Cardinal Theatres I & II
4421 Six Forks Road,
Raleigh,
NC
27609
4421 Six Forks Road,
Raleigh,
NC
27609
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The time capsule is still there and is scheduled to be opened in 2017. I remember this theater as a kid and along with the Colony theater (thankfully still active), was my favorite theater. I saw all of the 80’s classics there. Although, Jaws 3D scared me too much to stay. Hahaha. I plan on being there when they open the time capsule and documenting it as a filmmaker. Too bad they had to demolish it for the bland Blockbuster franchise as well as the new Bonefish Grill.
The Architect who built the Cardinal Theatre was E.H. Geissler in 1965.
More information on the Cardinal at North Hills is at….
http://www.cinematour.com
I saw Tew at Six Forks Theater about 6 or 7 years ago. I guess he was working their, maybe managing, he was the city manager when I worked for Carmike in the nineties. Anyone got any old pictures of the Cardinal??
Micah, I have an old PLITT THEATRE office Memo with his name on it and how he was doing selling Reduced admission tickets,RATS as we called them in the business.
Theres no business like show business!
(Lewis Tew was the longtime manager of Cardinal. He was later the City Manager for Carmike Cinemas)
Lewis Tew was a showman like you just don’t see anymore. This manager had a “TOOTSIE” look-a-like contest sponsored by a top country station. The winner was a man who shaved his beard and legs to win the 85 dollars.[think they could have done better prize wise} oh, He did get a “TOOTSIE” wig,Hair Curlers.Girdle and make-up kit.
Just a couple of clarifications: While the Cardinal was certainly equipped with 70mm projectors (Century JJ-2’s, I think), it was never a Cinerama equipped theater. Also, the original auditorium there seated over 700 people. The second screen was added as an addition to the right of the original screen in the 1970’s. The old original auditorium was not altered, except that it was now called “Cardinal 1.” The added screen (Cardinal 2) was just demolished a couple of years ago when Blockbuster moved out of the space.
I saw my first movie there, Grease when I was 3. Also saw E.T. Ferris Bueller, Beetlejuice and the last movie I saw there was Roger Rabbit. I think the last movie that showed there was Driving Miss Daisey. Anyone got old photos of the inside or out??
Several movies that were shown in 70MM at the Cardinal were “The Empire Strikes Back”, “E.T.”, and 2 Indiana Jones movies “Temple of Doom”,and “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade”. The largest auditorium seated over 600,but the played to capacity crowds,some of them actually parked in the mall parking lot and walked across the street to the theatre.
I must have watched a thousand movies there. I remember standing on the time capsule plaque and wondering what was inside while waiting for tickets. If anyone knows anything about that capsule, please post!
Oh, I know and I still long for the days of the old Cardinal theatre. Has the popcorn gotten any better since the Regal group took over from the Eastern Federal? Their pop corn back then was like eating packing sytrofoam-LOL!!!
The Bonefish Seafood Grill and Blockbuster Video now stands where the Cardinal Theatre once stood. The Regal Cinema North Hills 14 has replaced the once classic Cardinal Theatre which was a Raleigh favorite for years!!!
Now, this was my favorite theatre in all of Raleigh. It was sad to see it closed down. I wonder if the time capsule that was placed in front of the theatre was ever opened?