Stadium Theatre

Thanks, Lost Memory. I remember seeing it many times but I never saw a film there. It was just a typical 1960s box.

The Stadium Theater was still in operation in the late 1970s/early 1980s. In 1979, the theater was still full-sized and showing films @ $1 at all times. Example – “The Champ” (Jon Voight; Ricky Schroeder), and “The China Syndrome” (Jack Lemmon, Jane Fonda, and Michael Douglas). In the early 1980s, the theater was closed, twinned, changed management, and renamed as Cinema South (i.e. twin theater). After a short stint as the Cinema South, the theater closed permanently. In both cases, feature presentations were limited to nightly performances only.

I remember seeing this theater while leaving the stadium-it was still full-sized and showing films for $1, and it definitely said “70mm” on the marquee. I think the film was “Superman” at the time and wondered why the place was never advertised.

That’s very interesting because I recall another theater showing Superman in 70mm for $1 at the same time; Parkwood Theater in the Parkwood Manor Shopping Center (Far Northeast, Phila, Pa.). However, the Parkwood’s newspaper ad made reference to its 70mm presentation (i.e. in the ad itself), and the Stadium’s ad made no reference to it (at least to my recollection). The Parkwood’s marquee also said 70mm. I viewed the film at the Fox in center city in four (4) track Dolby Stereo, presumably in 35mm (film was shot in 35mm Panavision). The Parkwood and Stadium’s showings were probably anamorphic “blow-ups streched to fit 70mm projection.

mh052 said, “The Stadium Theater was located just across the street from another George A. Hamid enterprise; namely, Aquarama, Theater of the Sea (Philly’s own big-time aquarium showplace), right on South Btroad St.” Someone please explain how both the Stadium Theatre and Aquarama, if they were physically across the street from each other shared the same building address, namely 3300 South Broad Street, during the same time period.