The Rhodes Theater was neither a Landmark nor a Story theater when it closed. It was privately owned and operated by myself and my husband, John Halliday, during its last years of operation. It’s interesting to read these memories and see how they differ. My memories of the Rhodes include the Chaplin festival we held when the films were restored and re-released. We had an organist come in to play live music. We also had director John Waters visit the theater as part of a festival of his films. He said we were the only ones to ever pick him up at the airport with kids in tow.
I’ve been thinking about the Rhodes and found this site because of the recent release of “The Local Stigmatic” on DVD. Back in the mid-80s, Al Pacino (who financed and starred in this show) brought a crew down to Atlanta to film parts of this short movie. His location manager was looking for a theater that looked as if it might be found in a “seedy part of London.” In the movie, you see a bit of the interior of the theater as well as a shot of the marquee with “Coming The Elephant Man” on it in blocky red letters. You also see great shots of the Rhodes Hall across the street.
Speegee (Elva Spangenberg) was indeed selling tickets when we closed down the theater for good with “The Last Picture Show.” I believe she was 97 at the time, although that might have been her age when we took over the theater. Speegee never missed a day of work and she walked there and back from her home nearby. When the Rhodes closed, she wasn’t yet ready to retire. She took a job as a guide in the Rhodes Hall across the street.
The Rhodes Theater didn’t close because of lack of business. It closed because a developer bought the blocks that surrounded Rhodes Hall. All of the businesses were told to move out when their leases expired. Fortunately for Atlanta, a city ordinance prevented the developer from surrounding Rhodes Hall with skyscrapers. Nothing more than two stories tall can be built that close to an historic landmark.
The Rhodes Theater was neither a Landmark nor a Story theater when it closed. It was privately owned and operated by myself and my husband, John Halliday, during its last years of operation. It’s interesting to read these memories and see how they differ. My memories of the Rhodes include the Chaplin festival we held when the films were restored and re-released. We had an organist come in to play live music. We also had director John Waters visit the theater as part of a festival of his films. He said we were the only ones to ever pick him up at the airport with kids in tow.
I’ve been thinking about the Rhodes and found this site because of the recent release of “The Local Stigmatic” on DVD. Back in the mid-80s, Al Pacino (who financed and starred in this show) brought a crew down to Atlanta to film parts of this short movie. His location manager was looking for a theater that looked as if it might be found in a “seedy part of London.” In the movie, you see a bit of the interior of the theater as well as a shot of the marquee with “Coming The Elephant Man” on it in blocky red letters. You also see great shots of the Rhodes Hall across the street.
Speegee (Elva Spangenberg) was indeed selling tickets when we closed down the theater for good with “The Last Picture Show.” I believe she was 97 at the time, although that might have been her age when we took over the theater. Speegee never missed a day of work and she walked there and back from her home nearby. When the Rhodes closed, she wasn’t yet ready to retire. She took a job as a guide in the Rhodes Hall across the street.
The Rhodes Theater didn’t close because of lack of business. It closed because a developer bought the blocks that surrounded Rhodes Hall. All of the businesses were told to move out when their leases expired. Fortunately for Atlanta, a city ordinance prevented the developer from surrounding Rhodes Hall with skyscrapers. Nothing more than two stories tall can be built that close to an historic landmark.