If I remember correctly, “Last Tango in Paris” played at the Fine Arts. I used to work for Mid-America Theatres and would sometimes join a group of managers in the screening room at their main office at the Holiday Drive-in. While the films shown at the Fine Arts were x-rated, they were not hardcore. Every Friday, some executives would screen x-rated films for future bookings at the Fine Arts. As the films were screened, the projectionist would have to mark sections of the films that were too hardcore for St.Louis and he would cut them out. Every projectionist who worked the screening room had their own reel of hardcore clips cut from the movies and never put back after they film was shipped out.
The theatre used to keep the house lights turned up during the films to discourage any public displays.
I think TheWiz may be confused about the dates when he or she worked for AMC and saw “Rocky Horror” at the Kirkwood. AMC didn’t operate theatres in St. Louis in the 70’s. AMC did show “Rocky Horror” but that was probably in the late eighties. The Kirkwood was operated by Arthur Theatres in the 70’s. I worked there as an usher/parking lot attendent, assistant manager and finally manager. I was hired in 1973. “The Harrad Experiment” had been playing there for months when I started. There were pickets outside protesting the sex and nudity in the film. My first night, we also showed “Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels” as a sold-out midnight show. The Kirkwood was known for showing art films for months. Before I started they had shown “Nicholas and Alexandra” exclusively for a long run. When the Arthur Theatres closed, the Kirkwood Cinema and the Webster Groves Cinema remained open because both theatres were partly owned by the original theatre owners and were still able to pay their bills. The Fox and the 270 Drive-in also operated independent of the rest of the Arthur circuit and remained open. I was the manager when the Arthur Theatres closed. Eventually, Mid-America bought us, closed for two days, and reopened, keeping the entire staff as well as me.
If I remember correctly, “Last Tango in Paris” played at the Fine Arts. I used to work for Mid-America Theatres and would sometimes join a group of managers in the screening room at their main office at the Holiday Drive-in. While the films shown at the Fine Arts were x-rated, they were not hardcore. Every Friday, some executives would screen x-rated films for future bookings at the Fine Arts. As the films were screened, the projectionist would have to mark sections of the films that were too hardcore for St.Louis and he would cut them out. Every projectionist who worked the screening room had their own reel of hardcore clips cut from the movies and never put back after they film was shipped out. The theatre used to keep the house lights turned up during the films to discourage any public displays.
I think TheWiz may be confused about the dates when he or she worked for AMC and saw “Rocky Horror” at the Kirkwood. AMC didn’t operate theatres in St. Louis in the 70’s. AMC did show “Rocky Horror” but that was probably in the late eighties. The Kirkwood was operated by Arthur Theatres in the 70’s. I worked there as an usher/parking lot attendent, assistant manager and finally manager. I was hired in 1973. “The Harrad Experiment” had been playing there for months when I started. There were pickets outside protesting the sex and nudity in the film. My first night, we also showed “Frank Zappa’s 200 Motels” as a sold-out midnight show. The Kirkwood was known for showing art films for months. Before I started they had shown “Nicholas and Alexandra” exclusively for a long run. When the Arthur Theatres closed, the Kirkwood Cinema and the Webster Groves Cinema remained open because both theatres were partly owned by the original theatre owners and were still able to pay their bills. The Fox and the 270 Drive-in also operated independent of the rest of the Arthur circuit and remained open. I was the manager when the Arthur Theatres closed. Eventually, Mid-America bought us, closed for two days, and reopened, keeping the entire staff as well as me.