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The latest movie theater news and updates
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July 8, 2010
Orpheum Theatre reopens on its 61st Anniversary
MARSHALLTOWN, IA — After a $3.2 million dollar and 10-year renovation, the Orpheum Theatre re-opened its doors with a four-day celebration.
The theater was the first that RKO built after World War II, back when Hollywood studios built their own facilities.
It seats 152 people in two theatres, includes an outdoor amphitheater, a gallery of photos and artifacts about Iowa film stars, and will play movies over 1 year old.
The good news: The air-conditioning is up and running, along with other features visitors may remember from way back when. The original marquee and neon tower are glowing again, the terrazzo floor in the lobby has been polished, the chandeliers sparkle, and the original coffee shop has been serving customers for the last two weeks.
There are new features, too, including an outdoor amphitheater, a gallery of photos and artifacts about Iowa film stars (including Marshalltown natives Jean Seberg, Mary Beth Hurt and “Wizard of Oz” munchkin Dale Paullin, who still lives in town), a black box theater for live performances, a prep kitchen for special events and three classrooms for the theater department at Marshalltown Community College.
Read the full story in theDes Moines Register.
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Annual BlobFest in Phoenixville July 9-11
PHOENIXVILLE, PA — Each summer over the past ten years, this Pennsylvania town celebrates its role as the small town setting for the 1958 cult science fiction classic, “The Blob.” Events include a street fair, tours of places used for filming, an exhibit of set miniatures, and a reenactment of the famous scene of panicking theatergoers exiting the town’s Colonial Theatre. There will be an appearance of the actual Blob (it’s kept in a five gallon bucket), and of course, several showings of the film. The full article about the event here and the schedule of events ishere.
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Heywood Wakefield vintage theater seating
500 seats available soon. These are circa 1955 and are in really good condition, especially the upholstery.
Metal framed rocker seats with red upholstery. The arm rests are made of wood. Pictures available upon request.
Willing to deliver within 400 mile radius of Batavia, NY. Contact Chris at .com if interested.
Thank You
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July 7, 2010
Keeping the neon lit on Main Streets of the Great Plains
An article in the July 5, 2010 print edition of The New York Times (“Old Movie Houses Find Audience in the Plains”) describes local efforts to sustain historic Main Street storefront cinemas as focal points for their rural communities in the Great Plains region.
In an age of streaming videos and DVDs, the small town Main Street movie theater is thriving in North Dakota, the result of a grass-roots movement to keep storefront movie houses, with their jewel-like marquees and facades of careworn utility, at the center of community life.
Perhaps it’s a sign of a broader trend as well.
The revival is not confined to North Dakota; Main Street movie houses like the [Alamo](/theaters/909/) in Bucksport, Me., the [Luna](/theaters/8801/) in Clayton, N.M., and the [Strand](/theaters/12682/) in Old Forge, N.Y., are flourishing as well. But in the Great Plains, where stop signs can be 50 miles apart and the nearest multiplex is 200 miles round trip, the town theater -- one screen, one show a night, weekends only -- is an anchoring force, especially for families.
The entire article (with a brief slide show, mostly of Langdon, ND’s Roxy) is here at NYTimes.com.
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Skyview Drive-in in Belleville adding third screen
BELLEVILLE, IL — The sixty-one-year-old Skyview Drive-in will be adding a third screen, to be built on the adjacent land currently occupied by the defunct Quad Theatre which closed in 2000. The Skyview is the only surviving drive-in in the greater St. Louis, MO area.
SIEGEL: At one time, across the country, there were thousands of drive-in movie theaters. Now, only a few hundred remain. They became victims of the home video revolution, and those enormous lots for the outdoor theaters became prime targets for real estate speculators who saw an opportunity to build strip malls. But for a variety of reasons, the theater in Belleville was never gobbled up.
Mr. BLOOMER: So as a result, we were kind of forced to continue to operate it, and as a result, we survived the slump in drive-ins in the ‘80s and '90s, and we’ve come back to be a real strong option for families to see a movie.
There’s more at NPR.com.
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First Hollywood movie filmed on Whitley Estate on October 26, 1911
Of all the products of popular culture, none is more sharply etched in our imagination than the movies. Most Americans instantly recognize images produced by the movies: Harrison Ford, as Indiana Jones, as an adventurous archeologist in “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. Sean Connery, the gun-toting James Bond in “Goldfinger”, and Carrie Fisher, the beautiful princess who is fighting the evil emperor in “Star Wars”. Even those who have never seen “ET”, “Casablanca” or “Gone With the Wind” respond instantly to the advertisements, parodies, and TV skits that use these films' dialogue, images, and characters. So when was the first Hollywood movie filmed?
According to Hollywood myth, the first film made there was produced Cecil B DeMille’s “The Squaw Man” in 1914, after the director decided not to alight in a snowbound Flagstaff, Arizona, but to proceed to Los Angeles. However, in 1911 a new exciting era of Hollywood was ushered in. The motion picture industry already had several studios in the heart of Los Angeles. The movie “In the Sultan’s Power” was produced in 1908 by Colonel Selig. It was the first full-length motion picture shot in an old mansion at Eighth and Olive.
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Ridgewood back on the market
RIDGEWOOD, QUEENS — One of the country’s oldest movie theaters is looking for one more big premiere. Myrtle Avenue’s Ridgewood Theater near the Brooklyn/Queens border became a protected city landmark earlier this year, and at the time the plan was to turn the shuttered movie palace back into a working cinema. Er, cancel that. Or not! Do whatever you want with the place, because it’s now on the market through Massey Knakal for $3.9 million, which is less than half what the 52,000sf complex was seeking two years ago, the Daily News notes.
What will the theater’s fate be? Maybe residential, maybe a hotel, maybe—as its broker told the News—“a Queens version of Brooklyn Bowl.” A Williamsburg-style hipster hangout? That’s no way to treat an old lady! Check out the gallery above for some listing photos that show the Ridgewood’s seen-better-days interiors
Read more at NY Curbed.
UPDATE 7/16: More from the Ridgewood Theatre Forum.
Rich
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Loew plaque for sale
From Loew’s Lincoln Square, demolished for Lincoln Center. Will entertain reasonable offers.
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July 6, 2010
Warren, OH’s Elm Road Triple Drive-in celebrates sixty years
WARREN, OH — Regular upgrades over the years have enabled the Elm Road Triple Drive-In to accomplish what not very many other drive-ins have been able to do: celebrate a diamond anniversary. The gates to the still family-owned outdoor theater opened in August of 1950.
The drive-in, which celebrates its 60th anniversary this year, is one of the last of its kind in the Mahoning Valley. There are fewer than 400 drive-ins left in the U.S., according to the United Drive-In Theater Owners Association.
The Elm Road Triple Drive-In has bucked the trend by modernizing its facilities to reflect the changing times, said theater manager Sheri Hocevar, daughter of owner Bob Hreno.
There is more at Vindy.com.
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Miami’s Gusman Center threatened with closure
MIAMI, FL – The Gusman Center for the Performing Arts (Olympia Theatre, 1926) may face closure, due to budget cutbacks addressing the city’s estimated $100 million deficit.
Miami Mayor Tomás Regalado proposed elimination of the city’s $478,000 contribution to the Gusman’s $1.4 million annual operating budget. The Friends of Gusman, along with county and state funding, have traditionally provided the rest.
Regalado’s move comes despite the Gusman’s recent $8 million makeover, an uptick in the downtown population, and such popular attractions as the Miami Film Festival and a recent “Twilight” fan event.