Thanks for the info. My memory’s a bit fuzzy after 30+ years, and it is possible that I didn’t get my license until late June or early July (now that I think about it some, I do recall having to bug my dad a lot to take me to go get my license…but almost a month? Jeez!)
I definitely know that seeing STAR WARS was the first drive I took after I got my license, and it had been playing in Atlanta for at least a couple of days already, because one of the friends I saw it with had already seen it. I saw it on a Saturday, so it must’ve been July 2. Wow, its nice to know the exact date…funny how details like that get smudged in your brain over time.
Interesting, thanks for the info on the AMC North DeKalb Mall 16. The first movie that I remember seeing there was Alien: Resurrection in late 1997 (it was the second date with a woman I dated for almost 11 years, who passed away last year). We saw a lot of films there over the years, and I have a lot of sentimental memories of the all the good times we had there. Its also the closest theater to where I now reside.
I was wondering about the Cineplex Odeon name that you mentioned in your earlier post, thanks for explaining that.
I can’t remember how long after my 16th birthday I got my license, but I doubt if I waited close to a month, although I suppose I may have. Where did you get your info, MichaelCoate?
There was a JERRY LEWIS THEATER where I grew up, in Mableton, Ga. It was the only theater in our town (an Atlanta suburb) so I saw many film there. To the best of my recollection it opened up in 1970, give or take a year. It had definitely been open for a while by 1972, because that’s when I saw the “Superstars of Shock” triple feature there (a re-release of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mark of the Vampire, & The Mask of Fu Manchu). Now I own the one sheet poster for it, so I know that was 1972.
Also, Lynyrd Skynryd played there in 1972, in a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition.
It was one of the first theaters in the metro Atlanta area to get Dolby sound in the mid-seventies, which was strange considering how off the beaten track it was for most Atlantans. By 1978, it was no longer part of the Jerry Lewis chain, as it began showing x-rated films.
Boy, those pictures of the Phipps lobby sure takes me back. I always really liked this theater. My favorite memory of the place is seeing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there for the first time, in 70mm in the late eighties. Even the concession stand’s products were of a higher quality than your average theater.
I’m just seconding Joshmassey’s post. I can’t find a listing here for the AMC North Dekalb Mall 16 theater. I’d love to know the history of the place, if anyone could put together a page about it.
A very cool theater. A friend of mine lived down the street from it for a few years (unfortunately he moved this year), and every year for his birthday he would rent the theater for the day and we would watch dvd projections of classic movies. I was amazed that he could do that on a Saturday for just a couple hundred bucks or so. We would take a break from about 5:30 to 11:30 or so, so that they could have regular evening showings of whatever new feature they were showing, and then we would watch another dvd-projected movie at midnight. The management there is super-cool, we sure had some great times watching movies in this wonderful old historic theater.
A friend of mine salvaged one side of the ‘North 85’ shield-shaped sign after it was torn down. It was shattered, but he took the pieces home, glued them back together, and now the sign is affixed to the back of his house. He’s a member of this site, I’m surprised he hasn’t added any comments to this thread about it (perhaps he is worried about any possible legal repercussions of his trespassing/salvaging, but I doubt that anyone would care…plus the statute of limitations is long over, I’m sure).
The longest I ever waited in line to see a movie was at this theater, over 6 hours for the first STAR TREK movie. My friends and I kept taking turns going back to the car and ‘partying’ while other friends held our place in line, so we could barely stay awake when we finally were watching the movie. I applied for a job at this theater in 1979 or ‘80, but didn’t get it. Oh well!
Easily the best theater experience in Atlanta, what a beautifully designed building. I saw a number of films there in the sixties and early seventies, and many concerts there later on.
The last movie I saw there was the Rolling Stones' Shine A Light, on my 47th birthday. The keyboard player for the Stones, Chuck Leavell, was there. Before the movie, he talked some and gave a slideshow, and then performed a couple of songs, playing piano and singing (he wrapped up with a Bo Diddle medley, who had just passed away). The Stones love playing the Fox, and Keith Richards kicked off his 1988 solo tour there. Great theater, I hope they continue showing films ther forever!
The first drive I ever took after I got my drivers license was to pick up a couple of buddies and go see STAR WARS at this theater, back in early June 1977. What a great day that was.
My dad took to me to this theater to see 2001 in 1968, when I was seven – a rare foray for us to see a movie downtown, rather than in the Cobb county ‘burbs where we lived (I guess he wanted to see it in 70mm, or perhaps it was the only Atlanta thater showing 2001?). I saw 2001 there again in the early-to-mid eighties on the curved screen, once again in 70mm. Great memories.
This is the first theater I can remember going to; I remember seeing Goldfinger there when I was 3 years old. I remember really wanting to see the Beatles' Let It Be when it was playing there in 1970, but my parents wouldn’t take me, darn it. I have lots of fond memories of this theater, so sorry to hear that its condemned now.
I live close to Suburban Plaza and shop there quite a bit. I had no idea there used to be a theater there (I grew up on the other side of town). That explains the HUGE parking lot, and the mostly-vacant extra buildings there.
I saw many films at the Miracle while growing up in the sixties and seventies. I’m not sure, but I think that the last film that I ever saw there was ‘Rumblefish’. Little did I realize that the theater would only last another few years afterward.
I now live close to the Toco Hills Theater, and I am glad that I got to see at least a handful of movies there before it closed. I had no idea that it was the twin of the Miracle, that’s very interesting. (At the time of the Toco Hills theater’s closing it was rumored that it was going to be torn down for a giant grocery store, but that never happened.)
The current ownership/management of the Plaza is doing a superb job. Love the Spook Show, the Bizarro Animation shows, and all the other independent features that they show. When Pere Ubu played there performing their musical accompaniment to Roger Corman’s “X – The Man With The X-Ray Eyes”, that was truly a surreal experience.
The theater was a porno house for a while in the seventies. Once I was looking through a book of photorealistic paintings, and I saw a painting of the Plaza’s marquee from when it was showing X rated films. (ironically I saw this in a bookstore in the same shopping center as the Plaza theater, back in the 1980s).
Wow, thanks so much for posting those pictures. I never saw any movies here, as by the time I was growing up this was in an area considered not all that safe. However I drove by this Drive-In hundreds, if not thousands of times, in my youth and I always loved the way the entrance to this Drive-In looked.
I grew up in Mableton and saw a lot of movies there as a kid and a teenager, such as the 1972 “Superstars of Shock” triple bill re-release of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mark of the Vampire, & The Mask of Fu Manchu (one of my favorite childhood cinematic memories).
In 1978 they started showing X rated movies in one of the theaters and even though I was still under age, I saw my first X-rated movie there, ‘Barbara Broadcast’.
It seems like the theater has been closed at least 10 years now.
I remember that a re-release of JAWS played there in the spring of 1979, I saw it at least twice during its run there. It seems that the theater remained open for a while after that, perhaps even for another year or so.
Thanks for the info. My memory’s a bit fuzzy after 30+ years, and it is possible that I didn’t get my license until late June or early July (now that I think about it some, I do recall having to bug my dad a lot to take me to go get my license…but almost a month? Jeez!)
I definitely know that seeing STAR WARS was the first drive I took after I got my license, and it had been playing in Atlanta for at least a couple of days already, because one of the friends I saw it with had already seen it. I saw it on a Saturday, so it must’ve been July 2. Wow, its nice to know the exact date…funny how details like that get smudged in your brain over time.
Interesting, thanks for the info on the AMC North DeKalb Mall 16. The first movie that I remember seeing there was Alien: Resurrection in late 1997 (it was the second date with a woman I dated for almost 11 years, who passed away last year). We saw a lot of films there over the years, and I have a lot of sentimental memories of the all the good times we had there. Its also the closest theater to where I now reside.
I was wondering about the Cineplex Odeon name that you mentioned in your earlier post, thanks for explaining that.
I can’t remember how long after my 16th birthday I got my license, but I doubt if I waited close to a month, although I suppose I may have. Where did you get your info, MichaelCoate?
There was a JERRY LEWIS THEATER where I grew up, in Mableton, Ga. It was the only theater in our town (an Atlanta suburb) so I saw many film there. To the best of my recollection it opened up in 1970, give or take a year. It had definitely been open for a while by 1972, because that’s when I saw the “Superstars of Shock” triple feature there (a re-release of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mark of the Vampire, & The Mask of Fu Manchu). Now I own the one sheet poster for it, so I know that was 1972.
Also, Lynyrd Skynryd played there in 1972, in a ‘Battle of the Bands’ competition.
It was one of the first theaters in the metro Atlanta area to get Dolby sound in the mid-seventies, which was strange considering how off the beaten track it was for most Atlantans. By 1978, it was no longer part of the Jerry Lewis chain, as it began showing x-rated films.
Boy, those pictures of the Phipps lobby sure takes me back. I always really liked this theater. My favorite memory of the place is seeing LAWRENCE OF ARABIA there for the first time, in 70mm in the late eighties. Even the concession stand’s products were of a higher quality than your average theater.
I’m just seconding Joshmassey’s post. I can’t find a listing here for the AMC North Dekalb Mall 16 theater. I’d love to know the history of the place, if anyone could put together a page about it.
A very cool theater. A friend of mine lived down the street from it for a few years (unfortunately he moved this year), and every year for his birthday he would rent the theater for the day and we would watch dvd projections of classic movies. I was amazed that he could do that on a Saturday for just a couple hundred bucks or so. We would take a break from about 5:30 to 11:30 or so, so that they could have regular evening showings of whatever new feature they were showing, and then we would watch another dvd-projected movie at midnight. The management there is super-cool, we sure had some great times watching movies in this wonderful old historic theater.
A friend of mine salvaged one side of the ‘North 85’ shield-shaped sign after it was torn down. It was shattered, but he took the pieces home, glued them back together, and now the sign is affixed to the back of his house. He’s a member of this site, I’m surprised he hasn’t added any comments to this thread about it (perhaps he is worried about any possible legal repercussions of his trespassing/salvaging, but I doubt that anyone would care…plus the statute of limitations is long over, I’m sure).
The longest I ever waited in line to see a movie was at this theater, over 6 hours for the first STAR TREK movie. My friends and I kept taking turns going back to the car and ‘partying’ while other friends held our place in line, so we could barely stay awake when we finally were watching the movie. I applied for a job at this theater in 1979 or ‘80, but didn’t get it. Oh well!
Easily the best theater experience in Atlanta, what a beautifully designed building. I saw a number of films there in the sixties and early seventies, and many concerts there later on.
The last movie I saw there was the Rolling Stones' Shine A Light, on my 47th birthday. The keyboard player for the Stones, Chuck Leavell, was there. Before the movie, he talked some and gave a slideshow, and then performed a couple of songs, playing piano and singing (he wrapped up with a Bo Diddle medley, who had just passed away). The Stones love playing the Fox, and Keith Richards kicked off his 1988 solo tour there. Great theater, I hope they continue showing films ther forever!
The first drive I ever took after I got my drivers license was to pick up a couple of buddies and go see STAR WARS at this theater, back in early June 1977. What a great day that was.
My dad took to me to this theater to see 2001 in 1968, when I was seven – a rare foray for us to see a movie downtown, rather than in the Cobb county ‘burbs where we lived (I guess he wanted to see it in 70mm, or perhaps it was the only Atlanta thater showing 2001?). I saw 2001 there again in the early-to-mid eighties on the curved screen, once again in 70mm. Great memories.
This is the first theater I can remember going to; I remember seeing Goldfinger there when I was 3 years old. I remember really wanting to see the Beatles' Let It Be when it was playing there in 1970, but my parents wouldn’t take me, darn it. I have lots of fond memories of this theater, so sorry to hear that its condemned now.
I live close to Suburban Plaza and shop there quite a bit. I had no idea there used to be a theater there (I grew up on the other side of town). That explains the HUGE parking lot, and the mostly-vacant extra buildings there.
I saw many films at the Miracle while growing up in the sixties and seventies. I’m not sure, but I think that the last film that I ever saw there was ‘Rumblefish’. Little did I realize that the theater would only last another few years afterward.
I now live close to the Toco Hills Theater, and I am glad that I got to see at least a handful of movies there before it closed. I had no idea that it was the twin of the Miracle, that’s very interesting. (At the time of the Toco Hills theater’s closing it was rumored that it was going to be torn down for a giant grocery store, but that never happened.)
The current ownership/management of the Plaza is doing a superb job. Love the Spook Show, the Bizarro Animation shows, and all the other independent features that they show. When Pere Ubu played there performing their musical accompaniment to Roger Corman’s “X – The Man With The X-Ray Eyes”, that was truly a surreal experience.
The theater was a porno house for a while in the seventies. Once I was looking through a book of photorealistic paintings, and I saw a painting of the Plaza’s marquee from when it was showing X rated films. (ironically I saw this in a bookstore in the same shopping center as the Plaza theater, back in the 1980s).
Wow, thanks so much for posting those pictures. I never saw any movies here, as by the time I was growing up this was in an area considered not all that safe. However I drove by this Drive-In hundreds, if not thousands of times, in my youth and I always loved the way the entrance to this Drive-In looked.
Sorry about all the space at the end of my post. I wish that my co-workers wouldn’t start a conversation with me while I’m typing!
I grew up in Mableton and saw a lot of movies there as a kid and a teenager, such as the 1972 “Superstars of Shock” triple bill re-release of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Mark of the Vampire, & The Mask of Fu Manchu (one of my favorite childhood cinematic memories).
In 1978 they started showing X rated movies in one of the theaters and even though I was still under age, I saw my first X-rated movie there, ‘Barbara Broadcast’.
It seems like the theater has been closed at least 10 years now.
i
I remember that a re-release of JAWS played there in the spring of 1979, I saw it at least twice during its run there. It seems that the theater remained open for a while after that, perhaps even for another year or so.