Fondly remembering taking Midge here for Alfred Hitchcock’s TORN CURTAIN. Even though I live south of DC, we still return to Baltimore now that the HIPPODROME reopened. We come for about 8 of their shows a year. The HIPPODROME has very strong box office support. If the TOWN were re-opened, there would be public support, and downtown Baltimore has changed severely for the better the past 2 decades.
Definitely NOT one of Washington DC’s largest, definitely NOT demolished. For most of its life, this theater was the PIX, the “dirty movie” house for Washington. People today would not believe how SOFT such movies were 50 years ago. A “sex” movie had maybe one blurred nudie scene, that’s it. DON KING did an admirable job of taking this theatre over and calling it the TOWN. He packed em in with first runs such as PSYCHO, HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, LA DOLCE VITA, WORLD OF SUZIE WONG. Despite the upscale audience though, they never could expel the odor of … from the PIX era. The Martin Luther King riot and looting spree placed the fatal bullet in the chest of the TOWN; like the rest of downtown DC; and NO I never did forgive the vandals or their admirers. Today the PIX or TOWN houses a wacky leftist womens museum.
JUDY GARLAND dodn’t just play the PALACE, the same show also played Washington DC’s best-ever theater, LOEW’S CAPITOL. Also in Baltimore at their lavish STANLEY, where I saw it. An hour? No, it was 2 hours.
The HIPPODROME was the #1 movie palace in Baltimore after the STANLEY was torn down, there was no contest. Like many places, the stage & screen concept was closed-out in the early 1950’s — thanks to union demands pricing stage shows into history. I saw just one movie here during that era, MGM’S TOM THUMB. Thanks partly to the sheer shabbiness of the neighborhood, the HIPPODROME wasn’t torn down. Now the restored HIPPODROME is a part of the upgrade of the entire area. Offering a full schedule of BROADWAY shows, as well as a few classic movie screenings, this theater couldn’t be more alive. Amply supported by strong box office receipts, it’s here to stay.
The WARNER THEATER is alive and well, now exceeding its ½ block away neighbor, the NATIONAL, in booking top stage shows. This beautiful theater, the best surviving theater in Washington since Loew’s CAPITOL was torn down, was almost murdered by the Martin Luther King riots and looting, carried on without interference from police or military, and excused by many, but not by me. Being part of an office building saved it, but after the riots, major Road Show first runs were moved elsewhere, like to the UPTOWN, and the WARNER fell on hard times, was boarded up. The WARNER was the site of the fancy World Premiere of JOHN WAYNE’s SANDS OF IWO JIMA. It was a big deal and led to many other —– mostly military films —– WorLd Premieres in Washington, at the WARNER or CAPITOL. Thank God we still have this place —– and it’s thriving.
FIFTY YEARS ago, when all the great LOEW’S theatres were alive and well in New York, I remember the Loew’s display ad always had this footnote: “VODVIL at ORPHEUM” (misspelling Vaudeville). It was at that time the ONLY Loew’s in New York still having live stage shows as an added attraction.
I attended LOEW’S ORPHEUM just once. They were playing EMPIRE STRIKES BACK downstairs and THE SHINING upstairs. Asking top dollar admission price of $5.00, matinee & evening, adult & child, all shows were sold out beyond capacity. So why did LOEW’S give up on it?
Despite the long list of quality first runs which played here, LOEW’S EMBASSY was absolutely nothing special, just a cramped modern 600 seat auditorium with no distinguishing architecture or style. I saw maybe 40 movies here, and since it closed, who cares?
LOEW’S opened the EMBASSY at about the same time they closed the wonderful 1897 LOEW’S COLUMBIA on F Street, 2 miles away. Now that was a loss of a Cinema Treasure!
LOEW’S opened this huge 1,500 seat single screen theater in 1965. It was big, comfortable and popular —– but was NOT a grand Loew’s theatre, simply sleek and modern. They charged a 50% premium over competing theaters' prices, but were popular anyway. Showcase Theaters took it over and continued playing the best pictures, at competitive prices. It closed over a decade ago and was converted into a big store.
WALT DISNEY! This was the place where WALT DISNEY’S pictures had their first runs, along with the best of RKO, Universal and later United Artists. KEITH’S had two balconies and all seats had good view of the stage or screen. Study the above list and you’ll see the decline in film quality following the Martin Luther King Riots when vandals burned and looted downtown Washington as police were ordered to keep hands off. That killed first runs eventually, and our beautiful downtown theaters died, as people feared and resented the lawlessness and those who excused it. When THUNDERBALL played here UA also booked it into the PIKE in the suburbs. The success of the suburban booking helped end downtown first runs. President Kennedy supposedly sneaked off-the-job and came here for DR. NO, again for FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. More importantly, I took Sally here for OLD YELLER.
The CIRCLE used to be a mildly successful neighborhood theatre until the Pedas Brothers took it over and wrote the book on REPRATORY CINEMA —– this was the best one in America. Brilliantly booking a diverse agenda of classics and foreign films, I never saw the CIRCLE any less than 80% filled —– even Mondays, even matinees. Here’s how; for example: I wanted to see the Italian classic BICYCLE THIEF but the only time I could get there was for the 9:45 on a rainsoaked Tuesday night. So that’s when I went. Yeah, it was full, like usual.
The PEDAS boys took profits from the CIRCLE and opened a whole chain —– for which Cineplex Odeon wildly overpaid to acquire. Two things killed the CIRCLE. (1) VHS videos made such theatres obsolete and (2) the CIRCLE was on prime real estate 4 blocks from the WHITE HOUSE. Torn down for a parking garage? I think not! There’s a 12 story office complex sitting where the CIRCLE’s one storey building used to be. One last thing: the CIRCLE employed a hard-to-look-at handicapped person in a high profile job. Nobody used to do that. I think nobody ever complained, either. God bless!
The HIGHLAND is dead but not demolished. Boarded up in 1977, this neighborhood was so high-crime that tearing down closed-up theatres wasn’t worth the trouble.
The sister theatre was the AVENUE GRAND for decades, but was renamed CAPITOL HILL when it was briefly a first run arthouse theatre. They played KING OF HEARTS, for example. Both the PENN and AVE GRAND were on Capitol Hill —– an excellent place to get robbed and/or murdered particularly when the Cokehead Mayor Marion Barry ran the city. One might think Congress would straighted out their own turf; after all several were attacked as were their employees. But no; it wasn’t until Barry was jailed, then the Republican Congress took over and began the cleanup. High potential of armed robbery & murder just is not good for theatre business. Too bad; the PENN was one of our best.
The COLONY was a 3rd Run house under Warner management, playing films one week after, and slightly cheaper, than Warner’s newer and nearby KENNEDY and SHERIDAN. (All 3 still exist, as churches.) The COLONY had one glorious last harrah under Warner’s. Somehow they got Audery Hepburn’s ROMAN HOLIDAY one day earlier than other theatres and filled all 3 shows to standing room only. The really smart KB chain later leased the COLONY where they’d showcase AAA+ movies that had played-off too quickly elsewhere. Revivals of pictures like MARTY, a few months after playing elsewhere, lasted several weeks at the COLONY. As the neighborhood declined into unchecked crime, that option eventually failed. The COLONY is part of a larger building and that saved it. Anyway, nobody’s building anything new near here.
The LITTLE was on 9th Street between F and G Streets. It was later called Roth’s LITTLE. They had an extremely long run there of MGM’s movie “LILI” with Leslie Caron. NOT a first run but a clever re-run it played there at first run admission prices for about a year.
The DUPONT THEATRE had some incredibly long first run engagements. Pictures like HIGH NOON, ZORBA THE GREEK, DR STRANGELOVE each played for months-on-end.
FIRST RUNS in WASHINGTON, as elsewhere, were destroyed by the Martin Luther King Riots. After Dr. King’s followers burned and looted the downtown areas, with no interference by police, people stayed away from downtown and hence from first run theaters. Within a few years movie studios did what was necessary and opened first runs in the suburban neighborhoods. This was the death blow for all of America’s beautiful downtown first runs. Good thing to remember on the MLK holiday in Jamuary. His leadership led to fire, looting, and the end of so many movie palaces as collateral damage.
RCMH’s mnanagement ought take more interest in their theatre. The CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, not as good and not as religious as it used to be, hauls in the money at $40 to $225; cheaper the 1st 2 days. That’s ALL they care about. Very few other shows are booked, the theatre is dark most nights. HIGH CRIME reduced attendance and partly motivated “THE FRENCH CONNECTION” bypass of a downtown first run. The neighborhood opening of this movie was the death warrant of all first run theatres; period. I loved seeing an A+ quality movie plus the stage show dozens of times. What I missed was the time RCMH and the ROXY opened KING KONG plus the stage show Jungle Rhythms, at the same time, two 6,000 seat theatres one block apart, 10 shows a day —– 25c till 1 pm, 55c till 6 pm, 75c evenings exc Sat-Sun. March 1, 1933. BLAME MY MOM AND DAD, I wasn’t born till 1938.
I remember the STANLEY as a beautiful place. I enjoyed just two shows here. Alfred Hitchcock’s all-time masterpiece THE BIRDS, and, in a brief return to using their stage, the JUDY GARLAND show, which toured a few grand theatres one year in the early 1960’s.
The SELWYN or American Airlines THEATRE is a beautifully created and beautifully restored theatre. The lobby and entrance, site of the collapse, are new. The ill-informed staff there think the theatre used to be the “Sullivan” and when asked will either tell you it’s brand new/modern or restored classic; whatever you want to hear. Never mind. Great theatre. The show, THE CONSTANT WIFE, was AAA+. LADIES, tell you a secret: Avoid the long line at the Ladies Room near the Bar. Go downstairs to the big lobby down there — NO LINE at the downstairs (main) rest room.
NO WAY the HILTON is new. Nobody can construct a new building to look like it’s 100 years old. Nobody can layer 100 years of dirt on art work et cetera. Let somebody who says they’ve actually BEEN THERE and SEEN the HILTON (aka FORD) THEATRE —– let that person say the theatre is “new.”
I have trouble believing the LYRIC is anything but alive and well. I attended a show there this week, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, expecting a stark modern interior of the currently named HILTON Theater. To my happy surprise I found a beautiful old interior, with all of the decorations typical of a grand theatre circa 1901, two balconies, and absolutely looking like a cleaned-up old palace. Go there and see for yourself.
The GEORGETOWN was brilliantly successful during the bleak low-box office era when people were at home with their 9" Motorola TV’s. By booking high quality classic movies, rather than mainstream, they countered the tide and wrote the book on repratory cinema. Normally near-full 7 nights a week. When Penthouse Magazine long-term rented the theatre for their X-movie CALIGULA (at triple the regular price) the theatre’s image changed, and I think people blamed the GEORGETOWN, not PENTHOUSE, for the CALIGULA rip-off. Imgaine if at today’s $9 price you go to a theatre and without advance warning the admission is $27.00. >>> The GEORGETOWN lives on in one sense. When Hollywood shoots a movie in the colorful “O” Street section of town, the GEORGETOWN THEATRE facade is restored and the jewelry store is covered over. [A definite loss to Washington.]
Amazingly, the STANLEY WARNER company spent the money in 1961 to restore the multi-colored trim-painting throughout the building. Almost all such things (whether in banks or any other old buildings) are usually just painted-over in white. Beautiful job. WARNER’s usually put the best films at the nearby WARNER THEATRE (now open and thriving). The MET closed in 1968 when Washington DC’s theatre district was killed by the Martin Luther King Riot when vandals and thieves took it upon themselves to burn and loot at will. This area would remain a mess for 20+ years, and NO, I haven’t forgiven the vandals, or those who allowed and excused their crimes.
I think Loew’s originally planned in naming their crumb-bum new theater New Culumbia, but since it was constructed 2 or 3 miles from the Columbia being torn down they must have changed their mind. Also there was an overlap of a few weeks between opening the EMBASSY and closing the COLUMBIA. BEN-HUR definitely played the WARNER, not Loew’s.
LOEW’S PALACE was a wonderful place to see the very best MGM and 20th Century-Fox pictures (plus others) in a deluxe palace-like atmosphere. I saw over 100 movies here, but one special occasion was the first night of THE COURT JESTER in the late 1950’s. DANNY KAYE performed for two shows one night only. He got so carried away that his 30 minute appearance lasted an extra 60 minutes. Regular price too. $1.49, I think. On the dark side, LOEW’S PALACE and the heart of downtown Washington began a lingering death with the 1968 Martin Luther King Riots, when vandals took it upon themselves to burn and loot at will. Scan the movies above you’ll see a rapid turn from quality to junk in 1968. Downtown Washington was dead and scarred for 20 years. We still have no meaningful downtown, and NO I have not forgiven the vandals.
Fondly remembering taking Midge here for Alfred Hitchcock’s TORN CURTAIN. Even though I live south of DC, we still return to Baltimore now that the HIPPODROME reopened. We come for about 8 of their shows a year. The HIPPODROME has very strong box office support. If the TOWN were re-opened, there would be public support, and downtown Baltimore has changed severely for the better the past 2 decades.
Definitely NOT one of Washington DC’s largest, definitely NOT demolished. For most of its life, this theater was the PIX, the “dirty movie” house for Washington. People today would not believe how SOFT such movies were 50 years ago. A “sex” movie had maybe one blurred nudie scene, that’s it. DON KING did an admirable job of taking this theatre over and calling it the TOWN. He packed em in with first runs such as PSYCHO, HIROSHIMA MON AMOUR, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, LA DOLCE VITA, WORLD OF SUZIE WONG. Despite the upscale audience though, they never could expel the odor of … from the PIX era. The Martin Luther King riot and looting spree placed the fatal bullet in the chest of the TOWN; like the rest of downtown DC; and NO I never did forgive the vandals or their admirers. Today the PIX or TOWN houses a wacky leftist womens museum.
JUDY GARLAND dodn’t just play the PALACE, the same show also played Washington DC’s best-ever theater, LOEW’S CAPITOL. Also in Baltimore at their lavish STANLEY, where I saw it. An hour? No, it was 2 hours.
The HIPPODROME was the #1 movie palace in Baltimore after the STANLEY was torn down, there was no contest. Like many places, the stage & screen concept was closed-out in the early 1950’s — thanks to union demands pricing stage shows into history. I saw just one movie here during that era, MGM’S TOM THUMB. Thanks partly to the sheer shabbiness of the neighborhood, the HIPPODROME wasn’t torn down. Now the restored HIPPODROME is a part of the upgrade of the entire area. Offering a full schedule of BROADWAY shows, as well as a few classic movie screenings, this theater couldn’t be more alive. Amply supported by strong box office receipts, it’s here to stay.
The WARNER THEATER is alive and well, now exceeding its ½ block away neighbor, the NATIONAL, in booking top stage shows. This beautiful theater, the best surviving theater in Washington since Loew’s CAPITOL was torn down, was almost murdered by the Martin Luther King riots and looting, carried on without interference from police or military, and excused by many, but not by me. Being part of an office building saved it, but after the riots, major Road Show first runs were moved elsewhere, like to the UPTOWN, and the WARNER fell on hard times, was boarded up. The WARNER was the site of the fancy World Premiere of JOHN WAYNE’s SANDS OF IWO JIMA. It was a big deal and led to many other —– mostly military films —– WorLd Premieres in Washington, at the WARNER or CAPITOL. Thank God we still have this place —– and it’s thriving.
FIFTY YEARS ago, when all the great LOEW’S theatres were alive and well in New York, I remember the Loew’s display ad always had this footnote: “VODVIL at ORPHEUM” (misspelling Vaudeville). It was at that time the ONLY Loew’s in New York still having live stage shows as an added attraction.
I attended LOEW’S ORPHEUM just once. They were playing EMPIRE STRIKES BACK downstairs and THE SHINING upstairs. Asking top dollar admission price of $5.00, matinee & evening, adult & child, all shows were sold out beyond capacity. So why did LOEW’S give up on it?
Despite the long list of quality first runs which played here, LOEW’S EMBASSY was absolutely nothing special, just a cramped modern 600 seat auditorium with no distinguishing architecture or style. I saw maybe 40 movies here, and since it closed, who cares?
LOEW’S opened the EMBASSY at about the same time they closed the wonderful 1897 LOEW’S COLUMBIA on F Street, 2 miles away. Now that was a loss of a Cinema Treasure!
LOEW’S opened this huge 1,500 seat single screen theater in 1965. It was big, comfortable and popular —– but was NOT a grand Loew’s theatre, simply sleek and modern. They charged a 50% premium over competing theaters' prices, but were popular anyway. Showcase Theaters took it over and continued playing the best pictures, at competitive prices. It closed over a decade ago and was converted into a big store.
WALT DISNEY! This was the place where WALT DISNEY’S pictures had their first runs, along with the best of RKO, Universal and later United Artists. KEITH’S had two balconies and all seats had good view of the stage or screen. Study the above list and you’ll see the decline in film quality following the Martin Luther King Riots when vandals burned and looted downtown Washington as police were ordered to keep hands off. That killed first runs eventually, and our beautiful downtown theaters died, as people feared and resented the lawlessness and those who excused it. When THUNDERBALL played here UA also booked it into the PIKE in the suburbs. The success of the suburban booking helped end downtown first runs. President Kennedy supposedly sneaked off-the-job and came here for DR. NO, again for FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE. More importantly, I took Sally here for OLD YELLER.
The CIRCLE used to be a mildly successful neighborhood theatre until the Pedas Brothers took it over and wrote the book on REPRATORY CINEMA —– this was the best one in America. Brilliantly booking a diverse agenda of classics and foreign films, I never saw the CIRCLE any less than 80% filled —– even Mondays, even matinees. Here’s how; for example: I wanted to see the Italian classic BICYCLE THIEF but the only time I could get there was for the 9:45 on a rainsoaked Tuesday night. So that’s when I went. Yeah, it was full, like usual.
The PEDAS boys took profits from the CIRCLE and opened a whole chain —– for which Cineplex Odeon wildly overpaid to acquire. Two things killed the CIRCLE. (1) VHS videos made such theatres obsolete and (2) the CIRCLE was on prime real estate 4 blocks from the WHITE HOUSE. Torn down for a parking garage? I think not! There’s a 12 story office complex sitting where the CIRCLE’s one storey building used to be. One last thing: the CIRCLE employed a hard-to-look-at handicapped person in a high profile job. Nobody used to do that. I think nobody ever complained, either. God bless!
LITTLE was on 9th Street between F and G Streets.
The HIGHLAND is dead but not demolished. Boarded up in 1977, this neighborhood was so high-crime that tearing down closed-up theatres wasn’t worth the trouble.
The sister theatre was the AVENUE GRAND for decades, but was renamed CAPITOL HILL when it was briefly a first run arthouse theatre. They played KING OF HEARTS, for example. Both the PENN and AVE GRAND were on Capitol Hill —– an excellent place to get robbed and/or murdered particularly when the Cokehead Mayor Marion Barry ran the city. One might think Congress would straighted out their own turf; after all several were attacked as were their employees. But no; it wasn’t until Barry was jailed, then the Republican Congress took over and began the cleanup. High potential of armed robbery & murder just is not good for theatre business. Too bad; the PENN was one of our best.
The COLONY was a 3rd Run house under Warner management, playing films one week after, and slightly cheaper, than Warner’s newer and nearby KENNEDY and SHERIDAN. (All 3 still exist, as churches.) The COLONY had one glorious last harrah under Warner’s. Somehow they got Audery Hepburn’s ROMAN HOLIDAY one day earlier than other theatres and filled all 3 shows to standing room only. The really smart KB chain later leased the COLONY where they’d showcase AAA+ movies that had played-off too quickly elsewhere. Revivals of pictures like MARTY, a few months after playing elsewhere, lasted several weeks at the COLONY. As the neighborhood declined into unchecked crime, that option eventually failed. The COLONY is part of a larger building and that saved it. Anyway, nobody’s building anything new near here.
The LITTLE was on 9th Street between F and G Streets. It was later called Roth’s LITTLE. They had an extremely long run there of MGM’s movie “LILI” with Leslie Caron. NOT a first run but a clever re-run it played there at first run admission prices for about a year.
The DUPONT THEATRE had some incredibly long first run engagements. Pictures like HIGH NOON, ZORBA THE GREEK, DR STRANGELOVE each played for months-on-end.
FIRST RUNS in WASHINGTON, as elsewhere, were destroyed by the Martin Luther King Riots. After Dr. King’s followers burned and looted the downtown areas, with no interference by police, people stayed away from downtown and hence from first run theaters. Within a few years movie studios did what was necessary and opened first runs in the suburban neighborhoods. This was the death blow for all of America’s beautiful downtown first runs. Good thing to remember on the MLK holiday in Jamuary. His leadership led to fire, looting, and the end of so many movie palaces as collateral damage.
RCMH’s mnanagement ought take more interest in their theatre. The CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR, not as good and not as religious as it used to be, hauls in the money at $40 to $225; cheaper the 1st 2 days. That’s ALL they care about. Very few other shows are booked, the theatre is dark most nights. HIGH CRIME reduced attendance and partly motivated “THE FRENCH CONNECTION” bypass of a downtown first run. The neighborhood opening of this movie was the death warrant of all first run theatres; period. I loved seeing an A+ quality movie plus the stage show dozens of times. What I missed was the time RCMH and the ROXY opened KING KONG plus the stage show Jungle Rhythms, at the same time, two 6,000 seat theatres one block apart, 10 shows a day —– 25c till 1 pm, 55c till 6 pm, 75c evenings exc Sat-Sun. March 1, 1933. BLAME MY MOM AND DAD, I wasn’t born till 1938.
I remember the STANLEY as a beautiful place. I enjoyed just two shows here. Alfred Hitchcock’s all-time masterpiece THE BIRDS, and, in a brief return to using their stage, the JUDY GARLAND show, which toured a few grand theatres one year in the early 1960’s.
The SELWYN or American Airlines THEATRE is a beautifully created and beautifully restored theatre. The lobby and entrance, site of the collapse, are new. The ill-informed staff there think the theatre used to be the “Sullivan” and when asked will either tell you it’s brand new/modern or restored classic; whatever you want to hear. Never mind. Great theatre. The show, THE CONSTANT WIFE, was AAA+. LADIES, tell you a secret: Avoid the long line at the Ladies Room near the Bar. Go downstairs to the big lobby down there — NO LINE at the downstairs (main) rest room.
NO WAY the HILTON is new. Nobody can construct a new building to look like it’s 100 years old. Nobody can layer 100 years of dirt on art work et cetera. Let somebody who says they’ve actually BEEN THERE and SEEN the HILTON (aka FORD) THEATRE —– let that person say the theatre is “new.”
I have trouble believing the LYRIC is anything but alive and well. I attended a show there this week, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG, expecting a stark modern interior of the currently named HILTON Theater. To my happy surprise I found a beautiful old interior, with all of the decorations typical of a grand theatre circa 1901, two balconies, and absolutely looking like a cleaned-up old palace. Go there and see for yourself.
PS: The GEORGETOWN, long and narrow, had about 400 seats.
The GEORGETOWN was brilliantly successful during the bleak low-box office era when people were at home with their 9" Motorola TV’s. By booking high quality classic movies, rather than mainstream, they countered the tide and wrote the book on repratory cinema. Normally near-full 7 nights a week. When Penthouse Magazine long-term rented the theatre for their X-movie CALIGULA (at triple the regular price) the theatre’s image changed, and I think people blamed the GEORGETOWN, not PENTHOUSE, for the CALIGULA rip-off. Imgaine if at today’s $9 price you go to a theatre and without advance warning the admission is $27.00. >>> The GEORGETOWN lives on in one sense. When Hollywood shoots a movie in the colorful “O” Street section of town, the GEORGETOWN THEATRE facade is restored and the jewelry store is covered over. [A definite loss to Washington.]
Amazingly, the STANLEY WARNER company spent the money in 1961 to restore the multi-colored trim-painting throughout the building. Almost all such things (whether in banks or any other old buildings) are usually just painted-over in white. Beautiful job. WARNER’s usually put the best films at the nearby WARNER THEATRE (now open and thriving). The MET closed in 1968 when Washington DC’s theatre district was killed by the Martin Luther King Riot when vandals and thieves took it upon themselves to burn and loot at will. This area would remain a mess for 20+ years, and NO, I haven’t forgiven the vandals, or those who allowed and excused their crimes.
I think Loew’s originally planned in naming their crumb-bum new theater New Culumbia, but since it was constructed 2 or 3 miles from the Columbia being torn down they must have changed their mind. Also there was an overlap of a few weeks between opening the EMBASSY and closing the COLUMBIA. BEN-HUR definitely played the WARNER, not Loew’s.
LOEW’S PALACE was a wonderful place to see the very best MGM and 20th Century-Fox pictures (plus others) in a deluxe palace-like atmosphere. I saw over 100 movies here, but one special occasion was the first night of THE COURT JESTER in the late 1950’s. DANNY KAYE performed for two shows one night only. He got so carried away that his 30 minute appearance lasted an extra 60 minutes. Regular price too. $1.49, I think. On the dark side, LOEW’S PALACE and the heart of downtown Washington began a lingering death with the 1968 Martin Luther King Riots, when vandals took it upon themselves to burn and loot at will. Scan the movies above you’ll see a rapid turn from quality to junk in 1968. Downtown Washington was dead and scarred for 20 years. We still have no meaningful downtown, and NO I have not forgiven the vandals.