Loew's Grand Theatre

I was lucky enough to see many films in this theatre before it closed and eventually tore down. Of course, by that time, the type of films that were being shown were grind house, horror and exploitation movies, but that was okay. The thrill of those days being young and taken downtown to this theatre was one I’ll never forget.

Someone once said that “growing up in Georgia is like watching your past being hauled away in a dump truck”.

Sad but true.
View link
View link

Here is a link to a photo of the fire at the Loews Grand in 1978:
View link

P.S. That’s one rare Woody wagon in the 1944 picture in Ken Mc’s Nov.28th post.
Oh, to own that car today.

To whom it may concern,

My name is Robert Napier. I am doing a documentary about Atlanta theaters. I am in search of locating an abandoned theatre and using the documentary as a catalyst to support renovations to the existing theatre. We are also looking for Atlanta locals who are between the ages of 40 & 70 who have exciting stories about their cinema experience at the time. For more information, please visit

http://segregatedseats.ning.com/

This was my favorite Atlanta theater. My brother and I would ride the bus from Hapeville downtown to see movies at the Loews Grand. We saw Hello Dolly, The April Fools, Ben Hur among other movies in the late 1960s.

By the 1970s things had changed for the Loews Grand. They began showing B-movies and the Blacksploitation films. Almost a year before it closed it did hold the premier of Galdys Knight’s movie Pipe Dreams.

While in undergrad school at Georgia State, I did manage to catch two movies at the Loews Grand, Obsession and The Farmer. Obsession was on a double bill with Taxi Driver. I now wish I had seen Taxi Driver there because that was a perfect place to see the movie.

I did try to make the final showing there. I thought it would have been at 9:45, but they had the earlier show as the final showing.

After the theater burned, I managed to buy two chairs from the auditorium. One was from the floor, and the other was from the balcony which was there when Gone With The Wind had its premier. I also have some pieces of the theater in my back yard. One put a permanent dent in my old Gremlin.

I really miss the Loews Grand. Perhaps if Georgia Pacific had not decided to move to Atlanta, and the theater was kept, it could have been a concert venue.

The fact that the Loew’s Grand was the site of the world premiere of GONE WITH THE WIND was the theater’s real claim to fame. The truth was that the architecture was not particularly distinguished. It lacked the unity of design that made the Fox Theatre so remarkable. The design of the Loew’s Grand took a back seat to the nearby Peachtree Street theaters such as the Howard/Paramount {next door}; the Keith Georgia/Roxy; and (judging from photographs) the Capitol.

As I pointed out in an earlier post, the Loew’s Grand’s location on Peachtree Street made the land far too valuable for the government of the City of Atlanta to justify preserving a theater- any theater.

I have not seen any final report on the cause of the fire, even without the fire I doubt if the theater could have been saved. Atlanta Landmarks had just raised the 1.8 million to secure the FOX and it seems unlikely that Atlanta could come up with the money to do the Grand also. At least the FOX structure was in much better shape and had not been significantly altered over the years, The Grand on the other hand had been radically altered with the 1932 ART DECO redo, which even by the late 50’s had already had many of the fixtures removed or painted over. Except for the GWTW connection the Grand would have been a difficult preservation project to sell. Before construction started on the Grand in 1891, a reported from the Atlanta Constitution asked Mr. Degive when construction would begin

was there ever any news stories on what was the ultimate cause of the 1978 fire?
I’m assuming the Loew’s Grand never reopened after the fire.

How soon after the fire and in what year was it finally torn down?

The irony of a catastrophic fire burning in Atlanta, taking out such a classic building that premiered GWTW not twice but 3 times, is a little spooky.

“Gone With the Wind” was not the only “world premier” at Loew’s Grand
In 1956 Walt Disney’s “The Great Locomotive Chase” starring Fess Parker and Jeffrey Hunter had its premier. The film told the story of Andrews Raiders which occurred just north of Atlanta during the Civil War. The film was also shot in Rabun County on the Old Tallulah Falls Railroad which is just northeast of Atlanta.

The Grand Opera House in Atlanta is listed in the 1897-98 edition of the Julius Cahn Official Theatrical Guide. The theater was managed by H.L. & J. DeGive. Seating was 2,644 with admissions ranging from 25 cents to $1.25. The house was on the ground floor and had electric illumination. The proscenium opening was 40 feet wide X 36 feet high and the stage was 50 feet deep. There were 8 in the house orchestra. Also listed in the Guide is the Columbia Theatre (see J. Tanner above on July 5 2007). The Columbia was also managed by H.L. & J. DeGive. It had 1,792 seats, electric illumination and a stage 35 feet deep. It was located on the second floor. A third theater listed for Atlanta was the Lyceum with 1,816 seats. The 1897 population of Atlanta was 100,000.

Althought this may sound picky but the Grand Opera house was never listed as the DeGives Opera House it was always from its opening known as the Grand, until Loews took a lease on the building in the mid 19 teens.

However there was a Degives Opera House which he opened in 1880, which was located at Broad and Marietta streets, Some time after the Grand opened the Degives OPera house changed its name to the Columbia, and then around 1900 changed its name to the Bijou which remained in operation until 1920 when the theatre was torn down for an office building. The Degives family owned and operated both houses until The Degives Opera house changed its name to the Columbia.

When Loews first leased the Grand it was only for a year to try things out. They had initially intended on building a new theatre in town, but was convinced by the Degives to try a lease. After a year they renewned the lease until 1932. During this time there were some modifications to the Grand and there ws talk of even building a new theatre on the site but nothing ever happened. With the construction of theatre like the Howard, Capitol, Keith"s Georgia(Roxy) and finally the Fox, the old Victorian Opera house complete with its look around balcony supports. was a theatre that Loews needed to shed itself of. In 1930 Loews gained control of the Capitol and moved it first run films there, shortly afterwards Loews gained control of the Fox, but the situtation at the Fox was so uncertain and with the Depression getting worse, Loews fell back to the Grand. Its was too expensive to build a new theatre on the site so Loews choose to lease the site again and remodel the interior.
Thomas Lamb designed a new ART DECO on a budget interior. The old Victorian interior was gutted out and a new interior was built inside the shell of the 1893 building.

The Wurlitzer organ that was installed in the early twenties had replaced an earlier organ that was installed in 1919.
When Thomas Lamb remodeled the theatre, organ chambers where provided however the organ was not reinstalled. The organ was installed in a local church in the mid 30' and removed in the late 50’s after that the organ was broken up. some parts did end up at the Monestary in Conyers Ga but that organ has since been removed.

If you read my previous post you will realize that RODAN played at the Paramount Theatre, next door to the Loew’s Grand. During the 1950’s the Paramount booked a lot of “B” movies, particularly science fiction and horror films. The Loew’s Grand rarely booked sci-fi, fantasy films. Notable exceptions were Disney’s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA (1954), FORBIDDEN PLANET (1956), George Pal’s THE TIME MACHINE (1960)& ATLANTIS THE LOST CONTINENT (1961), Alfred Hitchock’s THE BIRDS (1963), and THE HAUNTING (1963), among some others. By the 1970’s, the Loew’s Grand did start to book exploitation films, though.

Trust me, I attended both of these theaters often in the 1950’s and 1960’s!

Actually the films that you are referring to are listed on the marquee of the Paramount Theatre, one door to the north of the Loew’s Grand (just across an alleyway). The Paramount was torn down in 1960. The Loew’s Grand rarely booked “B” movies in it’s prime years.