Eastwood Theatre
6800 Pendleton Pike,
Indianapolis,
IN
46226
6800 Pendleton Pike,
Indianapolis,
IN
46226
1 person
favorited this theater
This theater opened in 1968 with the film “The Impossible Years” and was operated by the Y & W management company. The theater then showcased “Funny Girl” in 70mm. It was designed with a rustic image. It was part of a strip shopping center anchored by a Zayre department store.
The theater in 1974 removed its flat screen and installed a larger curved screen to accomodate the re-release of “This Is Cinerama”. Though there was hesitation to redo the screen, it later was a big pay off as the exclusive venue for “Star Wars”.
The theater had begun in the early-1970’s to be the eastside showcase for all Disney releases, which eventually helped the demise of the neighboring Arlington Theatre, which had been the Disney location for nearly 20 years. The theater thrived on the releases of the other “Sar Wars” movies, but it, too, floundered to the times and was unable to expand to keep up with other locations.
The Eastwood Theatre was torn down and replaced by a Menards.
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moviemad4life
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Recent comments (view all 27 comments)
The Eastwood Theatre, operated by Y & W, was the direct competitor that ultimately put the Arlington Theatre out of the first run business.
The Eastwood Theatre opened Sept 11, 1968 with Prudence and the Pill" which was a short run picture till Funny Girl" opened in Oct and ran 9 months. For “Star Wars” we purchased the first Dolby unit in Indiana, I think it was a CP50, and we had an exclusive run in Indy for the first 12 weeks. We had 35-70 projectors (made in Italy), 4-track magnetic and 6-track magnetic sound, with 5 large Altec speakers behind the screen. For “Tommy” which was 35mm with 4-track stereo, we took two speakers from behind the screen and mounted them in the rear corners of the auditorium, then tied them to the surround speakers. It was pretty impressive. In the ads, just for fun, we called it “Eastaphonic Stereo”.
The EASTWOOD’s run of “Star Wars” ended up being an Indianapolis exclusive for eight weeks, not twelve. On July 22, 1977 (week nine), two more bookings of “Star Wars” were added to the Indianapolis market (REGENCY 1 & 2 and LAFAYETTE SQUARE II-III-IV).
The EASTWOOD’s run of “Star Wars,” by the way, went on for 55 weeks, which I believe was the longest run in the theater’s history.
I stand corrected. The original contract was negotiated for 12 weeks exclusive but after the huge openings everywhere the pressure was on Fox to broaden the run, which they did. I originally agreed to put up $50,000 to Fox for the run; however, Fox bid the run in Louisville and they only got $40,000. They then came back and changed my deal to $40,000. The picture was a gamble because the deal was made more than six months prior to opening and all we really knew was it was being made in England, on a closed set, with no big name stars, directed by a fairly new guy named George Lucas. Fox wanted the Eastwood because of its 800 seats, projection, and reputation as a good theatre. There were other considerations, too. It wasn’t trade screened until just before the actual opening and … . I felt a whole lot better. It grossed about $50,000 a weekfor the first few weeks, which was capacity on most shows.
Wasn’t this theatre a concert venue briefly in the 1990s?
I’m pretty sure I saw Hole, The Cramps, and Urge Overkill there.
I worked at the Eastwood when Star Wars opened in May 1977. Just to add my memory to verify a few things brought up here already. There was an invitation only VIP screening 1 or 2 nights before the opening. I brought my family and a few friends. Seeing Star Wars before it’s official opening is a fact one of my guests (I was a high school senior at the time) still boasts about today. The first public screen was the standard 12:45 show on a Friday afternoon. When I showed up the typical 30 minutes early to start popping corn, there was already a line of 100 people waiting at the box office—something our concession stand wasn’t prepared for. That first weekend was an under-staffed madhouse. The concession would run out of ice every few hours, and I’d have to haul a huge cooler to the nearby Dairy Queen to bum a supply of ice to get us through the next wave of customers.
If memory serves correct, the midnight screenings began a few weeks later after it became obvious the huge crowds that were routinely turned away after the last show sold out could justify adding a 6th screening to the daily schedule. Considering Star Wars opened the last week in May, it’s likely Ronnie Clark saw his midnight show in June at the earliest. I believe the midnight screenings were only weekends, but I could be wrong about that.
I have zero memory of Marty Carr or Dave Battas; they must have been upper-management with C & W. As I lower-level employee, my only dealings were with the on-site manager, Ron Keedy, who later went on the run several repertory theatres in Indianapolis.
<<< I worked at the Eastwood when Star Wars opened in May 1977. The first public screen[ing] was the standard 12:45 show on a Friday afternoon. >>>
The first showtime is correct (based on how it was promoted in the local paper) but the day of the week isn’t. It opened on a Wednesday.
Just for historical accuracy – the theater wasn’t torn down and replaced with a Menards. The shopping center was originally an Ayr-Way, then changed to a Target ca. 1980 when they bought the local chain. When Target closed the store it became a Menard’s. All of them used the existing building, so nothing was “demolished” for the Menard’s. As I recall, the Eastwood was on an outlot (on the northeast side by the extant apartments, I think), not in the main shopping center building itself.
Sorry, davebindy , but your comments aren’t quite accurate. The strip mall where the Target was located was definitely torn down and replaced with a new building. You can see this by looking at the current satellite view of the area on Google Maps. One part of the strip mall is still there, by the way, just not where the Menards actually is.
The Eastwood Theater was located on an outlot, as you say, but it was on the west side of the area, where Menards now appears to have some kind of warehouse. You could get to the theater by driving on what is now marked as N Elizabeth St. I remember my sister always drove that “back way” to get there.
There used to be a hotel at the corner of Shadeland and Pendleton Pike, which was basically next to those apartments, and you might have been thinking of that as the location of the Eastwood. The hotel was finally torn down in the 2000s, I believe.
@davebindy – even before ayr-way, the store was Topps.
@Miyeko – That hotel that had the round dining area was a Holiday Inn. @Martyj – Marty Carr managed the Eastwood Theater at least 81 – 83. Annie was a big movie at the time for Eastwood. Daddy Warbucks even flew in via helicopter, landing in the parking lot. Also red icecream was served that day. Marty Carr also introduced concerts to the theater after the Dolby System was installed and the Starwars days had passed. First it was AC/DC’s movie “Let There Be Rock!” It rocked! I think the first physical concert was performed by a group called Moviola. They rocked at the time as well. A song they performed was “She loves the Radio”. Ah… good times.