My father owned the Jet, sort of as a hobby, for a year or two in the mid-1950s. We lived in Kansas City but would drive back and forth for weekend showings. Adult admission was 50 cents. Among the movies I saw there were “Elephant Walk,” “Conquest of Space,” “Magnificent Obsession,” “White Christmas,” “The Country Girl,” “This Island Earth,” “Sabrina,” “Lucy Gallant,” etc. Good memories.
Wasn’t this the original Cinerama theater in the Twin Cities prior to the opening of the Cooper Cinerama? And isn’t this where “Cleopatra” played back in 1963?
When it opened, the theater had no on-site restrooms. Patrons walked from the ground-floor lobby through an adjoining restaurant to the set of restrooms built to serve the entire building complex. (The city allowed this through some kind of code exemption.) Patrons complained, however, and small restrooms were then installed under the staircase leading from the ground floor lobby to the second floor lobby.
I moved to Minneapolis in 1966. The World began its showings at 10:00 am. I could squeeze in an early movie and still make my afternoon classes at the U. The concession lady who sold popcorn always flexed the box so I’d get an extra generous helping.
In the center of the tiled-floor lobby once stood a wishing-well which served as a drinking fountain. So many people bumped into it that it was eventually removed. Large numbers of people walking across those tiles created a sometimes noisy lobby. There was talk of carpeting it over but don’t know if this was ever done. I ushered at the Plaza from 1962-1966.
As I recall, when the Midland re-opened as the Saxon, its first booking was Glenn Ford’s “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.”
My father owned the Jet, sort of as a hobby, for a year or two in the mid-1950s. We lived in Kansas City but would drive back and forth for weekend showings. Adult admission was 50 cents. Among the movies I saw there were “Elephant Walk,” “Conquest of Space,” “Magnificent Obsession,” “White Christmas,” “The Country Girl,” “This Island Earth,” “Sabrina,” “Lucy Gallant,” etc. Good memories.
Wasn’t this the original Cinerama theater in the Twin Cities prior to the opening of the Cooper Cinerama? And isn’t this where “Cleopatra” played back in 1963?
The 1959 “Ben-Hur” ran a solid year at the Capri. Other runs: “Porgy and Bess” and the Glenn Ford “Cimarron.”
When it opened, the theater had no on-site restrooms. Patrons walked from the ground-floor lobby through an adjoining restaurant to the set of restrooms built to serve the entire building complex. (The city allowed this through some kind of code exemption.) Patrons complained, however, and small restrooms were then installed under the staircase leading from the ground floor lobby to the second floor lobby.
I moved to Minneapolis in 1966. The World began its showings at 10:00 am. I could squeeze in an early movie and still make my afternoon classes at the U. The concession lady who sold popcorn always flexed the box so I’d get an extra generous helping.
In the center of the tiled-floor lobby once stood a wishing-well which served as a drinking fountain. So many people bumped into it that it was eventually removed. Large numbers of people walking across those tiles created a sometimes noisy lobby. There was talk of carpeting it over but don’t know if this was ever done. I ushered at the Plaza from 1962-1966.
It was here I saw an incredible double-feature of “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers” and “Rear Window.” Cinematic heaven!
Bardot’s “And God Created Woman” played at the Kimo for a solid year back in the late 1950s.
I believe this theater’s opening attraction was “The Darwin Adventure.” I remember seeing a first-run of Sam Elliott’s “Lifeguard” there.