National Hills Theatre

Mike Rogers on September 29, 2009 at 6:25 pm

SPEAKING OF THE KOI POND WHILE I WAS THERE SOMEHOW THE THEATRE HAD TO KEEP It CLEAN. WHICH WE DID DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. OF COURSE, MOST OF THE MONEY THROWN IN THE POND WENT IN THE DOORMAN’S POCKETS. ONE SUMMER, MARK KUCHINSKI THROWNS SOME SMALL BASS IN THE POND. NEXT DAY, ALL THE SMALL GOLDFISH GONE. WE FIGURED THE BASS ATE THEM.
MY FAVORITE CONCESSIONSTAND GIRL/ BOX OFFICE GIRL WAS TERESA HUMMELL, SHE ALWAYS HAD A SMILE ON HER FACE.

Mike Rogers on September 27, 2009 at 1:23 pm

WAY BEFORE COMPUTERS,SOMETHING IN ME SAID TO JOT DOWN EVENTS OF THAT THEATRE. I SPENT ALOT OF SATURDAYS THERE AS A 12 YEAR OLD WATCHING CHRISTOPHER LEE IN DRACULA OR BUTCH CASSIDY AND THE SUNDANCE KID. HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS WAS A GREAT HORROR FILM THAT PLAYED A FEW WEEKS. IN 1974 I FINALLY GOT HIRED AFTER TRYING SO MANY TIMES. HERE ARE SOME REAL STORIES FROM NATIONAL HILLS. ONCE WHILE PLAYING A LATE SHOW; THE DUNWICH HORROR OUR OLD PROJECTIONIST MR.PETE HAD THE SOUND UP SO LOUD WE COULD HEAR IT IN THE MANAGERS OFFICE ACROSS THE HALL. ALL OF A SUDDEN THIS HORRIBLE DEVIL SCREAM BLASTS OUT OF THE SPEAKER IN THE BOOTH; WE JUMP UP. RUN IN AND FIND MR.PETE HOLDING HIS PANTS SAYING “ THAT DAMN SCREAM SCARED ME OFF THE TOILET!” A YOUNG ASSISTANT MANAGER, TOMMY CAPERS BEING TOLD THAT NO ONE COMES TO THE MOVIES ON CHRISTMAS DAY. THEY OPEN UP WITH THE POSEIDON ADVENTURE AND SELL OUT A 781 SEAT THEATRE WITH TOMMY and TWO CONCESSIONSTAND GIRLS AND A BOX OFFICE GIRL. ONE NIGHT ON A DISNEY DOUBLE FEATURE OUR PROJECTIONIST WAS TOLD TO RUN THE FIRST FEATURE ON THE DOULBE FEATURE BY A DRUNK THEATRE MANAGER AT A NEARBY BAR. UNION PROJECTIONIST. DOUBLE TIME THAT MANAGER WAS QUICKLY GONE. THE FAMOUS BOTTLE BANDIT ROBBER HIT THE BOX OFFICE ONE NIGHT WITH A COKE BOTTLE HIDDEN LIKE A GUN UNDER HIS JACKET. HE WAS CAUGHT BEFORE HE GOT OUT OF THE SHOOPING CENTER. THE LOCAL PAPER REPORTED IT AND A.P. PICKED UP THE STORY AND WENT NATIONWIDE. THE ROBBER DID TIME AT A LOCAL MEMTAL HOSPITAL. THE FIRST FEMALE ASSISTANT MANAGER WAS CINDY MUNS.UP TIL THEN THE GUYS WERE MANAGEMENT. WHEN JOHN MACKEY BOOKED A MARX BROTHERS LATE SHOW GREG SHAPPARD, CHARLES BRUNI AND MIKE ROGERS WERE DRESSED LIKE THE MARX BROTHERS. WHEN THE FIRST RUN ON THE LONGEST YARD PLAYED MACKEY HAD HIS USHERS AND DOORMEN TO DRESS IN FEMALE CHEERLEADING OUTFITS WHILE THE GIRLS ON STAFF HAS WILDSHOULDERPADS AND FOOTBALL JERSAYS ON. ONE TIME WHEN BILLY JACK WAS PLAYING , A OLDER WOMAN BOUGHT A TICKET AND WENT IN TO SEE THE MOVIE. IT WAS NOT A MINUTE BEFORE SHE CAME OUT SAYING ‘’ THAT IS NOT THE SOUND OF MUSIC'‘. ON HOT SUMMER DAYS THE CONESSION STAND GIRLS WOULD CHANGE INTO THEIR BATHING SUITS AND LAY ON THE LOBBY ROOF.SUNBATHING. THIS DID NOT GO UNNOTICED BY LEWIS ROBERTSON WHO THREW A BUCKET OF ICE ON THE SUNBATHING GIRLS FROM THE TOP OF THE THEATRE ROOF! WE PLAYED BENJI AT NATIONAL HILLS THE SAME TIME THE IMPERIAL HAD JAWS SO BOTH THEATRES WERE KICKING BUTT. WE DECIDED TO GIVE SOME PUPPIES AWAY IN THE LOBBY. AT NIGHT WE KEPT THEM UPSTAIRS IN THE SUPPLY / FURANCE ROOM. THEY WERE NOT HOUSEBROKEN AND THAT SUPPLY, WELL , WE NEVER DID GET THE STINK OUT.

Mike Rogers on September 26, 2009 at 3:15 pm

micheal coate, I HAVE ASKED ONE LIVING PROJECTIONIST LIVING AND HE THINKS YOU COULD BE RIGHT ABOUT WOODSTOCK, BUT FEELS LITTLE BIG MAN MIGHT HAVE BEEN 70MM SINCE THEY WERE RELEASED PRETTY CLOSE TOGETER. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR CATCHING MY ERROR….MIKE.

Coate on September 23, 2009 at 9:41 am

Mike Rogers… Were those 70mm bookings of “Woodstock” and “Little Big Man” first-run or re-issue? How confident are you that they were actually shown at National Hills in 70mm? “Woodstock,” in particular, is one of those titles that historians cannot seem to agree upon or prove definitively that it actually had 70mm prints. (It certainly had a large run of 35mm 4-track mag prints.)

And “Stroker Ace”? Surely, that title is being confused with “Sharky’s Machine” or “City Heat,” two other Burt Reynolds films with 70mm prints produced around the same time as “Stroker Ace.”

mikerogers2009 on August 30, 2009 at 10:39 pm

Just recently a group of managers from National Hills got together for lunch. This included Bob Gordon Smith, our relief projectionist. Bob now is a TV weatherman at TV12 in Augusta. He also worked in radio at WROW and WBBQ. He thought FM radio would never make it being mainly “elevator music”.

Bob discussed with us guys working with Mr. Pete, the old crusty projectionist who grew-up with the great Augusta native character actor Dub Taylor. Mr. Pete was always tickled when Dub Taylor was in a movie that he was running. Bob was impressed with National Hills ability to play 70mm, that was a task indeed.

Also attending were Tommy Capers, Lewis Robertson, and Bill Barkley and Mark Barkley who would later run movies at National Hills. Jerry Tiney, the city manager spoke of the classics that played: Gone with The Wind, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Dr. Zhivago, Ryan’s Daughter, Little Big Man, and Woodstock – all in 70mm. Neil Morgan and Mike Rogers were assistants in the mid-to-late 70s. Mike Rogers would do all the marquees until he moved to Columbia 1 and 2.

To the best of my knowledge these are all the films to play in 70mm:

Sound of Music (I have some of this 70mm print)
Oliver
Dr. Zhivago
2001: A Space Odyssey
Gone With The Wind
Woodstock
Grand Prix
Ryan’s Daughter
Little Big Man
The Right Stuff
Indiana Jones Temple Of Doom
Oklahoma
Star Trek: The Wrath Of Kahn
Chorus Line
Quest For Fire
Amadeus

And according to projectionist Bill Barkley, Stroker Ace also played in 70mm – that was the Burt Reynolds turkey of all time.

mikerogers2009 on August 3, 2009 at 10:38 am

It opened Nov. 18, 1966 with the movie “Texas Across The River” with Dean Martin. A movie star was there in person, Phillip Alford, who was Jimmy Stewart’s son in “Shenandoah”.

National Hills Theatre had all purpose projection on a depth wall-to-wall screen, and transistorized magnetic and optical high fidelity sound. The large lobby had an elegant ladies lounge, and the auditorium had rocking chair seats, ceiling-to-floor drapes, and a contour curtain. The admission in 1966 was $1.25 for adults, and 50-cents for children. It was the only theatre in Augusta that played 70MM.

Watching “2001” in 70MM blew my yound mind away. It was mainly a family theatre although it did play a few R-rated movies like, “Lovers and Other Strangers” “Summer of 42” “Up the Sandbox” “Easy Rider” “Mash” and “Woodstock” in 70MM in the 70s. The hardest R-rated movie that played not on a late show format was “The Groove Tube”. In the middle 70s when I worked there we did play quite a few R-rated late shows but those were for an entirely different crowd.

I was hired Sept. 21, 1974 by John Mackey who said, “I wasn’t going to hire you because you acted like you knew more about the theatre business than I did.” But John did hire this smart ass kid and we became great friends, and have remained friends even today.

The first movie I worked was “For Pete’s Sake”. I would’ve worked for free as I loved the business that much. Within about a year and a half I was promoted to Assistant Manager over Mark Kuchinski who had been there much longer. I don’t remember any hard feelings when I moved up but he did get me one Thursday night when I had him put up the new marquee. I went outside about 10:30PM to look it over, and Mark had made up his own title and it was glowing for all of Augusta to see.

He thought it was quite funny! Needless to say he did change it to what was starting but that was Mark. Charles Bruni would start about 2 months after me, and he too shot up to the management level. Mark did finally become Assistant Manager at the Imperial, our sister theatre downtown.

National Hills was the pride of Augusta theatre-wise. I was proud to work at that 1st class theatre. There are so many stories about it. The sad part was when Georgia Theatres bought it, and for greed turned that beautiful theatre into a triple! I was able to take quite a bit of stuff out of the theatre when it closed so I saved some history.

RichardCWolfe on March 14, 2009 at 12:06 pm

I can’t tell you much about this theatre, as I don’t remember what it looked like except for the fact that it was a single screen shopping center theatre built probably in the mid to late 60s. For a theatre of that period, which were usually pretty plain, it was of good size. comfortable, with a large screen and yes, it did have a curtain that was opened as the lights faded away for the beginning of the show.

I was there in the fall of 1969 while stationed at Ft. Gordon. I went there one time to see the movie “The Sterile Cuckoo” starring Liza Minnelli. The theatre was located north of the city on the hiway that becomes Broad Streen in town which is the main street that all he downtown theatres were located on. I took a bus up to the theatre late one Sunday afternoon and discovered that when the movie got out in the evening there were no more buses running at that time of day on a Sunday. I had to thumb it back into town to catch a bus from there back to the base.