The Roseville 4 Theater was opened in the mid-seventies by Engler Theaters of Hopkins, MN. The family owned exhibitor begin with the Hopkins Theater in a western suburb of Minneapolis, and later took over and bought several neighborhood theaters in suburban Minneapolis. I think this was their first move into the St. Paul suburban market. The theater was built inside what was previously a large Spartan-Atlantic discount store built across from the St. Paul city limits on Larpenteur Avenue. The discount store was converted into a strip mall. The theater’s decor was almost non-existent. It did have at least one screen that could run 70mm. The most famous thing about this theater was the plush highback reclining seats upholstered in antique white!
I deeply resent some of the claims of loves moves, hates going. His claims are not valid against the screenwriters. He is confusing the decisions made by the heads of media conglomerates with striking WGA writers who receive 4 cents per copy for each DVD sold legally. The four cent royalty was agreed upon 20 years ago, and has been not increased since that time. These writers are not respected by their employers in any way, evidenced by their refusal to bargain in good faith with their union employees. The executives of the media conglomerates are unwilling to share one cent of the newfound internet advertising revenues, whose income adds several billion dollars to the bottom line every fiscal year.
The Denver Theater was operated by Cooper-Highland Theaters in the 1970’s. You could get a small view of the lobby from the entrance and it was spectacular, even after being cleared of its furniture.
The interior of the theater was similar to many in the mid-1970’s. The first four feet of the wall, closest to the floor, was painted a flat black. The remaining wall was pleated fabric in very bright colors of red, orange, and gold. The fabric was pleated to resemble drapes and stapled at the top and bottom to wood strips. There was track spotlights focused on the fabric on both sides of the house. The lights were black cylinder type, with the spots connected to a dimmer system in the booth. I don’t remember any balcony and the ceiling was quite high. They ran first run movies after the Engler family took over the theater. In the 1980’s, they ran many indie films with extended runs, while the Landmark chain was still doing retro repertory programing.
In the fall of 1975, the Southtown held a film festival of Hollywood Musicals of the 1950-1960’s era. I recall that it ran 6-8 weeks and featured them all in 70MM and stereo sound. Many of these films played their premier downtown showcase runs at theaters that did not have the huge screens because they were built as RKO (Keith-Albee) vaudeville theaters. I saw several of them. Generally, they were poorly attended with 40-50 people per showing. The only other huge screens at the time were the Cooper Cinerama in St. Louis Park and the GCC Orpheum and Plitt Skyway 1 downtown. The Orpheum generally didn’t play musicals after Mary Poppins. All of the few 1970-1980’s musicals that were released showcase went to the Cooper and Skyway 1 downtown. I consider it a privilege to have seen these great films at the Mann Southtown. I consider it the finest suburban theater build in the 1960’s era , with the ABC Brookdale, a distant second.
I saw over 100 films at the Boulevard and I am very sad every time I go by the theater. The theater was twinned in 1972 and nearly every bit of the original art deco designs were removed at that time. The popcorn was absolute perfection until they installed a new Creators machine in the late-70’s. It was the finest in the city.
There is another reason for the unusual design of the Skyway Theater. ABC Theaters built the main theater on the second floor because they did not own one-half of the land over which the structure was built. About one half of the land housed the old ABC Lyric Theater, which was a first fun theater operated by ABC for showcase first runs in the 1960’s. That theater was demolished by ABC and the Skyway was its replacement. About one-third of the site was owned by the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, which was an old time, department stote and shopping center developer. They were acquring downtown land for parking expansion in the 1950’s and 60’s. ABC used their land for a surface parking lot in the new building. The smallest lot piece housed Danny’s Bar, which later reopened on the first floor as the Skyway Lounge. The bar building was also demolished for the new building. The theater was designed by a New York City architectual firm; however, I don’t know if their original design is what was actually built there, or not. The Screen One’s interior seats, draperies, carpeting, and color scheme almost identically matched the interior of the Astor Plaza Theater in New York City in 1978. The years 1972-1976 were incredibly difficult years for the cinema exhibition industry with very little good product coming out of Hollywood studios. The local offices of Plitt North Central were on the fourth floor of the building, along with a standalone screening room with large white rocking highback chairs that was rented by all of the big studios' film exchanges. It was built with the intent to lure the four film exchanges across the street on the 2nd floor of the aged Mann Theater building over to the new ABC building. There were two additiional floors of office space above the fourth floor. After four years, the white chairs were slipcovered. The Skyway held a few sneak previews in the 1970’s and comment cards were given out to the audience. Also, the local acid rock radio station sponsored midnight movies on Friday and Saturday nights at the Skyway. One of Mr. Plitt’s sons was briefly a manager at the Skyway in 1975, but was soon transferred to a large single Plitt theatre in Phoenix, AZ.
There is an one error in the Krefft text. The Egyptian wall decoration was covered over in the 1960’s with painted acoustical ceiling tiles and the entire 1930’s decor was removed and replaced with the mid-century modern designs and light fitures. The basement was turned into a lounge with a snack bar with black vinyl bar stools and about 100 black midcentury chairs with chrome bases that swiveled; and, bright red, yellow, orange, and avocado seat cushions. There was a large 23 inch black and white TV built into the wall. There was a crying room on the second floor. A small addition was built to one side that contained the manager’s office and a stairway to the basement lounge and the exit doors. I attended several shows in the late 1970’s and was told the show was cancelled because there wasn’t enough people in the audience. After making a 30-minute bus ride there on the 23 bus, I stopped attending evening shows there because of the hourly service at night and the wait in the subzero temperatures. This corner also housed a very, very popular Italian restaurant, beauty shop, bar, corner superette, 1960’s era supermarket, hardware, and a very large drug/gift store. All of those businesses are now gone and most of the stores are for rent. There is a very large nursing home built on the Nile site. It is called “The Nile”.
The American Theater became notorious after it was converted into a porno house in 1968. The local Porn King bought all of the family owned businesses on that city block (that would sell to him) and converted them into sex businesses. In 1974, city leaders decided to demolish the six block area and build a regional shopping center on the site. Interstate 35 was built one block to the east of the theater in 1966 and city leaders thought it would be a good site for a mall. However, only a very large and ugly discount store and supermarket were built as the retail portion. The block and the theater became very notorious in the 1970’s and were demolished in 1975 to make way for the discount store’s parking lot. The local porn king moved his business eight blocks east to another previous neighbood theater, The Rialto Theater. He moved his sex stores four blocks east to a corner business that previously held a local drugstore for about 50 years. Each weekday over 100,000 motorists drive by the Lake and Nicollet area on Interstate 35 and have no idea the area was once the busiest traffic corner in the city with two nice theaters and over 60 family owned businesses. And the American Theater was the reason for that.
The Vogue Theater was closed in 1966 and reopened as the Stage 7 Theater. The pink and green moderne exterior was repainted in a stark bright white and black design. The interior was stripped of all moderne decor, with the exception of the 20’s light fitures, which were painted a flat black. The vertical marque was covered and the name Stage 7 was painted in Roman lettering. It was illuminated with a single spotlight on each side. The interior walls were all painted bright white, as was the ceiling. The lower portion of the walls were painted a flat black. The only original piece of decoration was an illuminated clock above the left hand front exit door, and the orginal screen curtain and curtains on the front exit doors. I think were were a drab olive green. The theater ran children’s matinees on weekends for a few years, until most local families moved to nicer, quieter areas of town. By the early 70’s, the area was mostly young adults living in apartments. Most all of the local schools were closed in 1981. The American Theater, located one block east, was also closed in 1966 and converted into a porn house in 1968. The area’s local Porn King purchased all of the local family owned business he could and converted them into sex business. The owner of the Vogue Theater counted with double feature bills of second run movies after they left the downtown theatres, as well as American International Pictures double features. The drive-in season in Minnesota was only four months of the year. In 1974 city leaders proposed a grandiose regional shopping center to be built at the Nicollet and Lake Steet area. The Stage 7 was on the block that was demolished first and they closed in 1974. A four story condominium building was built on that site and it houses a very large medical clinic on the first floor. Interstate 35 was built three blocks to the east of the theater, and only a very large and very ugly discount store and a small modern supermarket were built as retail on that six block site. The very ugly discount store and supermarket are still in business today.
The Roseville 4 Theater was opened in the mid-seventies by Engler Theaters of Hopkins, MN. The family owned exhibitor begin with the Hopkins Theater in a western suburb of Minneapolis, and later took over and bought several neighborhood theaters in suburban Minneapolis. I think this was their first move into the St. Paul suburban market. The theater was built inside what was previously a large Spartan-Atlantic discount store built across from the St. Paul city limits on Larpenteur Avenue. The discount store was converted into a strip mall. The theater’s decor was almost non-existent. It did have at least one screen that could run 70mm. The most famous thing about this theater was the plush highback reclining seats upholstered in antique white!
I deeply resent some of the claims of loves moves, hates going. His claims are not valid against the screenwriters. He is confusing the decisions made by the heads of media conglomerates with striking WGA writers who receive 4 cents per copy for each DVD sold legally. The four cent royalty was agreed upon 20 years ago, and has been not increased since that time. These writers are not respected by their employers in any way, evidenced by their refusal to bargain in good faith with their union employees. The executives of the media conglomerates are unwilling to share one cent of the newfound internet advertising revenues, whose income adds several billion dollars to the bottom line every fiscal year.
The Denver Theater was operated by Cooper-Highland Theaters in the 1970’s. You could get a small view of the lobby from the entrance and it was spectacular, even after being cleared of its furniture.
The interior of the theater was similar to many in the mid-1970’s. The first four feet of the wall, closest to the floor, was painted a flat black. The remaining wall was pleated fabric in very bright colors of red, orange, and gold. The fabric was pleated to resemble drapes and stapled at the top and bottom to wood strips. There was track spotlights focused on the fabric on both sides of the house. The lights were black cylinder type, with the spots connected to a dimmer system in the booth. I don’t remember any balcony and the ceiling was quite high. They ran first run movies after the Engler family took over the theater. In the 1980’s, they ran many indie films with extended runs, while the Landmark chain was still doing retro repertory programing.
In the fall of 1975, the Southtown held a film festival of Hollywood Musicals of the 1950-1960’s era. I recall that it ran 6-8 weeks and featured them all in 70MM and stereo sound. Many of these films played their premier downtown showcase runs at theaters that did not have the huge screens because they were built as RKO (Keith-Albee) vaudeville theaters. I saw several of them. Generally, they were poorly attended with 40-50 people per showing. The only other huge screens at the time were the Cooper Cinerama in St. Louis Park and the GCC Orpheum and Plitt Skyway 1 downtown. The Orpheum generally didn’t play musicals after Mary Poppins. All of the few 1970-1980’s musicals that were released showcase went to the Cooper and Skyway 1 downtown. I consider it a privilege to have seen these great films at the Mann Southtown. I consider it the finest suburban theater build in the 1960’s era , with the ABC Brookdale, a distant second.
I saw over 100 films at the Boulevard and I am very sad every time I go by the theater. The theater was twinned in 1972 and nearly every bit of the original art deco designs were removed at that time. The popcorn was absolute perfection until they installed a new Creators machine in the late-70’s. It was the finest in the city.
There is another reason for the unusual design of the Skyway Theater. ABC Theaters built the main theater on the second floor because they did not own one-half of the land over which the structure was built. About one half of the land housed the old ABC Lyric Theater, which was a first fun theater operated by ABC for showcase first runs in the 1960’s. That theater was demolished by ABC and the Skyway was its replacement. About one-third of the site was owned by the Dayton-Hudson Corporation, which was an old time, department stote and shopping center developer. They were acquring downtown land for parking expansion in the 1950’s and 60’s. ABC used their land for a surface parking lot in the new building. The smallest lot piece housed Danny’s Bar, which later reopened on the first floor as the Skyway Lounge. The bar building was also demolished for the new building. The theater was designed by a New York City architectual firm; however, I don’t know if their original design is what was actually built there, or not. The Screen One’s interior seats, draperies, carpeting, and color scheme almost identically matched the interior of the Astor Plaza Theater in New York City in 1978. The years 1972-1976 were incredibly difficult years for the cinema exhibition industry with very little good product coming out of Hollywood studios. The local offices of Plitt North Central were on the fourth floor of the building, along with a standalone screening room with large white rocking highback chairs that was rented by all of the big studios' film exchanges. It was built with the intent to lure the four film exchanges across the street on the 2nd floor of the aged Mann Theater building over to the new ABC building. There were two additiional floors of office space above the fourth floor. After four years, the white chairs were slipcovered. The Skyway held a few sneak previews in the 1970’s and comment cards were given out to the audience. Also, the local acid rock radio station sponsored midnight movies on Friday and Saturday nights at the Skyway. One of Mr. Plitt’s sons was briefly a manager at the Skyway in 1975, but was soon transferred to a large single Plitt theatre in Phoenix, AZ.
There is an one error in the Krefft text. The Egyptian wall decoration was covered over in the 1960’s with painted acoustical ceiling tiles and the entire 1930’s decor was removed and replaced with the mid-century modern designs and light fitures. The basement was turned into a lounge with a snack bar with black vinyl bar stools and about 100 black midcentury chairs with chrome bases that swiveled; and, bright red, yellow, orange, and avocado seat cushions. There was a large 23 inch black and white TV built into the wall. There was a crying room on the second floor. A small addition was built to one side that contained the manager’s office and a stairway to the basement lounge and the exit doors. I attended several shows in the late 1970’s and was told the show was cancelled because there wasn’t enough people in the audience. After making a 30-minute bus ride there on the 23 bus, I stopped attending evening shows there because of the hourly service at night and the wait in the subzero temperatures. This corner also housed a very, very popular Italian restaurant, beauty shop, bar, corner superette, 1960’s era supermarket, hardware, and a very large drug/gift store. All of those businesses are now gone and most of the stores are for rent. There is a very large nursing home built on the Nile site. It is called “The Nile”.
The American Theater became notorious after it was converted into a porno house in 1968. The local Porn King bought all of the family owned businesses on that city block (that would sell to him) and converted them into sex businesses. In 1974, city leaders decided to demolish the six block area and build a regional shopping center on the site. Interstate 35 was built one block to the east of the theater in 1966 and city leaders thought it would be a good site for a mall. However, only a very large and ugly discount store and supermarket were built as the retail portion. The block and the theater became very notorious in the 1970’s and were demolished in 1975 to make way for the discount store’s parking lot. The local porn king moved his business eight blocks east to another previous neighbood theater, The Rialto Theater. He moved his sex stores four blocks east to a corner business that previously held a local drugstore for about 50 years. Each weekday over 100,000 motorists drive by the Lake and Nicollet area on Interstate 35 and have no idea the area was once the busiest traffic corner in the city with two nice theaters and over 60 family owned businesses. And the American Theater was the reason for that.
The Vogue Theater was closed in 1966 and reopened as the Stage 7 Theater. The pink and green moderne exterior was repainted in a stark bright white and black design. The interior was stripped of all moderne decor, with the exception of the 20’s light fitures, which were painted a flat black. The vertical marque was covered and the name Stage 7 was painted in Roman lettering. It was illuminated with a single spotlight on each side. The interior walls were all painted bright white, as was the ceiling. The lower portion of the walls were painted a flat black. The only original piece of decoration was an illuminated clock above the left hand front exit door, and the orginal screen curtain and curtains on the front exit doors. I think were were a drab olive green. The theater ran children’s matinees on weekends for a few years, until most local families moved to nicer, quieter areas of town. By the early 70’s, the area was mostly young adults living in apartments. Most all of the local schools were closed in 1981. The American Theater, located one block east, was also closed in 1966 and converted into a porn house in 1968. The area’s local Porn King purchased all of the local family owned business he could and converted them into sex business. The owner of the Vogue Theater counted with double feature bills of second run movies after they left the downtown theatres, as well as American International Pictures double features. The drive-in season in Minnesota was only four months of the year. In 1974 city leaders proposed a grandiose regional shopping center to be built at the Nicollet and Lake Steet area. The Stage 7 was on the block that was demolished first and they closed in 1974. A four story condominium building was built on that site and it houses a very large medical clinic on the first floor. Interstate 35 was built three blocks to the east of the theater, and only a very large and very ugly discount store and a small modern supermarket were built as retail on that six block site. The very ugly discount store and supermarket are still in business today.