Ambassador Theatre
411 N. 7th Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63101
411 N. 7th Street,
St. Louis,
MO
63101
18 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 85 comments
Norman: Thank you for your additional information. Much appreciated.
Patsy, as much as I would like to you can’t save them all. We are fortunate here in St Louis to still have the St Louis Theater(Powell Hall), the Tivoli Theater in the U City loop(still showing movies), Loew’s Orpheum (now the American), The Fabulous Fox Theater, and the Peabody Opera House (though not a former movie palace it is just as ornate as the Fox). That’s about as many performance venues that a city of this size can accommodate.
Sorry to be reminded that this cinema treasure was taken from us especially with such a rich history. It is truly a loss for St.Louis.
The Boston Cinerama was bigger. Before being converted to Cinerama the RKO Boston Theatre was over 3100 seats and after conversion it was reduced to 2400. I imagine the Ambassador must have had seating changed after conversion. This happened to every theatre that was converted.
To answer the question of “bigrose” of two years ago: a double bill of “Junior Miss” and “East to Look At.”
jimseabough, there is a photo in the photo section of the Ambassador Theatre marquee with “Dr. Zhivago” now playing.
I am going to the FOX in December to see a show and now will seek out thoses two chandeliers at the Des Peres Cinema. Thanks. Two bad an opera company or other group could not rescue this theater. These beautiful buildings will never be built again.
Nice to learn that two chandeliers in the Des Peres Cinema are identified with a plaque on the wall…music to my ears!
I was in St. Louis over the weekend 10/6/13 and went to see GRAVITY in 3-D at the Des Peres Cinema on Manchester Rd. I noticed two beautiful chandeliers in the lobby. Sure enough, those two chandeliers were ‘rescued'from the Ambassador Theatre before it was demolished. There is a plaque on the wall identifying them. So beautiful and they brought back memories of that wonderful showplace where I saw CLEOPATRA, MY FAIR LADY and the two 'Doctors’… ZHIVAGO and DOLIITLE in their road show engagements.
Can anyone tell me what was showing in this theatre on August 14, 1945? My mom remembers being at the movies with her sister for her birthday and coming out to the V-J Day celebrations downtown.
KenRoe: Thanks for this information!
According to the Theatre Historical Society of America, the organ remained in the theatre until the 1970’s, although it was not in a playable condition. It was removed by motor magnet Fred Pillsbury and placed into storage, where it deteriorated even further. After passing through several more hands, in 2006 it was in the possession of organman Ken Crome in Reno, Nevada, in poor condition, but complete.
Jeb: Thanks for your theatre passion regarding this theatre at such a young age. If only it could have been saved…it should have been!
And what happened to the organ that is mentioned in its history??
And after clicking on the large b/w photo posted I saw more photos of this absolutely beautiful theatre! Why wasn’t it saved and dare I ask….what is on that former theatre site now?
“was constructed to with-stand earthquakes and the demolition took longer than anticipated.” Glad the ole gal made the demolition of her as hard as she could!
hello, my name is jim, I want to tell you my ambassador story. first, my spelling is off, I appologize, 1970’s catholic school phonics. whatever. in 1982 i became fascinated in the ambassador at the age of 12. I dont know why. We would visit family in the city and pass through downtown and hear story’s of that building or this building. the ambassador caught me. I couldn’t get enough of my folks personel recounts of the place, in a book store i bought a copy of mary bagleys book “the front row, missouri’s grand movie palecs. I got her info and contacted her and asked if she would be interested in forming a non- profit group to save the ambassador. I was 13 years old. what the heck did i know about historic preservation, or fund raising? NOTHING. but i was passionate about the place for GOD knows why and I couldn’t be more proud pf all the pubplicity that we got the ‘ole girl, befoe she went down. I was at city hall for the hearings, i was at the clearense auction, I have a hundred pictures that I want to scan and make a web sight to dedicate to the place to make my memories public.
We might as well ignore the fact that Stanley Warner’s five-year sublease of Ambassador ended in February 1959. Besides, what other Cinerama films were in the can after “South Seas Adventure”? The theatre was hardly abandoned and reopened in August with a subrun of “South Pacific.”
As for the Lindell Blvd. Cinerama house, it was not even announced until May 1962 that it was to be erected.
“In 1960, the Cinerama, the first major theater built since the Fox Theatre in 1928, went up at 4218 Lindell…”
That theater opened in 1963, not 1960.
Sad loss to the US along with the Fabulous Fox in SF and the Roxy in NY. Terrible losses – there were others too, but these 3 were the most important.
Has anybody ever compared the Ambassador to the Chicago Oriental? Many architectural lines in the auditorium are identical.
Chuck1231, could you re-post the Dr. Zhivago picture you added on April 10, 2005? Right now in order to see it one has to log into your photobucket account.
The National Register of Historic Places nomination form was most interesting to read….did the Ambassador receive that honor before it was demolished? The written description of this theatre was very complete and gave one a sense of actually seeing it with their own eyes. And to read the words of one reporter was a sad commentary about the demise of a great theatre….“theaters don’t die in St. Louis, they become parking lots”.
Thanks goes to a lady photographer by the name of Toby Weiss who took photos that can be viewed @ http://www.builtstlouis.net/ambassador01.html
“The area the Ambassador once stood on is now a plaza for a large bank that was next door.” Such a shame!