So many nights and memories here. One of my earliest memories of going to the movies PERIOD was coming here to see “Jaws” in 1975. Saw Disney movies here all the time too.
My fondest memory, though, was when “Star Wars” finally played here after blowing the roof off the Creve Coeur Cine for months. We packed up the car with family, friends, and a truckload of food. We got here and there was a sign reading “Sorry, Filled”. We had to go all the way back home and come here the next night.
Of all the theatres that have come and gone, this is the one I miss the most (with the Airway D/I in St. Ann, MO coming in a close second)! This drive-in was almost a second home to me during the mid-70’s through to the 80’s. My fondest childhood memories consist of me driving up Page Ave. (not Boulevard) and seeing those stars and rockets…and then driving further down Page to make a U-turn into the very very very long lines on a Friday or Saturday night!
I can still remember the programming format for each screen. They usually showed one of those cheap soft core skin flicks on Screen 1, the blockbuster of the week on Screen 2 (the original field), Action/Horror/Last Week’s Blockbuster on Screens 3 and 4.
They showed the co-feature first followed by the main feature with triple features on weekends. Sometimes they even had “dusk to dawn” marathons. I distinctly remember an all comedy dusk to dawn show here with “Stripes”, “Richard Pryor: Live On The Sunset Strip”, “Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie”, and “The Blues Brothers”. I only made it through the first 10 minutes of the Cheech and Chong flick.
Whenever I go home to St. Louis and drive by here and see office buildings where this magnificent drive-in once stood, it breaks my heart. I’d give anything to have one more night at this place under the stars in its 4 screen glory!
The first Cinema de Lux theatre was The Bridge located on the westside of Los Angeles, a few ticks down the road from Los Angeles International Airport. It’s a very popular (and pretty expensive) theatre.
I made it to this place to see Star Wars Episode 3 in early June. Very nice theatre with ornate decor and a nice sound system. Screen is way way way too small for a theatre of this magnitude. Also, $10.00 for an afternoon show? What the heck! Oh well…at least I made it. Next trip, though, I’m headed to Loews Lincoln Square…which will probably be AMC Lincoln Square the next time I’m in NYC
Some of my earliest memories of going to the movies are at this theatre in the early-mid 1970’s. In those days, the place was known as the U-City Cinema and regularly featured double-feature programming.
Everytime I drive past this place, I shake my head in disgust. Someone oughta buy out the place from it’s current owners and restore it to it’s Drive-In movie glory!
Regarding the earlier question on Drive-In movies in the OC: there are none! There are only 4 Drive-ins total in the area: The Vineland in City of Industry, the Mission in Montclair, and the Rubidoux and the Van Buren, both in Riverside.
Once again, inaccuracies on the part of Mr. Van Bibber. Wehrenberg Theatres didn’t take over this theatre until the mid 1970’s when they also changed it’s name from “Olympic” to “Rock Road”. The porn movie part is accurate, but the closing date is not. This theatre closed around 1980-81. I know this because I attended films at this drive in throughout the late 1970’s and into the early 80’s.
This Drive-in WAS NOT closed in 1980 or demolished in 1982. I know this because I regularly attended movies here through 1984. I moved out of the St. Louis area in 1985 and when I returned to visit a year later, the place was closed.
I’ve been lucky to have seen “How The West Was Won” and the 40th anniversary print of “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World” here in 2003. In addition, I’ve seen my fair share of current Hollywood fare as well. I will never forget the first time I saw a film here (Terminator 2 on Opening Day 1991). I love this place!
Planning on visiting this theatre when I go to NYC for the first time later this month. Hopefully that “Loews” auditorium is as good as folks have told me it its.
I’m only in New York for 2 days so it’s highly unlikely that I’ll go to New Jersey. And, as it turns out, it’s been suggested that I see Star Wars Episode 3 at another theatre nearby. So the chances of my visiting the Ziegfeld are looking slim. Besides…I’m not interested in tours just for tours sake. I’d rather see a movie in these palaces!
I think it’s funny how these 20 year old kids are complaining about Star Wars playing here instead of at Graumans. Of course Graumans is the living legend. But anyone who knows their movie theatres knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Cinerama Dome is the best movie theatre in LA…if not the whole darn country. It will be a pleasure to see Star Wars here in 2 weeks!
So many comments…I’m amazed! Anyway, I’m a 20 year Southern Cali resident making my first trip to NYC later this month. Needless to say, I plan on hitting the Ziegfeld while I’m in town. They’ll be showing Star Wars Episode 3 so that’ll be fun. I’m a big fan of single screen theatres and complexes with very large main auditoriums. I’ve had more than my fair share of experiences with the great LA landmarks like the Cinerama Dome (saw the 3-strip Cinerama print of “How The West Was Won” in 2003…or was it 2004?), Grauman’s Chinese, The Village & The National in Westwood and Big Newport in Orange County. I’m looking forward to checking out the Ziegfeld.
A few clarifications. This theatre opened in the late 80s/early 90’s (don’t quite know the exact opening date, but I first visited the theatre in the summer of 1991). It was not an expansion of the Northwest Plaza 4 (which sat on the outskirts of the Northwest Plaza parking lot); rather it was a new Wehrenberg theatre built within the Northwest Plaza mall.
This theatre will forever be etched in my memory as a cool place to visit. Very popular with the Washington University college crowd, it featured a few avant-garde type flicks mixed in with mainstream Hollywood fare. I remember them showing double features all the time during the 70’s. It’s 3 biggest claims to St. Louis fame are their yearly “Three Stooges” marathons, the ever popular midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show (they showed the trailer with every film that they showed!), and the even more notorious yearly run of “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” (X Rated and in 3-D!!!).
The Creve Coeur Cine will also hold a place in St. Louis movie history due to the fact that it showed “Star Wars” during it’s original 1977 premiere engagement. Ditto for “The Empire Strikes Back”.
Some of the historical facts are inaccurate. The Halls Ferry started out as a 6-screen and was built around 1978 or so (I was there opening weekend-a bunch of moms took a bunch of us kids to Disney’s “Return From Witch Mountain” there). A couple of years later, they upgraded from “6” to “8”. The 6 newer screens which made it a 14-plex were built adjacent to the original building.
So many nights and memories here. One of my earliest memories of going to the movies PERIOD was coming here to see “Jaws” in 1975. Saw Disney movies here all the time too.
My fondest memory, though, was when “Star Wars” finally played here after blowing the roof off the Creve Coeur Cine for months. We packed up the car with family, friends, and a truckload of food. We got here and there was a sign reading “Sorry, Filled”. We had to go all the way back home and come here the next night.
I truly do miss this place.
Only went here once in the 1970’s to see a Mel Brooks movie with my dad and aunt. It was a fun night.
Of all the theatres that have come and gone, this is the one I miss the most (with the Airway D/I in St. Ann, MO coming in a close second)! This drive-in was almost a second home to me during the mid-70’s through to the 80’s. My fondest childhood memories consist of me driving up Page Ave. (not Boulevard) and seeing those stars and rockets…and then driving further down Page to make a U-turn into the very very very long lines on a Friday or Saturday night!
I can still remember the programming format for each screen. They usually showed one of those cheap soft core skin flicks on Screen 1, the blockbuster of the week on Screen 2 (the original field), Action/Horror/Last Week’s Blockbuster on Screens 3 and 4.
They showed the co-feature first followed by the main feature with triple features on weekends. Sometimes they even had “dusk to dawn” marathons. I distinctly remember an all comedy dusk to dawn show here with “Stripes”, “Richard Pryor: Live On The Sunset Strip”, “Cheech & Chong’s Next Movie”, and “The Blues Brothers”. I only made it through the first 10 minutes of the Cheech and Chong flick.
Whenever I go home to St. Louis and drive by here and see office buildings where this magnificent drive-in once stood, it breaks my heart. I’d give anything to have one more night at this place under the stars in its 4 screen glory!
I second Kyle’s comments. The first time I went to this theatre was in 1981…3 years before Mr. Van Bibber’s inaccurate opening date above.
It was always a Mid-America/RKO/AMC and never a Wehrenberg.
The first Cinema de Lux theatre was The Bridge located on the westside of Los Angeles, a few ticks down the road from Los Angeles International Airport. It’s a very popular (and pretty expensive) theatre.
I made it to this place to see Star Wars Episode 3 in early June. Very nice theatre with ornate decor and a nice sound system. Screen is way way way too small for a theatre of this magnitude. Also, $10.00 for an afternoon show? What the heck! Oh well…at least I made it. Next trip, though, I’m headed to Loews Lincoln Square…which will probably be AMC Lincoln Square the next time I’m in NYC
Some of my earliest memories of going to the movies are at this theatre in the early-mid 1970’s. In those days, the place was known as the U-City Cinema and regularly featured double-feature programming.
One more thing…it was not “directly across the street” but, rather, a few blocks down the road from the Airway Drive-In.
Everytime I drive past this place, I shake my head in disgust. Someone oughta buy out the place from it’s current owners and restore it to it’s Drive-In movie glory!
Regarding the earlier question on Drive-In movies in the OC: there are none! There are only 4 Drive-ins total in the area: The Vineland in City of Industry, the Mission in Montclair, and the Rubidoux and the Van Buren, both in Riverside.
Once again, inaccuracies on the part of Mr. Van Bibber. Wehrenberg Theatres didn’t take over this theatre until the mid 1970’s when they also changed it’s name from “Olympic” to “Rock Road”. The porn movie part is accurate, but the closing date is not. This theatre closed around 1980-81. I know this because I attended films at this drive in throughout the late 1970’s and into the early 80’s.
This Drive-in WAS NOT closed in 1980 or demolished in 1982. I know this because I regularly attended movies here through 1984. I moved out of the St. Louis area in 1985 and when I returned to visit a year later, the place was closed.
I’ve been lucky to have seen “How The West Was Won” and the 40th anniversary print of “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World” here in 2003. In addition, I’ve seen my fair share of current Hollywood fare as well. I will never forget the first time I saw a film here (Terminator 2 on Opening Day 1991). I love this place!
Planning on visiting this theatre when I go to NYC for the first time later this month. Hopefully that “Loews” auditorium is as good as folks have told me it its.
I’m only in New York for 2 days so it’s highly unlikely that I’ll go to New Jersey. And, as it turns out, it’s been suggested that I see Star Wars Episode 3 at another theatre nearby. So the chances of my visiting the Ziegfeld are looking slim. Besides…I’m not interested in tours just for tours sake. I’d rather see a movie in these palaces!
How large are the screens and auditoriums in this place? Wondering if it’s typical AMC standards (4 big auditoriums and 26 shoeboxes)…
I think it’s funny how these 20 year old kids are complaining about Star Wars playing here instead of at Graumans. Of course Graumans is the living legend. But anyone who knows their movie theatres knows, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the Cinerama Dome is the best movie theatre in LA…if not the whole darn country. It will be a pleasure to see Star Wars here in 2 weeks!
So many comments…I’m amazed! Anyway, I’m a 20 year Southern Cali resident making my first trip to NYC later this month. Needless to say, I plan on hitting the Ziegfeld while I’m in town. They’ll be showing Star Wars Episode 3 so that’ll be fun. I’m a big fan of single screen theatres and complexes with very large main auditoriums. I’ve had more than my fair share of experiences with the great LA landmarks like the Cinerama Dome (saw the 3-strip Cinerama print of “How The West Was Won” in 2003…or was it 2004?), Grauman’s Chinese, The Village & The National in Westwood and Big Newport in Orange County. I’m looking forward to checking out the Ziegfeld.
A few clarifications. This theatre opened in the late 80s/early 90’s (don’t quite know the exact opening date, but I first visited the theatre in the summer of 1991). It was not an expansion of the Northwest Plaza 4 (which sat on the outskirts of the Northwest Plaza parking lot); rather it was a new Wehrenberg theatre built within the Northwest Plaza mall.
This theatre will forever be etched in my memory as a cool place to visit. Very popular with the Washington University college crowd, it featured a few avant-garde type flicks mixed in with mainstream Hollywood fare. I remember them showing double features all the time during the 70’s. It’s 3 biggest claims to St. Louis fame are their yearly “Three Stooges” marathons, the ever popular midnight Rocky Horror Picture Show (they showed the trailer with every film that they showed!), and the even more notorious yearly run of “Andy Warhol’s Frankenstein” (X Rated and in 3-D!!!).
As I recall, the Stadium Cinema I and II were taken over by Wehrenberg after the Arthur bankruptcy. I saw movies at both theatres as recently as 1983.
As I recall, the Stadium Cinema I and II were taken over by Wehrenberg after the Arthur bankruptcy. I saw movies at both theatres as recently as 1983.
The Creve Coeur Cine will also hold a place in St. Louis movie history due to the fact that it showed “Star Wars” during it’s original 1977 premiere engagement. Ditto for “The Empire Strikes Back”.
Some of the historical facts are inaccurate. The Halls Ferry started out as a 6-screen and was built around 1978 or so (I was there opening weekend-a bunch of moms took a bunch of us kids to Disney’s “Return From Witch Mountain” there). A couple of years later, they upgraded from “6” to “8”. The 6 newer screens which made it a 14-plex were built adjacent to the original building.