Great post, Stan! That saying, “growing up in Atlanta means watching your past hauled off in a dump truck,” really struck a chord with me. Having been born in Atlanta; grown up there; and made return visits over the years, I have often been been stunned by how expendable things are there.
Let me call your attention to Doug Monroe’s column “The Monroe Doctrine” in ATLANTA Magazine from May, 2003. The title of this particular column is “Long Gone Blues.” In it he writes, “Atlantans have become accumstomed to loss because we live in a temporary town.” He later adds, “It’s the cumulative effect of the physical destruction in the name of growth that has made so many people heartsick.” Personally, I first experienced it as a boy when the Paramount Theatre downtown on Peachtree Street was demolished in 1960.
When I go back to Atlanta, I find myself wondering if the legacy of the city will merely be impermanence. The things that once gave Atlanta some character and charm seem to be dwindling. Surely some selective preservation could have preserved more examples of those intanglible values.
Change is undoubtably inevitable, but it could have occured in a more graceful manner. However, given how much of the population of the Atlanta area is transient, and how few natives one encounters these days, I don’t expect future changes to be graceful at all. Far from it.
By the way, the Lenox Square Theatre did open in 1963 (too late to show the first James Bond movie, DR. NO). Now that you mention it, I believe the first picture they showed was COME BLOW YOUR HORN. It’s hardly surprising to learn that the theater had an exclusive deal with United Artists. The first picture that I saw there was FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE in 1964. Later that year, I sat through GOLDFINGER twice at the Lenox!
Photocopies of a 1954 The Atlanta Journal lists 6 “Colored Theaters,” as they were referred to at that time:
Ashby Theatre at 925 Hunter Street (Martin Luther King?), NW
Carver Theatre – 2 different listings: 1.)at 95 Jonesboro Road,SE
2.) at 440 Atlanta Avenue
Eighty One at 85 Decatur Street, SE
Forrest Theatre on Forrest Avenue (now Ralph McGill)
Royal Theatre at 238 Auburn Avenue, NE
Ritz Theatre 653 Fair Street, SW
Correlating the information in the 1954 Atlanta Telephone Directory,
I also found listed:
Harlem at 531 McDaniel Street, SW
Lincoln Theatre at 405 Mitchell Street, NE
These 1954 references do not mention The Strand Theatre as being in operation at that time.
The fact that some of these streets have been renamed does make for some confusion. Hopefully, someone can furnish us with more specifics.
Mike – Thanks for the clarification. I do not own copies of the biographies I mentioned earlier. It’s possible that the Art might have booked A CANTERBURY TALE (possibly a reissue, or first time engagement) on the strength of the RED SHOES run. Atlanta movie houses were often behind other parts of the country when it came to booking films. Wonder if they booked TALES OF HOFFMANN? I’ve seen most of Powell’s films.
Wish the Atlanta Public Library’s collection of newspaper microfilms was easier to use and not as fatiquing on the eyes!
800 seats sounds about right for the Art.
Peggy Mitchell Marsh was remarkable. Let me recommend that you visit her grave in Oakland Cemetary! It’s a remarkable place!
Correction: The original format on the 1959 BEN HUR technically should be referred to as MGM Camera 65 (later known as Ultra Panavision 70). Here’s a link to a GREAT website with wonderful information on widescreen formats and color printing:
Unfortunately, I went away to school in 1970 and lost track of the many of the developments in Atlanta’s movie theaters. It hurt when the Paramount was torn down in 1960. The demolition of the Roxy and the Loew’s Grand seemed to add insult to injury.
If the Fox had been down it would have been an unpardonable sin.
Does anyone know at what point the Roxy installed 70mm projectors? My best recollection was that it might have been for the road show engagement of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in Todd AO, circa 1956. Frankly, I don’t know if the exclusive booking of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, circa ‘57-'58, was the 70mm blowup version or not. What I do recall with reasonable certainty was that when BEN HUR opened as a road show in December, 1959 it was presented in MGM Camera 65 (Ultra Panavision 70).
As far as road show engagements went, the Roxy Theatre presented AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in Todd AO circa 1956. In December, 1959 they presented BEN HUR in Ultra Panavision 70. It is my understanding that these were shown in 70mm.
Of course, the Roxy showed three strip Cinerama in ‘56-'57. However, I am not sure if the exclusive run of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI circa '57’–‘58 was the 70mm blow up version or not. So, there is a reasonable question about just which theater had 70mm projectors first. Honestly, I don’t know.
Always felt very fortunate to have seen LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in the first week of its Atlanta road show engagement. Still have my program book. However, I did wish there had been a larger theater available with a larger screen. With the demolition of the Paramount in 1960; the demolition of the old Rialto in 1962 (the new one did not open until the late spring of ‘63); and the Roxy already booked (possibly with MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY remake), there was a real shortage of first class venues in the city. The Rhodes wasn’t bad, but LAWRENCE deserved a real movie palace. The Fox was out of the question for a road show. It was my impression that the Loews Grand wasn’t interested in a road show unless it was GWTW.
Hopefully, someone can enlighten us on these matters.
Wondered if the Rhodes Theare was actually equipped to show 70mm films? I saw LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there and always wondered if they showed a 70mm print.
Jack – Maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought the real purpose of this website was to solidify our collective murky memories. Hopefully, people will remember just how much fun going out to the movies could be. Then traditional movie exhibition may survive in the brave new world of home entertainment we may be seeing in the near future.
As far as my muddled memory goes, I have a little trouble distinguishing the look of the Emory before the renovation with the look after the renovation. Afterward, it reminded me a little more of the renovation done on the Rhodes Theatre. If memory serves that was also a Storey operation. As far as their other interests go, I couldn’t say. It’s been a long time since I lived in Atlanta.
Nobody remembers Laura Antonelli’s movies, they just remember her! Go to www.imbd.com and look up her credits.
Although I have read two biographies of Margaret Mitchell, I was reluctant to add that detail because I was not 100% sure if I remembered it correctly. However, I suspect that you are correct. I do recall that she and her husband were on their way TO the theater when she was struck by a taxi. She died in the hospital on August 16, 1949. THE RED SHOES was notable in its original release for being held over for particularly long runs at a number of the theaters that booked it.
The Peachtree Art was OK as a venue for the foreign films that other first run Atlanta theaters would not have booked. When I went there I sat in the orchestra section. The details are hazy now. After seeing CATCH 22 at the renovated WEIS CINEMA, I never had to urge to return.
The Glen Theatre was in neglect in the 1950’s! It was strictly a neighborhood grind house without any pretentions to class. But I could walk to Glenwood from my house in East Lake on the border of Decatur. The Glen usually had a special Saturday bill starting at 1:00PM. There I managed to catch Hammer horror movies that I either missed first run, or wanted to see again. Ah, the cinema of guilty pleasures!
My dad took me to the Kirkwood a number of times in the 1950’s. It became an Adults Only theater circa 1960. We ALL followed the ads!
The last time I attended the Emory “Cinema” was December, 1974. the feature was MALAZIA. Does anyone remember Laura Antonelli? Could anyone who ever saw Laura Antonelli forget her?
The last time I attended the Decatur was in 1970. That was the year I left Atlanta to go to school in New York City, and stayed to live there for about 30 years. From 1970 to 2003, I usually only saw Atlanta for relatively brief periods. The changes really jumped out at me!
The 1950’s and ‘60’s were a gentler age. By my count, in the early 1950’s Atlanta had about three dozen neighborhood “hardtops” catering to the white population. There were another half a dozen “colored theatres” and about eight or nine drive-ins. That was in an era when the population of the Atlanta metropolitan area was something over half a million. When the population of the city reached one million in 1960, there were actually fewer theaters.
Right now I strongly suspect that the movie business is in for another shakeup in the not too distant future, not unlike the post World War II era. The 1948 Federal Court Consent Decree; the impact of television; and changing public tastes caused thousands of movie theaters across the country to close in from from the late ‘40’s into the mid '50’s.
In the coming years, we may see something reminiscent of that era when home theater converges with home computers and on demand delivery of programming is possible via high speed interconnets. If Sony and Toshiba can agree on a single standard for High Definition DVD, then we may see a quantum leap in home theater systems (and in time more affordable prices). That doesn’t spell good news for traditional movie exhibition.
Many of us old time movie lovers may be playing out our own versions of the denoument of CINEMA PARADISO.
The Decatur Theatre at 527 N. McDonaugh Street, just off the square in Decatur was seperate and distinct from the DeKalb Theatre. The latter was located at 130 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue, on the opposite side of the courthouse square in Decatur. While the Decatur Theatre continued in operation into the 1970’s, the DeKalb Theatre ceased operations about 1954. The site was gutted and turned into a J.C. Penny store. The DeKalb was one of a group of Atlanta neighborhood theaters that closed in the early to mid 1950’s. Some of the others included the Little Five Points, the Fairfax, the West End, the Empire, the American, the Brookhaven, the Ponce de Leon, and the Tenth Street. Remember, these were theaters that serviced the white community in an era of racial segregation. The so called “colored theaters” were a different story altogether.
When the Emory was renovatedn in 1968, it’s very likely that the intention was to emulate the look of the North Dekalb Theatre (which had originally opened in 1966). However, fundamentally the Emory still resembled the smaller Atlanta neigborhood theaters of similar vintage like the long gone Kirkwood, Ponce de Leon, and Tenth Street Theatres. To the best of my recollection, none of them had more than about 500 seats.
Hi, Jack – The Peachtree Art Theatre was located at 1137 Peachtree Road, NE (on the east side of Peachtree) with the front of the theater facing Peachtree Road. The location was near the corner of 13th Street, between 13th and 12th Street. As I wrote in my previous post, I became aware that the theater had been demolished on my last trip to Atlanta in 2003. Before that, I had not been in town since 1996. Since I hadn’t spent a great deal of time in Atlanta since 1982-83, I really can’t say for sure when the theater closed or when it was demolished. However, I can assure you that it no longer exists.
My ignorance here is really not surprising. It wasn’t until 2003 that I became aware that the Erlanger/Tower/Cinerama/Columbia/Atlanta Theatre at 583 Peachtree Street, NE had been torn down. To say that “things change” in Atlanta is an understatement. When I took a long walk through downtown Atlanta in 2003, I felt like I was living out an episode of The Twilight Zone!
Great post, Mike! The CINEMA PARADISO parallel is very evocative. Like you, I couldn’t see any similarity between the Emory and the original North DeKalb Theatre. As a boy I also attended Kiddie Matinees at the Emory (although not as often as at the Decatur or the Glen). It’s funny to be reminded of the fact that most of the neighborhood theaters in Atlanta typically changed their programs twice a week. The auditorium of the Emory reminded me a bit of the one at the Kirkwood Theatre at 1965 Boulevard Drive, SE, in Kirkwood. In 1985, I stopped by the site of the Kirkwood to see the theater while it was in the process of being demolished. It evoked old memories for me.
The last time that I was in Atlanta in 2003, it appeared to me that DeKalb County is not very well served by quality movie theaters. Given the value of real estate in town and the changing demographics of many neighborhoods, I suppose that’s understandable. Change is inevitable, but the kind of changes we see can be rather sad.
Thanks for you comment, CConnolly! Yes, its does remain to be seen how home theater will impact movie going. On the other hand, some reasonable speculation can provide food for thought. Of course, the future of movie going demands on studios producing GOOD movies. However, a high quality presentation such as you find at the Arclight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood makes a very positive contribution to the public’s desire to go out to the movies. It’s not inconceivable that the Federal Government will allow the media conglomerates to own a bigger stake in movie exhibition, although not to pre-1948 levels. The studios still need the theatrical launch to sell DVD’s. So, in the not too distant future we may be seeing a major shakeup in the movie business. Of course, it all remains to be seen.
Mayor Bloomberg seems like an insideous man. My friends in New York loathe the very idea of his west side stadium. Unfortunately, Bloomberg and his friends own and control so much of the city, that I doubt that such projects can be stopped. It’s times like this when I don’t miss living in New York.
Correction: The location of the Peachtree Art Theatre was at 13 Street, according to a photocopy of a 1954 page from the Atlanta Journal. The advertised feature was the documentary CONQUEST OF EVEREST (1953). The Art (as it was usually referred to) often booked British films, many starring Alec Guinness, John Mills, Terry Thomas, Peter Sellers. So much so, that at times the Art seemed like a bastion of the British Empire.
The Peachtree Art Theatre at 1137 Peachtree Road, NE (near 12th Street if I remember correctly) was the primary venue for first run foreign films in Atlanta from the 1940’s into 1960’s. The photo from the Lane Brothers Collection at Georgia State University would be from the original release of Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger’s THE RED SHOES (1948 release), circa ‘48 or '49.
In 1949, Margaret Mitchell, author of GONE WITH THE WIND, was struck and killed by a taxi as she and her husband, John Marsh, were walking across the street to see a film at the Peachtree Art Theatre. The couple had moved over to apartment on Piedmont Avenue, opposite Piedmont Park. During the years that they lived in an apartment near Tenth Street (in a building that has been recently restored in), Peggy (as her friends called her) Marsh often attended the second run Tenth Street Theatre. This long gone theater once stood at 990 Peachtree Road, NE directly in front of her apartment building. The displays at the former Margaret Mitchell residence includes a picture of the Tenth Street Theatre.
The Peachtree Art Theatre was a movie house for people who ordinarily did not go to the movies. In the early 1960’s, the Garden Hills Theatre at 2835 Peachtree Road, NE was re-christened the Fine Art Cinema and became the main competition in the art film market for the Peachtree Art Theatre.
The last time that I was in Atlanta in 2003, I drove by the site of the Peachtree Art Theatre and was somewhat surprised that it had been demolished. Since I hadn’t been in Atlanta for 7 ½ years before that, I can’t even offer an educated guess about when the theater was torn down. For whatever it’s worth, I liked this theater.
Saw HOW THE WEST WAS WON at the Cinerama Dome and I was duly impressed. Beyond that, I like the black boxes at the Arclight, they fulfull a real need for quality screening rooms.
As much as I love quality vintage single screen theaters, the real question is whether or not motion picture exhibition as we have known it will survive. This is an age of changing public tastes. We are on the verge of a new era of on demand program delivery via a high speed internet connection to home theater systems, as well as High Definition DVD. Increased demand will bring down the price of High Definition Home Theater systems. Then the marketplace for motion pictures will change dramatically.
The only kind of motion picture exhibition that stands a real chance in this brave new world will be a high quality presentation. Of course, the Federal Government may have to allow the media conglomerates that own the movie studios to own a larger stake in movie exhibition. While that may seem to run counter to present Federal Anti-Trust law, it may be the only way traditional movie exhibition can survive. The movie studios still need a theatrical launch for their releases. Media conglomerates probably have the political clout to get their way in the current political environment. While I am not an advocate of corporate control of government by any means, movie studio investment in exhibition may be the way of the future. Allowing media conglomerates a 49% interest in exhibition may be the only way that movie theaters can survive in a changing marketplace.
The Arclight Cinemas could be part of the way of the future.
Funny, but in 1959 I also attended a “preview” of Lenox Square one Sunday. My uncle was one of the contractors who worked on the shopping center. In 1963, there was a shortage of good venues for first run features. The Lenox Square Theatre really filled a gap. It was notable for booking United Artists releases. In the ‘60’s, I vividly remember seeing FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, THE PINK PANTHER, GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, CAST A GIANT SHADOW, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THE DEVILS BRIGADE, WEST SIDE STORY, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, and in the '70’s, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, among others, at the Lenox. In those days the Lenox Square Theatre was a class act.
The indignities that were done to it later were truly a shame.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Kirkwood Theatre, which once stood at 1965 Boulevard Drive in the Kirkwood business district, was demolished years ago. A fire had damaged the theater severely years earlier. It stood empty until the the wreckers delivered the coup de grace around 1985.
In the 1950’s, I knew the Kirkwood Theater well, before they became and adult theater, circa 1960. Trust me, it’s long gone.
In 2003, the last time that I was in Atlanta, there was another vintage theater still standing in Atlanta’s Southeast side. The former Atlantic Theatre still stood on Memorial Drive located in a small strip mall on the south side of Memorial Drive, west of Clifton Street. It originally opened in 1963 next to what was then the Atlantic Discount Center. It had a relatively brief life as a movie house. The neighborhood was changing by the time the theater originally opened. Later it operated as a disco. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine that the neighborhood would make a viable site for a movie house today.
As far as the Toco Hills Theatre went, it was a modest sized 1960’s vintage theater with a good size screen.
Seeing a 1954 reissue of Walt Disney’s PINOCCHIO at the original Rialto was one of the most delightful experiences of my childhood. In the years that followed, I saw a number of other films there. The Rialto might have been a Keith Orpheum theater at one time because they seemed to rely heavily on late RKO, Columbia, and United Artist releases, as well as Walt Disney (who had released his pictures through RKO before forming Buena Vista) pictures. Here’s a link to a 1954 photo of the original Rialto:
By 1962, the Rialto had deteriorated badly. When I saw Ray Harryhausen’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND there (one of the last movies they showed) in early ‘62, I never forgot the sensation of walking down the aisle and literally feeling the floorboards give under my weight (and I was just a kid!). Everything seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The upholstery on the seat was tattered. The springs in the seats were broken or breaking through the upholstery. It was easy to imagine the theater caving in on you!
It was no surprise when the theater was demolished. In it’s final condition, it was hard to believe that anyone would miss it. The second Rialto Theatre opened in 1963 and it was a certainly a good theater. Seeing a 1963 reissue of Disney’s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA there was memorable (yes, another Disney reisssue!). However, the newer theatre had a limited number of prime years. Atlanta changed enormously during the next twenty years. A downtown movie house was probably no longer viable.
All things considered, I’m glad the Rialto was preserved and put to such good use by Georgia State University.
The Emory Theatre on Oxford Road was located adjacent to the Emory University complex. Emory – that’s Coca Cola U. to the uninitiated, because of the endowments from the owners of Coke (hey, I’m not knocking it, I was born in Emory University Hospital). This was a typical second run neighborhood house that happened to be located in a particularly nice area in Dekalb County. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s it generally booked typical commercial releases. By the late ‘60’s, Story Theatres began to book more edgy releases, probably trying to attract more of the university crowd. By the late '60’s and early '70’s, I remember seeing EASY RIDER, MEDIUM COOL, THEY SHOOT HORSE DON’T THEY and MALAZIA there. On a return visit to Atlanta, I was surprised to find that the theater had been torn down. Fire seems to be the fate of a number of older movie houses (could that have anything to do with insurance policies?).
The Rhodes Center was located on Peachtree Road, in Atlanta’s northside. According to my dad, throughout much of the 1930’s and 1940’s the Rhodes Theatre used to book MGM pictures after they finished their run at the downtown Loew’s Grand. Throughout the 1950’s it continued to operate as a second run house.
By early 1963, the theater was renovated and began to book road show attractions. The first one that I remember was the original release of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in the Spring of 1963. The theater continued to generally book prestige pictures for the rest of the decade.
In the 1980’s, I attended the Rhodes several times when they were
showing foreign language films. All in all, it was certainly a nice theater in a nice part of town.
The Masonic symbol on the facade was still clearly visible when I saw the theater again in 2003. Apparently the upper floor was used as a Freemasons' Temple, thus explaining the name of the theater. The marquee had been removed and it was difficult to tell if the original auditorium still stood behind the facade. If what I could make out of the back of the building was the original structure, than a seating capacity of 390 could have been about right.
Located at 456 Cherokee Avenue (on the east side of the street), between Memorial Drive and Grant Park, it would have been in a pretty rough part of town when it operated as a movie house. The audience would have been drawn from the neighborhood around Grant Park; the Capitol Homes Federal Housing Project (that was being torn down in 2003); and the area known as Cabbage Town (the frame houses that were originally rented out to the workers at the old cotton mill opposite Oakland Cemetary). As nearly as I can recall, the Temple ceased to operate as a movie house sometime in the late 1950’s. By that time, at least a dozen neighborhood theaters catering to white audiences closed down. Remember, these theaters operated in an era of racial segregation.
Great post, Stan! That saying, “growing up in Atlanta means watching your past hauled off in a dump truck,” really struck a chord with me. Having been born in Atlanta; grown up there; and made return visits over the years, I have often been been stunned by how expendable things are there.
Let me call your attention to Doug Monroe’s column “The Monroe Doctrine” in ATLANTA Magazine from May, 2003. The title of this particular column is “Long Gone Blues.” In it he writes, “Atlantans have become accumstomed to loss because we live in a temporary town.” He later adds, “It’s the cumulative effect of the physical destruction in the name of growth that has made so many people heartsick.” Personally, I first experienced it as a boy when the Paramount Theatre downtown on Peachtree Street was demolished in 1960.
When I go back to Atlanta, I find myself wondering if the legacy of the city will merely be impermanence. The things that once gave Atlanta some character and charm seem to be dwindling. Surely some selective preservation could have preserved more examples of those intanglible values.
Change is undoubtably inevitable, but it could have occured in a more graceful manner. However, given how much of the population of the Atlanta area is transient, and how few natives one encounters these days, I don’t expect future changes to be graceful at all. Far from it.
By the way, the Lenox Square Theatre did open in 1963 (too late to show the first James Bond movie, DR. NO). Now that you mention it, I believe the first picture they showed was COME BLOW YOUR HORN. It’s hardly surprising to learn that the theater had an exclusive deal with United Artists. The first picture that I saw there was FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE in 1964. Later that year, I sat through GOLDFINGER twice at the Lenox!
Photocopies of a 1954 The Atlanta Journal lists 6 “Colored Theaters,” as they were referred to at that time:
Ashby Theatre at 925 Hunter Street (Martin Luther King?), NW
Carver Theatre – 2 different listings: 1.)at 95 Jonesboro Road,SE
2.) at 440 Atlanta Avenue
Eighty One at 85 Decatur Street, SE
Forrest Theatre on Forrest Avenue (now Ralph McGill)
Royal Theatre at 238 Auburn Avenue, NE
Ritz Theatre 653 Fair Street, SW
Correlating the information in the 1954 Atlanta Telephone Directory,
I also found listed:
Harlem at 531 McDaniel Street, SW
Lincoln Theatre at 405 Mitchell Street, NE
These 1954 references do not mention The Strand Theatre as being in operation at that time.
The fact that some of these streets have been renamed does make for some confusion. Hopefully, someone can furnish us with more specifics.
Mike – Thanks for the clarification. I do not own copies of the biographies I mentioned earlier. It’s possible that the Art might have booked A CANTERBURY TALE (possibly a reissue, or first time engagement) on the strength of the RED SHOES run. Atlanta movie houses were often behind other parts of the country when it came to booking films. Wonder if they booked TALES OF HOFFMANN? I’ve seen most of Powell’s films.
Wish the Atlanta Public Library’s collection of newspaper microfilms was easier to use and not as fatiquing on the eyes!
800 seats sounds about right for the Art.
Peggy Mitchell Marsh was remarkable. Let me recommend that you visit her grave in Oakland Cemetary! It’s a remarkable place!
Correction: The original format on the 1959 BEN HUR technically should be referred to as MGM Camera 65 (later known as Ultra Panavision 70). Here’s a link to a GREAT website with wonderful information on widescreen formats and color printing:
View link
Unfortunately, I went away to school in 1970 and lost track of the many of the developments in Atlanta’s movie theaters. It hurt when the Paramount was torn down in 1960. The demolition of the Roxy and the Loew’s Grand seemed to add insult to injury.
If the Fox had been down it would have been an unpardonable sin.
That makes sense, I went away to school in 1970 and lost track of the fate of a number of Atlanta movie theaters in the years that followed.
Does anyone know at what point the Roxy installed 70mm projectors? My best recollection was that it might have been for the road show engagement of AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in Todd AO, circa 1956. Frankly, I don’t know if the exclusive booking of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI, circa ‘57-'58, was the 70mm blowup version or not. What I do recall with reasonable certainty was that when BEN HUR opened as a road show in December, 1959 it was presented in MGM Camera 65 (Ultra Panavision 70).
Hopefully someone can enlighten us.
As far as road show engagements went, the Roxy Theatre presented AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS in Todd AO circa 1956. In December, 1959 they presented BEN HUR in Ultra Panavision 70. It is my understanding that these were shown in 70mm.
Of course, the Roxy showed three strip Cinerama in ‘56-'57. However, I am not sure if the exclusive run of BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI circa '57’–‘58 was the 70mm blow up version or not. So, there is a reasonable question about just which theater had 70mm projectors first. Honestly, I don’t know.
Always felt very fortunate to have seen LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in the first week of its Atlanta road show engagement. Still have my program book. However, I did wish there had been a larger theater available with a larger screen. With the demolition of the Paramount in 1960; the demolition of the old Rialto in 1962 (the new one did not open until the late spring of ‘63); and the Roxy already booked (possibly with MUTINY ON THE BOUNTY remake), there was a real shortage of first class venues in the city. The Rhodes wasn’t bad, but LAWRENCE deserved a real movie palace. The Fox was out of the question for a road show. It was my impression that the Loews Grand wasn’t interested in a road show unless it was GWTW.
Hopefully, someone can enlighten us on these matters.
Wondered if the Rhodes Theare was actually equipped to show 70mm films? I saw LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there and always wondered if they showed a 70mm print.
Jack – Maybe I’m mistaken, but I thought the real purpose of this website was to solidify our collective murky memories. Hopefully, people will remember just how much fun going out to the movies could be. Then traditional movie exhibition may survive in the brave new world of home entertainment we may be seeing in the near future.
As far as my muddled memory goes, I have a little trouble distinguishing the look of the Emory before the renovation with the look after the renovation. Afterward, it reminded me a little more of the renovation done on the Rhodes Theatre. If memory serves that was also a Storey operation. As far as their other interests go, I couldn’t say. It’s been a long time since I lived in Atlanta.
Nobody remembers Laura Antonelli’s movies, they just remember her! Go to www.imbd.com and look up her credits.
Although I have read two biographies of Margaret Mitchell, I was reluctant to add that detail because I was not 100% sure if I remembered it correctly. However, I suspect that you are correct. I do recall that she and her husband were on their way TO the theater when she was struck by a taxi. She died in the hospital on August 16, 1949. THE RED SHOES was notable in its original release for being held over for particularly long runs at a number of the theaters that booked it.
The Peachtree Art was OK as a venue for the foreign films that other first run Atlanta theaters would not have booked. When I went there I sat in the orchestra section. The details are hazy now. After seeing CATCH 22 at the renovated WEIS CINEMA, I never had to urge to return.
The Glen Theatre was in neglect in the 1950’s! It was strictly a neighborhood grind house without any pretentions to class. But I could walk to Glenwood from my house in East Lake on the border of Decatur. The Glen usually had a special Saturday bill starting at 1:00PM. There I managed to catch Hammer horror movies that I either missed first run, or wanted to see again. Ah, the cinema of guilty pleasures!
My dad took me to the Kirkwood a number of times in the 1950’s. It became an Adults Only theater circa 1960. We ALL followed the ads!
The last time I attended the Emory “Cinema” was December, 1974. the feature was MALAZIA. Does anyone remember Laura Antonelli? Could anyone who ever saw Laura Antonelli forget her?
The last time I attended the Decatur was in 1970. That was the year I left Atlanta to go to school in New York City, and stayed to live there for about 30 years. From 1970 to 2003, I usually only saw Atlanta for relatively brief periods. The changes really jumped out at me!
The 1950’s and ‘60’s were a gentler age. By my count, in the early 1950’s Atlanta had about three dozen neighborhood “hardtops” catering to the white population. There were another half a dozen “colored theatres” and about eight or nine drive-ins. That was in an era when the population of the Atlanta metropolitan area was something over half a million. When the population of the city reached one million in 1960, there were actually fewer theaters.
Right now I strongly suspect that the movie business is in for another shakeup in the not too distant future, not unlike the post World War II era. The 1948 Federal Court Consent Decree; the impact of television; and changing public tastes caused thousands of movie theaters across the country to close in from from the late ‘40’s into the mid '50’s.
In the coming years, we may see something reminiscent of that era when home theater converges with home computers and on demand delivery of programming is possible via high speed interconnets. If Sony and Toshiba can agree on a single standard for High Definition DVD, then we may see a quantum leap in home theater systems (and in time more affordable prices). That doesn’t spell good news for traditional movie exhibition.
Many of us old time movie lovers may be playing out our own versions of the denoument of CINEMA PARADISO.
The Decatur Theatre at 527 N. McDonaugh Street, just off the square in Decatur was seperate and distinct from the DeKalb Theatre. The latter was located at 130 E. Ponce de Leon Avenue, on the opposite side of the courthouse square in Decatur. While the Decatur Theatre continued in operation into the 1970’s, the DeKalb Theatre ceased operations about 1954. The site was gutted and turned into a J.C. Penny store. The DeKalb was one of a group of Atlanta neighborhood theaters that closed in the early to mid 1950’s. Some of the others included the Little Five Points, the Fairfax, the West End, the Empire, the American, the Brookhaven, the Ponce de Leon, and the Tenth Street. Remember, these were theaters that serviced the white community in an era of racial segregation. The so called “colored theaters” were a different story altogether.
When the Emory was renovatedn in 1968, it’s very likely that the intention was to emulate the look of the North Dekalb Theatre (which had originally opened in 1966). However, fundamentally the Emory still resembled the smaller Atlanta neigborhood theaters of similar vintage like the long gone Kirkwood, Ponce de Leon, and Tenth Street Theatres. To the best of my recollection, none of them had more than about 500 seats.
Hi, Jack – The Peachtree Art Theatre was located at 1137 Peachtree Road, NE (on the east side of Peachtree) with the front of the theater facing Peachtree Road. The location was near the corner of 13th Street, between 13th and 12th Street. As I wrote in my previous post, I became aware that the theater had been demolished on my last trip to Atlanta in 2003. Before that, I had not been in town since 1996. Since I hadn’t spent a great deal of time in Atlanta since 1982-83, I really can’t say for sure when the theater closed or when it was demolished. However, I can assure you that it no longer exists.
My ignorance here is really not surprising. It wasn’t until 2003 that I became aware that the Erlanger/Tower/Cinerama/Columbia/Atlanta Theatre at 583 Peachtree Street, NE had been torn down. To say that “things change” in Atlanta is an understatement. When I took a long walk through downtown Atlanta in 2003, I felt like I was living out an episode of The Twilight Zone!
Great post, Mike! The CINEMA PARADISO parallel is very evocative. Like you, I couldn’t see any similarity between the Emory and the original North DeKalb Theatre. As a boy I also attended Kiddie Matinees at the Emory (although not as often as at the Decatur or the Glen). It’s funny to be reminded of the fact that most of the neighborhood theaters in Atlanta typically changed their programs twice a week. The auditorium of the Emory reminded me a bit of the one at the Kirkwood Theatre at 1965 Boulevard Drive, SE, in Kirkwood. In 1985, I stopped by the site of the Kirkwood to see the theater while it was in the process of being demolished. It evoked old memories for me.
The last time that I was in Atlanta in 2003, it appeared to me that DeKalb County is not very well served by quality movie theaters. Given the value of real estate in town and the changing demographics of many neighborhoods, I suppose that’s understandable. Change is inevitable, but the kind of changes we see can be rather sad.
Thanks for you comment, CConnolly! Yes, its does remain to be seen how home theater will impact movie going. On the other hand, some reasonable speculation can provide food for thought. Of course, the future of movie going demands on studios producing GOOD movies. However, a high quality presentation such as you find at the Arclight Cinemas on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood makes a very positive contribution to the public’s desire to go out to the movies. It’s not inconceivable that the Federal Government will allow the media conglomerates to own a bigger stake in movie exhibition, although not to pre-1948 levels. The studios still need the theatrical launch to sell DVD’s. So, in the not too distant future we may be seeing a major shakeup in the movie business. Of course, it all remains to be seen.
Mayor Bloomberg seems like an insideous man. My friends in New York loathe the very idea of his west side stadium. Unfortunately, Bloomberg and his friends own and control so much of the city, that I doubt that such projects can be stopped. It’s times like this when I don’t miss living in New York.
Correction: The location of the Peachtree Art Theatre was at 13 Street, according to a photocopy of a 1954 page from the Atlanta Journal. The advertised feature was the documentary CONQUEST OF EVEREST (1953). The Art (as it was usually referred to) often booked British films, many starring Alec Guinness, John Mills, Terry Thomas, Peter Sellers. So much so, that at times the Art seemed like a bastion of the British Empire.
The Peachtree Art Theatre at 1137 Peachtree Road, NE (near 12th Street if I remember correctly) was the primary venue for first run foreign films in Atlanta from the 1940’s into 1960’s. The photo from the Lane Brothers Collection at Georgia State University would be from the original release of Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger’s THE RED SHOES (1948 release), circa ‘48 or '49.
In 1949, Margaret Mitchell, author of GONE WITH THE WIND, was struck and killed by a taxi as she and her husband, John Marsh, were walking across the street to see a film at the Peachtree Art Theatre. The couple had moved over to apartment on Piedmont Avenue, opposite Piedmont Park. During the years that they lived in an apartment near Tenth Street (in a building that has been recently restored in), Peggy (as her friends called her) Marsh often attended the second run Tenth Street Theatre. This long gone theater once stood at 990 Peachtree Road, NE directly in front of her apartment building. The displays at the former Margaret Mitchell residence includes a picture of the Tenth Street Theatre.
The Peachtree Art Theatre was a movie house for people who ordinarily did not go to the movies. In the early 1960’s, the Garden Hills Theatre at 2835 Peachtree Road, NE was re-christened the Fine Art Cinema and became the main competition in the art film market for the Peachtree Art Theatre.
The last time that I was in Atlanta in 2003, I drove by the site of the Peachtree Art Theatre and was somewhat surprised that it had been demolished. Since I hadn’t been in Atlanta for 7 ½ years before that, I can’t even offer an educated guess about when the theater was torn down. For whatever it’s worth, I liked this theater.
Saw HOW THE WEST WAS WON at the Cinerama Dome and I was duly impressed. Beyond that, I like the black boxes at the Arclight, they fulfull a real need for quality screening rooms.
As much as I love quality vintage single screen theaters, the real question is whether or not motion picture exhibition as we have known it will survive. This is an age of changing public tastes. We are on the verge of a new era of on demand program delivery via a high speed internet connection to home theater systems, as well as High Definition DVD. Increased demand will bring down the price of High Definition Home Theater systems. Then the marketplace for motion pictures will change dramatically.
The only kind of motion picture exhibition that stands a real chance in this brave new world will be a high quality presentation. Of course, the Federal Government may have to allow the media conglomerates that own the movie studios to own a larger stake in movie exhibition. While that may seem to run counter to present Federal Anti-Trust law, it may be the only way traditional movie exhibition can survive. The movie studios still need a theatrical launch for their releases. Media conglomerates probably have the political clout to get their way in the current political environment. While I am not an advocate of corporate control of government by any means, movie studio investment in exhibition may be the way of the future. Allowing media conglomerates a 49% interest in exhibition may be the only way that movie theaters can survive in a changing marketplace.
The Arclight Cinemas could be part of the way of the future.
Funny, but in 1959 I also attended a “preview” of Lenox Square one Sunday. My uncle was one of the contractors who worked on the shopping center. In 1963, there was a shortage of good venues for first run features. The Lenox Square Theatre really filled a gap. It was notable for booking United Artists releases. In the ‘60’s, I vividly remember seeing FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE, THE PINK PANTHER, GOLDFINGER, THUNDERBALL, CAST A GIANT SHADOW, HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE, IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT, THE DEVILS BRIGADE, WEST SIDE STORY, MIDNIGHT COWBOY, and in the '70’s, DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, among others, at the Lenox. In those days the Lenox Square Theatre was a class act.
The indignities that were done to it later were truly a shame.
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the Kirkwood Theatre, which once stood at 1965 Boulevard Drive in the Kirkwood business district, was demolished years ago. A fire had damaged the theater severely years earlier. It stood empty until the the wreckers delivered the coup de grace around 1985.
In the 1950’s, I knew the Kirkwood Theater well, before they became and adult theater, circa 1960. Trust me, it’s long gone.
In 2003, the last time that I was in Atlanta, there was another vintage theater still standing in Atlanta’s Southeast side. The former Atlantic Theatre still stood on Memorial Drive located in a small strip mall on the south side of Memorial Drive, west of Clifton Street. It originally opened in 1963 next to what was then the Atlantic Discount Center. It had a relatively brief life as a movie house. The neighborhood was changing by the time the theater originally opened. Later it operated as a disco. Unfortunately, I cannot imagine that the neighborhood would make a viable site for a movie house today.
As far as the Toco Hills Theatre went, it was a modest sized 1960’s vintage theater with a good size screen.
Seeing a 1954 reissue of Walt Disney’s PINOCCHIO at the original Rialto was one of the most delightful experiences of my childhood. In the years that followed, I saw a number of other films there. The Rialto might have been a Keith Orpheum theater at one time because they seemed to rely heavily on late RKO, Columbia, and United Artist releases, as well as Walt Disney (who had released his pictures through RKO before forming Buena Vista) pictures. Here’s a link to a 1954 photo of the original Rialto:
View link
By 1962, the Rialto had deteriorated badly. When I saw Ray Harryhausen’s MYSTERIOUS ISLAND there (one of the last movies they showed) in early ‘62, I never forgot the sensation of walking down the aisle and literally feeling the floorboards give under my weight (and I was just a kid!). Everything seemed to be on the verge of collapse. The upholstery on the seat was tattered. The springs in the seats were broken or breaking through the upholstery. It was easy to imagine the theater caving in on you!
It was no surprise when the theater was demolished. In it’s final condition, it was hard to believe that anyone would miss it. The second Rialto Theatre opened in 1963 and it was a certainly a good theater. Seeing a 1963 reissue of Disney’s 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA there was memorable (yes, another Disney reisssue!). However, the newer theatre had a limited number of prime years. Atlanta changed enormously during the next twenty years. A downtown movie house was probably no longer viable.
All things considered, I’m glad the Rialto was preserved and put to such good use by Georgia State University.
The Emory Theatre on Oxford Road was located adjacent to the Emory University complex. Emory – that’s Coca Cola U. to the uninitiated, because of the endowments from the owners of Coke (hey, I’m not knocking it, I was born in Emory University Hospital). This was a typical second run neighborhood house that happened to be located in a particularly nice area in Dekalb County. Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s it generally booked typical commercial releases. By the late ‘60’s, Story Theatres began to book more edgy releases, probably trying to attract more of the university crowd. By the late '60’s and early '70’s, I remember seeing EASY RIDER, MEDIUM COOL, THEY SHOOT HORSE DON’T THEY and MALAZIA there. On a return visit to Atlanta, I was surprised to find that the theater had been torn down. Fire seems to be the fate of a number of older movie houses (could that have anything to do with insurance policies?).
The Rhodes Center was located on Peachtree Road, in Atlanta’s northside. According to my dad, throughout much of the 1930’s and 1940’s the Rhodes Theatre used to book MGM pictures after they finished their run at the downtown Loew’s Grand. Throughout the 1950’s it continued to operate as a second run house.
By early 1963, the theater was renovated and began to book road show attractions. The first one that I remember was the original release of LAWRENCE OF ARABIA in the Spring of 1963. The theater continued to generally book prestige pictures for the rest of the decade.
In the 1980’s, I attended the Rhodes several times when they were
showing foreign language films. All in all, it was certainly a nice theater in a nice part of town.
The Masonic symbol on the facade was still clearly visible when I saw the theater again in 2003. Apparently the upper floor was used as a Freemasons' Temple, thus explaining the name of the theater. The marquee had been removed and it was difficult to tell if the original auditorium still stood behind the facade. If what I could make out of the back of the building was the original structure, than a seating capacity of 390 could have been about right.
Located at 456 Cherokee Avenue (on the east side of the street), between Memorial Drive and Grant Park, it would have been in a pretty rough part of town when it operated as a movie house. The audience would have been drawn from the neighborhood around Grant Park; the Capitol Homes Federal Housing Project (that was being torn down in 2003); and the area known as Cabbage Town (the frame houses that were originally rented out to the workers at the old cotton mill opposite Oakland Cemetary). As nearly as I can recall, the Temple ceased to operate as a movie house sometime in the late 1950’s. By that time, at least a dozen neighborhood theaters catering to white audiences closed down. Remember, these theaters operated in an era of racial segregation.