Cinema East Theater
SW corner of Alameda & East 12th Street,
Norman,
OK
SW corner of Alameda & East 12th Street,
Norman,
OK
1 person
favorited this theater
The Cinema East was a stand-alone concrete box that neighbored the Rancho Drive-In. It was opened in 1968. It had a pretty good sized screen. I remember it being larger than the Boomer and Sooner Theaters.
The Cinema East’s screen seemed bigger than the Hollywood’s, but the Hollywood had more seating. The Cinema East was demolished in 1984.
Contributed by
Robert McDonald
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
The Cinema East was built by Video Independent Theatres of Oklahoma City, OK. on property adjacent to the Rancho Drive-In Theatre. Larry Blackledge was the architect. The theatre was designed with the intention of adding a second indoor screen making the indoor twin and the drive-in a triple theatre complex. The plan was never completed. The theatre had continental seating (single section), wide spacing and rocking chair seats.
Architect Larry Blackledge was son of the CEO for Video Independent Theatres.
Video Independent Theatres were actually a division of RKO Theatres in a round about way; General Tire ownded RKO Film Vault, RKO Film Vault controlled RKO Theatres, RKO Theatres owned Musac Corp (the elevator music people), and Musac controlled Video Independent Theatres. All these divisions were designed to obtain tax breaks and to avoid paying minimum wage.
The Cinema East and Rancho Drive-In were both razed in the early 1980s.
The Cinema East was designed to be a twin cinema, but the second auditorium was never built.
To see 1968 grand opening views & 1984 demolition photos of the Cinema East, go to below site, enter words “cinea east”, then hit search…
View link
These informative pagees tell the Cinema East story,
CINEMA EAST 1968-1984, 1122 E Alameda, Norman, OK
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/468