Cooper Theatre
960 S. Colorado Boulevard,
Denver,
CO
80246
960 S. Colorado Boulevard,
Denver,
CO
80246
22 people
favorited this theater
The Cooper Theatre was the first of three Cinerama theaters built by the Cooper Foundation in the early-1960’s. Known as the Golden Triangle, the three theaters were located in Denver, Omaha, and Minneapolis. Complete with massive screens and the latest sound technology, all three were designed to exhibit films made in the 3-strip Cinerama process.
Renamed as the Cooper/Cameo by the 1970’s, the theater later became part of the Commonwealth Theatres circuit, who franchised the Cooper name. They also built the Cooper 5, Cooper 6, Cooper 7, and Cooper Twin (none of which were Cinerama theaters), which were constructed to mimick the round, elevated roofs of the existing Cooper theaters.
Visitors came from all over to see the Cooper Theatre and its wonderous screen. But after several years of delighting audiences and packing full houses, the Cooper Theatre began to draw fewer crowds.
After Commonwealth Theatres, the Cooper Theatre was run by United Artists, who continued to operate the theater until it was sold. Like Cinerama itself, the Cooper Theatre in Denver did not last forever. After years of changing hands, the massive theater was finally sold to Barnes & Noble, who razed it in 1994 to build a new store.
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Recent comments (view all 78 comments)
Only place to really enjoy Star Wars. Packed,I sat dead center front row, screen and sound system was off the chart. That theater made those movies. Alien was also off the chart as well as Pink Floyd “The Wall”.
Star Wars. The ‘reserved only’ night premier of The Empire Strikes Back. Alien (6th row back, to the right of the center section, too terrified to put my feet down and needing a restroom break but no way I was leaving that seat!)Anything that needed a full immersion experience was beyond amazing here. IMAX has always kind of seemed like a poor substitute for the experiences of seeing things in the Cooper back in the day. Thanks for the link to that link to the Boxoffice archive @Tinseltoes – it was a gold mine! Wish I could get my hands on the full architectural plans! :)
My thanks to those of you who have posted here previously. Especially to those with links to other pics of this treasure
Here are several of my memories for your perusal.
Bad – other than the fact that it was torn down to make way for a B&N the main bad one is what a pain it was to get in and out of the parking lot. The parking behind the theater was adequate except for the biggest sellouts but there were only two exits both onto Colorado Blvd and if someone was insisting on turning left across the traffic you could be there a looooong time. I do remember that, by the late 90’s they had opened a few exists at the back of the lot but they rarely had sellouts by then.
Good – the viewing experience really was a marvel. All of the sci-fi films were better there than any other theater – the Continental and Century 21 were tip top but still not quite as good. For my money, while Imax is amazing, it doesn’t achieve the same things that Cinerama did. I know this is just me being an old foggie because Imax is just fine but it isn’t the same for me.
Other – if you look at the pictures of the interior of the theater you will see alcoves with benches on either side of the main seating area. When it first opened these actually had snack stands in them. I don’t think this lasted very long as I am sure that the noise was a problem for those sitting close to them but I do remember them being there. Later they were used as smoking areas until the indoor smoking bans came along. You can also see pics of the balcony and the stairs leading to it. I’m pretty sure that I only sat up there once and I remember getting a bit of a headache as the curve of the screen distorted the picture a bit from that angle. By the late 70’s I’m pretty sure that is was permanently closed.
I saw the 1st three Star Wars films there on the first showing on their opening days and I have found that peoples memories of that first day back in ‘77 has gotten a bit confused. It opened on Wed May 25th and the very 1st showing was somewhere between noon and one thirty. I drove down with a bunch of frat brothers and we walked in about fifteen minutes before the film started and got good seats quite easily. The theater was only half to two thirds full. People seem to forget that a) that was a school day and b) nobody new what Star Wars was yet. Now I am not saying that by that evening – and certainly by that weekend – that there weren’t long lines to get in and each showing was a sellout, its just that did not happen on the very first showing. On a different note I’ll wonder how many young people would be able to understand, or imagine, a blockbuster film only opening at one theater and playing for months, or years (a la The Sound of Music which played at the Aladdin for something like two and a half years) on end.
One other tidbit – most of the films that showed there in the 60’s had an overture, entre act (or intermission) and closing music (that went on beyond the end of the credits.) One of the extras on the DVD box set for How the West Was Won mentions that one of the factors that went into length of that music was how long it took the massive curtains to open and close across that immense screen.
Cheers to all
Great post Michael AD. I have great memories of the Cooper Theater myself.
The first movie I seen at the Cooper was That’s Entertainment in 1974, I was mature nine years old. Was too young to see the original Star Wars on May 25th, 1977, had to wait for mom to take me on my birthday in June. Although I did see the Empire Strikes Back opening day May 21st, 1980, (10:30-10:45am) showing.
I skipped school with some of my buddies that day and caught the RTD bus at 7am. As the bus approached the top of the small incline in front of Celebrity Lanes, I Could see the Cooper’s theater marquee on the left side bus. What a site to see, (THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK) with all the show times listed blow including (IN 70MM & 6 Track Dolby Stereo) and the line around the building to the south side.
Other fans making breakfast runs to McDonalds for other die hard Star Wars fans. I also remember a channel 4 mobile truck pulling up to the theater, setting up a desk on the lawn under the Cooper’s marquee with reporters getting ready to do the 11am live news cast.
If I remember correctly the balcony was never permanently closed. The last time I sat upstairs was when Dances with Wolves played there moving over from the Continental Theater.
Thanks for your post and memories Monty. I definitely remember That’s Entertainment. My dad and mom were big fans of those musicals. When I think back to my age at the time that may have been one of the last times that the whole family went to a film together. You could be right about the balcony – I just always remember the seeing the “Section Closed” ropes across the stairs. Maybe they opened it whenever they sold enough tickets to need the seats. Thanks again and cheers.
Yeah, the balcony remained opened (at least for big movies) to the end. I sat up there only once, for Die Hard 2 in July 1990. I worked for United Artists late 80s/early 90s and we had a couple company meetings at the Cooper. Was lucky enough to see early screenings of Total Recall (which never actually played at the Cooper, it opened at the Continental) and Black Rain. First trip to the Cooper was Return of the Jedi in ‘83. Quite an experience for a 12 year old. It was a gem of a theater and a crime that it’s gone.
Thanks for adding your memories Cliff. I had another thought this morning – I almost always went to matinees to avoid the traffic that I mentioned in my first post. I’ll bet they opened the balcony for evening and night screenings. We sure are lucky to have had this theatre in out past!!
That’s probably very true Michael. I think most balconies are closed during slow periods/showtimes. It keeps the theater staff from having to clean the theater between shows on 2 different levels when attendance is low and staffing light.
It’s amazing to me that we spent the last 25 or so years destroying all of these majestic, giant screen palaces only to now see all of the chains trying to rebuild and rebrand new giant screens (RPX, EXT, XD) to get audiences back. Did we tear down all these amazing houses only to see them rebuilt, but not quite as well?
Awesome theater! I saw 2001: A Space Odyssey here in 1968 as a reserved-seat roadshow presentation with my grandparents, parents and kid sister. Waited in line to to see Star Wars (just “Star Wars” – no “A New Hope”), Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Alien all first show opening day. Hid in the bathroom so I could slip back in to see Star Wars a second consecutive time that first day and returned to see it many more times in 1977. Damn shame they demolished this one.
Another amazing theater lost to time and commerce.
I saw The Empire Strikes back there in 1980 (my Uncle took my brother and me). The last movie I saw there was the 25th Anniversary re-issue of 2001: A Space Odyssey.