Crosstown Theatre
400 N. Cleveland Street,
Memphis,
TN
38104
400 N. Cleveland Street,
Memphis,
TN
38104
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 34 comments
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Crosstown’s run is mentioned in the piece.
Higher quality ad:
Malco Crosstown opening 18 May 1951, Fri The Commercial Appeal (Memphis, Tennessee) Newspapers.com
Malco closed it in August 1976 and sold it to Gil Delugach. Another ad posted.
The Crosstown theatre opened as “The Theatre of Tomorrow” on May 18th, 1951. Grand opening ad posted.
2014 photos of the lobby staircases have been posted.
A new photo of the entire front and vertical from 1961 has been posted. From the Fire Museum of Memphis, used with permission.
Went by there the other day, it is newly painted and remodeled. The main feature I could see through the doors were the twin sweeping staircases from the lobby to the balcony. They are still beautiful.
This was such a beautiful theater. It is a disgrace that it was allowed to end up like it did. I remember my sister and I having to sit through “Dr. Dolittle” back in the late 60s. Saw “Fiddler on the Roof” with my mom, “Day of the Jackal” with my grandmother. My 7th grade buddies from Auburndale and I saw “The Poseidon Adventure” several times. I must have seen “Billy Jack” a dozen times. So many movies: “2001,” “Tora,Tora, Tora,” “Z,” “The Cross and the Switchblade.” Many great times.
my first real job ever was at the A&P grocery store across cleveland from the crosstown in 1969.right next door to the crosstown was a drug store that had a great lunch counter with wonderful greasy cheeseburgers!…so so long ago and yet just yesterday.
I worked at the Crosstown when the “Agony and the Ecstacy” opened. I was in junior high at Humes. My art teacher Mrs. Thweet and her daughter were my guests one night. I later worked at the Malco theater on Main St. The Malco at one time had a side entrance for blacks only where their seating was in the highest balcony in the theatre. I also worked at the Princess to let people go on their lunch breaks. Very seedy place and I don’t think that many people knew that it was owned by the same people.
Boxoffice of April 5, 1952, reported that the Crosstown Theatre had been designed by the architectural firm of Brueggeman, Swaim & Allen.
The front of the Crosstown, Boxoffice reported, “…employs approximately one mile of neon tubing in the installation, requiring 40 circuits and 143 transformers. The V-shaped signature tower with Crosstown in vertical letters is 72 feet high, and begins 20 feet above the ground.”
So sad that they demolished the beautiful sign and gutted the interior instead of refurbishing it! The Crosstown was a beautiful showplace at one time. So sad for its loss! I took the following photos with my cell phone
View link
Had I known they were going to destroy the rest of the facade, I would have returned to make photos with a better camera.
The church has finished renovating the theater. Here are some related sites:
http://tinyurl.com/34r74q
http://tinyurl.com/2rlmxv
Was in the Crosstown in 1969 to see the local(Projectionist Union) Business Agent, they were running Oliver in 70mm. Was told that Elvis had rented the theatre for a midnight show for himelf and some friends. Rumor was that he was a big tipper (staff loved him)
Here are some early fifties photos from wikipedia:
http://tinyurl.com/2uclco
http://tinyurl.com/2msktw
http://tinyurl.com/34tlsg
http://tinyurl.com/37atpr
Thanks and please do!
Hi Jack,
I posted a few photos of the main auditorium on the Flickr site. If you want, I can add more as the remodel progresses.
kjb
Kjb could you post your photos on the Cinemas Tennessee Flickr site?
Jehovah’s Witnesses still own it. They are doing a complete remodel of the building inside and out. If you are interested in photo’s let me know, I have some.
kjb
So who bought it from the Jehovah’s Witnesses, and how are they using this building?
Here are some photos taken November ‘06, including one of the rear.
View link
They have not been color corrected, but they will give you a larger idea of how the Crosstown looks today.
D*
Who have they sold it to?
Looks like the Jehovah’s Witnesses have moved on. Here is the building on October 18, 2006: Former Crosstown Theatre in Memphis
The sign has been sitting on the grounds of the Jehova’s Witnesses for the last couple of months. It has since been cut in half and given to a junk yard.
I shed a tear.
The sign has been sitting on the grounds of the Jehova’s Witnesses for the last couple of months. It has since been cut in half and given to a junk yard.
I shed a tear