A picture showing (supposedly) the first ticket being sold to “This is Cinerama” at the Palace: View link. Only a few months later, on a cold February Saturday morning, our family went to see the film; an experience I can still recall vividly over fifty-odd years later.
Scott, I think you are misreading the article quoted on the Water Winter Wonderland page, which is probably due to the way the text was entered; there is a break in the middle of a sentence where there should not have been one. The line should have read: “The company closed two other theaters — in Atlanta and Chandler, Arizona – Tuesday, reducing the number of Madstone Theaters from 10 to seven.” It was the number of theaters operated by Madstone that was reduced to ten, not the number of screens at Briarwood.
Also, another quote there confirms my vague recollection that the space occupied by the three additional screening rooms became a Pottery Barn. So, strange as it may seem, this theater does appear to have gone from a quad, to a seven-plex, and then back to a quad.
The three screens that were added to the original four were carved out of adjacent retail space, as I recall. Teicher apparently decided not to operate them – perhaps not wanting to pay the additional rent. They eventually reverted to retail, either a candle store or a Pottery Barn. It has been many years since I was there.
There are some additional pictures of the theatre on this webpage (scroll down about halfway): http://www.bn15.co.uk/history/cinema.html. Each will enlarge if clicked upon.
There is a vintage and contemporary views of this theatre on this webpage: scroll down about two-thirds of the way: http://www.bn15.co.uk/history/cinema.html. Each will enlarge if clicked upon/.
According to the notes below the first row of pictures on this webpage (scroll down a bit), the photograph on the right shows the building that used to house the theater: View link
An article about the empty former Quimby Theater casting a pall over redevelopment efforts in the surrounding shopping center; the article includes some pictures: View link.
According to a small item in Billboard Magazine, September 2, 1950, the Board of Commissioners of Brooks County on August 26 granted the Quitman Drive-in on Thomasville Road a permit to show movies on Sundays.
While it is certainly and sadly true that many of Detroit’s grand movie palaces are gone or probably beyond restoration, there are at least two other survivors in downtown Detroit: 1) the Broadway Capitol/Paramount/Grand Circus which was magnificently restored as the Detroit Opera House in 1996; 2) the Music Hall (born as the Wilson and the long-time home of Cinerama in Detroit; restored in the 1970’s). I think you would also have to include Orchestra Hall which was for several years a movie theater which got a full restoration in 1989, and of course the Fisher, which has recently been spruced up. I and others had hopes for the still standing but seriously decayed United Artists, but now I do not think it will be saved, due to years of apathy, Detroit’s extremely poor economic condition, and lack of effective leadership at the municipal level.
I used to very much enjoy going to one that held a few times in San Francisco in the 1980’s – especially on that was sponsored by one of the City’s film societies at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater which had a big screen then; for, if memory serves, about $15, you got watch the telecast and have refreshments in the decorated lobby, and then got to watch a local premiere of a new film.
I am not sure though that would go again to something like this; call me an old codger, but the event has become so degraded and frankly, almost tawdry. There is so little real elegance and too much emphasis on what celebrities are wearing, what antics Jack Nicholson and and the hosts will provide, and who is seen escorting who on the red carpet. Most of all, I detest the stupid idea of opening up the Best Picture category to ten nominees. This means that some big, loud, dumb, youth-oriented, special-effects-overloaded but crowd pleasing film, such as one of these seemingly endless stream of pretentious films based on comic book characters, could one day be mentioned in the same breath as “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Gone With the Wind.”
Are not these theaters already listed here – /theaters/25309/? The headnote there mentions that that the Fiesta Twins were incorporated into the multiplex.
There some aerial photos and some pictures of what remained of this drive-in as of 2002 on its gallery page at Drive-ins.com: http://www.drive-ins.com/gallery/gatperr
A picture showing (supposedly) the first ticket being sold to “This is Cinerama” at the Palace:
View link. Only a few months later, on a cold February Saturday morning, our family went to see the film; an experience I can still recall vividly over fifty-odd years later.
There is a picture of the Auckland Cinerama on this page along with some pictures taken during an apparent fire: http://cinerama.topcities.com/Auckland.htm. There is another picture here: http://tinyurl.com/4ext5fl and one of the foyer during the run of “It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” here: http://tinyurl.com/4cpeeg3
Thanks for correcting my error, BK. It is interesting that two New Zealand theaters named Mayfair became Cinerama houses.
Sorry, I should have said “…that was reduced to seven (not ten)” in the part in quotes above.
‘Tis better than no picture at all, Scott.
Scott, I think you are misreading the article quoted on the Water Winter Wonderland page, which is probably due to the way the text was entered; there is a break in the middle of a sentence where there should not have been one. The line should have read: “The company closed two other theaters — in Atlanta and Chandler, Arizona – Tuesday, reducing the number of Madstone Theaters from 10 to seven.” It was the number of theaters operated by Madstone that was reduced to ten, not the number of screens at Briarwood.
Also, another quote there confirms my vague recollection that the space occupied by the three additional screening rooms became a Pottery Barn. So, strange as it may seem, this theater does appear to have gone from a quad, to a seven-plex, and then back to a quad.
The three screens that were added to the original four were carved out of adjacent retail space, as I recall. Teicher apparently decided not to operate them – perhaps not wanting to pay the additional rent. They eventually reverted to retail, either a candle store or a Pottery Barn. It has been many years since I was there.
It is commercial spam; it should be removed.
There are some additional pictures of the theatre on this webpage (scroll down about halfway): http://www.bn15.co.uk/history/cinema.html. Each will enlarge if clicked upon.
There is a vintage and contemporary views of this theatre on this webpage: scroll down about two-thirds of the way: http://www.bn15.co.uk/history/cinema.html. Each will enlarge if clicked upon/.
The revamped theater is now expected to open in May, 2011: View link
Beginning in May, 2011, this theater will be the home of a professional acting company called the Arkansas TheatreWorks: View link
A recent article about some problems with the new digital projectors: View link
This article about the Centre’s opening includes some pictures: View link
According to the notes below the first row of pictures on this webpage (scroll down a bit), the photograph on the right shows the building that used to house the theater: View link
This article about the theater’s getting a digital IMAX screen includes a picture of the theater’s entrance: View link.
An article about the empty former Quimby Theater casting a pall over redevelopment efforts in the surrounding shopping center; the article includes some pictures: View link.
According to a small item in Billboard Magazine, September 2, 1950, the Board of Commissioners of Brooks County on August 26 granted the Quitman Drive-in on Thomasville Road a permit to show movies on Sundays.
While it is certainly and sadly true that many of Detroit’s grand movie palaces are gone or probably beyond restoration, there are at least two other survivors in downtown Detroit: 1) the Broadway Capitol/Paramount/Grand Circus which was magnificently restored as the Detroit Opera House in 1996; 2) the Music Hall (born as the Wilson and the long-time home of Cinerama in Detroit; restored in the 1970’s). I think you would also have to include Orchestra Hall which was for several years a movie theater which got a full restoration in 1989, and of course the Fisher, which has recently been spruced up. I and others had hopes for the still standing but seriously decayed United Artists, but now I do not think it will be saved, due to years of apathy, Detroit’s extremely poor economic condition, and lack of effective leadership at the municipal level.
I used to very much enjoy going to one that held a few times in San Francisco in the 1980’s – especially on that was sponsored by one of the City’s film societies at the Palace of Fine Arts Theater which had a big screen then; for, if memory serves, about $15, you got watch the telecast and have refreshments in the decorated lobby, and then got to watch a local premiere of a new film.
I am not sure though that would go again to something like this; call me an old codger, but the event has become so degraded and frankly, almost tawdry. There is so little real elegance and too much emphasis on what celebrities are wearing, what antics Jack Nicholson and and the hosts will provide, and who is seen escorting who on the red carpet. Most of all, I detest the stupid idea of opening up the Best Picture category to ten nominees. This means that some big, loud, dumb, youth-oriented, special-effects-overloaded but crowd pleasing film, such as one of these seemingly endless stream of pretentious films based on comic book characters, could one day be mentioned in the same breath as “Lawrence of Arabia” or “Gone With the Wind.”
This absurdly-headlined article about the theater’s temporary closing has a picture of the theater that will enlarge if clicked upon: View link
Are not these theaters already listed here – /theaters/25309/? The headnote there mentions that that the Fiesta Twins were incorporated into the multiplex.
There are several pictures of this drive-in on its gallery page at Drive-ins.com:
http://www.drive-ins.com/gallery/gatgwin/skip=0
There some aerial photos and some pictures of what remained of this drive-in as of 2002 on its gallery page at Drive-ins.com: http://www.drive-ins.com/gallery/gatperr
The theater recently installed 3D equipment and added other upgrades: http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/201102051103