Eastwood Theatre
8995 Frankstown Road,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15235
8995 Frankstown Road,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15235
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 11 comments
Regrettably, my computer skills fall very much short of being able to do that.
It would be nice Ed if you could post that program on this page.
I am holding the souvenir program for the opening night of the Eastwood Theatre. It was June 26, 1947. The inaugural attraction was Eliz Kazan’s “Sea of Grass” with Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn. The final attraction was “Krakatoa, East of Java.”
Joel (Joseph L.) Navari, I very much regret to say, passed away in a hospital near his Peoria AZ home at 12:31 p.m. April 18, 2010, less than 24 hours after he was admitted.
Here is the death notice that appeared in The Arizona Republic:
Navari, Joseph “Joel,” 66, of Peoria made his transition on April 18, 2010.
He was a husband, father, brother, grandfather, educator and patriot who lived life with passion. He is survived by his wife, Tami Conaway, two sons, Jude Navari, Jason (Amy) Navari; two daughters Johanna (John) Welch, Jocelyn (Tom) Messer; a step-daughter Amy (Duane) Cowan and a step-son Chad Conaway. Also surviving are a brother, Rudy (Jane) Navari ; a sister, Elenora (Joe) Buba; nine grandchildren, Zane, Renata, Isabella, Marlee, Brooke, Cody, Ryley, Tanner and Braden.
A celebration of Joel’s life (was) held Saturday, April 24, 2010, at 3 p.m. at Heritage Funeral Chapel, 6830 W. Thunderbird Road, Peoria.
The family requests, in lieu of flowers, memorial donations be made to Indiana University School of Medicine South Bend – Cancer Research, 1234 Notre Dame Avenue, South Bend, IN 46617.
Thank you very much, Joe. I had forgotten a couple of the details mentioned in that Boxoffice magazine item. On a related front, I’m pleased to report I located Joel (Joseph L.) Navari, the oldest of the Navari offspring and my good friend from college, and we’ve been communicating since.
Ed Blank: I’ve just seen your question (my email service was blocking Cinema Treasures comment notifications for a long time.) I’m afraid I can’t help you. I don’t know Joel Navari, and I’ve never been to Chicago. I did a search for him in the Boxoffice magazine archives at issuu.com, but the last time he was mentioned in the magazine was apparently in 1968.
The last time the Eastwood Theatre was mentioned as far as I can determine was in the issue of February 2, 1970. It’s an item saying that the Eastwood was being demolished. It says that Mrs. Rudy Navari had been robbed at the theater and decided not only to close it but to have the building razed. You can read the item at this link (third item in the farthest left hand column.)
Joe, Have you any idea how to reach Joel Navari, who moved to the Chicago area around 1970? If so, please contact me at
A drawing of the proposed Eastwood Theatre by its architect, Michael J. DeAngelis, appeared in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of August 16, 1941.
Can’t get checkmark to stay in the box.
Renewing link.
The Eastwood was an unusually nice, family-operated theater on the border of urban and suburban Pittsburgh. It played early-neighborhood-run movies, usually in double bills (“Charade” and “Lilies of the Field”), usually with two changes the week. It was owned and operated throughout its existence by the Navari family of Penn Hills. Rudy, the patriarch, maintained it very well with the help of his wife, son Rudy, daughter Norina and especially eldest son Joel (Joseph L.). Joel took over more and more of the theater’s operation during his college years in the early 1960s and booked several move-over art films as well as the highest quality commercial releases. No junk at all. Unfortunately, by the late 1960s, it was trapped in a neighborhood that was succumbing to crime, which began to impact on the audience the Eastwood served. Even the nearby East Hills strip mall succumbed. The Eastwood’s final movie before closing in 1969 was “Krakatoa, East of Java.”