Uptown Theater
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
3426 Connecticut Avenue NW,
Washington,
DC
20008
41 people
favorited this theater
Opened by Warner Brothers on October 29, 1936, the Uptown Theater is the last movie palace in Washington, DC still showing first-run films. The Uptown is located near the Cleveland Park subway stop on the Red Line of the Metro. Many restaurants are on both sides of the street.
The theater opened with a seating capacity of 1,364 (914 seats in the orchestra and 450 in the stadium seated balcony). The Uptown Theater was designed by theater architect John Zink, a top designer of Art Deco and Art Moderne style movie houses. In 1939, Zink designed Baltimore’s historic Senator Theatre.
In the early 1940’s, the auditorium’s side walls were covered with fabric. In 1956, the auditorium was remodeled to allow films in wide screen Todd-AO. “South Pacific” ran for seven months in 1958 and “West Side Story” ran for nine months in 1961. In 1962, the auditorium was remodeled to show 3-strip Cinerama films. The original projection booth remains at the top of the balcony, but new booths were added at the front of the balcony. Since Cinerama ended, the center front booth continues to be used.
The World Premiere of “2001-A Space Odyssey” was at the Uptown Theater on April 2, 1968, in its original two-hour and 40 minute version. Kubrick trimmed 20 minutes, and the movie was then shown for 51 weeks. Local theater operators Circle tookover, and that company’s founders continue to own the building, though succeeding movie operators lease it. In 1987, Cineplex Odeon tookover, and that company later merged into Loews, which in time merged with into AMC.
Many films were shown in their original 70mm runs, and later, in reissues, to sold out crowds. The restored “Lawrence of Arabia” was shown in 1987, with director David Lean attending the premiere. The restored “Spartacus” was shown in 1991 and the restored “My Fair Lady” in 1994. Cineplex Odeon refurbished this palatial movie house in 1996, reducing the seating capacity to 840 and reopened it with the restored “Vertigo”. In 1997, the Uptown was host to the re-release of the Star Wars saga (aka “Star Wars: The Special Edition”). On opening day, the ticket lines wrapped around the block, turned the corner, and continued several blocks away from Connecticut Street. New prints of 36 classic films, starting with “The Jazz Singer” were shown in 1998 to celebrate 75 years of Warner Brothers movies. The other restored classics included “Rear Window” in 2000, and in 2001, a 20th anniversary run of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey”. In 2003, the Director’s Cut of “Alien” was shown, and in 2007, “Blade Runner, the Final Cut”.
Hollywood studios frequently have glittering red carpet film premieres at the Uptown Theater.
First run, blockbuster mainstream movies are the mainstay. Known for having the largest screen in DC (its curved screen measures 32 feet tall by 70 feet wide for ‘scope films), the Uptown Theater has been the best place to see event movies for several decades.
Contributed by
Karim Alim, Justin Zagri, Howard B. Haas
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Recent comments (view all 366 comments)
Happy 75th Uptown…on Oct 29th.
What is an 8k restoration equivalent of? 35mm? 70 mm? Can 2k or 4k projectors adequately show the 8k restoration?
8K is closest to 70mm. 35mm is around 3.5K Personally I don’t see how 8K works on 2K systems since there are more pixels on the former than the 2K can actually produce, but that’s how it’s being shown at Seattle’s Cinerama. 4K can and does work for 70mm features, but really 6K, at the least, is adaquate to retain the resolution and clarity of 65mm photography.
Hello I’m currently working on a book about the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and am looking for photos and programs/newspaper clippings etc from each city in which the film premiered in originally in 1968. If you saw the film in it’s initial run in the theater have a good memory of your experience, I’d love to interview you about seeing it. To date I have interviewed over 20 people that have worked on the film, and several close members in the Kubrick camp as well. If you can help please email me at
personally I’m a bit annoyed that since ‘Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol’ is being presented on nearly every specialty large screen in and around Washington, AMC feels so compelled to book it here, when really Spielberg’s ‘Adventures of TinTin’ deserves to be experienced on the largest screen possible.
Saw Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol on Tuesday late afternoon, a nice crowd. Curtain hasn’t been used for a year or two because the motor is broke. Movie isn’t being projected on top & lower corner sections, a very minor effect but one that should be corrected. Christie 4 k dual projectors are used. The surround sound is astonishingly good!
from what I understand the projection flaw you noted Howard is that digital projection systems (on the whole) have not worked out the kinks of being projected onto a curved screen, the imperfection is also noted at the Arclight Dome in LA – so until someone at DCI (Digital Cinema Inititive) can figure on how to digitally manipulate the image from the projector to the screen and now bow at the corners on large curved screens, the problem isn’t going to go away immediately.
question: does the theater sound system still have the center left, and center right speakers in place or were they removed?
Scarey that AMC owns this theater you know how they are about small theaters that are not multiplexes.
Like others, I stopped getting updates from CinemaTreasures after the update so I missed a few. As for the 35/70 projectors…Starting in 1954, the Uptown did have Norelco Todd/Ao projectors, which were replaced (relocated to the Cinema-7 theatre in Baileys Crossroads, VA), once 3-strip Cinerama was replaced by single strip (Its a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World), the Century “Cinerama” projectors were used until the end of film projection at the Uptown. I have not been in the theatre since 2005 so I do not know their disposition. AMC does not own the theatre nor the equipment so I don’t know what there obligation is on the disposal or retention of the fixed assets of the theatre.
-Steve