Twelve Oaks Theatre
4162 Buford Highway NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30345
4162 Buford Highway NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30345
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 32 of 32 comments
Here are a couple of recent photos of the 12 Oaks.
Here are a couple of shots of the Loews Madison Square theatre in Nashville. It is of the same cast and era as the 12 Oaks but remarkably remained a single screen up until its closing.
That was the setup when it was built. As I said, 4 track magnetic sound was added when the place was twinned in 1975, and I did not have any contact with the theatre after it was sold to Storey. However I did hear a good story which I did not want to place in the theatre post but do not mind relating in the comment section. Temple of Doom opened in several theatres at once and those of them that had a 70MM setup were able to get 70MM prints. Lucasfilm sent a TAP (Theatre Alignment Program) technician to every theatre that was to open the film to check the presentation. When he came to the theatre I was managing at the time he told the projectionist this story: He had previoulsy visited the 12 Oaks and was suprised that the projectionist was only 15 years old. He asked him if he had ever run 70MM before. The answer went something like “…no but my brother was the projectionist here last year and he did.” Now, I do not know if this was true either in whole or in part, but it is a fact that when the first show hit the screen there was an nice black scratch on the right hand side of the picture evidently put there when they loaded the print onto the platter.
I am not sure since this was a long time ago, but I believe this all took place before the twin was quaded. When the 35 magnetic was installed the soundrack had a place for 70MM processors as well although there was no equipment behind the plates of course. So, the short answer to your question is yes, Storey installed 70, but I wonder if it survived the quading?
“the 12 Oaks had only mono sound and two 35MM Century carbon arc projectors” (StanMalone, Aug 1)
“Indiana Jones And The Temple Of Doom” (1984) was advertised as a 70mm presentation. Perhaps they installed 70mm when Storey took over?
Thanks for your memories of the Twelve Oaks. I was only there once, at the grand opening after Storey had taken it over. A friend of mine who worked there toward the end while Storey still had it, prior to Regal #1, told me there was a plaque of some sort in the booth still that said something about Loews but he could never quite figure out how to get it out un-noticed.
Your observation about the fact that at least it still serves an audience is so true. I’d prefer to see a theatre become a club or a church rather than become a parking lot or an eyesore that is just a shadow of it’s former self. I rode by the Old National about a year ago and it is so sad to look at. You’d never know it was a real money-maker at one time looking at it now.
Again, thanks for documenting your many memories of these old theatres. They may not be treasures in some eyes, but they always will be for those who enjoyed them or worked at them.
I would never presume to say for sure, but 12 Oaks was probably the last single screen first run theatre built in Atlanta. It was located in the new Buford Clairmont Mall which was sort of a half mall and half strip shopping center. The style was strictly bare bones 1970’s with the only distinguishing feature being the trademark Loews Hollywood montage mural over the concession stand. What it lacked in style it more than made up for in size. The 1200 seat figure listed in the above post is correct. The auditorium had 4 aisles, two along each wall, and two between the center and side sections. I do not remember the exact seating arrangement, but it was roughly 8-16-8, although this narrowed somewhat as you got near the front. The walls were draped and lined with ceiling floodlights. There was a curtain for the screen and it was also lit with ceiling floods. The center section of seating backed up to the rear wall, but a 10 foot or so walkway was provided behind the side sections.
Oddly enough, for such a large venue, the projection booth was very basic. In contrast to the 35 / 70, xenon equipped Tara, the 12 Oaks had only mono sound and two 35MM Century carbon arc projectors with 2000 foot reels. The lobby, while small when compared to the size of the theatre was still big enough to hold out a good size advance crowd. The concession stand backed up to the rear wall of the theatre. Although there were exit doors from the lobby into the parking lot, the only intended entrance was via the mall entrance where the open air boxoffice was located. Entry to the boxoffice was through a checkout office which also had a door to the lobby. The mall entrance was always open air and at closing a motorized wire gate was lowered from the ceiling. 12 Oaks was an easy theatre to manage since you could stand at the boxoffice and see the entire operation from one spot.
The theatre opened in February of 1971, and its first feature was Doctors Wives. The Sunday before the opening Loews held an open house inviting anyone interested to visit the site. As things turned out, this was not a very successful first run site. Although inside I-285, it was well to the north of all other first run theatres and located in an area which was for the most part working class as opposed to the Buckhead area where all other suburban first run theatres were located. Given the right movie of course, any theatre will do the business as 12 Oaks proved several times. The first film I saw there was the 1971 reissue of Lawrence of Arabia. For most of its first year bookings consisted mostly of second run double features such as Z and Joe, and moveovers from the Tara such as Summer of ‘42. Things picked up in early 1972 when the 12 Oaks opened an exclusive run of Clockwork Orange which ran for 3 months. That was followed by Fritz the Cat, and in the fall by the biggest 12 Oaks hit of all, Deliverance.
The bookings for the next two years were mostly hit or miss, usually miss, until Christmas of 1974 when Godfather Part II opened its exclusive Atlanta run. Business was less than record breaking due in part to the 3 hour 20 minute run time which limited us to one show per night, and with no intermission, killed the concession business as well. As it turned out, I was the last manager of the original 12 Oaks as the decision was made in New York to twin the site. While working for Georgia Theatre Company, I had seen the Village and Suburban Plaza shut down for a couple of weeks for twinning, but Loews had something else in mind. We shut down following close of business on a Sunday. The next two days were spent removing the screen and erecting a much smaller screen in the left side of the auditorium. In the booth, the projectors were moved to allow one to shoot at the new screen, and a three tier Christie Autowind 2 platter was installed. The line of seats where the wall would be rebuilt was removed. Two days later, on Wednesday, the day after Godfather II won the Best Picture Award, we reopened with this pathetic new setup. I am sure I do not need to describe the reaction customers had to entering their old auditorium to see that puny screen hiding down in the corner. Since the wall had not even been started it seemed as if you were looking at a TV set in the corner of you living room. The sound was also pretty hollow.
Construction work continued during the day, and then the staff, meaning me for the most part, had a couple of hours get the lobby and especially the bathrooms cleaned up for the one evening show. Nothing much could be done about all of the dust that soon started covering the seats. Happily, the Awards did little to help the business the movie was doing, and after two weeks of misery the decision was made to close up for two weeks and hopefully finish the job on time. As it turned out, I had four days after construction was over to get the place cleaned up, an eternity as movie theatre construction projects go. When the dust settled, we had two theatres, the left one seating 580 and the right one seating 540. No reseating work had taken place which meant that none of the seats really pointed toward the screens in their new positions. The booth had two platters and in the only improvement to come out of this whole sorry mess, the left side theatre (#1) was now equipped with 4 track magnetic sound. In May of 1975 we reopened with a reissue of The Lion In Winter and Janis. This was a good warm up because we soon opened Bite The Bullet and on July 2, Nashville, which used the magnetic sound system to good effect. Bullet did well, but Nashville was a big hit even if id did have a large amount of walkouts.
The theatre was pretty much unchanged for the rest of its Loews run. It still did good business when the right picture played. Silent Movie, Outlaw Josey Wales, and The Enforcers were big hits. However, the place never a good reputation for presentation. Three fourths of the exterior walls of the place were outside exposure which made it very hard to heat in the winter. Also, the mall sits across the road from DeKalb Peachtree Airport, the second busiest in Georgia, and the sound of planes taking off overhead always made it into the theatre. I did not have any contact with the place after Storey took over. I stopped by the site in July of 2005 and from the outside the place looks much the same except for the paint scheme which is consistent the malls Hispanic Festival theme. A very friendly staffer let me in to look the place over. The mall entrance has been closed up and that place converted to offices. The concession stand is gone, but except for color the lobby is otherwise unchanged. In the auditorium, all of the walls have been removed and the floor leveled. The site is now a night club and several large bars line the walls. A stage sits where the screen once stood. The projection booth has been opened up and serves as a soundboard and spotlight area. The office areas also now look out onto the floor and have the appearance of luxury boxes.
Considering the landfill fate of many other fine theatres, the 12 Oaks has done pretty well and still serves an audience which is more than you can say for most former theatres.
From the 1971 annual report of Loew’s Theatres:
“Of particular interest is the third Loews house in Atlanta, Twelve Oaks, which opened on February 10, 1971. The largest suburban theatre in Atlanta, Twelve Oaks is a luxurious 1200-seat theatre located in the Buford-Clairmont shopping center, an important marketing crossroads where over 100,000 people pass every week. One of the primary growth areas of the nation, Atlanta has long been a favorite city for the Loews family: it was at Loews Grand that "Gone With the Wind” had its world premiere in 1939. Our second Atlanta theatre, Tara, opened in 1968. "