Way “back in the day” , when my Mom was young and new to the “Big City”, she would often go to the Times Theatre, then a decent, inexpensive theatre, not necessarily “first run.” Believe she paid 35 cents or so admission, back in the late 40’s, early 50’s. Theatre had a makeover in the mid-sixties , and became rather fancy first run “Times Towne Cinema”. Thunderball did, indeed, play there “forever” – that was where I saw it, and loved it… the sound system, for its day, was awesome. I also recall “Whats New, Pussycat?” running there for weeks on end as well. “times towne cinema” fancy and a little too garish (lots of pinks and reds etc) for my tastes, but wish it were still there! (wish downtown cincy had ANY theatre really!) Theatre utltimately became a Skyline chili restaurant (with an Arby’s below, I believe) which made me very sad at time, although being a native Cincinnatian, I do love Skyline. Later demolished altogether to make room for the Aronoff Center.
Classy clientele at the Times Towne Cinema, especially when the “Living Room” supper club operated just up the street. (interestingly enough, Larry Flynt’s original and notorious Hustler Club, complete with the girl in the window, also opened just up street!)
Only visit to the Mt Adams that I recall, is when I saw David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” – many years ago! Nice little artsy theatre, but Eraserhead gave me serious nightmares! ( : I, too, agree that building still exists – though now entirely an apartment house, no doubt upscale condos! (On Belvedere Street, I think? not sure)
of course, i recall the Uptown… saw a few films there, but when young , my theatre (and neighborhood) was the Empire… I guess there was no “marquee” overhanging sidewalk, but there were theatre posters, and ads in the paper (in the long gone ‘Neighborhood Theatres" section to let you know what was playing and when. In 1995, I met a woman whose father managed the Uptown theatre in the sixties… she herself sold tickets and worked the concession stand as a teen. Wish I had asked her more questions about place. Met another woman at time, who remembered area when it was a “good” neighborhood… she always attended the Uptown, rather than the Empire – said the Uptown was “cleaner!” Rather prim and proper, but very nice lady.
As i seem to recall, the Safari eventually (by the late 60’s-70’s?) became a low rent, sleazy largely black transvestite bar! ( : Times do change. Mohawk area indeed a dangerous place these days… hookers and heroin dealers abound…a black church group owns or leases the Imperial now, I believe, and occasionally has Gospel concerts and sets up “missionary” tables in Mohawk. Dangerous work!
Being a member of the “counterculture” , and also somewhat “artsy”, I remember trekking to the Guild to see Andy Wharhol’s “TRASH” – a film that also caused some controversy in good ol' Cincy! Even conservative Enquirer columnist Frank Weikel devoted space in his column to film! (frankly, Frank just didnt get it – though he thought he did!)
oops…by the way, the Royal (which may have changed its name in its later, most “hard core” years, not sure- is now demolished, its space part of a parking lot, the Sixty Second shop/country kitchen later became a Steakhouse and last time I was in cincy was vacant, and due to reopen as an oriental restaurant, I believe. The Cinema X is no longer a bloodbank, but I think the building still stands, not that it is worthy of much notice!
ok , here’s the skinny! ( : Being 55 years old, and though no longer in state, a cincinnati “downtowner” from age 15. Original listing IS correct… a “Cinema X” did indeed exist on Race Street, on the East side of street between 9th and Court Sts… possibly between Court and Central Parkway. Rather short-lived as theatres go, and it DID eventually become a commercial blood bank. There was also a “Cinema X” in Newport, Kentucky. There was also the older Royal Theatre, on Vine Street just across the street from the grander Capitol Theatre, between 7th and Garfield Place! The Royal outlived the Capitol by many years… probably was a “legitimate”, if low budget place at one time, but it was always a porn theatre as far back as I remember…. soft core “back in the day”, then more hard core into the late sixties, early seventies. Constantly picketed by anti-porn groups, the Royal finally succumbed. The restaurant next door was indeed the “Sixty Second Shop” (there were several in downtown Cincy in the mid-sixties), later became “The Country Kitchen.” As to the Race Street “Cinema X”, I recall seeing it, but did not patronize such places and recall it as a concrete box of a building (formerly an auto supply store, I guess) that was briefly converted to a porn theatre, had its brief shining moment of notoriety, and then vanished. the Royal, however, was a “real” theatre, and – porn or no – I regret never having visited it… just as I regret never having gone inside the Gayety Burlesque… even though I worked next door at the Main Library. Only 18 at time, though, and sqeamish about it. (possibly admittance age may have been 21, also in 1970. The Gayety closed before I was 21) My Dad took my Mom there, though!! (well, they had comedians, too!) OK< a little rambling, but those are the facts of “Cinema X” as I recall them, and I am 99.9% sure I am accurate! Peace out!
CORRECTION ( possibly) to my previous post. Have not seen “Little Man Tate” for some years,and after some reflection, realised the shot with the Empire Theatre in the background may have actually been something I saw in an article on the film and/or Jodie Foster, a shot that exists but may not have really been used in the film. Will have to rent film again to be sure… however, the photo does exist… just not sure it was in the film. Sorry if previous post was in error!
Just recalled, in the Jody Foster film , “Little Man Tate” (largely filmed in cincinnati) there is a great shot of Jody and her “son” walking past the boarded up Empire Theatre, still exhibiting the blue, white and orange remnants of its former Art Deco glory – and the deteriorating marquee that once lit up the night on Vine Street in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood! I believe still photos of this scene from the film exist, but have been unable to obtain one.
In the 1950’s, I lived on Republic Street right across the alley directly behind the Empire Theatre. I spent some of the happiest hours of my childhood on weekends and summer days watching double and even triple features… continuous run! You could come in, and stay all day and most of the night if you wanted to. And many did, especially on the hotter days when the “Ice cold air conditioning” of the neighborhood theatre was the only bearable place around. We kids (and there were lots of us in those “baby boom” years) filled the front rows… adults sat farther back, and groups of teens necked and socialized on the side rows. Ushers periodically prowled the aisles, keeping the kids reasonably quiet, or at least in their seats… occasionally removing a miscreant! (I cannot recall being “kicked out of the show” myself, but imagine it happened at least once or twice. Saw all the old William Castle horror films: “House On Haunted Hill”, “the Tingler”, sci fi like “The Mysterians”, “The Blob”, “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”; westerns like “The Horse Soldiers” (John Wayne), “yellowstone kelly”, “North to Alaska”“ war films like "Pork Chop Hill” etc.All with tons of cartoons and “Previews of Coming Attractions!” A hot dog and a small (really small) coke was 25 cents, a small bag of popcorn 15 cents,
candy a nickle or a dime. Comedy/tragedy masks adorned the dark draped walls, with dim lights behind the eye holes – rather eerie to an 8 year old! Ditto the small aisle lights attached to end seats every 5 rows or so, behind the face of a lion or some sort of scary creature. The seats were hard wood, and the floor sticky with spilled soda, candy and (in the rear) littered with cigarette butts.
The mens room was absolutely creepy, down a concrete flight of stairs into a cell like room with a barred window high up on the wall. Always smelled of urine and tobacco, and always some creepy old guy, smelling of whiskey, hanging around smoking in the can. We kids NEVER went there alone, always in twos or threes… and it always made our hearts race, especially when watching horror movies. Still, kind of a thrill. All in all, the Empire Theatre , at least to this child, was a true “Cinema Paradiso!” And the neighborhood was crowded, white working class and busy… not the sparsely populated, drug infested decaying urban sore it has become in recent decades. I had always hoped it would someday be resurrected after its final closure in the early seventies… recently there seemed to be some hope, at least that it would be resurrected in some form (a nightclub) But it was not to be. And now it it gone. Like so very many others. I feel sad for the children of today… they will never know such a place! – stubaby
Way “back in the day” , when my Mom was young and new to the “Big City”, she would often go to the Times Theatre, then a decent, inexpensive theatre, not necessarily “first run.” Believe she paid 35 cents or so admission, back in the late 40’s, early 50’s. Theatre had a makeover in the mid-sixties , and became rather fancy first run “Times Towne Cinema”. Thunderball did, indeed, play there “forever” – that was where I saw it, and loved it… the sound system, for its day, was awesome. I also recall “Whats New, Pussycat?” running there for weeks on end as well. “times towne cinema” fancy and a little too garish (lots of pinks and reds etc) for my tastes, but wish it were still there! (wish downtown cincy had ANY theatre really!) Theatre utltimately became a Skyline chili restaurant (with an Arby’s below, I believe) which made me very sad at time, although being a native Cincinnatian, I do love Skyline. Later demolished altogether to make room for the Aronoff Center.
Classy clientele at the Times Towne Cinema, especially when the “Living Room” supper club operated just up the street. (interestingly enough, Larry Flynt’s original and notorious Hustler Club, complete with the girl in the window, also opened just up street!)
Only visit to the Mt Adams that I recall, is when I saw David Lynch’s “Eraserhead” – many years ago! Nice little artsy theatre, but Eraserhead gave me serious nightmares! ( : I, too, agree that building still exists – though now entirely an apartment house, no doubt upscale condos! (On Belvedere Street, I think? not sure)
of course, i recall the Uptown… saw a few films there, but when young , my theatre (and neighborhood) was the Empire… I guess there was no “marquee” overhanging sidewalk, but there were theatre posters, and ads in the paper (in the long gone ‘Neighborhood Theatres" section to let you know what was playing and when. In 1995, I met a woman whose father managed the Uptown theatre in the sixties… she herself sold tickets and worked the concession stand as a teen. Wish I had asked her more questions about place. Met another woman at time, who remembered area when it was a “good” neighborhood… she always attended the Uptown, rather than the Empire – said the Uptown was “cleaner!” Rather prim and proper, but very nice lady.
As i seem to recall, the Safari eventually (by the late 60’s-70’s?) became a low rent, sleazy largely black transvestite bar! ( : Times do change. Mohawk area indeed a dangerous place these days… hookers and heroin dealers abound…a black church group owns or leases the Imperial now, I believe, and occasionally has Gospel concerts and sets up “missionary” tables in Mohawk. Dangerous work!
Being a member of the “counterculture” , and also somewhat “artsy”, I remember trekking to the Guild to see Andy Wharhol’s “TRASH” – a film that also caused some controversy in good ol' Cincy! Even conservative Enquirer columnist Frank Weikel devoted space in his column to film! (frankly, Frank just didnt get it – though he thought he did!)
oops…by the way, the Royal (which may have changed its name in its later, most “hard core” years, not sure- is now demolished, its space part of a parking lot, the Sixty Second shop/country kitchen later became a Steakhouse and last time I was in cincy was vacant, and due to reopen as an oriental restaurant, I believe. The Cinema X is no longer a bloodbank, but I think the building still stands, not that it is worthy of much notice!
ok , here’s the skinny! ( : Being 55 years old, and though no longer in state, a cincinnati “downtowner” from age 15. Original listing IS correct… a “Cinema X” did indeed exist on Race Street, on the East side of street between 9th and Court Sts… possibly between Court and Central Parkway. Rather short-lived as theatres go, and it DID eventually become a commercial blood bank. There was also a “Cinema X” in Newport, Kentucky. There was also the older Royal Theatre, on Vine Street just across the street from the grander Capitol Theatre, between 7th and Garfield Place! The Royal outlived the Capitol by many years… probably was a “legitimate”, if low budget place at one time, but it was always a porn theatre as far back as I remember…. soft core “back in the day”, then more hard core into the late sixties, early seventies. Constantly picketed by anti-porn groups, the Royal finally succumbed. The restaurant next door was indeed the “Sixty Second Shop” (there were several in downtown Cincy in the mid-sixties), later became “The Country Kitchen.” As to the Race Street “Cinema X”, I recall seeing it, but did not patronize such places and recall it as a concrete box of a building (formerly an auto supply store, I guess) that was briefly converted to a porn theatre, had its brief shining moment of notoriety, and then vanished. the Royal, however, was a “real” theatre, and – porn or no – I regret never having visited it… just as I regret never having gone inside the Gayety Burlesque… even though I worked next door at the Main Library. Only 18 at time, though, and sqeamish about it. (possibly admittance age may have been 21, also in 1970. The Gayety closed before I was 21) My Dad took my Mom there, though!! (well, they had comedians, too!) OK< a little rambling, but those are the facts of “Cinema X” as I recall them, and I am 99.9% sure I am accurate! Peace out!
CORRECTION ( possibly) to my previous post. Have not seen “Little Man Tate” for some years,and after some reflection, realised the shot with the Empire Theatre in the background may have actually been something I saw in an article on the film and/or Jodie Foster, a shot that exists but may not have really been used in the film. Will have to rent film again to be sure… however, the photo does exist… just not sure it was in the film. Sorry if previous post was in error!
Just recalled, in the Jody Foster film , “Little Man Tate” (largely filmed in cincinnati) there is a great shot of Jody and her “son” walking past the boarded up Empire Theatre, still exhibiting the blue, white and orange remnants of its former Art Deco glory – and the deteriorating marquee that once lit up the night on Vine Street in Cincinnati’s Over-the-Rhine neighborhood! I believe still photos of this scene from the film exist, but have been unable to obtain one.
In the 1950’s, I lived on Republic Street right across the alley directly behind the Empire Theatre. I spent some of the happiest hours of my childhood on weekends and summer days watching double and even triple features… continuous run! You could come in, and stay all day and most of the night if you wanted to. And many did, especially on the hotter days when the “Ice cold air conditioning” of the neighborhood theatre was the only bearable place around. We kids (and there were lots of us in those “baby boom” years) filled the front rows… adults sat farther back, and groups of teens necked and socialized on the side rows. Ushers periodically prowled the aisles, keeping the kids reasonably quiet, or at least in their seats… occasionally removing a miscreant! (I cannot recall being “kicked out of the show” myself, but imagine it happened at least once or twice. Saw all the old William Castle horror films: “House On Haunted Hill”, “the Tingler”, sci fi like “The Mysterians”, “The Blob”, “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”; westerns like “The Horse Soldiers” (John Wayne), “yellowstone kelly”, “North to Alaska”“ war films like "Pork Chop Hill” etc.All with tons of cartoons and “Previews of Coming Attractions!” A hot dog and a small (really small) coke was 25 cents, a small bag of popcorn 15 cents,
candy a nickle or a dime. Comedy/tragedy masks adorned the dark draped walls, with dim lights behind the eye holes – rather eerie to an 8 year old! Ditto the small aisle lights attached to end seats every 5 rows or so, behind the face of a lion or some sort of scary creature. The seats were hard wood, and the floor sticky with spilled soda, candy and (in the rear) littered with cigarette butts.
The mens room was absolutely creepy, down a concrete flight of stairs into a cell like room with a barred window high up on the wall. Always smelled of urine and tobacco, and always some creepy old guy, smelling of whiskey, hanging around smoking in the can. We kids NEVER went there alone, always in twos or threes… and it always made our hearts race, especially when watching horror movies. Still, kind of a thrill. All in all, the Empire Theatre , at least to this child, was a true “Cinema Paradiso!” And the neighborhood was crowded, white working class and busy… not the sparsely populated, drug infested decaying urban sore it has become in recent decades. I had always hoped it would someday be resurrected after its final closure in the early seventies… recently there seemed to be some hope, at least that it would be resurrected in some form (a nightclub) But it was not to be. And now it it gone. Like so very many others. I feel sad for the children of today… they will never know such a place! – stubaby