LEOMINSTER, MASS.-The Metropolitan Theater is undergoing a facelifting. Ray M. Butterfield, manager of this town’s one remaining film theater, said that improvements would include a new marquee, restroom updating, painting, redecoration and a general housecleaning.
LOS ANGELES-A reduced admission price of $1.50 per carload has been adopted by Pacific Drive-In Theaters in several of its area drive-ins. The policy, an effort to deal with product shortage and a reported slump in ozoner attendance, was tested at the Floral in East L.A. and has been newly inaugurated at the Sepulveda, Long Beach, Azusa and Gage. Circuit officials anticipate higher weekly grosses for the individual operations in reducing the prices to carloads.
WEST WARWICK, R.I.-The former Palace Theater on Washington Street, Arctic, closed as a motion picture house more than two years ago, has been purchased by Harry Erinakes and his wife Irene. Erinakes owns and operates the Hilltop Drive-In and the Lonsdale Drive-In, in addition to the Redwood Bowling Alley on Crawford Street in Arctic. He has not announced his plans for the new property.
There are modern buildings on all four corners of North 12th and P, so I doubt if this theater is still standing.
This was in Boxoffice magazine back in August 1962:
LINCOLN-Bert Cheever, Nebraska Theater manager, has to give top rating to the live drama enacted just doors away over his current film, “Bon Voyage”, on the night of August 11.
The real-life drama climaxed in the shooting and death of an ex-convict, Joe Cline, after he tried to rob the Acme Liquor store just west a few doors and across busy O Street from the State Theater. The death dealing shot was fired by liquor store owner George Christopulos as the former convict was leaving the store with more than $100. He had ignored the store owner’s warning to stop.
This article was in Boxoffice magazine in August 1962:
MINNEAPOLIS-The first completely new theater to be beuilt here in 11 years, the Cooper, showplace of Cinerama, was opened to the public August 9 with “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” following a series of international premieres. The Cooper is an exact replica of the original built in Denver, which was designed specifically for Cinerama.
A walnut-paneled foyer of 3,000 square feet is decorated in black brick with bittersweet (burnt orange) upholstery fabric and a skyblue acoustic plaster ceiling. A circle pattern is also carried out in the carpeting.
Total seating in the theater, which cost $1,000,000, is 808, 146 of which are on the mezzanine. The screen is the largest ever installed-35 feet high with a 105-foot-wide side curve. The screen end of the theater is about a third of the total circumference of the circle, so that a full 180-degree picture could be shown if it ever were produced.
Senator and Mrs. Hubert Humphrey and trustees of the Cooper Foundation of Lincoln, Neb. entertained at a dinner on the 8th at the Radisson Hotel, and were hosts at the grand opening of the theater that night.
SYRACUSE, IND.-Business has been “very good”, according to Max L. Patterson, since he reopened the Pickwick Theater on August 4. Patterson has also started a program to redecorate the Pickwick, which he has leased from the Glazier Bros., owners of the Pickwick block.
Patterson also operates the Boice Theater in Warsaw. He has been in motion picture exhibition for 16 years.
LOS ANGELES-Allied Theaters, operated by Bob Helm, Phillip Hoffman and Sam Decker, has taken a 20 year lease on the Bard Theater, 1,200-seat neighborhood house, which they have renamed the Adams West and switched to a first-run policy. The Bard had been closed for the past five years.
FAR ROCKAWAY, N.Y.-Isidor Jutkovitz and other members of the Jutkovitz family have sold their interest in the RKO Columbia and Strand theaters here to the RKO Corp. The family served as partners with RKO for 40 years. The firm will continue to operate as in the past.
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.-Expansion of Al Frank’s Atlantic Drive-In, recently acquired from Walter Reade, was made possible by replacement of the old wood tower by a new and larger Selby screen tower following the big Atlantic coast storm this spring.
Space on the back of the screen, visible from the Garden State Parkway and busy Route 40, was rented to a local radio station. Sign lettering was painted directly on the reverse side of Selby’s surface panels.
Here is an ad for the New AAA Theater in a January 1959 LA Times ad. The theater was showing a horror double feature. Click on the ad on the left to zoom in. http://tinyurl.com/aesgyv
HURON, CALIF.-A.D. Ruff, owner and operator of the Ritz Theater here, has sold the house to Ray Martinez of Soledad, Calif., who plans to feature Mexican pictures on Tuesday and Thursdays each week. A Mexican stage show was planned for the grand opening.
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.-The huge Fox Theater here will be replaced whether or not the city purchases the 5,000-seat house. Eugene V. Klein, president of National Theaters & Television, which owns the Fox, said the new theater will have no more than 1,500 seats and will be equipped with a ground-level parking lot for patrons. Construction will start “practically immediately”.
SALINAS, CALIF.-Downtown Salinas will soon sparkle with a new theater when the old Vogue, dark and empty for two years, is reopened as the new Globe International by Kindair Corp. of Monterey.
Kindair, headed by Kirke Erskine and Bruce Matson, also owns and operates the Steinbeck and Hill theaters in Monterey, both first-run art houses. The Globe will also be an art house.
Matson will manage the new theater. Erskine will handle the designing end of the project. The theater, which originally seated 650, will be reduced to 450 luxury seats.
The theater building was completely gutted by its new owners. Reopening of the theater will mark the first new theater in Salinas in eight years. Matson said the theater will be furnished “in absolute luxury” and will have one of the most modern concession stands in Northern California. Erskine, who designed the Monterey Steinbeck Theater, is supervising the interior and exterior renovation.
The 1960 Boxoffice article that mentioned the closing of the theater referred to the Cozy, which was how I added it. There was some editing done as apparently the theater was also called the Rialto. I don’t imagine there were two theaters in Truman that would account for the discrepancy.
Here is some recent news about a possible new tenant:
http://tinyurl.com/d2vctd
Here is some recent renovation news:
http://tinyurl.com/brmjg5
This is from Boxoffice magazine in August 1962:
LEOMINSTER, MASS.-The Metropolitan Theater is undergoing a facelifting. Ray M. Butterfield, manager of this town’s one remaining film theater, said that improvements would include a new marquee, restroom updating, painting, redecoration and a general housecleaning.
This is from Boxoffice magazine, August 1962:
LOS ANGELES-A reduced admission price of $1.50 per carload has been adopted by Pacific Drive-In Theaters in several of its area drive-ins. The policy, an effort to deal with product shortage and a reported slump in ozoner attendance, was tested at the Floral in East L.A. and has been newly inaugurated at the Sepulveda, Long Beach, Azusa and Gage. Circuit officials anticipate higher weekly grosses for the individual operations in reducing the prices to carloads.
This is from Boxoffice magazine in August 1962:
WEST WARWICK, R.I.-The former Palace Theater on Washington Street, Arctic, closed as a motion picture house more than two years ago, has been purchased by Harry Erinakes and his wife Irene. Erinakes owns and operates the Hilltop Drive-In and the Lonsdale Drive-In, in addition to the Redwood Bowling Alley on Crawford Street in Arctic. He has not announced his plans for the new property.
There are modern buildings on all four corners of North 12th and P, so I doubt if this theater is still standing.
This was in Boxoffice magazine back in August 1962:
LINCOLN-Bert Cheever, Nebraska Theater manager, has to give top rating to the live drama enacted just doors away over his current film, “Bon Voyage”, on the night of August 11.
The real-life drama climaxed in the shooting and death of an ex-convict, Joe Cline, after he tried to rob the Acme Liquor store just west a few doors and across busy O Street from the State Theater. The death dealing shot was fired by liquor store owner George Christopulos as the former convict was leaving the store with more than $100. He had ignored the store owner’s warning to stop.
The Office Depot that replaced the Cooper is up for sale. Here is an aerial view of the current location:
http://tinyurl.com/dehzbr
This article was in Boxoffice magazine in August 1962:
MINNEAPOLIS-The first completely new theater to be beuilt here in 11 years, the Cooper, showplace of Cinerama, was opened to the public August 9 with “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” following a series of international premieres. The Cooper is an exact replica of the original built in Denver, which was designed specifically for Cinerama.
A walnut-paneled foyer of 3,000 square feet is decorated in black brick with bittersweet (burnt orange) upholstery fabric and a skyblue acoustic plaster ceiling. A circle pattern is also carried out in the carpeting.
Total seating in the theater, which cost $1,000,000, is 808, 146 of which are on the mezzanine. The screen is the largest ever installed-35 feet high with a 105-foot-wide side curve. The screen end of the theater is about a third of the total circumference of the circle, so that a full 180-degree picture could be shown if it ever were produced.
Senator and Mrs. Hubert Humphrey and trustees of the Cooper Foundation of Lincoln, Neb. entertained at a dinner on the 8th at the Radisson Hotel, and were hosts at the grand opening of the theater that night.
This is from Boxoffice magazine in August 1962:
SYRACUSE, IND.-Business has been “very good”, according to Max L. Patterson, since he reopened the Pickwick Theater on August 4. Patterson has also started a program to redecorate the Pickwick, which he has leased from the Glazier Bros., owners of the Pickwick block.
Patterson also operates the Boice Theater in Warsaw. He has been in motion picture exhibition for 16 years.
This is from Boxoffice magazine, August 1962:
LOS ANGELES-Allied Theaters, operated by Bob Helm, Phillip Hoffman and Sam Decker, has taken a 20 year lease on the Bard Theater, 1,200-seat neighborhood house, which they have renamed the Adams West and switched to a first-run policy. The Bard had been closed for the past five years.
This is from Boxoffice magazine, August 1962:
FAR ROCKAWAY, N.Y.-Isidor Jutkovitz and other members of the Jutkovitz family have sold their interest in the RKO Columbia and Strand theaters here to the RKO Corp. The family served as partners with RKO for 40 years. The firm will continue to operate as in the past.
The Alpine was hosting country music shows in 2004:
http://tinyurl.com/bnkfeh
This is from Boxoffice magazine, August 1962:
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J.-Expansion of Al Frank’s Atlantic Drive-In, recently acquired from Walter Reade, was made possible by replacement of the old wood tower by a new and larger Selby screen tower following the big Atlantic coast storm this spring.
Space on the back of the screen, visible from the Garden State Parkway and busy Route 40, was rented to a local radio station. Sign lettering was painted directly on the reverse side of Selby’s surface panels.
Here are some postcards showing interior and exterior views:
http://tinyurl.com/c678jg
http://tinyurl.com/cyvro5
Enter 464 Burlington on Google maps and you will see the theater, as opposed to 722.
Here is an ad for the New AAA Theater in a January 1959 LA Times ad. The theater was showing a horror double feature. Click on the ad on the left to zoom in.
http://tinyurl.com/aesgyv
Here is a January 2009 follow-up to the September 06 story. Click on the interior photo for a better view.
http://tinyurl.com/cyd49t
More’s the pity.
Already listed here:
/theaters/23904/
Here is a myspace page for the bar. It looks like they have comedy, billiards and mechanical bull riding as well.
http://tinyurl.com/cf6fg4
This is from Boxoffice magazine in October 1961:
HURON, CALIF.-A.D. Ruff, owner and operator of the Ritz Theater here, has sold the house to Ray Martinez of Soledad, Calif., who plans to feature Mexican pictures on Tuesday and Thursdays each week. A Mexican stage show was planned for the grand opening.
This is from Boxoffice magazine in October 1961:
SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF.-The huge Fox Theater here will be replaced whether or not the city purchases the 5,000-seat house. Eugene V. Klein, president of National Theaters & Television, which owns the Fox, said the new theater will have no more than 1,500 seats and will be equipped with a ground-level parking lot for patrons. Construction will start “practically immediately”.
He was the mini-Vin Diesel back then, I guess.
This is from Boxoffice magazine in October 1961:
SALINAS, CALIF.-Downtown Salinas will soon sparkle with a new theater when the old Vogue, dark and empty for two years, is reopened as the new Globe International by Kindair Corp. of Monterey.
Kindair, headed by Kirke Erskine and Bruce Matson, also owns and operates the Steinbeck and Hill theaters in Monterey, both first-run art houses. The Globe will also be an art house.
Matson will manage the new theater. Erskine will handle the designing end of the project. The theater, which originally seated 650, will be reduced to 450 luxury seats.
The theater building was completely gutted by its new owners. Reopening of the theater will mark the first new theater in Salinas in eight years. Matson said the theater will be furnished “in absolute luxury” and will have one of the most modern concession stands in Northern California. Erskine, who designed the Monterey Steinbeck Theater, is supervising the interior and exterior renovation.
The 1960 Boxoffice article that mentioned the closing of the theater referred to the Cozy, which was how I added it. There was some editing done as apparently the theater was also called the Rialto. I don’t imagine there were two theaters in Truman that would account for the discrepancy.