up and another long curve went up to a very spacious balcony. The theatre was always impeccably clean, and the seats were comfortable.

I couldn’t even think of listing all the great early 60s movies I saw there. The original “Pink Panther” and “The World of Henry Orient” both with Peter Sellars, “Charade” with Audrey Hepburn and Cary Grant, just to name three.

Movie audiences — not yet in the habit of watching most of their movies in their own living rooms — were just a tad more civilized then. There were ushers, who stood in the back of the theatre during the showings, and if anybody talked out loud during the movie or created any other type of commotion, they got a talking-to, and were summarily “ushered” out if they didn’t shape up.

Yeah, the Bowling Alley was pretty blue-collar, but so was my family. We used to often go there after the show and have a burger and fries, and it was quite a treat.

I’m glad I never saw the sub-divided horror they turned it into.