Today’s Newsreel

posted by Ross Melnick on November 7, 2002 at 3:04 pm

SANDWELL, ENGLAND — Paul Jurvis has closed the only movie house left in town, the twin Kings Cinema, citing nearby construction and the loss of parking spaces as the cause of the failing business. According to the Evening Mail, these issues have forced his patrons to attend the new Showcase Cinema in Dudley.

Jurvis' family has been in the cinema business for 47-years and previously owned the Kings, Queens, and Imperial movie houses. The newer Kings Cinema was built later, in 1975. Jurvis is already entertaining offers to take over the lease, but none of them to operate the Kings as a cinema.

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BETHPAGE, NY — Cablevision has reported increasing losses in its Clearview Cinemas unit, according to a new report by Reuters/iWon.com. Clearview Cinemas, which operates such Cinema Treasures as the Ziegfeld and the Beekman, is still up for sale.

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SAN FRANCISCO, CA — The San Francisco Weekly is reporting that Landmark Theatres' Lumiere may close for seismic retrofitting and other renovations as early as Thursday, November 14th. The triplex will need to close during the lucrative Fall art house season.

According to the SF Weekly, “As it has for the last two months, Landmark’s Opera Plaza Cinemas will continue to host the calendar of one-week bookings initiated at the Lumiere a few years ago.”

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SEATTLE, WA — The rescued and restored facade of the former Music Hall Theatre will be auctioned off on November 16th, piece by piece, according to the Seattle Times.

The Music Hall, one of Seattle’s grandest movie palaces, was torn down in 1991 to make way for an office building. Originally opened in 1929 as the Fox, its name was changed to the Seventh Avenue and later to the Music Hall. In the 70’s, it became the Emerald Place dinner theater which lasted until 1991.

The auction will consist of “ornate urns, columns, crests, arches and other relics” and will be held at 10 a.m. at 4815 15th Ave. S.W. in Seattle. For more information, visit www.tradermick.com or call auctioneer Mike Odell at (206) 542-4460.