The Lake Arrowhead Village Theater appears to have opened on July 8, 1938 with “Four Men and a Prayer.” The theater co-existed with the open-air Lake Arrowhead Theater which had opened a decade earlier as the Ye Jester Theater for the remainder of the 1938 season. The open air theater doesn’t appear to have reopened in 1939. The Lake Arrowhead Village Theater’s last advertised sho was “Frenzy” on September 9, 1972 although it may well have continued past that date.
Its sound era name was the Lake Arrowhead Theater and operated through the 1938 season. The Village Theater, a hardtop, was constructed and appears to have essentially replaced the Lake Arrowhead with the two co-existing from July 8, 1938 through the open air venue’s closure later that year.
Bonnie and David Parmelee opened the venue in 1957 with Bonnie at the concession stand and David as the projectionist. It closed after the 1974 season.
The Dufwin Theatre launches October 8, 1928 with a live play. But the Depression would take its toll on the Henry Duffy Players' new legit house. The Roxie appears to have closed August 18, 1983 with “48 Hours,” “Flashdance,” and “Don’t Answer the Phone” on a grindhouse, triple feature policy.
George L. Baker launched the Baker City Opera House on January 18, 1901 and shortened to the Baker Opera House. It used the name Baker Theatre from 1906 to 1925 at which time it was closed for a major refresh by the Heilner Brothers and the Burks. It became the Clarick Theatre on November 9, 1925 launching Wirth “Blossom Time.”
The Orpheum Theatre launched on September 6, 1909 with live vaudeville and short films. A later article said it was built on the site of a retail store that had burned down. The Orpheum closed briefly and had a second grand opening as the Orpheum Theatre on January 24, 1910. After a refresh by Haisch & Cutter in the Summer of 1916, the venue had third grand opening as the New Orpheum relaunching on September 20, 1916 with “Poor Little Peppina.” It soon lost “New” to be just the Orpheum Theatre.
The Orpheum added sound to remain viable. It closed on September 18, 1935 and was enlarged and modernized in a three-month project that subsumed the neighboring Pollman Building to the plans of architect J.W. DeYoung of Portland. On December 21, 1935, the new streamline moderne New Orpheum opened with its fourth grand opening with the film, “Collegiate.” (There’s no record of a fire closing the theater in 1936.)
It became just the Orpheum dropping “New” in 1938 before suffering a fire on September 15, 1943 that gutted the theater. Its basement was used surreptitiously by the “Panther Club,” a juvenile delinquent group through 1947. It finally relaunched five years later as the New Baker Theatre on December 2, 1948 with “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid.” It appears to have closed January 27, 1957 with “The Queen of Babylon” and “Bigger Than Life.”
Appears to have opened on September 29, 1950 with “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” Its second season was cut short when it was destroyed by fire on August 20, 1951. It was reopened the following April. In its final season, the concession building was destroyed by fire on August 18, 1976 but they completed the year with a temporary building closing October 31, 1976 with “Jaws.”
The former Aloha became the Empire Theatre on May 22, 1912. It closed on October 29, 1950 with “Singapore” and “Pirates of Monterey” supported by the cartoon, “Little Cut Up” and Chapter 2 of the “Batman and Robin” serial. became a revival center in 1951. It was next turned into a retail venue.
AMC closed here permanently on March 23, 2025. The property would be repurposed as a fitness center / gym. The venue opened as the Rave Lee Branch 15 on June 30, 2004, its third Birmingham location. On October 1, 2012, the Rave Circuit was purchased by Carmike Theatre becoming the Carmike Lee Branch 15.
In March of 2016, AMC purchased Carmike Theatres obtaining the Lee Branch. AMC rebranded a large portion of the inherited theaters as AMC Classic generally operating such theaters to end of lease closures with improvements ranging from none to modest. The AMC Classic Lee Branch 15 closed with the rest of the locations due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020. AMC Classic Lee Branch 15 reopened on August 27, 2020.
One of the last films on March 23, 2025 was Anthony Hopkins in “Locked.”
Florida State Theatre Circuit launched the 1,150 “jet lounger” seat Plaza Rocking Chair Theatre architected by Robert C. Broward in December 1967 with 70mm and Cinerama film projection capability. The $500,000 theater with its 22' by 55' screen wowed patrons.“ Over 100,000 folks saw “Star Wars” here in 1977. Plitt Theatres, which took on the venue in 1978, closed here as the Plaza Theatre January 19, 1984 with “Terms of Endearment” and “D.C. Cab.”
If you have gift cards, you might consider using them in the next few days… no Asian films and no showtimes past Wednesday, March 26, 2025 combined with the deep financial issues of the parent company and the removal of the Facebook page doesn’t bode well. Buena Park location already listed as “temporarily closed” after the end of February 2025.
The CGV Buena Vista is listed as “temporarily closed.” I’m guessing that will turn out to be permanent with the parent company’s financial issues and because they’ve taken down their Facebook page.
Formerly operated by Nova Cinemas, the fledgling circuit’s second to last theater before its departure. Final operator, Newstar LLC closed here September 3, 2015. Two years later, the venue became a dine-in theater called Touchstar Cinemas Sabal Palms Luxury 6 opening August 11, 2017. Seating was reduced from 1,000 to 450. The venue is still operating in 2025.
The regional Jamestown Mall opened theatre-lessly October 10, 1973. General Cinema announced its Jamestown Cinema I & II not long thereafter. The twin-screen venue had two 350-seat auditoriums for a 700 patron capacity. Gene F. Thoebes was in charge on opening day, July 12, 1974 likely on a 20-year leasing agreement. It was General Cinema’s eighth area theater but the first St. Louis area mall theater with its own entrance easily allowing the mall to be closed with the theater open and parking just outside the venue.
By the 1980s, GCC was dropping 6- and 8-screen theaters in the multiplex theater era of film exhibition. With the Jamestown theatre facility landlocked preventing expansion, GCC took an opt-out in the 15th year of leasing closing permanently with “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and the Cannon film, “River of Death” on October 29, 1989. After being vacant for a little over a year, Wehrenberg took on the venue beginning on December 14, 1990 undoubtedly with very favorable leasing terms.
Under the name of the Jamestown Mall Ciné 2 - the proper name for this entry - it opened with “Marked for Death” and “Sibling Rivalry” All shows were served up on a discount, sub-run policy for $1.50. Wehrenberg was a quick read of the Jamestown clientele and quickly lowered pricing to $1 for all shows. Wehrenberg completed the leasing period closing on January 2, 1994 with “The Three Musketeers” and “We’re Back.” The latter film title proved prescient as Wehrenberg exited the Mall only to be enticed back.
The original cinema space became part of the Jamestown Mall Food Court in October of 1994 following a remodel. In 1996, during the megaplex-era of movie exhibition, an ambitious mall expansion was announced that would provide space at the opposite end of Jamestown Mall for a 14-screen movie theater. Trade publication, Variety, warned exhibition companies to avoid second-rate aging malls as they would be mired in financial servitude after being locked into long-term leases in malls with questionable upside. Jamestown Mall fit that bill and, yet, Wehernberg signed a long-term agreement for its Jamestown 14 Ciné opening in in late Fall 1998. It didn’t go Jamestown Mall’s way or Wehrenberg as they fled well before their lease expiry. That theater has its own entry.
Status: formerly 700 seats and now demolished; fun fact: the six line, two-feature announcer that served as the attractor for the original twin just outside of the mall theater’s original location was used as the 14-screen announcer, despite being on the wrong end of the Mall - and well short of the pre-requisite 14 lines needed to display all of the playing films - until the cinema’s closure in 2013. The sign was removed in 2020 and the former Food Court/Theater in 2024.
The Regal UA Circle Centre was a destination location for the circuit amazingly able to serve out its 30-year lease in a dying downtown mall. The theatre was built as the futuristic United Artists Circle Centre Theatre 9 with Starport: A Virtual Theme Park. It debuted during the megaplex era of cinema exhibition blasting off September 8, 1995 in its intragalaxy mission whose operation never left Marion County. The venue was a prototype for the United Artists Theatre Circuit and served as a precursor of Family Destination Entertainment Centers (FEC) that would take root 20 years later in the exhibition industry. The circuit’s existing trademarked welcome of “Experience the Magic” greeted movie customers.
But this project was too costly and a bit before its time as that era’s VR gaming and motion simulator rides proved to be of fleeting interest in the 1990s. After a handful of UA Starport projects on the books were launched, UATC downgraded other planned locations to more traditional theaters with smaller non-branded Starport arcades. Some of those venues that were built had cavernous lobbies and other underused floor space with the footprints of the VR facilities removed abruptly from the final buildouts. UATC and ACT III Theatres were bought out just three years later by Regal Cinemas. They, in turn would declare bankruptcy in 2001 ensuring the Starport concept was permanently docked and the branding discontinued.
As it was reaching its 25th Anniversary, the venue - which had renamed as the Regal UA Circle Centre 9 in October 2008 - was closed on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Circle Centre Mall had already plummeted to greyfield status, a term associated with a “dead mall.” The venue reopened on August 21, 2020 with UA/Regal parent Cineworld in its own bankruptcy, only to close again on October 8, 2020. The RUACC shockingly reopened on April 2, 2021, but the magic had faded. The theatre closed in film exhibition’s final stage within the streaming era on October 31, 2024 at the expiry of its lease. The entire mall was purchased with a dream of recreating it as on open-air courtyard operation that might open by the 2030s. The former Regal UA (née Starport) Circle Centre’s next destination was a hyperspace transportation to be ignited by explosives or with a more traditional wrecking ball.
The entry should be the Regal UA Circle Centre. Its history should obviously mention the pandemic - as should all of the theaters in this database IMHO - as that’s what forever altered the path of so many movie theaters of that era including the many that never reopened at all.
The Lake Arrowhead Village Theater appears to have opened on July 8, 1938 with “Four Men and a Prayer.” The theater co-existed with the open-air Lake Arrowhead Theater which had opened a decade earlier as the Ye Jester Theater for the remainder of the 1938 season. The open air theater doesn’t appear to have reopened in 1939. The Lake Arrowhead Village Theater’s last advertised sho was “Frenzy” on September 9, 1972 although it may well have continued past that date.
Its sound era name was the Lake Arrowhead Theater and operated through the 1938 season. The Village Theater, a hardtop, was constructed and appears to have essentially replaced the Lake Arrowhead with the two co-existing from July 8, 1938 through the open air venue’s closure later that year.
Bonnie and David Parmelee opened the venue in 1957 with Bonnie at the concession stand and David as the projectionist. It closed after the 1974 season.
The Dufwin Theatre launches October 8, 1928 with a live play. But the Depression would take its toll on the Henry Duffy Players' new legit house. The Roxie appears to have closed August 18, 1983 with “48 Hours,” “Flashdance,” and “Don’t Answer the Phone” on a grindhouse, triple feature policy.
George L. Baker launched the Baker City Opera House on January 18, 1901 and shortened to the Baker Opera House. It used the name Baker Theatre from 1906 to 1925 at which time it was closed for a major refresh by the Heilner Brothers and the Burks. It became the Clarick Theatre on November 9, 1925 launching Wirth “Blossom Time.”
The Orpheum Theatre launched on September 6, 1909 with live vaudeville and short films. A later article said it was built on the site of a retail store that had burned down. The Orpheum closed briefly and had a second grand opening as the Orpheum Theatre on January 24, 1910. After a refresh by Haisch & Cutter in the Summer of 1916, the venue had third grand opening as the New Orpheum relaunching on September 20, 1916 with “Poor Little Peppina.” It soon lost “New” to be just the Orpheum Theatre.
The Orpheum added sound to remain viable. It closed on September 18, 1935 and was enlarged and modernized in a three-month project that subsumed the neighboring Pollman Building to the plans of architect J.W. DeYoung of Portland. On December 21, 1935, the new streamline moderne New Orpheum opened with its fourth grand opening with the film, “Collegiate.” (There’s no record of a fire closing the theater in 1936.)
It became just the Orpheum dropping “New” in 1938 before suffering a fire on September 15, 1943 that gutted the theater. Its basement was used surreptitiously by the “Panther Club,” a juvenile delinquent group through 1947. It finally relaunched five years later as the New Baker Theatre on December 2, 1948 with “Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid.” It appears to have closed January 27, 1957 with “The Queen of Babylon” and “Bigger Than Life.”
Appears to have opened on September 29, 1950 with “Trail of the Lonesome Pine.” Its second season was cut short when it was destroyed by fire on August 20, 1951. It was reopened the following April. In its final season, the concession building was destroyed by fire on August 18, 1976 but they completed the year with a temporary building closing October 31, 1976 with “Jaws.”
The former Aloha became the Empire Theatre on May 22, 1912. It closed on October 29, 1950 with “Singapore” and “Pirates of Monterey” supported by the cartoon, “Little Cut Up” and Chapter 2 of the “Batman and Robin” serial. became a revival center in 1951. It was next turned into a retail venue.
Architect Day W. Hilborn drew the plans for the streamline moderne $70,000 Eltrym which opened on June 27, 1940 with “The Ghost Breakers.”
Reopened November 22, 2024 as Film Alley Longview.
AMC closed here permanently on March 23, 2025. The property would be repurposed as a fitness center / gym. The venue opened as the Rave Lee Branch 15 on June 30, 2004, its third Birmingham location. On October 1, 2012, the Rave Circuit was purchased by Carmike Theatre becoming the Carmike Lee Branch 15.
In March of 2016, AMC purchased Carmike Theatres obtaining the Lee Branch. AMC rebranded a large portion of the inherited theaters as AMC Classic generally operating such theaters to end of lease closures with improvements ranging from none to modest. The AMC Classic Lee Branch 15 closed with the rest of the locations due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020. AMC Classic Lee Branch 15 reopened on August 27, 2020.
One of the last films on March 23, 2025 was Anthony Hopkins in “Locked.”
Florida State Theatre Circuit launched the 1,150 “jet lounger” seat Plaza Rocking Chair Theatre architected by Robert C. Broward in December 1967 with 70mm and Cinerama film projection capability. The $500,000 theater with its 22' by 55' screen wowed patrons.“ Over 100,000 folks saw “Star Wars” here in 1977. Plitt Theatres, which took on the venue in 1978, closed here as the Plaza Theatre January 19, 1984 with “Terms of Endearment” and “D.C. Cab.”
Twinned April 14, 1972 as the Vine Twin Cinemas (previously known as)
As the Dublin Cinema Center 3 in 1972
Closed October 1, 1978 with “Hooper” and “Greased Lightning.” Demolition took place in November of 1978.
Formerly operated by Nova Cinemas as the Nova Cinemas Peoria; it closed as Landmark Cinemas at Landmark Recreation Center on August 1, 2023.
Previously operated by Nova Cinemas and was the circuit’s final operating theatre before the exited the industry
If you have gift cards, you might consider using them in the next few days… no Asian films and no showtimes past Wednesday, March 26, 2025 combined with the deep financial issues of the parent company and the removal of the Facebook page doesn’t bode well. Buena Park location already listed as “temporarily closed” after the end of February 2025.
The CGV Buena Vista is listed as “temporarily closed.” I’m guessing that will turn out to be permanent with the parent company’s financial issues and because they’ve taken down their Facebook page.
Nothing yet…. But there’s room for a 450-plex if anyone’s wanting to draw up some plans.
Going to have to put her as “down for the count” with demolition completed for the theater in March of 2025.
Formerly operated by Nova Cinemas, the fledgling circuit’s second to last theater before its departure. Final operator, Newstar LLC closed here September 3, 2015. Two years later, the venue became a dine-in theater called Touchstar Cinemas Sabal Palms Luxury 6 opening August 11, 2017. Seating was reduced from 1,000 to 450. The venue is still operating in 2025.
The regional Jamestown Mall opened theatre-lessly October 10, 1973. General Cinema announced its Jamestown Cinema I & II not long thereafter. The twin-screen venue had two 350-seat auditoriums for a 700 patron capacity. Gene F. Thoebes was in charge on opening day, July 12, 1974 likely on a 20-year leasing agreement. It was General Cinema’s eighth area theater but the first St. Louis area mall theater with its own entrance easily allowing the mall to be closed with the theater open and parking just outside the venue.
By the 1980s, GCC was dropping 6- and 8-screen theaters in the multiplex theater era of film exhibition. With the Jamestown theatre facility landlocked preventing expansion, GCC took an opt-out in the 15th year of leasing closing permanently with “The Fabulous Baker Boys” and the Cannon film, “River of Death” on October 29, 1989. After being vacant for a little over a year, Wehrenberg took on the venue beginning on December 14, 1990 undoubtedly with very favorable leasing terms.
Under the name of the Jamestown Mall Ciné 2 - the proper name for this entry - it opened with “Marked for Death” and “Sibling Rivalry” All shows were served up on a discount, sub-run policy for $1.50. Wehrenberg was a quick read of the Jamestown clientele and quickly lowered pricing to $1 for all shows. Wehrenberg completed the leasing period closing on January 2, 1994 with “The Three Musketeers” and “We’re Back.” The latter film title proved prescient as Wehrenberg exited the Mall only to be enticed back.
The original cinema space became part of the Jamestown Mall Food Court in October of 1994 following a remodel. In 1996, during the megaplex-era of movie exhibition, an ambitious mall expansion was announced that would provide space at the opposite end of Jamestown Mall for a 14-screen movie theater. Trade publication, Variety, warned exhibition companies to avoid second-rate aging malls as they would be mired in financial servitude after being locked into long-term leases in malls with questionable upside. Jamestown Mall fit that bill and, yet, Wehernberg signed a long-term agreement for its Jamestown 14 Ciné opening in in late Fall 1998. It didn’t go Jamestown Mall’s way or Wehrenberg as they fled well before their lease expiry. That theater has its own entry.
Status: formerly 700 seats and now demolished; fun fact: the six line, two-feature announcer that served as the attractor for the original twin just outside of the mall theater’s original location was used as the 14-screen announcer, despite being on the wrong end of the Mall - and well short of the pre-requisite 14 lines needed to display all of the playing films - until the cinema’s closure in 2013. The sign was removed in 2020 and the former Food Court/Theater in 2024.
The Regal UA Circle Centre was a destination location for the circuit amazingly able to serve out its 30-year lease in a dying downtown mall. The theatre was built as the futuristic United Artists Circle Centre Theatre 9 with Starport: A Virtual Theme Park. It debuted during the megaplex era of cinema exhibition blasting off September 8, 1995 in its intragalaxy mission whose operation never left Marion County. The venue was a prototype for the United Artists Theatre Circuit and served as a precursor of Family Destination Entertainment Centers (FEC) that would take root 20 years later in the exhibition industry. The circuit’s existing trademarked welcome of “Experience the Magic” greeted movie customers.
But this project was too costly and a bit before its time as that era’s VR gaming and motion simulator rides proved to be of fleeting interest in the 1990s. After a handful of UA Starport projects on the books were launched, UATC downgraded other planned locations to more traditional theaters with smaller non-branded Starport arcades. Some of those venues that were built had cavernous lobbies and other underused floor space with the footprints of the VR facilities removed abruptly from the final buildouts. UATC and ACT III Theatres were bought out just three years later by Regal Cinemas. They, in turn would declare bankruptcy in 2001 ensuring the Starport concept was permanently docked and the branding discontinued.
As it was reaching its 25th Anniversary, the venue - which had renamed as the Regal UA Circle Centre 9 in October 2008 - was closed on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Circle Centre Mall had already plummeted to greyfield status, a term associated with a “dead mall.” The venue reopened on August 21, 2020 with UA/Regal parent Cineworld in its own bankruptcy, only to close again on October 8, 2020. The RUACC shockingly reopened on April 2, 2021, but the magic had faded. The theatre closed in film exhibition’s final stage within the streaming era on October 31, 2024 at the expiry of its lease. The entire mall was purchased with a dream of recreating it as on open-air courtyard operation that might open by the 2030s. The former Regal UA (née Starport) Circle Centre’s next destination was a hyperspace transportation to be ignited by explosives or with a more traditional wrecking ball.
The entry should be the Regal UA Circle Centre. Its history should obviously mention the pandemic - as should all of the theaters in this database IMHO - as that’s what forever altered the path of so many movie theaters of that era including the many that never reopened at all.
Last shows were on Sep. 23, 1984 with Bolero and Last American Virgin. Demolition came in 1986 with the retail shopping area replacing the ozoner