LOEW’S had three beautiful theatres on F Street: The CAPITOL, PALACE and COLUMBIA. The COLUMBIA was smaller but still had about 1000 seats and had both a balcony and mezzenine. A nifty place and usually full of happy filmgoers. BEN HUR played reserved seats at the WARNER 13th & F. There never was a new COLUMBIA. Shortly before the COLUMBIA was closed, LOEW’S built a crub-bum new theatre, LOEW’S EMBASSY, about 600 seats, strictly modern, no distinction at all. LOEW’S COLUMBIA had a cat, and the cat would occasionally “perform” on stage, if anybody noticed.
The HOWARD truly looks beyond repair. The roof is caving in and the theatre is surrounded by a wire fence. If you go there, go down the alley right next to the theater and ask the old Black guys living there to tell you about the HOWARD. Forget Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey, in the height of ROCK n ROLL the HOWARD had stage shows with several name acts, the CADILLACS, the COASTERS, etc. plus a movie. The place always rocked, but never like the MIDNIGHT SHOW Saturdays.I never ever saw another white person in the audience except those with me, although many whites lied and said they’d been there. The price was always cheap. After segregation ended, Black entertainers started playing the same places as Whites, so there was no longer a reason for the HOWARD (or the APOLLO in NYC) to exist. With any gain, you also lose something of value. But memory lives…
In 1956 the LUCAS revived its film and vaudeville program for just 3 days when Col. Tom Parker was touring his new star-to-be on 3-day gigs in the great movie-vaudeville palaces of the South. The movie alternated with 4-per-day Elvis Presley stage shows and the admission price was $1.25 (vs. the regular 80c price). Elvis was well known throughout the South at that point, and a few weeks later he was on the Dorsey Bros TV show on CBS and became a world famous star very quickly.
We saw Arnold Schwartznegger’s PREDITOR here on their big screen. About 30 minutes into the show, about 4 or 5 jive-turkeys came in and began making noise as if nobody else was there. Several shush! shush! sounds from the audience yielded the agonizingly familiar “We paid our money and we won’t shut up.. blah, blah, blah!” Then I heard one Negro voice say out loud, “You’re the reason us N…… don’t never have nuthin' cuz people like you ruin it for ev'body!” I’ll never forget that, never forget the guy who said it. AMEN.
We saw Arnold Schwartznegger’s PREDITOR here on their big screen. About 30 minutes into the show, about 4 or 5 jive-turkeys came in and began making noise as if nobody else was there. Several shush! shush! sounds from the audience yielded the agonizingly familiar “We paid our money and we won’t shut up.. blah, blah, blah!” Then I heard one Negro voice say out loud, “You’re the reason us N…… don’t never have nuthin' cuz people like you ruin it for ev'body!” I’ll never forget that, never forget the guy who said it. AMEN.
The SENATOR looked like a burnt-out hulk last time I drove by. This was the final operation of a movie theatre on any “urban black” neighborhood in Washington, DC. They tried hard to make this place work again, but if people can’t be safe using the rest room or even just sitting and watching, all is lost to the urban loser mentality.
THE PARAMOUNT called itself THE HOUSE OF BLOCKBUSTERS during its final few years of regular operation. Having exclusive first run blockbusters at top prices was what kept the big downtown theaters in business. It wasn’t New York’s notorious pre-Rudy high crime —– immortalized in Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH film in which New York was accurately described as “a toilet” —– no, it was the producer/ director of THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Mr Dantonio insisted 20th Century Fox book this movie “wide” immediately placing it in dozens of neighborhood theaters and bypassing downtown. The financial payoff was fantastic and forever doomed the downtown first runs. Soon after, not even RADIO CITY could grab off first runs of QUALITY films with mass appeal; booking second rate things like ROBIN & MARION et cetera along with their 4-a-day stage show. Of course the horrible crime problem —– unknown to young New Yorkers —– helped nail the coffin. When I see literally thousands of persons, even in freezing temperatures in January, cramming Times Square at 11 PM, why couldn’t New York cure their crime nightmare a few decades earlier?
The APEX spent most of its life as a northwest Washington neighborhood theater. Then in the early 1960’s the KB chain made it a first run house that showed many fine Hollywood films as well as foreign pictures. Ingmar Bergman’s “THE SEVENTH SEAL” was one of the early first runs. Such “art” first runs were extremely successful and the APEX often had turn-away crowds during the 60’s and 70’s. This era saw steep price increases from $1.00 to $1.50 to $2.00 to $3.00. There were also a few reserved seat first runs such as the Academy Award Best Picture “PATTON.” The APEX never “declined.” It was the value of the real estate that killed it.
The CIRCLE theatre, in DC about 6 miles from the SILVER, used to offer a diversity of American classics as well as outstanding foreign films. They knew how to run this kind of theater; and the CIRCLE was 80%+ full every single night for over 20 years; until its prime real estate value pushed it into demolition. The AFI SILVER (1) has an agenda, and (2) that agenda is focused on things other than selecting a diverse program of good movies. The AFI ought SERVE the public, rather than use this fine facility to IMPOSE their narrow viewpoint. With that would come better box office in contrast to requests for donations. Free-flow of ideas beats all.
The stage shows in 1960 was BETTY HUTTON and in 1962 MARTHA RAYE with Dick Shawn. A year or so later it was JUDY GARLAND. Just one or two other stage shows appeared in the final years. Many “World Premiere” events were staged here in that era. GLENN FORD, KIRK DOUGLAS, others. JOHN WAYNE came with a small troup for HATARI, called the Hatari Safari. I fondly remember taking Diane here to see GONE WITH THE WIND on their giant screen during the 1954 reissue. I often revisit the CAPITOL today in my dreams. They amputated the CAPITOL out of the National Press Building in 1964 and just 4 years later the Washington, DC 1968 King Riots destroyed downtown’s theatre district for 20-odd years. NO, I haven’t forgiven the vandals. The CAPITOL was so richly endowed that paintings and brass art, light fixtures, et cetera are still in use at BLACKIE’s House of Beef (primarily) and elsewhere as well.
Fondly remembering taking Diane to see Marlon Brando in “The Wild One” at this run-down double feature house in 1954. This theatre has a distinction today it didn’t enjoy back then: It might be the only theatre in America you’re not allowed to blow-up with a nuclear bomb. That’s right! Takoma Park has outlawed the dropping of nuclear bombs. You can’t smoke tobacco there either.
The SILVER has undergone a stunning resurection from being boarded up many years. I saw over 2000 movies at the SILVER. Mr. Land, the long term manager, told me years later the house record was set by the 1st reissue of Walt Disney’s PINNOCCHIO. Not talking dollars he said 5900 people saw the film that day, every seat, every show. My Mom and I failed to endure the long lines. The AFI, unfortunately, are poor custodians. A strange group, they’ve forgotten that the A in AFI is for “American” and they specialize in not-very-good foreign product. The lefty tilt is painfully obvious; no diversity of viewpoint can be seen here.
The SAVOY was a startling success as a third-run double feature house during the bleak box office era of the 1950’s and 1960’s —– full almost every night of the week. They played films exactly one week after they played the nearby super-deluxe TIVOLI. The Tivoli charged 55c vs. the Savoy’s 40c circa 1950. The neighborhood was torched during the King Riots in 1968, and NO, I haven’t forgiven those who burned down the SAVOY —– or the neighborhood.
When the AVALON and the UPTOWN were neighbors under Warner ownership and functioning as neighborhood theaters, the AVALON got pictures about one week later and charged about 10% less. This was in the 1950’s. Both would become first run theatres and I saw many pictures here. The AVALON I and AVALON II are not similar. The AVALON I is a superior one-screen theatre with about 600 seats. The AVALON II was created decades later utilizing unused office space (not the balcony as there never was a balcony). With 200 seats, a flat floor, and small screen, it’s a broom closet; not a great place like the full auditorium downstairs.
LOEW’S had three beautiful theatres on F Street: The CAPITOL, PALACE and COLUMBIA. The COLUMBIA was smaller but still had about 1000 seats and had both a balcony and mezzenine. A nifty place and usually full of happy filmgoers. BEN HUR played reserved seats at the WARNER 13th & F. There never was a new COLUMBIA. Shortly before the COLUMBIA was closed, LOEW’S built a crub-bum new theatre, LOEW’S EMBASSY, about 600 seats, strictly modern, no distinction at all. LOEW’S COLUMBIA had a cat, and the cat would occasionally “perform” on stage, if anybody noticed.
The HOWARD truly looks beyond repair. The roof is caving in and the theatre is surrounded by a wire fence. If you go there, go down the alley right next to the theater and ask the old Black guys living there to tell you about the HOWARD. Forget Duke Ellington and Pearl Bailey, in the height of ROCK n ROLL the HOWARD had stage shows with several name acts, the CADILLACS, the COASTERS, etc. plus a movie. The place always rocked, but never like the MIDNIGHT SHOW Saturdays.I never ever saw another white person in the audience except those with me, although many whites lied and said they’d been there. The price was always cheap. After segregation ended, Black entertainers started playing the same places as Whites, so there was no longer a reason for the HOWARD (or the APOLLO in NYC) to exist. With any gain, you also lose something of value. But memory lives…
In 1956 the LUCAS revived its film and vaudeville program for just 3 days when Col. Tom Parker was touring his new star-to-be on 3-day gigs in the great movie-vaudeville palaces of the South. The movie alternated with 4-per-day Elvis Presley stage shows and the admission price was $1.25 (vs. the regular 80c price). Elvis was well known throughout the South at that point, and a few weeks later he was on the Dorsey Bros TV show on CBS and became a world famous star very quickly.
We saw Arnold Schwartznegger’s PREDITOR here on their big screen. About 30 minutes into the show, about 4 or 5 jive-turkeys came in and began making noise as if nobody else was there. Several shush! shush! sounds from the audience yielded the agonizingly familiar “We paid our money and we won’t shut up.. blah, blah, blah!” Then I heard one Negro voice say out loud, “You’re the reason us N…… don’t never have nuthin' cuz people like you ruin it for ev'body!” I’ll never forget that, never forget the guy who said it. AMEN.
We saw Arnold Schwartznegger’s PREDITOR here on their big screen. About 30 minutes into the show, about 4 or 5 jive-turkeys came in and began making noise as if nobody else was there. Several shush! shush! sounds from the audience yielded the agonizingly familiar “We paid our money and we won’t shut up.. blah, blah, blah!” Then I heard one Negro voice say out loud, “You’re the reason us N…… don’t never have nuthin' cuz people like you ruin it for ev'body!” I’ll never forget that, never forget the guy who said it. AMEN.
The SENATOR looked like a burnt-out hulk last time I drove by. This was the final operation of a movie theatre on any “urban black” neighborhood in Washington, DC. They tried hard to make this place work again, but if people can’t be safe using the rest room or even just sitting and watching, all is lost to the urban loser mentality.
THE PARAMOUNT called itself THE HOUSE OF BLOCKBUSTERS during its final few years of regular operation. Having exclusive first run blockbusters at top prices was what kept the big downtown theaters in business. It wasn’t New York’s notorious pre-Rudy high crime —– immortalized in Charles Bronson’s DEATH WISH film in which New York was accurately described as “a toilet” —– no, it was the producer/ director of THE FRENCH CONNECTION. Mr Dantonio insisted 20th Century Fox book this movie “wide” immediately placing it in dozens of neighborhood theaters and bypassing downtown. The financial payoff was fantastic and forever doomed the downtown first runs. Soon after, not even RADIO CITY could grab off first runs of QUALITY films with mass appeal; booking second rate things like ROBIN & MARION et cetera along with their 4-a-day stage show. Of course the horrible crime problem —– unknown to young New Yorkers —– helped nail the coffin. When I see literally thousands of persons, even in freezing temperatures in January, cramming Times Square at 11 PM, why couldn’t New York cure their crime nightmare a few decades earlier?
The APEX spent most of its life as a northwest Washington neighborhood theater. Then in the early 1960’s the KB chain made it a first run house that showed many fine Hollywood films as well as foreign pictures. Ingmar Bergman’s “THE SEVENTH SEAL” was one of the early first runs. Such “art” first runs were extremely successful and the APEX often had turn-away crowds during the 60’s and 70’s. This era saw steep price increases from $1.00 to $1.50 to $2.00 to $3.00. There were also a few reserved seat first runs such as the Academy Award Best Picture “PATTON.” The APEX never “declined.” It was the value of the real estate that killed it.
The CIRCLE theatre, in DC about 6 miles from the SILVER, used to offer a diversity of American classics as well as outstanding foreign films. They knew how to run this kind of theater; and the CIRCLE was 80%+ full every single night for over 20 years; until its prime real estate value pushed it into demolition. The AFI SILVER (1) has an agenda, and (2) that agenda is focused on things other than selecting a diverse program of good movies. The AFI ought SERVE the public, rather than use this fine facility to IMPOSE their narrow viewpoint. With that would come better box office in contrast to requests for donations. Free-flow of ideas beats all.
The stage shows in 1960 was BETTY HUTTON and in 1962 MARTHA RAYE with Dick Shawn. A year or so later it was JUDY GARLAND. Just one or two other stage shows appeared in the final years. Many “World Premiere” events were staged here in that era. GLENN FORD, KIRK DOUGLAS, others. JOHN WAYNE came with a small troup for HATARI, called the Hatari Safari. I fondly remember taking Diane here to see GONE WITH THE WIND on their giant screen during the 1954 reissue. I often revisit the CAPITOL today in my dreams. They amputated the CAPITOL out of the National Press Building in 1964 and just 4 years later the Washington, DC 1968 King Riots destroyed downtown’s theatre district for 20-odd years. NO, I haven’t forgiven the vandals. The CAPITOL was so richly endowed that paintings and brass art, light fixtures, et cetera are still in use at BLACKIE’s House of Beef (primarily) and elsewhere as well.
Fondly remembering taking Diane to see Marlon Brando in “The Wild One” at this run-down double feature house in 1954. This theatre has a distinction today it didn’t enjoy back then: It might be the only theatre in America you’re not allowed to blow-up with a nuclear bomb. That’s right! Takoma Park has outlawed the dropping of nuclear bombs. You can’t smoke tobacco there either.
The SILVER has undergone a stunning resurection from being boarded up many years. I saw over 2000 movies at the SILVER. Mr. Land, the long term manager, told me years later the house record was set by the 1st reissue of Walt Disney’s PINNOCCHIO. Not talking dollars he said 5900 people saw the film that day, every seat, every show. My Mom and I failed to endure the long lines. The AFI, unfortunately, are poor custodians. A strange group, they’ve forgotten that the A in AFI is for “American” and they specialize in not-very-good foreign product. The lefty tilt is painfully obvious; no diversity of viewpoint can be seen here.
The SAVOY was a startling success as a third-run double feature house during the bleak box office era of the 1950’s and 1960’s —– full almost every night of the week. They played films exactly one week after they played the nearby super-deluxe TIVOLI. The Tivoli charged 55c vs. the Savoy’s 40c circa 1950. The neighborhood was torched during the King Riots in 1968, and NO, I haven’t forgiven those who burned down the SAVOY —– or the neighborhood.
When the AVALON and the UPTOWN were neighbors under Warner ownership and functioning as neighborhood theaters, the AVALON got pictures about one week later and charged about 10% less. This was in the 1950’s. Both would become first run theatres and I saw many pictures here. The AVALON I and AVALON II are not similar. The AVALON I is a superior one-screen theatre with about 600 seats. The AVALON II was created decades later utilizing unused office space (not the balcony as there never was a balcony). With 200 seats, a flat floor, and small screen, it’s a broom closet; not a great place like the full auditorium downstairs.