The gentleman that is mentioned is Walter Morris. He built both the Pike and the Tower theatres. C.H. Simpson leased both theatres from Mr. Morris in 1963 and remodeled both theatres and changed their names. The Pike became the Capri Cinema and the Tower became the Lenox. In cir.1965 the state bought the Lenox for the I-640/ Broadway interchange and in 1967 Mr. Morris used the money from the sale of the Lenox to built the Capri-70 adjoining the west side of the Capri Cinema which Mr. Simpson operated. The Capri Cinema and the Capri-70 were two separate buildings that shared a common wall. They should not be considered similar to today’s multiplexes as they each had their own lobby, boxoffice, projection booth, and heat and air systems.
After Mr. Morris’s death, Simpson Operating Company bought both theatres from Mr. Morris’s estate. In the mid seventies Simpson twined the Capri Cinema and it became the Capri Cinema I & II. In the late eighties, they also twined the Capri-70 and that became the Capri III & IV.
Regal Cinemas leased the Capri theatres form Simpson Operating Company in the early nineties and ran them for three years. Regal was unable to re-negotiate a new lease and the Capri’s were closed. In the mid nineties the Capri theatres were sold to Bennett Art Gallery. They demolished three quarters of the old Capri Cinema and completely gutted the old Capri-70 which they turned into their art gallery.
The Ace Hardware store is actually in the old Shoney’s Restaurant which was on the east side of the Capri Cinema.
Will,
The lattice showed up in the second round of photos that Jim Thompson shot in 1929
Don Pedro and his band only lasted until spring of 1929. Paramount discovered that the public accepted the shorts with sound instead of live acts. So there was no need to pay for a live band. My guess is they put up the lattice fence to hide the empty orchestra pit.
bbrown, To add to the list of indoor theatres in 1972 is the Fox Theatre. Also instead of listing just the Capri, it should be the Capri Cinema, Capri-70, and the Capri Terrace. So there was a total of 10 indoor screens.
Mike, You are correct, it was one of the Ultra-Vision theatres that ABC was building in the 70’s. And it’s correct name was Westown Ultra-Vision. It was a single screen seating 800.
You are correct; the clouds were projections from a cloud machine known as a Brenograph Jr. Dry ice?? Just goes to show you that some reporters will write about something they know nothing about.
According to Boxoffice magazine, the Knoxville Drive-in opened April 2, 1949. It was designed by Park In Theatres Inc. in Camden, NJ and had a capacity of 512 cars.
The projectionist there had to be at his daytime job in the early morning, so my dad would finish at the Capri Cinema and then go to the Knoxville and cover the midnight show for him so he could go home and get some sleep.
I grew up only three blocks from the drive-in and vaguely remember them adding the “wings†to the screen tower for cinemascope. This would have been in the very early 60’s. I also remember when my dad would take me over there in the daytime to shoot off model rockets.
There was a shopping center on the other side of the RR tracks that had a bowling alley in it. When they put in the sodium vapor lights in the parking lot in the late 70’s, they would cast a shadow of a telephone pole on the screen. This was not a problem for the bright scenes, but on the dark scenes it was a big problem. I think light pollution was a big problem for the drive-ins that where built on the outskirts of town in the 50’s but found themselves in the middle of suburbia in the 70’s.
This theatre was originally the Tower Theatre /theaters/15656/ It was built ~ 1947 by Walter Morris who also owned the Pike Theatre and the Lee Theatre. In 1963 C.H. Simpson who operated the Riviera Theatre downtown, leased the Pike and Tower theatres and changed the name of the Pike to the Capri Cinema, and the Tower to the Lenox. The Tower/Lenox Theatre was torn down in the late 60’s to make way for the I-640/ Broadway interchange.
The Dixie Lee Drive-In was in Knox County, Lenoir City is in Loudon County. The 37934 zip code is considered Knoxville. If the site had been just a few yards to the west, it would have been in Loudon County and the zip would have been 37772 which is a Lenoir City zip code.
Photo of the Capri Cinema can be found here: View link The doors to the far right of the picture is the enterance to the Capri-70 which was the Cinerama house that was build in 1967. The window to the right of the photo was the boxoffice for both theatres.
The Regal Riviera had a great first year. It was the second highest grossing theatre in Knoxville. Here is the article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. View link
Actually I remember the old Horne Drive-In’s screen was the back of a retail building on Chapman Highway. The block rear wall extended well over the roof line of the building. I used to play golf in 1974-76 at an old par-3 course located across the street. This is when I noticed the strange looking building and realized that there was a drive in located there at one time. All of it was torn down in the early 80’s to build a K-Mart, which has since closed.
The gentleman that is mentioned is Walter Morris. He built both the Pike and the Tower theatres. C.H. Simpson leased both theatres from Mr. Morris in 1963 and remodeled both theatres and changed their names. The Pike became the Capri Cinema and the Tower became the Lenox. In cir.1965 the state bought the Lenox for the I-640/ Broadway interchange and in 1967 Mr. Morris used the money from the sale of the Lenox to built the Capri-70 adjoining the west side of the Capri Cinema which Mr. Simpson operated. The Capri Cinema and the Capri-70 were two separate buildings that shared a common wall. They should not be considered similar to today’s multiplexes as they each had their own lobby, boxoffice, projection booth, and heat and air systems.
After Mr. Morris’s death, Simpson Operating Company bought both theatres from Mr. Morris’s estate. In the mid seventies Simpson twined the Capri Cinema and it became the Capri Cinema I & II. In the late eighties, they also twined the Capri-70 and that became the Capri III & IV.
Regal Cinemas leased the Capri theatres form Simpson Operating Company in the early nineties and ran them for three years. Regal was unable to re-negotiate a new lease and the Capri’s were closed. In the mid nineties the Capri theatres were sold to Bennett Art Gallery. They demolished three quarters of the old Capri Cinema and completely gutted the old Capri-70 which they turned into their art gallery.
The Ace Hardware store is actually in the old Shoney’s Restaurant which was on the east side of the Capri Cinema.
Here it is from the front.
View link
Will,
The lattice showed up in the second round of photos that Jim Thompson shot in 1929
Don Pedro and his band only lasted until spring of 1929. Paramount discovered that the public accepted the shorts with sound instead of live acts. So there was no need to pay for a live band. My guess is they put up the lattice fence to hide the empty orchestra pit.
I am not sure, but was the name of the indoor theatres the Clinton Twin or Clinton Cinemas?
bbrown, To add to the list of indoor theatres in 1972 is the Fox Theatre. Also instead of listing just the Capri, it should be the Capri Cinema, Capri-70, and the Capri Terrace. So there was a total of 10 indoor screens.
Mike, You are correct, it was one of the Ultra-Vision theatres that ABC was building in the 70’s. And it’s correct name was Westown Ultra-Vision. It was a single screen seating 800.
Don’t look for the footprint now. A large “Rooms to Go” store now sits on this location.
You are correct; the clouds were projections from a cloud machine known as a Brenograph Jr. Dry ice?? Just goes to show you that some reporters will write about something they know nothing about.
According to Boxoffice magazine, the Knoxville Drive-in opened April 2, 1949. It was designed by Park In Theatres Inc. in Camden, NJ and had a capacity of 512 cars.
The projectionist there had to be at his daytime job in the early morning, so my dad would finish at the Capri Cinema and then go to the Knoxville and cover the midnight show for him so he could go home and get some sleep.
I grew up only three blocks from the drive-in and vaguely remember them adding the “wings†to the screen tower for cinemascope. This would have been in the very early 60’s. I also remember when my dad would take me over there in the daytime to shoot off model rockets.
There was a shopping center on the other side of the RR tracks that had a bowling alley in it. When they put in the sodium vapor lights in the parking lot in the late 70’s, they would cast a shadow of a telephone pole on the screen. This was not a problem for the bright scenes, but on the dark scenes it was a big problem. I think light pollution was a big problem for the drive-ins that where built on the outskirts of town in the 50’s but found themselves in the middle of suburbia in the 70’s.
It may be a typo (maybe on my part) because everything that I have found has the spelling Lenox.
Here are some vintage pictures of the Tennessee.
Exterior Feb.1929:
View link
Lobby Aug. 1929:
View link
Auditorium 1929:
View link
Mike,the Lenox is at: /theaters/15656/
Here is a 1923 picture of the Strand:
View link
Distance shot of the front can be found here:
View link
Zoom the picture out and you can see the Riviera across the street.
A picture of the exterior taken in July 1921 can be found here:
View link
Exterior picture taken in October of 1928:
View link
A picture of the Lyric with audience can be found here:
View link
Lobby:
View link
Exterior:
View link
This theatre was originally the Tower Theatre /theaters/15656/ It was built ~ 1947 by Walter Morris who also owned the Pike Theatre and the Lee Theatre. In 1963 C.H. Simpson who operated the Riviera Theatre downtown, leased the Pike and Tower theatres and changed the name of the Pike to the Capri Cinema, and the Tower to the Lenox. The Tower/Lenox Theatre was torn down in the late 60’s to make way for the I-640/ Broadway interchange.
The Twin-Aire is here: /theaters/20397/
The Booth opened in September 1928, just two weeks before the opening of the Tennessee Theatre.
The Dixie Lee Drive-In was in Knox County, Lenoir City is in Loudon County. The 37934 zip code is considered Knoxville. If the site had been just a few yards to the west, it would have been in Loudon County and the zip would have been 37772 which is a Lenoir City zip code.
this theatre has been reopened for some time. the website is:
http://hallscinema7.net/
Photo of the Capri Cinema can be found here: View link The doors to the far right of the picture is the enterance to the Capri-70 which was the Cinerama house that was build in 1967. The window to the right of the photo was the boxoffice for both theatres.
The Regal Riviera had a great first year. It was the second highest grossing theatre in Knoxville. Here is the article in the Knoxville News-Sentinel. View link
The vertical sign for the new Regal Riviera can also be seen on the right hand side of the above photo.
Actually I remember the old Horne Drive-In’s screen was the back of a retail building on Chapman Highway. The block rear wall extended well over the roof line of the building. I used to play golf in 1974-76 at an old par-3 course located across the street. This is when I noticed the strange looking building and realized that there was a drive in located there at one time. All of it was torn down in the early 80’s to build a K-Mart, which has since closed.