Funny, the only memory I have of seeing this theater in person (we lived 70 miles away from Janesville) was during a visit we made the weekend my aunt moved into an apartment just down the block from the theater…and, yes, Moonraker was on the marquee that weekend, so it was cool to see that show up in a photo here.
I was stationed at Fort Hood from November 1991 to November 1992. Nearly half the movies I watched at theaters during that time were seen at this one, which I have fond memories of. One of the last theaters I went to which had screens of considerable size. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the last movie I watched here before the end of my tour and I remember the theater being packed.
Very sorry to hear of this theater being shut down, especially when considering its eventual fate.
“STERLING – It’s official: The Sterling Theater will open July 3, its new operator said.
Skip Huston, who owns The Theater Management Group, said Thursday that he plans to open the brew and view – which means wine and beer with your movie, if you like – with “a brand new, exclusive film. A big, big movie for the summer.”
Huston had hoped to open in May, as it says on the theater marquee, but much work has yet to be done."
In the Summer of ‘77, I went to see “Smokey And The Bandit” at this theater with my stepmother and stepbrother (while Dad saw “Jabberwocky” next door); I remember being intrigued by this theater’s screen, which was oval-shaped instead of rectangular. I’d never seen a theater screen shaped like that and I haven’t seen one like it since.
The theater was renovated from a single-screen to a twin in 1979. The theater shut down in either January or February of ‘79 and reopened as a twin theater around June or July of that same year. One of the first features to play in the twin theater that summer was “The Muppet Movie”, followed a week or two later by “Apocalypse Now”, both of which my dad took me to see… since I hadn’t quite turned ten yet. Eastwood’s “Every Which Way But Loose” was one of the last movies to play on the theater’s single screen before it was shut down for the remodeling.
I recall this theater closing sometime in the Spring of 1986, with “To Live And Die In L.A.” being the last feature shown there. I’d seen “Jagged Edge” at this theater just a couple of months before that, for an admission price of $1.50. There may have been a half dozen other patrons in the theater for this showing, which made the interior of the theater appear positively cavernous. I’d seen “Day Of The Dead” at this theater in the late Summer of ‘85 and that feature played to a nearly empty house, as well, so it didn’t surprise me much when I found out the theater had shut down less than a year later.
The fire that led to the theater being shut down occurred in the Summer of 1980; the last film shown here was “Caddyshack”. The posters for the movie remained on display outside the theater’s entrance for what seemed like a couple years. I remember driving past this theater with my family on weekend trips to Rockford during this time period and I would always strain to see if the posters had come down yet.
The final season was, I believe, in 1987, which is the year my family attended a double feature of “Beverly Hills Cop II” and “Top Gun” there. I’m pretty sure it remained closed when the next year’s drive-in season came along; I’m not sure when the screen came down.
Andy69
commented about
Cinema Ion
Sep 30, 2006 at 8:39 pm
The Cinema One was still open for business as late as 1999, which is when I saw “Deep Blue Sea” there. At this time, there had been a hole knocked in the wall separating the lobbies of the Capri and Cinema One theaters; it appeared the area was under construction, but I never attended another movie at either theater before they were shut down.
This theater was still showing movies in early 1980 (I remember seeing a line outside the theater for a 9 p.m. showing of The Fog).
Funny, the only memory I have of seeing this theater in person (we lived 70 miles away from Janesville) was during a visit we made the weekend my aunt moved into an apartment just down the block from the theater…and, yes, Moonraker was on the marquee that weekend, so it was cool to see that show up in a photo here.
I was stationed at Fort Hood from November 1991 to November 1992. Nearly half the movies I watched at theaters during that time were seen at this one, which I have fond memories of. One of the last theaters I went to which had screens of considerable size. Bram Stoker’s Dracula was the last movie I watched here before the end of my tour and I remember the theater being packed.
Very sorry to hear of this theater being shut down, especially when considering its eventual fate.
From saukvalley.com, April 19th, 2013:
“STERLING – It’s official: The Sterling Theater will open July 3, its new operator said.
Skip Huston, who owns The Theater Management Group, said Thursday that he plans to open the brew and view – which means wine and beer with your movie, if you like – with “a brand new, exclusive film. A big, big movie for the summer.”
Huston had hoped to open in May, as it says on the theater marquee, but much work has yet to be done."
In the Summer of ‘77, I went to see “Smokey And The Bandit” at this theater with my stepmother and stepbrother (while Dad saw “Jabberwocky” next door); I remember being intrigued by this theater’s screen, which was oval-shaped instead of rectangular. I’d never seen a theater screen shaped like that and I haven’t seen one like it since.
The theater was renovated from a single-screen to a twin in 1979. The theater shut down in either January or February of ‘79 and reopened as a twin theater around June or July of that same year. One of the first features to play in the twin theater that summer was “The Muppet Movie”, followed a week or two later by “Apocalypse Now”, both of which my dad took me to see… since I hadn’t quite turned ten yet. Eastwood’s “Every Which Way But Loose” was one of the last movies to play on the theater’s single screen before it was shut down for the remodeling.
I recall this theater closing sometime in the Spring of 1986, with “To Live And Die In L.A.” being the last feature shown there. I’d seen “Jagged Edge” at this theater just a couple of months before that, for an admission price of $1.50. There may have been a half dozen other patrons in the theater for this showing, which made the interior of the theater appear positively cavernous. I’d seen “Day Of The Dead” at this theater in the late Summer of ‘85 and that feature played to a nearly empty house, as well, so it didn’t surprise me much when I found out the theater had shut down less than a year later.
The fire that led to the theater being shut down occurred in the Summer of 1980; the last film shown here was “Caddyshack”. The posters for the movie remained on display outside the theater’s entrance for what seemed like a couple years. I remember driving past this theater with my family on weekend trips to Rockford during this time period and I would always strain to see if the posters had come down yet.
The final season was, I believe, in 1987, which is the year my family attended a double feature of “Beverly Hills Cop II” and “Top Gun” there. I’m pretty sure it remained closed when the next year’s drive-in season came along; I’m not sure when the screen came down.
The Cinema One was still open for business as late as 1999, which is when I saw “Deep Blue Sea” there. At this time, there had been a hole knocked in the wall separating the lobbies of the Capri and Cinema One theaters; it appeared the area was under construction, but I never attended another movie at either theater before they were shut down.