Regal sold the Kent 6 to the Kent School District about five years ago. I presume it has been torn down. Regal then abandoned the Kent market, even though the area was/is growing rapidly. AMC came in and built a 14plex in the heart of a revitalized core business area. Real is really hard to figure out…
The left auditorium has always seemed wider to me. Optical illusion, I guess. And thanks for the info re the sound in both houses. I believe at first there was stereo (DTS) in just the left house.
Luxury Theaters (if there was ever a misnomer…) was the last operator of the Orpheum, which, like all the other wonderful Portland theaters it acquired, let it fall apart.
Ancient history: In the summer of 1957, when the Orpheum was still a Fox Evergreen theater, an electrical short set fire to the screen, elaborate drapings (a massive waterfall curtain covering a beautiful cherry-red crushed-velvet traverse curtain) and adjacent curtains that had covered original ornamentation.
There were only a couple of people in the theater (a matinee) so nobody was hurt. The feature that day was the critically maligned “The Story of Mankind.” The Oregonian newspaper’s film critic commented that, yes, the movie was awful, but it wasn’t worth trying to burn down the theater.
The Columbia Theater, now dubbed the Columbia City Theater (which causes confusion with the Columbia City Cinema down the street), is a restaurant in the front and a cabaret in the old auditorium. In its final days it was a porn house. The name changed to Rainier Cinema toward the end. The 1930 photo on the website mentioned above was actually taken about 1949; the movies on the marquee came out that year.
The cinema was demolished in 2006 and is the site of a big condo project. It was a pretty dreadful theater even when it was new. No masking, so flat films showed centered on a wide, white screen. (Masking was added in its final years). The design was so poor that when GCC was forced to add stereo to its one remaining large house in order to play “Return of the Jedi” it had to position the left and right speakers outside the perimeter of the screen (as it also did at Everett Mall).
The Atlas degenerated into an all-night grind house inhabited mostly by sleeping drunks. In the late 60s or early 70s it was remodeled and opened as the Kokusai Theater, showing first-run Asian films for many years. I don’t think it’s operating now, but in its time it was a nice venue.
George Purvis also designed the 1925 Columbia Theater in Longview, which has an Italian Renaissance design, and the old Arabian in Seattle (now a church).
For many years the auditorium space was occupied by a dentist’s office. The Grand Illusion was originally The Movie House, the first cinema in what became Randy Finley’s Seven Gables circuit, now part of Landmark Theaters. The current name came from Paul Doyle, who ran the cinema for 20 years before selling to a non-profit. He now owns the Columbia City Cinema in Seattle’s Rainier Valley.
The Bel-Vue originally had a readerboard out on Northeast 8th, although the theater sat farther back on the property. The letters were stored under the sign. When the theater was playing the 1955 Jennifer Jones weepy “Good Morning Miss Dove” someone broke into the letter storage and put the f-word between “Morning” and “Miss.” Shortly afterward the sign was moved to the theater building!
The Aberdeen Theater had a wonderful, wall-to-wall, curved screen that made for a great CinemaScope presentation during that era. In contrast, the D&R screen was much more cramped, although also curved.
Bruen, the name on the 1930 photo, also ran the 45th Street in Wallingford.
The Ridgemont property is now an apartment/retail complex, but it retains the theater name. I saw my first subtitled movie at the Ridgemont in 1957 (and also my first nude female — Brigitte Bardot!)
It kicked off the era of arthouses in Seattle, although the Varsity and the Uptown showed occasional imports but mostly from Britain. It had a stepped floor with narrow rows so leg room was terrible and there was no way to improve it without redoing the whole floor. It had a small screen that did not handle scope movies very well.
The Northgate Shopping Center originally had an Indian theme (the carved totem survives at the north entrance) and so did the Northgate Theater when it was new. The restrooms were labeled “Braves” and “Squaws.” Yes, definitely the 50s. The names were changed to “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” in more enlightened times.
The Roosevelt had large black-and-white portraits of Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt flanking the stage. They were spotlighted between shows. There even were black curtains that origiinally were pulled over the photos while the movie was playing. That practice eventually ceased, so FDR and TR stared across at each other while the audience stared at the screen.
The main highway through town intersects (or did 40 years ago) with a local street smack in front of the theater. I used to wonder if an errant driver had ever crashed into the place!
The Guild was originally called the Taylor (it’s near the corner of SW 9th and Taylor). It ran older pictures until the J.J. Parker circuit took it over in about 1948 and renamed it the Guild, showing what constituted “art house” fare back then, plus an occasional move-over from other Parker theaters. The Guild is an oddity in that patrons enter the auditorium next to the screen and walk up the sloped floor to the seats.
The Kelso Theater was built in 1937, replacing a frame theater that had burned. It was locally owned until the mid-40s, when it was sold to Sterling Theaters, which in turn sold to Cineplex Odeon, then Act III and finally Regal. When Act III took over Cineplex they closed the Kelso, which was having trouble competing with a new fourplex in Longview as well as the art-deco Longview Theater (one screen) which got all the blockbusters because it had more seats than the largest room at the fourplex. A couple of discount chains operated the Kelso for a few years but eventually failed. Local investors took over in 1997 and converted it to the Kelso Theater Pub, which offers first-run movies (Regal doesn’t book anything but strictly mainstream fare). The theater is a bit run down but has a loyal following. The owners are trying to raise money to spiff up the front, including a new marquee to replace a damaged one that has been up since the early 1950s.
The larger auditorium has been equipped with DTS sound, but, at least initially, the smaller house remained mono, and may still be. The Admiral has raised ticket prices a couple of times over the past two years, $4.50 at present, charging quite a bit more than Seattle’s only other discount theater, the Crest, which has stayed at $3. The Crest is a more comfortable theater, with two of its four houses stadiumized.
The larger auditorium has been equipped with DTS sound, but, at least initially, the smaller house remained mono, and may still be. The Admiral has raised ticket prices a couple of times over the past two years, $4.50 at present, charging quite a bit more than Seattle’s only other discount theater, the Crest, which has stayed at $3. The Crest is a more comfortable theater, with two of its four houses stadiumized.
The Admiral was a first-run theater for a brief time after it was twinned. Then Sterling Theaters sold it with the stipulation that subsequent owners could never show first-run movies (and compete with SRO’s South Seattle theaters). So it’s been second-run ever since. It’s strange that a neighborhood as big as West Seattle has no first-run theater. Regal Cinemas had plans at one time to build a multiplex at Westwood Village, but that never happened. An independent exhibitor attempted to lease an empty store there for conversion to a cinema, but the mall management didn’t want a theater there.
Northgate occupied an area on the north edge of the shopping center property. It was not attached to stores.
Northgate occupied an area on the north edge of the shopping center property. It was not attached to stores.
Regal sold the Kent 6 to the Kent School District about five years ago. I presume it has been torn down. Regal then abandoned the Kent market, even though the area was/is growing rapidly. AMC came in and built a 14plex in the heart of a revitalized core business area. Real is really hard to figure out…
The left auditorium has always seemed wider to me. Optical illusion, I guess. And thanks for the info re the sound in both houses. I believe at first there was stereo (DTS) in just the left house.
Luxury Theaters (if there was ever a misnomer…) was the last operator of the Orpheum, which, like all the other wonderful Portland theaters it acquired, let it fall apart.
Ancient history: In the summer of 1957, when the Orpheum was still a Fox Evergreen theater, an electrical short set fire to the screen, elaborate drapings (a massive waterfall curtain covering a beautiful cherry-red crushed-velvet traverse curtain) and adjacent curtains that had covered original ornamentation.
There were only a couple of people in the theater (a matinee) so nobody was hurt. The feature that day was the critically maligned “The Story of Mankind.” The Oregonian newspaper’s film critic commented that, yes, the movie was awful, but it wasn’t worth trying to burn down the theater.
The Columbia Theater, now dubbed the Columbia City Theater (which causes confusion with the Columbia City Cinema down the street), is a restaurant in the front and a cabaret in the old auditorium. In its final days it was a porn house. The name changed to Rainier Cinema toward the end. The 1930 photo on the website mentioned above was actually taken about 1949; the movies on the marquee came out that year.
The cinema was demolished in 2006 and is the site of a big condo project. It was a pretty dreadful theater even when it was new. No masking, so flat films showed centered on a wide, white screen. (Masking was added in its final years). The design was so poor that when GCC was forced to add stereo to its one remaining large house in order to play “Return of the Jedi” it had to position the left and right speakers outside the perimeter of the screen (as it also did at Everett Mall).
The Atlas degenerated into an all-night grind house inhabited mostly by sleeping drunks. In the late 60s or early 70s it was remodeled and opened as the Kokusai Theater, showing first-run Asian films for many years. I don’t think it’s operating now, but in its time it was a nice venue.
George Purvis also designed the 1925 Columbia Theater in Longview, which has an Italian Renaissance design, and the old Arabian in Seattle (now a church).
The Newmark was never successful. At the time it was in a high-crime area that no doubt kept people away. That and high downtown parking prices.
The Meridian 16 opened in November 1996. Regal’s purchase was no doubt aimed at keeping another vendor out of the market.
For many years the auditorium space was occupied by a dentist’s office. The Grand Illusion was originally The Movie House, the first cinema in what became Randy Finley’s Seven Gables circuit, now part of Landmark Theaters. The current name came from Paul Doyle, who ran the cinema for 20 years before selling to a non-profit. He now owns the Columbia City Cinema in Seattle’s Rainier Valley.
The Bel-Vue originally had a readerboard out on Northeast 8th, although the theater sat farther back on the property. The letters were stored under the sign. When the theater was playing the 1955 Jennifer Jones weepy “Good Morning Miss Dove” someone broke into the letter storage and put the f-word between “Morning” and “Miss.” Shortly afterward the sign was moved to the theater building!
The Aberdeen Theater had a wonderful, wall-to-wall, curved screen that made for a great CinemaScope presentation during that era. In contrast, the D&R screen was much more cramped, although also curved.
Bruen, the name on the 1930 photo, also ran the 45th Street in Wallingford.
The Ridgemont property is now an apartment/retail complex, but it retains the theater name. I saw my first subtitled movie at the Ridgemont in 1957 (and also my first nude female — Brigitte Bardot!)
It kicked off the era of arthouses in Seattle, although the Varsity and the Uptown showed occasional imports but mostly from Britain. It had a stepped floor with narrow rows so leg room was terrible and there was no way to improve it without redoing the whole floor. It had a small screen that did not handle scope movies very well.
The Northgate Shopping Center originally had an Indian theme (the carved totem survives at the north entrance) and so did the Northgate Theater when it was new. The restrooms were labeled “Braves” and “Squaws.” Yes, definitely the 50s. The names were changed to “Ladies” and “Gentlemen” in more enlightened times.
The Roosevelt had large black-and-white portraits of Franklin and Teddy Roosevelt flanking the stage. They were spotlighted between shows. There even were black curtains that origiinally were pulled over the photos while the movie was playing. That practice eventually ceased, so FDR and TR stared across at each other while the audience stared at the screen.
The main highway through town intersects (or did 40 years ago) with a local street smack in front of the theater. I used to wonder if an errant driver had ever crashed into the place!
The Guild was originally called the Taylor (it’s near the corner of SW 9th and Taylor). It ran older pictures until the J.J. Parker circuit took it over in about 1948 and renamed it the Guild, showing what constituted “art house” fare back then, plus an occasional move-over from other Parker theaters. The Guild is an oddity in that patrons enter the auditorium next to the screen and walk up the sloped floor to the seats.
According to the Longview Daily News, the Cinedome has closed, once again.
The Kelso Theater was built in 1937, replacing a frame theater that had burned. It was locally owned until the mid-40s, when it was sold to Sterling Theaters, which in turn sold to Cineplex Odeon, then Act III and finally Regal. When Act III took over Cineplex they closed the Kelso, which was having trouble competing with a new fourplex in Longview as well as the art-deco Longview Theater (one screen) which got all the blockbusters because it had more seats than the largest room at the fourplex. A couple of discount chains operated the Kelso for a few years but eventually failed. Local investors took over in 1997 and converted it to the Kelso Theater Pub, which offers first-run movies (Regal doesn’t book anything but strictly mainstream fare). The theater is a bit run down but has a loyal following. The owners are trying to raise money to spiff up the front, including a new marquee to replace a damaged one that has been up since the early 1950s.
The larger auditorium has been equipped with DTS sound, but, at least initially, the smaller house remained mono, and may still be. The Admiral has raised ticket prices a couple of times over the past two years, $4.50 at present, charging quite a bit more than Seattle’s only other discount theater, the Crest, which has stayed at $3. The Crest is a more comfortable theater, with two of its four houses stadiumized.
The larger auditorium has been equipped with DTS sound, but, at least initially, the smaller house remained mono, and may still be. The Admiral has raised ticket prices a couple of times over the past two years, $4.50 at present, charging quite a bit more than Seattle’s only other discount theater, the Crest, which has stayed at $3. The Crest is a more comfortable theater, with two of its four houses stadiumized.
The former King/King Cat has been a church for a number of years. The building has been nicely maintained.
The Admiral was a first-run theater for a brief time after it was twinned. Then Sterling Theaters sold it with the stipulation that subsequent owners could never show first-run movies (and compete with SRO’s South Seattle theaters). So it’s been second-run ever since. It’s strange that a neighborhood as big as West Seattle has no first-run theater. Regal Cinemas had plans at one time to build a multiplex at Westwood Village, but that never happened. An independent exhibitor attempted to lease an empty store there for conversion to a cinema, but the mall management didn’t want a theater there.