When the Greenville Grande opened I was glad to have an alternative to the Carmike 12, which was showing its age. The first movie I saw in this beautiful cinema was “Grindhouse”. I had previously seen “Grindhouse” at the Carmike (which was a more fitting venue for that film) and the difference between the two multiplexes was like night and day. The Greenville Grande is the better of the two; why Carmike is still in Greenville I haven’t figured out.
I remember the Park Theatre very well. In the late 1980s when I hung out in downtown Greenville the Park was my preferred destination. I liked the vintage 1970s' pink and purple auditorium, and I loved the rocking chairs. The Park had the largest screen in Greenville at the time, perfect for watching slasher films such as “Nightmare on Elm Street 3” and “Shocker”. In 1990 the Park showed a first-run feature for the first time in over ten years, “Def By Temptation”. It was a Troma film, which normally would have played at the Plaza Cinema; it was also the last first-run film shown at the Park. In the early 1990s Carmike removed the rocking chairs from the Park Theatre, replacing them with cupholder seats. The Park closed in 1998 after the Carmike 12 opened; cheap movies moved to the Buccaneer 3 on Arlington Boulevard.
In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.
This theatre has received a facelift as part of a block redevelopment project that included the nearby Booker-T Theatre. The Ritz was also known as the Manhattan Theatre (which is the name most locals use).
Chief Jensen is certainly right about lots of Marines going to this theatre, as it was THE grindhouse/porno theatre for Craven County from about 1974 until its closing in 1979. After the Tryon closed WCTI-TV 12(ABC) filmed scenes of the Tryon’s marquee for use on its Sunday afternoon movie. When New Bern Civic Theatre began using the theatre they originally named the building the Saax Bradbury Playhouse.
The Golden East Cinema was dethroned as Rocky Mount’s largest cinema in 2000 when the Premiere Theatres 12 (now 14) opened in the old Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse on Benvenue Road at Hunter Hill Road. The end of Carmike Cinemas in Rocky Mount followed shortly thereafter.
After Carmike closed this theatre it was taken over by the owners of the Kernersville Countryside Cinema, who ran the Quaker Cinemas for about three years before closing it for good. Also, Carmike acquired the Quaker and Golden Gate Cinemas in its 1986 takeover of Stewart & Everett, not using their own name in Greensboro ads until the Golden Gate was shut down.
The owners of this theatre also own theatres in Kinston (Premiere Theatres 7) and Rocky Mount (Premiere Theatres 14). They have been successful in ridding Goldsboro, Kinston and Rocky Mount of ancient Carmike theatres and giving these towns a first-class movie experience.
I remember Stewart & Everett used to run at least two other “42nd Street”-style grindhouses in Eastern North Carolina besides the Drake. The Paramount in Kinston ran grindhouse films (but no X-rated films)from at least 1974 until its closing in 1975 or 1976, charging 99 cents adult admission. About the same time, the Tryon Theatre in New Bern also ran grindhouse films, but they also showed XXX adult films. By 1977 the Tryon was strictly porn and remained so until it closed in 1979. What I find to be unusual about the Drake (for Eastern North Carolina anyway) is that it ran porn films in close proximity to another pornhouse (Wilson Theatre).
This theatre was a “Rocking Chair Theatre” when it first opened, and still had rocking chairs under Carmike. I haven’t been to the Neuse Cinema since the present owners took over, so I’m not sure if they still have rockers in the auditoriums.
The very last movie to play at the Pitt was “The Amityville Horror”. The theatre caught fire during the end credits of the film on the second evening show.I believe the date of the fire was August 13, 1979.
I was wrong about the “R” on the marquee; it is now an “F”. Also, I remember that back in 1972 or 1973 the movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (“Rated X by an All-White Jury”) played the Roxy, or at least was listed on the marquee. It was the first time I remember seeing the word “ass” (in this case an alternate spelling thereof) on a theatre marquee. I was shocked, but then again I was only four or five years old at the time!
The Roxy may be considered outside of downtown, since Albemarle Avenue was considered the"wrong side of the tracks" back when the Roxy showed movies. Also, Google screwed up on the location of the 264 Playhouse (I fixed that theatre’s Google picture), and several other theatres. The book “The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina” lists on page 122 the “Roxy Theatre, 629 Albemarle Avenue”. Maybe this information is wrong.
The Roxy Theatre is located at 629 Albemarle Avenue in downtown Greenville. The building still stands and is remarkably intact. The “ROXY” letters have been removed from the marquee and the “R” on the marquee front has been altered to a “P”. It has been used most recently as a church.
I have corrected the Google picture to show the correct location of the former 264 Playhouse Theatre. The theatre building is in the center of the picture (the building which is furthest from the highway). The address listed by Google is 5427 US 264 Alternate West (also known as US 13 South), which is between Bell Arthur Road and Nash-Joyner Road.
I remember seeing an ad for a “Carmike Ultravision” four-screen theatre in the Charleston newspaper in the early 1990s. Could this be the same theatre?
Stewart & Everett Theatres closed this theatre when they opened the Havelock Cinema 4 (later expanded to 6 screens)on McCotter Boulevard at US 70 around 1985. The Cherry Theatre, which was twinned in the early 1980s, burned down in the mid-1990s.
This theatre was definitely built by Stewart & Everett, as it appears to be identical to a 4-screen theatre S&E built in Havelock about the same time as this one (the Havelock Cinema 4 was expanded to 6 screens by Carmike in 1987). To the best of my knowledge, the Cinema 4 in Aberdeen and the Havelock Cinema 4/6 were the last theatres built by Stewart & Everett Theatres.
This theatre was originally operated by Cineplex Odeon, who also owned the Cardinal 3 theatres at Crossroads Plaza (formerly Kmart Plaza) located at the intersection of US 301 and Sunset Avenue. The Golden East 4/Cinema Grill is now a Books-a-Million bookstore.
Carmike Cinemas did not exist until 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; they used the Martin name until 1985. Was the Louisburg Theatre sold to Martin in 1980 or to Carmike at a later date?
Nealb1992 is correct about the closing date of the Colonial. It was replaced by the Parkhill Cinema 3 located at Parkhill Mall (now Riverside Plaza) in 1982. Progress is slowly but surely being made on the restoration of the Colonial Theatre. It now looks better than it did when it was a storefront church.
This theatre is now known as the Morehead Center for Performing Arts and Events, with address listed as 1311 Arendell Street.
When the Greenville Grande opened I was glad to have an alternative to the Carmike 12, which was showing its age. The first movie I saw in this beautiful cinema was “Grindhouse”. I had previously seen “Grindhouse” at the Carmike (which was a more fitting venue for that film) and the difference between the two multiplexes was like night and day. The Greenville Grande is the better of the two; why Carmike is still in Greenville I haven’t figured out.
I remember the Park Theatre very well. In the late 1980s when I hung out in downtown Greenville the Park was my preferred destination. I liked the vintage 1970s' pink and purple auditorium, and I loved the rocking chairs. The Park had the largest screen in Greenville at the time, perfect for watching slasher films such as “Nightmare on Elm Street 3” and “Shocker”. In 1990 the Park showed a first-run feature for the first time in over ten years, “Def By Temptation”. It was a Troma film, which normally would have played at the Plaza Cinema; it was also the last first-run film shown at the Park. In the early 1990s Carmike removed the rocking chairs from the Park Theatre, replacing them with cupholder seats. The Park closed in 1998 after the Carmike 12 opened; cheap movies moved to the Buccaneer 3 on Arlington Boulevard.
In the mid-1970s the Paramount ran R-rated “B” movies and charged ninety-nine cents adult admission. Downtown Kinston was declining due to competition from shopping centers, and the Paramount could not compete with the suburban theatres as a first-run house. Stewart & Everett went to second-run and “B” films to keep the Paramount going. After S&E picked up a defunct theatre at Kinston Plaza and re-opened it as the Plaza Cinema in 1975, the jig was up for the Paramount. S&E chose to close the Paramount rather than convert it into a pornhouse.
This theatre has received a facelift as part of a block redevelopment project that included the nearby Booker-T Theatre. The Ritz was also known as the Manhattan Theatre (which is the name most locals use).
Chief Jensen is certainly right about lots of Marines going to this theatre, as it was THE grindhouse/porno theatre for Craven County from about 1974 until its closing in 1979. After the Tryon closed WCTI-TV 12(ABC) filmed scenes of the Tryon’s marquee for use on its Sunday afternoon movie. When New Bern Civic Theatre began using the theatre they originally named the building the Saax Bradbury Playhouse.
The Golden East Cinema was dethroned as Rocky Mount’s largest cinema in 2000 when the Premiere Theatres 12 (now 14) opened in the old Lowe’s Home Improvement Warehouse on Benvenue Road at Hunter Hill Road. The end of Carmike Cinemas in Rocky Mount followed shortly thereafter.
After Carmike closed this theatre it was taken over by the owners of the Kernersville Countryside Cinema, who ran the Quaker Cinemas for about three years before closing it for good. Also, Carmike acquired the Quaker and Golden Gate Cinemas in its 1986 takeover of Stewart & Everett, not using their own name in Greensboro ads until the Golden Gate was shut down.
On November 29,2011, it was announced that the Turnage Theater will be closing due to financial difficulties.
The owners of this theatre also own theatres in Kinston (Premiere Theatres 7) and Rocky Mount (Premiere Theatres 14). They have been successful in ridding Goldsboro, Kinston and Rocky Mount of ancient Carmike theatres and giving these towns a first-class movie experience.
I remember Stewart & Everett used to run at least two other “42nd Street”-style grindhouses in Eastern North Carolina besides the Drake. The Paramount in Kinston ran grindhouse films (but no X-rated films)from at least 1974 until its closing in 1975 or 1976, charging 99 cents adult admission. About the same time, the Tryon Theatre in New Bern also ran grindhouse films, but they also showed XXX adult films. By 1977 the Tryon was strictly porn and remained so until it closed in 1979. What I find to be unusual about the Drake (for Eastern North Carolina anyway) is that it ran porn films in close proximity to another pornhouse (Wilson Theatre).
This theatre was a “Rocking Chair Theatre” when it first opened, and still had rocking chairs under Carmike. I haven’t been to the Neuse Cinema since the present owners took over, so I’m not sure if they still have rockers in the auditoriums.
The very last movie to play at the Pitt was “The Amityville Horror”. The theatre caught fire during the end credits of the film on the second evening show.I believe the date of the fire was August 13, 1979.
The red bricks attached to the Hooker & Buchanan Insurance building to the right of the parking lot were part of the Pitt Theatre.
I was wrong about the “R” on the marquee; it is now an “F”. Also, I remember that back in 1972 or 1973 the movie “Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasssss Song” (“Rated X by an All-White Jury”) played the Roxy, or at least was listed on the marquee. It was the first time I remember seeing the word “ass” (in this case an alternate spelling thereof) on a theatre marquee. I was shocked, but then again I was only four or five years old at the time!
The Roxy may be considered outside of downtown, since Albemarle Avenue was considered the"wrong side of the tracks" back when the Roxy showed movies. Also, Google screwed up on the location of the 264 Playhouse (I fixed that theatre’s Google picture), and several other theatres. The book “The Architectural Heritage of Greenville, North Carolina” lists on page 122 the “Roxy Theatre, 629 Albemarle Avenue”. Maybe this information is wrong.
The Roxy Theatre is located at 629 Albemarle Avenue in downtown Greenville. The building still stands and is remarkably intact. The “ROXY” letters have been removed from the marquee and the “R” on the marquee front has been altered to a “P”. It has been used most recently as a church.
This theatre, formerly located on Albemarle Avenue(on the opposite side of the street from the Roxy Theatre), was demolished over forty years ago.
I have corrected the Google picture to show the correct location of the former 264 Playhouse Theatre. The theatre building is in the center of the picture (the building which is furthest from the highway). The address listed by Google is 5427 US 264 Alternate West (also known as US 13 South), which is between Bell Arthur Road and Nash-Joyner Road.
I remember seeing an ad for a “Carmike Ultravision” four-screen theatre in the Charleston newspaper in the early 1990s. Could this be the same theatre?
Stewart & Everett Theatres closed this theatre when they opened the Havelock Cinema 4 (later expanded to 6 screens)on McCotter Boulevard at US 70 around 1985. The Cherry Theatre, which was twinned in the early 1980s, burned down in the mid-1990s.
This theatre was definitely built by Stewart & Everett, as it appears to be identical to a 4-screen theatre S&E built in Havelock about the same time as this one (the Havelock Cinema 4 was expanded to 6 screens by Carmike in 1987). To the best of my knowledge, the Cinema 4 in Aberdeen and the Havelock Cinema 4/6 were the last theatres built by Stewart & Everett Theatres.
This theatre was originally operated by Cineplex Odeon, who also owned the Cardinal 3 theatres at Crossroads Plaza (formerly Kmart Plaza) located at the intersection of US 301 and Sunset Avenue. The Golden East 4/Cinema Grill is now a Books-a-Million bookstore.
Carmike Cinemas did not exist until 1982, when they bought Martin Theatres; they used the Martin name until 1985. Was the Louisburg Theatre sold to Martin in 1980 or to Carmike at a later date?
Nealb1992 is correct about the closing date of the Colonial. It was replaced by the Parkhill Cinema 3 located at Parkhill Mall (now Riverside Plaza) in 1982. Progress is slowly but surely being made on the restoration of the Colonial Theatre. It now looks better than it did when it was a storefront church.