The Kimo South outlasted the Kimo by more than seven months. The curtain fell for the Kimo South Tues. 6/4/74, after the day’s sole 8pm run of “Cinderella Liberty”.
Tues. 6/4/74’s 8pm run of “Cinderella Liberty” was the swan song for the Kimo South. The stack ads the next day simply said “Closed” nest to the Kimo South logo. That left Dickinson with the Glenwood I & II, Festival, Prospect 4, Englewood, Dickinson, Shawnee Drive-In and Leawood Drive-In as its remaining screens in the metro.
The Kimo ceased operation following the 9pm show on Oct. 19, 1972. The Kansas City Star ad the following day simply said, “The Kimo is closed. Look for the Festival opening soon, Kansas City’s newest venue for the finest in art films.” The Kimo’s last booking was Pasolini’s, “The Decameron”, an X-rated Italian adaptation of Bocaccio’s work. The Kimo South was still in operation,
Normally, the same feature would play on both screens for the first month of the run, then a smaller picture would occupy the other screen. I think this theater was below a bowling alley, with only a small marquee and two door entrance at street level. I recall a fountain at the bottom of the staircase, and at least one of the theaters was about 16 seats wide and seemed to be 50 rows long.
The Embassy tended to play less-mainstream fare: “That Cold Day in the Park”, “Me Natalie”, “The Damned”, “The Devils”, “Popi”, “The Rain People”, etc. Sometime in the mid-70s, The Embassy started running bigger films, and did so until it closed.
During its last years, The Fairyland programmed pretty much the same thing each week—martial arts on one screen and soft-core adult on the other. Once past the box office and down the long driveway, the theater had two tiny marquees over the driveways as they split, one reading “Fu” and the other “X”. Well, I found that amusing anyway.
I heard a story about the preview night at The Old Chelsea (popcorn was always gratis—“Free corn with porn”), which included invitations to every television station’s anchors and reporters.
I was told, had the theater been raided that night, there would not have been a 10pm newscast on any station in the city.
The Antioch and Metcalf must have run every Disney film the studio churned out. The two theaters did have their share of semi-exclusives, mostly B-level stuff that wouldn’t pass muster at the drive-ins.
There was a bit of a shock when the Antioch marquee changed from, “The Love Bug” to Carroll Baker in “Paranoia” with a 4-foot tall “X” on that massive marquee. Apparently it wasn’t a big deal, because sometime later the theater ran a Swedish double bill: “Inga” and “Fanny Hill”. Other than those engagements, The Antioch played mostly G and M/GP/PG features until the late ‘70s. Of note, after “Star Wars” completed its first year at the Metcalf, it appeared on a second screen in Kansas City—The Antioch, with a semi-exclusive for six weeks or so, before going wider.
The Antioch may have been the last single-screen theater built in Kansas City.
If I recall correctly, Dickinson closed The Kimo around 1972 or ‘73. From 1967 through the end, the theater operated as a first-run house, however with a steady stream of Russ Meyer films, and Swedish/Danish adult product, with most features running for at least four weeks.
The notable exception to that rule was, “I am Curious(yellow)” which only ran for about ten days, before the theater was raided, despite a 21-and over age policy for that feature. With no print, The Kimo closed for two or three days. That “Curious” engagement may have outlasted the film’s run at The Kimo South, which also ran afoul of the law in showing the Swedish import (though with an 18 and over policy). BTW, the Kimo South alternated French and British M/GP films with European X-rated flicks.
After The Kimo closed, it reopened a short time later, however the name escapes me. The new theater ran hard-core films, though, as I recall, it tried to pass it off as higher-quality couples fare. I don’t remember if the old marquee survived that owner, but that incarnation didn’t last long.
By the time the name changed to The Dove, and catered to the trench coat crowd, the marquee was gone, as was the neon and any traces of its former grandeur—replaced with dark wood around a flush marquee and cheap stucco.
I wish someone had decent pics of The Kimo and The Kimo South. It seems nothing exists anymore, though since both theaters were raided, you would think there would be a newspaper photo somewhere.
The Kimo South outlasted the Kimo by more than seven months. The curtain fell for the Kimo South Tues. 6/4/74, after the day’s sole 8pm run of “Cinderella Liberty”.
Tues. 6/4/74’s 8pm run of “Cinderella Liberty” was the swan song for the Kimo South. The stack ads the next day simply said “Closed” nest to the Kimo South logo. That left Dickinson with the Glenwood I & II, Festival, Prospect 4, Englewood, Dickinson, Shawnee Drive-In and Leawood Drive-In as its remaining screens in the metro.
The Kimo ceased operation following the 9pm show on Oct. 19, 1972. The Kansas City Star ad the following day simply said, “The Kimo is closed. Look for the Festival opening soon, Kansas City’s newest venue for the finest in art films.” The Kimo’s last booking was Pasolini’s, “The Decameron”, an X-rated Italian adaptation of Bocaccio’s work. The Kimo South was still in operation,
Normally, the same feature would play on both screens for the first month of the run, then a smaller picture would occupy the other screen. I think this theater was below a bowling alley, with only a small marquee and two door entrance at street level. I recall a fountain at the bottom of the staircase, and at least one of the theaters was about 16 seats wide and seemed to be 50 rows long.
The Embassy tended to play less-mainstream fare: “That Cold Day in the Park”, “Me Natalie”, “The Damned”, “The Devils”, “Popi”, “The Rain People”, etc. Sometime in the mid-70s, The Embassy started running bigger films, and did so until it closed.
During its last years, The Fairyland programmed pretty much the same thing each week—martial arts on one screen and soft-core adult on the other. Once past the box office and down the long driveway, the theater had two tiny marquees over the driveways as they split, one reading “Fu” and the other “X”. Well, I found that amusing anyway.
I heard a story about the preview night at The Old Chelsea (popcorn was always gratis—“Free corn with porn”), which included invitations to every television station’s anchors and reporters.
I was told, had the theater been raided that night, there would not have been a 10pm newscast on any station in the city.
The Antioch and Metcalf must have run every Disney film the studio churned out. The two theaters did have their share of semi-exclusives, mostly B-level stuff that wouldn’t pass muster at the drive-ins.
There was a bit of a shock when the Antioch marquee changed from, “The Love Bug” to Carroll Baker in “Paranoia” with a 4-foot tall “X” on that massive marquee. Apparently it wasn’t a big deal, because sometime later the theater ran a Swedish double bill: “Inga” and “Fanny Hill”. Other than those engagements, The Antioch played mostly G and M/GP/PG features until the late ‘70s. Of note, after “Star Wars” completed its first year at the Metcalf, it appeared on a second screen in Kansas City—The Antioch, with a semi-exclusive for six weeks or so, before going wider.
The Antioch may have been the last single-screen theater built in Kansas City.
If I recall correctly, Dickinson closed The Kimo around 1972 or ‘73. From 1967 through the end, the theater operated as a first-run house, however with a steady stream of Russ Meyer films, and Swedish/Danish adult product, with most features running for at least four weeks.
The notable exception to that rule was, “I am Curious(yellow)” which only ran for about ten days, before the theater was raided, despite a 21-and over age policy for that feature. With no print, The Kimo closed for two or three days. That “Curious” engagement may have outlasted the film’s run at The Kimo South, which also ran afoul of the law in showing the Swedish import (though with an 18 and over policy). BTW, the Kimo South alternated French and British M/GP films with European X-rated flicks.
After The Kimo closed, it reopened a short time later, however the name escapes me. The new theater ran hard-core films, though, as I recall, it tried to pass it off as higher-quality couples fare. I don’t remember if the old marquee survived that owner, but that incarnation didn’t last long. By the time the name changed to The Dove, and catered to the trench coat crowd, the marquee was gone, as was the neon and any traces of its former grandeur—replaced with dark wood around a flush marquee and cheap stucco.
I wish someone had decent pics of The Kimo and The Kimo South. It seems nothing exists anymore, though since both theaters were raided, you would think there would be a newspaper photo somewhere.