Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the Las Vegas Cinerama Dome built as a partnership between Harry Nace Theatres of Arizona and William Forman’s Pacific Theatres of California? I remember in the early 1070’s Pacific booked the theatre and Nace operated it.
Theeee Movies of Tarzana was designed, built and operated by Ron Lefton starting in 1973. It was an old supermarket before Lefton made it a 6-plex theater. He operated the theater until 1982 when he sold it to Mann Theaters. When it first opened, it was the only 6-plex in the west San Fernando Valley. Lippert’s Americana 6 was the other 6-plex on the east side. Lefton and his father, at different times, also operatered the Pan Pacific, Oriental, Clinton and Gordon in the Hollywood, W. Los Angeles areas.
In 1960, the owners spent a fortune remodeling the theater for the Houston premiere of SPARTACUS. They did a beautiful job and hsd a great presentation. They felt the picture would play six or seven months. It flopped and was gone in two. This great epic bombed in Houston. They spent all that money and never got another roadshow hard ticket picture.
The people of Houston certainly had no foresight. They didn’t even try to protect their hertiage. The Majestic, the Metropolitan and the Loew’s State should all be Performing Arts Centers today instead of being demolished in the 1970’s. Out with the old and in with the new. But you’ll never see these grand palaces again. I’m glad to see the Rice Hotel is still alive.
I lived in Pasadena in the early to mid 1960’s and one of things I fondly remember about the Academy was almost every Friday or Saturday night, Warner Bros would preview one of their just finished pictures. Jack Warner and his group would always be there along with many of the stars of the picture. We’d almost always see these picture 6 to 7 months ahead of their national release. We saw THE MUSIC MAN, GYPSY, THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE and SPENCER’S MOUNTAIN just to name a few. This was usually the first preview, so we saw films that were not cut and had much longer running times. I remember WINE AND ROSES ran almost 2 ½ hours when we saw it in the Summer of 62'and by the time it was released at Christmas 62', it was less than 2 hours. With GYSPY, Warner cut three of it’s songs after this preview. He felt the picture was too long at 2 hours and 45 minutes. So he cut it to 2 ½ hours. Many times during these previews, the sound would go out of sink, as the sound and film were running through separate machines. The studio would have 5 or 6 men in the booth trying to put it back in sink. After these films were finished, the audience would fill out preview cards and the Warner group would read them in the lobby. I remember seeing Robert Preston at THE MUSIC MAN preview and Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty at GYSPY. She was one of the most beautiful women I have even seen. WOW.
What a waste. I can’t tell you how many times, as a boy, I saw movies at the Metropolitan and Loew’s State. Both were beautiful and well maintained. I saw THE ROBE in Cinemascope at the Metro in 53 or 54. I can’t recall the date. What a presentation. It also ran most of the early Fox Cinemascope pictures. (HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, PRINCE VALIANT, RIVER OF NO RETURN, NIGHT PEOPLE, HELL AND HIGH WATER etc.) They used many a false front at the Metroploitan. I remember THE EGYPTIAN and how they decorated the entire front of the theater and boxoffice. I’m sure Fox paid for it. It’s sad that this beautiful theater didn’t even last 50 years and the people of Houston even didn’t care enough to save their movie history. They can save an old 1900 house that someone lived in 100 years ago, but NOT the movie palaces that played GONE WITH THE WIND and CASABLANCA. What’s wrong with this picture.
Between 1958 to 1961, I worked as an usher and the ass’t manager to Howard Skelton at the Alabama. The theater was owned by Interstate Theaters Inc which was the dominate theater circuit in Texas at that time. The Alabama, like the Village, Garden Oaks, Santa Rosa and others was a sub run 28 day theater. All first run films would play downtown Houston at either the Metropolitan, Majestic or the Loew’s State. After their run was finished, there was a 28 day window before the picture would open in these sub run theaters. The playtime was usually a week. I was there when the Alabama played some real classics. (THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, RIO BRAVO, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE LONG HOT SUMMER, THE F.B.I STORY, A SUMMER PLACE, etc..) The daily program would consist of a newsreel, a cartoon, previews of coming attractions and the feature. Each Saturday morning, the Alabama would have a special kid show featuring 5 cartoons, a serial, previews and a kid film of somekind. Every Halloween and Friday the 13th, we’d show a double feature Horror combo. The teenagers loved them….By 1960, Interstate needed another 70mm Roadshow House in Houston, so the Alabama was chosen. They put a lot of money into the theater. (New Seats, 60ft Screen, drapes, boxoffice, candy counter, bathrooms, 70mm projector and sound, etc.) We were suppose to open THE ALAMO in September 1960, but it ended up opening at the Tower. So, the Alabama stayed a sub run theater until EL CID opened in December 1961. It also played LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and of course, THE SOUND OF MUSIC. By that point I was long gone. But I remember those days very fondly. I also was able to work the Garden Oaks, River Oaks, Tower and even a couple of weeks in the city offices with Al Lever. It’s a sad state that all these theaters, with the exception of the River Oaks, are all gone. The Alabama had class, charm, warmth and it’s own identity…….Now you might wonder what happened to me. Well, I’m a theater owner with a small circuit of theaters in Southern California.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the Las Vegas Cinerama Dome built as a partnership between Harry Nace Theatres of Arizona and William Forman’s Pacific Theatres of California? I remember in the early 1070’s Pacific booked the theatre and Nace operated it.
Theeee Movies of Tarzana was designed, built and operated by Ron Lefton starting in 1973. It was an old supermarket before Lefton made it a 6-plex theater. He operated the theater until 1982 when he sold it to Mann Theaters. When it first opened, it was the only 6-plex in the west San Fernando Valley. Lippert’s Americana 6 was the other 6-plex on the east side. Lefton and his father, at different times, also operatered the Pan Pacific, Oriental, Clinton and Gordon in the Hollywood, W. Los Angeles areas.
In 1960, the owners spent a fortune remodeling the theater for the Houston premiere of SPARTACUS. They did a beautiful job and hsd a great presentation. They felt the picture would play six or seven months. It flopped and was gone in two. This great epic bombed in Houston. They spent all that money and never got another roadshow hard ticket picture.
The theater closed in the mid 1950’s and became the Houston Neiman Marcus.
The people of Houston certainly had no foresight. They didn’t even try to protect their hertiage. The Majestic, the Metropolitan and the Loew’s State should all be Performing Arts Centers today instead of being demolished in the 1970’s. Out with the old and in with the new. But you’ll never see these grand palaces again. I’m glad to see the Rice Hotel is still alive.
I lived in Pasadena in the early to mid 1960’s and one of things I fondly remember about the Academy was almost every Friday or Saturday night, Warner Bros would preview one of their just finished pictures. Jack Warner and his group would always be there along with many of the stars of the picture. We’d almost always see these picture 6 to 7 months ahead of their national release. We saw THE MUSIC MAN, GYPSY, THE DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES, YOUNGBLOOD HAWKE and SPENCER’S MOUNTAIN just to name a few. This was usually the first preview, so we saw films that were not cut and had much longer running times. I remember WINE AND ROSES ran almost 2 ½ hours when we saw it in the Summer of 62'and by the time it was released at Christmas 62', it was less than 2 hours. With GYSPY, Warner cut three of it’s songs after this preview. He felt the picture was too long at 2 hours and 45 minutes. So he cut it to 2 ½ hours. Many times during these previews, the sound would go out of sink, as the sound and film were running through separate machines. The studio would have 5 or 6 men in the booth trying to put it back in sink. After these films were finished, the audience would fill out preview cards and the Warner group would read them in the lobby. I remember seeing Robert Preston at THE MUSIC MAN preview and Natalie Wood and Warren Beatty at GYSPY. She was one of the most beautiful women I have even seen. WOW.
What a waste. I can’t tell you how many times, as a boy, I saw movies at the Metropolitan and Loew’s State. Both were beautiful and well maintained. I saw THE ROBE in Cinemascope at the Metro in 53 or 54. I can’t recall the date. What a presentation. It also ran most of the early Fox Cinemascope pictures. (HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE, BENEATH THE 12-MILE REEF, KING OF THE KHYBER RIFLES, PRINCE VALIANT, RIVER OF NO RETURN, NIGHT PEOPLE, HELL AND HIGH WATER etc.) They used many a false front at the Metroploitan. I remember THE EGYPTIAN and how they decorated the entire front of the theater and boxoffice. I’m sure Fox paid for it. It’s sad that this beautiful theater didn’t even last 50 years and the people of Houston even didn’t care enough to save their movie history. They can save an old 1900 house that someone lived in 100 years ago, but NOT the movie palaces that played GONE WITH THE WIND and CASABLANCA. What’s wrong with this picture.
Between 1958 to 1961, I worked as an usher and the ass’t manager to Howard Skelton at the Alabama. The theater was owned by Interstate Theaters Inc which was the dominate theater circuit in Texas at that time. The Alabama, like the Village, Garden Oaks, Santa Rosa and others was a sub run 28 day theater. All first run films would play downtown Houston at either the Metropolitan, Majestic or the Loew’s State. After their run was finished, there was a 28 day window before the picture would open in these sub run theaters. The playtime was usually a week. I was there when the Alabama played some real classics. (THE BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, RIO BRAVO, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE LONG HOT SUMMER, THE F.B.I STORY, A SUMMER PLACE, etc..) The daily program would consist of a newsreel, a cartoon, previews of coming attractions and the feature. Each Saturday morning, the Alabama would have a special kid show featuring 5 cartoons, a serial, previews and a kid film of somekind. Every Halloween and Friday the 13th, we’d show a double feature Horror combo. The teenagers loved them….By 1960, Interstate needed another 70mm Roadshow House in Houston, so the Alabama was chosen. They put a lot of money into the theater. (New Seats, 60ft Screen, drapes, boxoffice, candy counter, bathrooms, 70mm projector and sound, etc.) We were suppose to open THE ALAMO in September 1960, but it ended up opening at the Tower. So, the Alabama stayed a sub run theater until EL CID opened in December 1961. It also played LAWRENCE OF ARABIA, and of course, THE SOUND OF MUSIC. By that point I was long gone. But I remember those days very fondly. I also was able to work the Garden Oaks, River Oaks, Tower and even a couple of weeks in the city offices with Al Lever. It’s a sad state that all these theaters, with the exception of the River Oaks, are all gone. The Alabama had class, charm, warmth and it’s own identity…….Now you might wonder what happened to me. Well, I’m a theater owner with a small circuit of theaters in Southern California.