Thanks for this, my parents owned the white house on the left across from Fairview Rd from the early 60’s to late ‘80s. I lived there from '63 to '82. The College Theater was my go to throughout my childhood.
I grew up in a house across the street from The College, from the 60’s to the 80’s. The first film I was ever taken to was there, Born Free. I remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey there multiple times. I saw Jaws there on it’s first run, and Raging Bull. The films that played there varied in type from kiddie features to the more mature films of the ‘70’s. They even occasionally showed foreign movies here (possibly to draw the university crowd from Swarthmore College). When Nagisa Oshima’s In The Realm of the Senses played there, it was picketed for its supposed erotic content (it’s a beautifully photographed but extremely tedious movie about a self destructive affair between a fallen samurai and a geisha, very unsexy arthouse pseudo porn).
I think it was an independent house originally, the Budco chain bought it in the late 70’s or early 80’s I think, but they didn’t know what to do with it and it became a cheaper second run house before it died. It was built in the middle of a row of shops on one level, so that the lobby had a fairly steep upward rake from street level, to accommodate the more gentle downward rake of the auditorium. Due to the floor structure, I believe it was partly demolished, the front facade and half courtyard were removed,
bringing the front of the row of shops into one continuous line. (You can see the former site on Google Street View View link)
Near the end I remember seeing a lot of bad low budget sci fi there, including Starcrash, and, as noted above Forbidden World (which was the second part of a double feature, during the opening credits I remember someone in the audience shouting “No wonder it’s Forbidden, it sucks!” which has become a running joke for my friends who were there ever since.
When my father was working his way through college he was Head Usher at the Earle. He also had some involvement with the backstage. Sadly the only talent I remember him mentioning was the young Sammy Davis, Jr. and oddly, Tallulah Bankhead (although who knows what she was doing on the bill). Allegedly he sat through Gone With The Wind for over a month, though the note suggesting that the pictures after the live acts were mostly B Movies may prove this to be an exaggeration. I will try to find out what my mother remembers about the Earle and report back.
Thanks for this, my parents owned the white house on the left across from Fairview Rd from the early 60’s to late ‘80s. I lived there from '63 to '82. The College Theater was my go to throughout my childhood.
I grew up in a house across the street from The College, from the 60’s to the 80’s. The first film I was ever taken to was there, Born Free. I remember seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey there multiple times. I saw Jaws there on it’s first run, and Raging Bull. The films that played there varied in type from kiddie features to the more mature films of the ‘70’s. They even occasionally showed foreign movies here (possibly to draw the university crowd from Swarthmore College). When Nagisa Oshima’s In The Realm of the Senses played there, it was picketed for its supposed erotic content (it’s a beautifully photographed but extremely tedious movie about a self destructive affair between a fallen samurai and a geisha, very unsexy arthouse pseudo porn).
I think it was an independent house originally, the Budco chain bought it in the late 70’s or early 80’s I think, but they didn’t know what to do with it and it became a cheaper second run house before it died. It was built in the middle of a row of shops on one level, so that the lobby had a fairly steep upward rake from street level, to accommodate the more gentle downward rake of the auditorium. Due to the floor structure, I believe it was partly demolished, the front facade and half courtyard were removed,
bringing the front of the row of shops into one continuous line. (You can see the former site on Google Street View View link)
Near the end I remember seeing a lot of bad low budget sci fi there, including Starcrash, and, as noted above Forbidden World (which was the second part of a double feature, during the opening credits I remember someone in the audience shouting “No wonder it’s Forbidden, it sucks!” which has become a running joke for my friends who were there ever since.
When my father was working his way through college he was Head Usher at the Earle. He also had some involvement with the backstage. Sadly the only talent I remember him mentioning was the young Sammy Davis, Jr. and oddly, Tallulah Bankhead (although who knows what she was doing on the bill). Allegedly he sat through Gone With The Wind for over a month, though the note suggesting that the pictures after the live acts were mostly B Movies may prove this to be an exaggeration. I will try to find out what my mother remembers about the Earle and report back.