Plaza Theatre
491 Allendale Road,
King of Prussia,
PA
19406
491 Allendale Road,
King of Prussia,
PA
19406
3 people
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The managers office at the plaza was behind the box office in the entrance vestibule. On the second level was a much larger office used by the Sameric DM at the time,Bill Youts
May 19th, 1965 and November 22nd, 1978 grand opening ads in the photo section. Picture on the 1965 ad.
I managed this theater in late ‘89 and '90. Great theater. There was a pack of pictures in the office with opening day photos of the theater. The first movie was Major Dundee. The original concession stand was between the theater doors, but closed up and used for storage by the time I was there. Really neat decor and red leather in the original snack bar. I wish I would have copied the pictures or even taken some of my own!
I seem to remember that whenever I went to see a movie at this theater I was always stuck hearing the movie playing on the next screen over too. Something was loopy with their sound-system.
I went to see the Doors here and I was pretty clearly hearing the Silence of the Lambs at the same time. Not a bad cinema otherwise.
The Boxoffice Magazine has a mini artice in the 4/6/1964 magazine about having a US District aproving Stanley Warner’s petition to built the Plaza Theatre.
http://www.boxoffice.com/the_vault/issue_page?issue_id=1964-4-6&page_no=6#page_start
The Wolfsonian archives in Florida have a date for this theatre of 1965,so Drew Eberson would be the architect as John died in 1954.The Cheltenham Theatre was also Drew Eberson built somewhere between 1960 and 1963.
Was this place completely torn down or is it part of an existing building – maybe Crate and Barrel?
The United Artists-Eric-RKO Stanley Warner’s Plaza King of Prussia Twin Theatre should be listed as “Demolished”
The Plaza had to have been opened pre-1969. Both My Fair Lady (1964) and Olivier’s Othello (1965) were there on hard ticket. Also,Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) played there BEFORE it was twinned.It was a beautiful theatre; absolutely one of the best places to see a film in the suburbs, especially 70mm, 6-track.BTW it had a virtually twin in Cheltenham—The Cheltenham Theatre. Built a few years prior to the Plaza, also owned by Stanley-Warner, most likely the same architect. The interior was just about identical to the Plaza. Played both The Sand Pebbles and Becket on hard ticket, and a sub-run of Lawrence Of Arabia, which was stunning in 70mm/6-track.
I know this theatre was owned by RKO Stanley Warner. They also owned the Moorestown Plaza Theatre before both were bought by Sameric.
The “zone” of movie theaters which didn’t show the same movie at the same time included the Plaza, the nearby King and Queen, a movie theater at the Valley Forge Convention Center (possibly in the hotel), and the Gateway at Devon, which was a three screener operated by AMC.
Mainstream movies were shown. In September 1994, I saw Forrest Gump at the Plaza. The next month, I saw Quiz Show. In November 1998, I saw The Siege.