The old Frank chain was the pits. I worked one summer for a few months at the Embassy and they were really buttholes that didn’t care about customers or employees. When they purchased the Apollo circuit chain which was the Embassy, Apollo and Strand it was the end of another good AC chain just like when Hamid sold his theaters to G & G and the Steel Pier to the owners of Million Dollar Pier.1973 was the last summer for 3 of the 4 boardwalk theaters. The Roxy became Movieworld museum run by Hamid’s son, the Apollo became a burlesque house and the Virginia was closed because the government bought the 900 block and allowed everything except the Virginia to remain open. Hamid’s son told me that they wanted to keep the Virginia open but couldn’t. That was also the last year for the Steel Pier under Hamid who had already sold it but was asked to run it one more year. Fortunately the Strand was sold to private owners and remained open for at least 6 more years. The casino’s ruined our great AC.
Doctor Doolittle was actually at the Hollywood as a roadshow engagement in the summer of 69. The Sand Pebbles was the summer before. Doctor Dolittle ended and Boom with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton opened August 8. You apparently grew up in Philly and spent summers in AC like I did.
Ah I remember those days well. Once the first showing started it was continuous until the last show unless it was a roadshow engagement and they generally had 2 shows daily. I don’t remember Patton playing at the Shore? was it during the winter months and was it a roadshow engaement? The only other roadshow engagement I know that played during the winter months was The Lion In Winter at the Charles in 69
The Center did stop using the curtain. If memory serves me correct. The Hollywood and Center were the only ones that stay open all year. The Shore did the winter after Oliver.
The Shore also had The Bible and Oliver. I think they ended up there because the other theaters except for the Roxy had roadshow films which brings us back to why the Roxy was never used for roadshow engagements. I know the Center did not have masking when it went to porn films but I saw What’s Up Doc there and can’t remember if they had masking or not. I was only in the Hollywood once and it was $1.00 theater in 78 and had no masking or curtains then. Actually the year Oliver was at the Shore and Funny Girl at the Center, 1969 the Hollywood had what was the big scandal X film of it’s day I Am Curious Yellow. They kept a cop at the box office all day. Today that film would probably be rated R. Considering the Hollywood was much bigger then the Shore Oliver should have played there. Love the big curved screen the Center had.
The theater has been fully renovated with luxury recliners in all theaters and reserved seating. The only thing Cinemark didn’t do yet is put in new screens. they have a new digital projection and sound system.
Please update in the above synopsis.
I think the aspect ratio at the Casino was always 1.66. Yes you never saw the screen raised in the music hall. If you remember the music hall also had no masking which considering all the curtains they had was strange. In the later years the Casino used the navy blue curtain instead of the masking. This seemed to be the case with Hamid’s theaters. The Virginia the main roadshow theater had no masking or curtains and neither did the Shore. The Hollywood, Center and Roxy did. Why the Roxy was not the roadshow house is beyond me. It was double the size of the Virginia and had a balcony.
Yeah the original screen in the Casino was great. It fit the whole length of the stage. It was interesting that the 1.85 aspect ratio films on that screen were very square almost like a 16 mm print.
Bobby S the AMC/Carmike merger went through. They started in Florida first and last month NC. My local theater officially became an AMC theater March 30. Carmike was the worst chain ever.
The Midway was the Tony Grant Theater. When they demolished the music hall they changed the name of the Casino to the music hall. Yes, the one time I went in 77 the screen that fit the size of the stage was gone. They had a small screen that they hung in the wall so they could use the stage for the show. If I remember correctly they built the stage out a little too.
The Midway was literally half way between the marine Ballroom and the Music Hall. I never remember it as the Ocean theater. It was a decent size theater with a nice stage and curtains that said Tony Grant Stars of Tomorrow. The whole demolition of the center of the pier was so stupid. They put international thrill rides there and the first summer it was open a hurricane came through and destroyed them and the back of the pier. The Music Hall had side balconies. The screen they put in the Casino when they changed it to the Music Hall was horrible. It literally was a screen about the size of a screen you would use at home for home movies. I went to the pier once and never went back after the demolition.
The Marine Ballroom had a small balcony. The main floor was standing room only.I also spent summers in ACT and at the pier from 67-78. When George Hamid sold the pier to the owners of Million Dollar Pier they ruined it especially destroying the Music Hall and Midway theaters. The Casino did not cut it for movies and stage shows. The Marine Ballroom was destroyed by fire in the early 70 and replaced with the Golden Dome Ballroom. The music hall had lots of curtains but no masking. The screen in the 60 was moved from the Virginia Theater across the boardwalk to the music hall. The screen was pulled up for the vaudeville shows and you could see Virginia Theater on the bottom metal of the screen. The Casino had both masking and curtains and eventually the main curtain was used for the masking.
Mark P.
I was living in Phila and spent summers in Atlantic City and got the NY Times once or twice a week because all the NYC movie theaters were so exciting to me. I also remember that summer was the last time the Palace showed films before the Neederlanders reopened it as a legit house with Lauren Bacall in Applause. I remember being upset not knowing what happened to the State. I knew the Palace was going legit by the theater directory. I moved to NYC in 76 and went to the State many times both upstairs and down. We had many grand movie palaces like that in Phila which like most places are now demolished.
On the Imax of Beauty and The Beast, was the film shown on the full screen? I went to Regal RPX and like Sully it was not it had the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen just like any scope film. Other then the sound being 7.0 two of the other theaters screens are much bigger. It’s a total waste of money to pay for a movie in THE RPX theater here. Is RPX different then Imax? BATB was film in large screen format so to me the full RPX screen should have been utilized.
The closing was later then 1993. I moved to Tamarac in 1996 and it was at that time a United Artist theater. It was in operation under and independent operator after that and changed to a $ house. I think it was open at least until the late 90’s or early 2000.
The old Frank chain was the pits. I worked one summer for a few months at the Embassy and they were really buttholes that didn’t care about customers or employees. When they purchased the Apollo circuit chain which was the Embassy, Apollo and Strand it was the end of another good AC chain just like when Hamid sold his theaters to G & G and the Steel Pier to the owners of Million Dollar Pier.1973 was the last summer for 3 of the 4 boardwalk theaters. The Roxy became Movieworld museum run by Hamid’s son, the Apollo became a burlesque house and the Virginia was closed because the government bought the 900 block and allowed everything except the Virginia to remain open. Hamid’s son told me that they wanted to keep the Virginia open but couldn’t. That was also the last year for the Steel Pier under Hamid who had already sold it but was asked to run it one more year. Fortunately the Strand was sold to private owners and remained open for at least 6 more years. The casino’s ruined our great AC.
That was one theater I never went to. It was always the AC theaters and the Ventnor and Margate.
Photo ADDED
The walls of what was once a landmark movie theater in Asheville are starting to come down.
Demolition begins at Beaucatcher Cinemas
Demolition has begun on the old Beaucatcher Cinemas on Tunnel Road. The theater has been there for decades.
Doctor Doolittle was actually at the Hollywood as a roadshow engagement in the summer of 69. The Sand Pebbles was the summer before. Doctor Dolittle ended and Boom with Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton opened August 8. You apparently grew up in Philly and spent summers in AC like I did.
Ah I remember those days well. Once the first showing started it was continuous until the last show unless it was a roadshow engagement and they generally had 2 shows daily. I don’t remember Patton playing at the Shore? was it during the winter months and was it a roadshow engaement? The only other roadshow engagement I know that played during the winter months was The Lion In Winter at the Charles in 69
Please update to demolished. UGH
The Center did stop using the curtain. If memory serves me correct. The Hollywood and Center were the only ones that stay open all year. The Shore did the winter after Oliver.
The Shore also had The Bible and Oliver. I think they ended up there because the other theaters except for the Roxy had roadshow films which brings us back to why the Roxy was never used for roadshow engagements. I know the Center did not have masking when it went to porn films but I saw What’s Up Doc there and can’t remember if they had masking or not. I was only in the Hollywood once and it was $1.00 theater in 78 and had no masking or curtains then. Actually the year Oliver was at the Shore and Funny Girl at the Center, 1969 the Hollywood had what was the big scandal X film of it’s day I Am Curious Yellow. They kept a cop at the box office all day. Today that film would probably be rated R. Considering the Hollywood was much bigger then the Shore Oliver should have played there. Love the big curved screen the Center had.
Glad they are keeping the theater and putting money into it rather then redevelop it for commercial use
The theater has been fully renovated with luxury recliners in all theaters and reserved seating. The only thing Cinemark didn’t do yet is put in new screens. they have a new digital projection and sound system. Please update in the above synopsis.
Status still needs to be updated to retia. It is a store called R&H
I think the aspect ratio at the Casino was always 1.66. Yes you never saw the screen raised in the music hall. If you remember the music hall also had no masking which considering all the curtains they had was strange. In the later years the Casino used the navy blue curtain instead of the masking. This seemed to be the case with Hamid’s theaters. The Virginia the main roadshow theater had no masking or curtains and neither did the Shore. The Hollywood, Center and Roxy did. Why the Roxy was not the roadshow house is beyond me. It was double the size of the Virginia and had a balcony.
Yeah the original screen in the Casino was great. It fit the whole length of the stage. It was interesting that the 1.85 aspect ratio films on that screen were very square almost like a 16 mm print.
Bobby S the AMC/Carmike merger went through. They started in Florida first and last month NC. My local theater officially became an AMC theater March 30. Carmike was the worst chain ever.
The Midway was the Tony Grant Theater. When they demolished the music hall they changed the name of the Casino to the music hall. Yes, the one time I went in 77 the screen that fit the size of the stage was gone. They had a small screen that they hung in the wall so they could use the stage for the show. If I remember correctly they built the stage out a little too.
The Midway was literally half way between the marine Ballroom and the Music Hall. I never remember it as the Ocean theater. It was a decent size theater with a nice stage and curtains that said Tony Grant Stars of Tomorrow. The whole demolition of the center of the pier was so stupid. They put international thrill rides there and the first summer it was open a hurricane came through and destroyed them and the back of the pier. The Music Hall had side balconies. The screen they put in the Casino when they changed it to the Music Hall was horrible. It literally was a screen about the size of a screen you would use at home for home movies. I went to the pier once and never went back after the demolition.
The Marine Ballroom had a small balcony. The main floor was standing room only.I also spent summers in ACT and at the pier from 67-78. When George Hamid sold the pier to the owners of Million Dollar Pier they ruined it especially destroying the Music Hall and Midway theaters. The Casino did not cut it for movies and stage shows. The Marine Ballroom was destroyed by fire in the early 70 and replaced with the Golden Dome Ballroom. The music hall had lots of curtains but no masking. The screen in the 60 was moved from the Virginia Theater across the boardwalk to the music hall. The screen was pulled up for the vaudeville shows and you could see Virginia Theater on the bottom metal of the screen. The Casino had both masking and curtains and eventually the main curtain was used for the masking.
I can tell you that in the mid to late 80’s it was a discount house. I think it was only on Tuesday but it may have been the whole week.
Mark P. I was living in Phila and spent summers in Atlantic City and got the NY Times once or twice a week because all the NYC movie theaters were so exciting to me. I also remember that summer was the last time the Palace showed films before the Neederlanders reopened it as a legit house with Lauren Bacall in Applause. I remember being upset not knowing what happened to the State. I knew the Palace was going legit by the theater directory. I moved to NYC in 76 and went to the State many times both upstairs and down. We had many grand movie palaces like that in Phila which like most places are now demolished.
Mark P Doctor Dolittle was the last film to play there as a single screen theater.
Thanks Matt.
Thanks mhvbear. The aspect ratio in the RPX was 2.35
On the Imax of Beauty and The Beast, was the film shown on the full screen? I went to Regal RPX and like Sully it was not it had the black bars at the top and bottom of the screen just like any scope film. Other then the sound being 7.0 two of the other theaters screens are much bigger. It’s a total waste of money to pay for a movie in THE RPX theater here. Is RPX different then Imax? BATB was film in large screen format so to me the full RPX screen should have been utilized.
It has always been 18 screens
The closing was later then 1993. I moved to Tamarac in 1996 and it was at that time a United Artist theater. It was in operation under and independent operator after that and changed to a $ house. I think it was open at least until the late 90’s or early 2000.