Northpark West 1 & 2
1100 Northpark Center,
Dallas,
TX
75225
1100 Northpark Center,
Dallas,
TX
75225
17 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 77 comments
Had the chance to move to Dallas and manage a new LOEWS quad in 1977,I turned them down looked up that theatre on C.T. and it has already been closed and tore down,even in Nashville 2 of the 3 LOEWS I worked at the buildings are still there.
I was one of those guys that got the keys,the paper work for GCC. Never worked here,but it seemed like a great theatre and I know how you guys feel seeing it all gone.
That’s correct…Star Wars never did play on all 4 screens. It played on one screen at each Northpark complex…but never on all four. One other note…Raiders of the Lost Ark never did play at NP 1-2 either, as posted above. Paramount (who distributed Raiders) and General Cinema were never on the best of terms in the 80’s and 90’s, and consequently Paramount films never played at NorthPark during this era.
At least two. The movie opened in May ‘77 in 35mm and upgraded that December to a 70mm print. I don’t know if either of those prints was ever damaged and required replacement.
While researching the release history of “Star Wars,” I didn’t come across any evidence that “Star Wars” was ever simultaneously playing on all four screens of the two Northpark complexes. It did, however, play for a 12-week week period simultaneously on one screen in each complex.
To clarify, “Star Wars” opened on one of the two screens at Northpark I & II on May 27, 1977 and played for 54 weeks; it opened on one of the two screens at Northpark III & IV on July 22, 1977 and played for 12 weeks.
This cinema, The Northpark Cinema I & II opened on September 22nd, 1965 and the grand opening announcement is at View link
This was “the” theater to see all the “event” movies. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Goonies, JFK, Jurassic Park, Godfather re-release. One of my best memories of this place was the sound system. I still have the score to Last of the Mohicans embedded in my brain. Truly a one-of-a-kind!
This was “the” theater to see all the “event” movies. Star Wars, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Goonies, JFK, Jurassic Park, Godfather re-release. One of my best memories of this place was the sound system. I still have the score to Last of the Mohicans embedded in my brain. Truly a one-of-a-kind!
A great theater! Saw many many movies there over the years. The sneak for ‘Blade Runner’ and repeated viewings over a year of Star Wars. Standing in line for ‘Empire Strikes Back’. Great great place.
Directly across the Theater, in a much less showy mall area, was the Northpark III & IV theaters. They were smaller than the I & II, but I saw many movies there. Not sure when they closed, but I saw A View to a Kill there in 1985.
Demolishing movie theaters is one thing the city Dallas does very well. They have had a lot of experience doing it!
My first job was an usher at North Park Cinema in 1967. It was a class place… two actual theaters under one roof! We wore black tuxedo-type outfits, and actually escorted people that arrived a little late down the isles with flashlights! It was an exciting, popular, and wonderful place for a kid to work.
I saw The Graduate and Gone With the Wind (and multitude of others) so many times that I had every line memorized! I made many friends there along with my very cute girl friend that worked concessions. I remember sneaking away with her for a few minutes in the storage room behind the popcorn stand… Ah youth!
I went to Hillcrest High at the time and worked mainly nights and weekends. We made minimum wage at the Cinema, which I think was 1.25 an hour. We’d work two weeks and would bring home a whopping 35.00! For most of us, it was a good thing they paid us; otherwise we would’ve had to work there for free!
My imagination flourished at North Park Cinema and I became a life long movie lover. As I grew into adulthood, I returned many, many times and was always reminded of the magical times I had when I worked there.
The last film I saw at NPC was the newly restored version of Vertigo in 1996. I always took for granted that the theater would be there, and I was genuinely stunned and saddened when it closed two years later. A real slice of Dallas history had vanished.
Professionally, my experience at North Park had a profound impression on me… I spent many years in the film and video industry as an actor, writer, director and producer.
I’m 56 now and so many years have past, but the memories of my youth and my time at the North Park Cinema are as vivid as ever.
Jim
I saw an advance screening of Bladerunner here, months before it opened. I saw Atlantic City, The Color Purple and many other films. I agree, this was the cadillac of theaters in Dallas. Great screen, great seats, fabulous sound system. And 3&4 screens were across the freeway.
I think my favorite memory of this theater is of the opening night of Ross Hunter’s “Lost Horizon” where my parents and I saw the ‘uncut’ version—with the infamous scarf dance which isn’t even on the laserdisc. This was one great theater. My elderly parents even called me from home to mourn it’s demolition.
I am so tickled to find this site today and to see that people are still commenting on their experiences with Northpark I and II. I, too, was there for the final screening, but we saw the last showing of “Simon Birch.” I was tickled to see the news media interviewing the staff, validating our perception that a landmark was being taken away. About 20 people just sat quietly in their seats for several minutes after the lights came up. Finally one gentlemen walked forward, touched the screen for a moment, and then made his way back to the seats. A girl then proclaimed, “If we don’t get up, they can’t tear it down.” I’m so thankful for that man’s action because it gave the rest of us the freedom to do the same, take pics in front of the screen, and visit with others who were slightly teary eyed. We talked about where the wall sconces were going (demolished, apparently) and other artifacts like Benji’s star.
I now live in Seattle and have the gift of Cinerama, but even with it’s spectacular sound and projection, it can’t generate the connection we’d feel when squeezed into that nothing of a lobby at Northpark, passing money to a chain of complete strangers in exchange for them making our purchase at the snack bar. And the snacks and change always found their way back to us.
So I have a question for Mr. Maher: was there yet a later screening that we were not told of as we left just prior to midnight? Or are you referring to the shut-down of Northpark 3 and 4? I’ll live if I learn I didn’t make the cut for the final screening…
I was the General Manager when Northpark closed in 1998. To answer J B’s question Joe Camp came by and got the star. He had also heard that the theater was closing and wanted to make sure that the star did not get destroyed. That was a very surreal time as I had no idea how many people really loved that theater. I was interviewed by all 4 news channels and we were the lead story on channel 8. I even took Gary Cogill on a tour of the private “screening room” that he didn’t even know about. If anyone has any questions I would be happy to answer them as I really grew up working at that theater. I first started working the concession stand at the age of 15 in 1973 and then came full circle by being the GM from 1997-1998. Of course I managed several other GCC theaters between those times but the best gig in town was The Northpark. Even today when I go shopping at Northpark I can still remember the lines of people we had for Titanic wrapping around the building. I really love reading about everyone’s experience at the theater and only wish that it was never destroyed.
Question for anyone who remembers this theatre:
In the pictures on the FilmTech website:
http://www.film-tech.com/
In the picture of the big auditorium there is a blue glow around the screen and that lights up lines of what could appear to be a GCC trademark “Shadowbox”/“Picture Window” screen. I was told in a thread on Cinematour that it was blue felt masking the screen. However was that blue felt applied to a shadowbox screen with fixed 2:35 masking or is there no shadowbox and a standard adjustable aspect ratio masking that happens to be made of blue felt?
I never got this theatre. I have many great memories there, but it was a plain, barren General Cinemas theatre. The lobby was small and indistinct. The auditoriums were just cavernous rooms with seats. The floors were sticky. The presentations were good. I can not help but feel people confuse fond memories of the films they saw there as being fond memories of the physical facility.
does anyone know what happened to the
incredible Lucasfilm Ltd’s THX North Park
sound system? And, is it stll in operation?
love to know.
thanks,
CedarPhil
And speaking of Mr. Holman, he celebrated a birthday recently. Here’s a link to a photo gallery of the event.
View link
The answer to your question might be Brad Miller, who was a projectionist at the Northpark for many years. I’d suggest visiting his website www.film-tech.com and asking the question in one of the forums.
Oh, and the Tomlinson Harlon you mention is actually Tomlinson Holman (the “T' and "H” of “THX”).
Hey guys … new to the site.
Check it out.
First time I ever saw the movie DIE HARD was at this theater. I expected nothing. Bruce Willis the comedian in an action movie? And I was in a bad mood because we were a little late and my friend I was seeing it with decided to bring a date without telling me. And I had a headache. So I walk into this massive auditorium and Bruce Willis is already in the limosine with Argyle heading to the building. And I sit down, 3rd row center. And this place … the layout, the screen, the sound system. It was like nothing I’ve ever experienced in a theater. I start to become enveloped, like I’m really there. by the time the first guns go off in the other room while Willis is by himself, I’m completely into the film. From that second on, I litterally was on the edge of my seat. And I … was … BLOWN … AWAY. It was easily the greatest film experience of my life. From then on, if I wanted to see a big summer movie, I would settle for NOTHING accept the Northpark screen number 1 … 3rd row, center. I went to the very last screening before they closed the building. A screening not open to the public, but only held at midnight for all the film geeks the theater had come to know and recognize over the years. They put on a double feature of The Empire Strikes Back and for the closing … my favorite film of all time which I had never seen there … Raiders of the Lost Ark.
Afterwards, the guy who ran the sound system took us back stage and showed us everything. And this guy was about to cry. He said he calibrated the sound for EVERY movie that came through, and I asked him what he was going to do now. He laughed and said “what do you mean, what theater? Please. Anything else in the country is a toy compared to this. I’ll just have to move on.”
If I remember correctly, the guy said he helped create the whole system from the beginning. And later I saw a picture of TOMLINSON HARLON and it might be the guy. But I wouldn’t think so, because he created THX and is now a professor at USC. If it’s not him though, I always wanted to track that guy down so if I became powerful enough to build my own theater some day, I’d see if this guy could help me build the sound system. Because quite frankly. I’ve been to LA, NY and all around, and I’ve NEVER been in a theater like this one.
Would anyone happen to remember who the “sound technician” for this theater was in the final years of 95-98? Write me at
Thanks
P.S.
Yes, destroying this thing for a Foleys was one of the worst tradgedies in history.
Does anyone remember the gold (probably brass) star dedicated to Benji on the walkway just outside of the box office at the Northpark 1 & 2? I’m really interested in finding out what happened to it…big Benji fan!
A group of us saw Star Wars at the Northpark in it’s original run. Over the the run of the film (More than a year) we returned as a group to re-experience it more than 20 ( some of us think it was more like 30) times. The management and employees of the Northpark got to recognise us and other regulars and made us feal extra welcome. I remember one summer evening they brought all of us regulars cold drinks on the house.
I remember distinctly that we returned for a 1 year anniversary viewing of our first experience. I would br interested in knowing how many prints the Northpark used during that run because I don’t ever remember seeing a flaw.
As well as the Northpark I & II there was a Northpark III & IV. At one time Star Wars was running in all four of the theatre’s simultaneously to standing room only business.
AS state dabove expansion of the Northpark Mall ended the theatres run. From the outside it was just a white stucco box with no decoration but inside it was a treasure.
In 1977 I was 28 which makes me now 56 but I will never forget that first flyover of the Star Destroyer in the opening seen and how it drove me down in my seat.
Facts: 1. I managed this theatre during the years of the “Blade Runner” preview showing Harrison Ford attended and Carol Channing caught a performance of “ET”.
Over the years, other stars sat in the back rows of NorthPark, however Ford was not among them.
This theatre was also known as:
Cinema I&II (its grand opening name)
Northpark I&II
(The Cinema Treasures staff may wish to add those AKAs into the main theater details.)
QUOTE: “[The Northpark] was one of only 20 theaters in the nation to run ‘Star Wars’ on its opening weekend in May of 1977.”
Well, almost correct! The number of original engagements initiated during May 1977 was forty-three. (If anyone is curious which venues were included in that initial launch of “Star Wars,” I encourage you to read my article “May 25, 1977: A Day Long Remembered,” which can be accessed from the link provided below. How many of the 43 original theaters still exist today?)
View link