Great story mfelsher. I guess I should admit that I worked at the Regency, Spring 1976 – Fall of same year (part of my senior year in high school). Concession and/or box-office. First run house in those days. You are right – it did sit at the bottom of a sloping hill. The only thing that is still ‘original’ from my day is the Wendy’s. Pizza Hut used to sit in front on the road but it later moved semi-across Albemarle Road. Manager spent way too much time in the office and left the running of the theatre to the staff. That never seemed right. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” played during the time I worked there. I was also involved in a church youth group and sometimes as a “fun night out” they would go see a movie. The counselor approached me and asked if “Josey Wales” was ‘clean’ enough for the group and I said sure. OOPS! I completely forgot about the cussing…oh well, they survived!
Using the current street view, the theatre would have been located on the south side of Windsor at the next cross street (Stewart) – not seen well in this view. Theatre sat approximately on the southwest corner of Windsor and Stewart.
The approximate address would have been 1404 W. Roosevelt Blvd., Monroe, NC. I apologize for not putting that in my original post. The street view photo currently with this theatre is too far west.
Link to photo of Rowena Shute outside the Pastime, year unknown, unless some of you ‘eagle eyes’ out there can read that one sheet! A local man shared that if you called “Miss Rowena” up and asked her what time was the show, she would reply, “What time can you get here?” A home town movie theatre at its best! View link
GMNash- I was told it was one of the worst robberies many had ever heard of in the industry. Yes, David Hopkins was the off-duty employee identified as stopping by the theatre that night and finding the films showing but no employees running the theatre. You are absolutely right about Mr. McKissick’s plane going down (October 25, 1990). My father worked for Mr. McKissick for a brief time in 1980 and thought the world of him; was quite distraught over the news. Your friend, if he managed the theatre in the late 80s would have worked for General Cinema no doubt since they didn’t sell the theatre to Litchfield until 1989.
Hello Worth. Daddy was always fun because he loved what he did. He also loved to work! Glad you agree about the no rocking chairs – don’t know where those guys got that from. The ghost…Mr. Brand used to tell about working late at night in an upstairs office. Daddy used the other end of the upstairs to paint a lot of his signs and banners before he finally made a place at home to do that. Because of this, he had a key to the theatre. One night, after the theatre had closed, Mr. Brand was upstairs at a desk that was situated so that if you leaned over you could look down the narrow hallway and see who was coming up the stairs when they reached the top. On this particular night he heard someone enter the side door (where the cigarette machine used to be!), walk to the door to the closet/stairs and then footsteps on the stairs. He figured it was my Daddy only when he leaned over to look there was no one. The hairs rose on the back of his neck and he quickly finished up and went home. As teen employees, we tried a seance but didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing and conjured up nothing but a bunch of giggles.
Please do look at the link above for the history of the theatre. In The Charlotte Observer, August 18, 1961, page 1, Section B: Headline: Theatre Will Admit UNC Negro Pupils; “Carolina Theater here adopted a policy of limited desegregation Thursday. The policy applied only to Negro students at the University of North Carolina…Theatre officials said they believe it to be the first in the South to adopt a policy of integration.” But the docsouth link above will reveal that this ‘limited desegregation’ wasn’t the real thing and therefore the theatre was still picketed.
The Broadway also was known for its girlie stage shows or ‘Hootchi-Kootchi’ shows (did I spell that right – who even says “Hootchi-Kootchi” anymore???? Besides me, that is).
I was there for the opening of the Tryon Mall that Mark in NC references Feb. 7, 2010 – it was exciting to go to a new theatre and go back to school and tell everyone about it. But that’s another movie I remember little about.
Yep – pretty bad – I remember Charlton (well, his character) rolling down a mountain fighting somebody and that’s about it. By the way, back up there at raysson’s comment on June 18 – Jaws never played at the Capri (Jaws II might have).
Note: I still think there must have been two different Westgate Cinemas. THere is no question that GCC built and opened the Westgate Cinemas that I’m familiar with in 1984. I think it’s a very real possibility that the ‘first’ Westgate Cinemas were also located at the same mall and were torn down. Surely someone in Spartanburg will know?
Shook Charlton Heston’s hand in the lobby of this theatre as he toured with his forgettable film “The Mountain Men” (1980) – but what a gentleman (and handsome too)! Saw “Jaws” here – blew me away, there had never been a film like that before! (well, at least not for me) Also met David Carradine at the Tryon Mall Theatre but can’t remember the name of the film…must have really been a forgettable one…
To Beckymae, most likely this was the film always titled “The Kidnappers Foil” by Melton Barker Productions. See some good information at this web site: http://www.meltonbarker.com/index.html
Love the “Die Monster Die” playbill/lobby card! That’s from 1965 – some of my father’s work. The stage show was partly the draw and though it probably did seem to be a strange holiday film, the campy horror films (and even today’s gory ones) were a guaranteed money-maker, particularly in the small towns. “Dr. Evil”, I believe, was Phil Morris, of Morris Costume. If somebody knows different, please correct me!
Thanks Mike for the info. I did confirm that Edward Marks was gone from Brevard by 1954 – in fact, he was gone by 1953, so those Almanacs were definitely behind. (or they didn’t update them carefully)
A newspaper article appeared in “The Sandhill Citizen” (Aberdeen, NC) on Wednesday, July 23, 1980 (page 3). Headline: Bob Dutton, Theater Man of the Sandhills. Per the article, Dutton had been with the theatre for 40 years, “…started to work with the Sunrise in 1940 has been the theater’s only manager since the theater was built, and is also manager of the Town & Country Cinema in Aberdeen.” So this indicates the Sunrise opened in 1940. Dutton remembered how the cost of a ticket was 9 cents during WWII because of the war tax on tickets over a dime, so most operators kept their admissions at 9 cents.
Great story mfelsher. I guess I should admit that I worked at the Regency, Spring 1976 – Fall of same year (part of my senior year in high school). Concession and/or box-office. First run house in those days. You are right – it did sit at the bottom of a sloping hill. The only thing that is still ‘original’ from my day is the Wendy’s. Pizza Hut used to sit in front on the road but it later moved semi-across Albemarle Road. Manager spent way too much time in the office and left the running of the theatre to the staff. That never seemed right. “The Outlaw Josey Wales” played during the time I worked there. I was also involved in a church youth group and sometimes as a “fun night out” they would go see a movie. The counselor approached me and asked if “Josey Wales” was ‘clean’ enough for the group and I said sure. OOPS! I completely forgot about the cussing…oh well, they survived!
Using the current street view, the theatre would have been located on the south side of Windsor at the next cross street (Stewart) – not seen well in this view. Theatre sat approximately on the southwest corner of Windsor and Stewart.
The approximate address would have been 1404 W. Roosevelt Blvd., Monroe, NC. I apologize for not putting that in my original post. The street view photo currently with this theatre is too far west.
Link to photo of Rowena Shute outside the Pastime, year unknown, unless some of you ‘eagle eyes’ out there can read that one sheet! A local man shared that if you called “Miss Rowena” up and asked her what time was the show, she would reply, “What time can you get here?” A home town movie theatre at its best! View link
GMNash- I was told it was one of the worst robberies many had ever heard of in the industry. Yes, David Hopkins was the off-duty employee identified as stopping by the theatre that night and finding the films showing but no employees running the theatre. You are absolutely right about Mr. McKissick’s plane going down (October 25, 1990). My father worked for Mr. McKissick for a brief time in 1980 and thought the world of him; was quite distraught over the news. Your friend, if he managed the theatre in the late 80s would have worked for General Cinema no doubt since they didn’t sell the theatre to Litchfield until 1989.
Hello Worth. Daddy was always fun because he loved what he did. He also loved to work! Glad you agree about the no rocking chairs – don’t know where those guys got that from. The ghost…Mr. Brand used to tell about working late at night in an upstairs office. Daddy used the other end of the upstairs to paint a lot of his signs and banners before he finally made a place at home to do that. Because of this, he had a key to the theatre. One night, after the theatre had closed, Mr. Brand was upstairs at a desk that was situated so that if you leaned over you could look down the narrow hallway and see who was coming up the stairs when they reached the top. On this particular night he heard someone enter the side door (where the cigarette machine used to be!), walk to the door to the closet/stairs and then footsteps on the stairs. He figured it was my Daddy only when he leaned over to look there was no one. The hairs rose on the back of his neck and he quickly finished up and went home. As teen employees, we tried a seance but didn’t have a clue as to what we were doing and conjured up nothing but a bunch of giggles.
Please do look at the link above for the history of the theatre. In The Charlotte Observer, August 18, 1961, page 1, Section B: Headline: Theatre Will Admit UNC Negro Pupils; “Carolina Theater here adopted a policy of limited desegregation Thursday. The policy applied only to Negro students at the University of North Carolina…Theatre officials said they believe it to be the first in the South to adopt a policy of integration.” But the docsouth link above will reveal that this ‘limited desegregation’ wasn’t the real thing and therefore the theatre was still picketed.
The Broadway also was known for its girlie stage shows or ‘Hootchi-Kootchi’ shows (did I spell that right – who even says “Hootchi-Kootchi” anymore???? Besides me, that is).
I was there for the opening of the Tryon Mall that Mark in NC references Feb. 7, 2010 – it was exciting to go to a new theatre and go back to school and tell everyone about it. But that’s another movie I remember little about.
Yep – pretty bad – I remember Charlton (well, his character) rolling down a mountain fighting somebody and that’s about it. By the way, back up there at raysson’s comment on June 18 – Jaws never played at the Capri (Jaws II might have).
Note: I still think there must have been two different Westgate Cinemas. THere is no question that GCC built and opened the Westgate Cinemas that I’m familiar with in 1984. I think it’s a very real possibility that the ‘first’ Westgate Cinemas were also located at the same mall and were torn down. Surely someone in Spartanburg will know?
PatriciaNC’s husband was the DM with GCC (my brother’s career in the movie theatre business was short-lived but he was a pretty good popcorn popper!)
Shook Charlton Heston’s hand in the lobby of this theatre as he toured with his forgettable film “The Mountain Men” (1980) – but what a gentleman (and handsome too)! Saw “Jaws” here – blew me away, there had never been a film like that before! (well, at least not for me) Also met David Carradine at the Tryon Mall Theatre but can’t remember the name of the film…must have really been a forgettable one…
Edward Marks was the assistant manager at The Broadway in 1947. I believe at that time it was operated/owned by Wilby-Kincey.
To Beckymae, most likely this was the film always titled “The Kidnappers Foil” by Melton Barker Productions. See some good information at this web site: http://www.meltonbarker.com/index.html
We still don’t know the date this theatre was torn down, however, we do know that it was still standing (closed) in April 1983.
Love the “Die Monster Die” playbill/lobby card! That’s from 1965 – some of my father’s work. The stage show was partly the draw and though it probably did seem to be a strange holiday film, the campy horror films (and even today’s gory ones) were a guaranteed money-maker, particularly in the small towns. “Dr. Evil”, I believe, was Phil Morris, of Morris Costume. If somebody knows different, please correct me!
Very cluttered, wasn’t it?
Mike, Thanks for nice comment about David.
Found an old ticket stub from a young woman’s 1928-30 scrapbook:
View link
Thanks Mike for the info. I did confirm that Edward Marks was gone from Brevard by 1954 – in fact, he was gone by 1953, so those Almanacs were definitely behind. (or they didn’t update them carefully)
In fact, the photos of GCC Theatres at my flickr site belong to David.
Absolutely!
MikeRogers – I’ve never heard the story of the manager’s family being murdered but will keep a ‘look-out’ for it and will pass on if I find anything.
A newspaper article appeared in “The Sandhill Citizen” (Aberdeen, NC) on Wednesday, July 23, 1980 (page 3). Headline: Bob Dutton, Theater Man of the Sandhills. Per the article, Dutton had been with the theatre for 40 years, “…started to work with the Sunrise in 1940 has been the theater’s only manager since the theater was built, and is also manager of the Town & Country Cinema in Aberdeen.” So this indicates the Sunrise opened in 1940. Dutton remembered how the cost of a ticket was 9 cents during WWII because of the war tax on tickets over a dime, so most operators kept their admissions at 9 cents.