The weekend that President Kennedy was assassinated, I went to the Ritz and saw “Lawrence of Arabia”. I was 12 years old. There were about 5 other people there that Sunday afternoon. I also saw the first run of the Beatles first movie “A Hard Day’s Night” there. I stayed all day in fact and still have my original ticket that I had to purchase ahead of time. The Ritz was the closest movie house to me as I lived on Juniata Street. I alternated between it, the Shenadoah, Columbia. Avalon and Granada theaters on Sundays.
I used to work at the concession stand at the Ambassador when I was in high school in the late 60’s and all I can say is the theater was gorgeous! The staff had to spend the night there one evening when we were all snowed in from a major snowstorm so we had the run of the place. I love old places and still do so I was quite excited to see the nooks and crannies. That large entrance hall always made my jaw drop along with the exquisite staircase. The auditorium was massive with a capital “M” – six stories high! The ornamental plaster work was a dream to behold as well. There’s just nothing like it today. The cineplexes in the malls just don’t have the class and never will. Young theatergoers need to experience a TRUE moviehouse just once in their lives. If they do, they’ll never go back to their very pale imitations.
The weekend that President Kennedy was assassinated, I went to the Ritz and saw “Lawrence of Arabia”. I was 12 years old. There were about 5 other people there that Sunday afternoon. I also saw the first run of the Beatles first movie “A Hard Day’s Night” there. I stayed all day in fact and still have my original ticket that I had to purchase ahead of time. The Ritz was the closest movie house to me as I lived on Juniata Street. I alternated between it, the Shenadoah, Columbia. Avalon and Granada theaters on Sundays.
I used to work at the concession stand at the Ambassador when I was in high school in the late 60’s and all I can say is the theater was gorgeous! The staff had to spend the night there one evening when we were all snowed in from a major snowstorm so we had the run of the place. I love old places and still do so I was quite excited to see the nooks and crannies. That large entrance hall always made my jaw drop along with the exquisite staircase. The auditorium was massive with a capital “M” – six stories high! The ornamental plaster work was a dream to behold as well. There’s just nothing like it today. The cineplexes in the malls just don’t have the class and never will. Young theatergoers need to experience a TRUE moviehouse just once in their lives. If they do, they’ll never go back to their very pale imitations.