Paramount Theatre

Carprog on March 15, 2012 at 9:42 pm

The Paramount was open & showing movies in 1963. I was there.

raysson on April 23, 2012 at 2:42 pm

This theatre was open and showing first-run movies in 1967. My uncle saw Sidney Poitier and Rod Steiger in “IN THE HEAT OF THE NIGHT” first-run at this theatre in February of 1968.

This theatre was still showing first-run films and “B” movies by 1970 before it close in 1971.

dallasmovietheaters on January 25, 2026 at 7:22 pm

The City of High Point built a City Hall building that contained a large theater with ancity entry on Wrenn Street. It was built for live presentations in 1923 and was designed to be a municipal auditorium. The concept was that High Point was trying to show that it was more than just a textile and furniture manufacturing city and a strong arts presence was one of its tactics. Harry K. Barton was the architect of the building that had a large sized 1,200 seat auditorium at opening. Barton cleverly moved the theater from an initial draft of 1,600 to 1,200 likely to save costs but 1,600 seats would have been nearly impossible to fill.

The City decided that the theatre should be leased to commercial interests beginning with a bid process. (It would have been ambitious for a town of 15,000 to program such a large municipal auditorium.) After its first season, a naming contest led to the theater being called the American Theatre in 1924 and operated by Alfred B. “A.B.” Huff’s High Point Amusement Co. All operators from that day forward forced theatre operators to go to the city for leasing renewals and pricing updates.

The City of High Point also owned the 107 N. Main Street property and leased that theatre to Huff, as well. Its opening date began not long after the opening of the theater in the City Hall structure. The Capitol Theatre opened in November of 1923 on a four year leasing agreement. At the end of that lease, the venue was renamed as the Rialto Theatre on its fourth year of operation beginning on November 19, 1927.

Meanwhile, the American Theatre pinballed from live stage plays one year to live Keith vaudeville the next before settling on motion pictures. Publix-Saenger took on the High Point Amusement operations on February 11, 1928 including here at the American and the Rialto - both of which would receive sound systems. It was a business plan that Publix had run around the country to basically get theaters converted to sound which wasn’t cheap (and then, of course, declare bankruptcy). Publix received the Broadhurst, the Broadway (formerly the Point Theatre in 1915), the Orpheum (a live vaudeville house that it would shutter), the Rialto and here at the American Theatre.

High Point was hit hard initially by the Depression as most factory towns were. Publix cut the Broadway loose first (though it was wired for sound by next operator, Wag Theatres) but would re-acquire it in the reorganized Paramount-Kincey group. (The Broadway’s name would be changed to the Carolina Theatre in 1933.) The Orpheum was vacated quickly and later was demolished. Over at the Rialto, it began Western Electric sound presentations on October 21, 1929 with “The Man and the Moment.” The Rialto’s name was changed on April 2, 1930 to the parent company’s nameplate of the Paramount Theatre with “Tanned Legs” supported by “His Operation.”

Within a year, the Circuit decided to move the parent company Paramount Pictures Inc. name to the “A” house changing the American to the Paramount Theatre with the City’s blessing. The short-lived Paramount reverted to its previous moniker of the Rialto Theatre. In the Fall of 1933, under the Paramount Wilbey-Kincey Theater / North Carolina Theatres nameplate following Publix’s bankruptcy strategy, the Paramount venue received a $50,000 facelift to be more in line with 1930’s movie palaces. By 1934, exhibitors had returned to the Southern Furniture Exposition Building, filling all available space and showing a dramatic turnaround. The City was at 15,000 residents when the theatre was built nnow stood at 35,000 in 1935.

In 1940, the Paramount was granted a lease extension by the City of High Point. A post-War refresh took seat count down just under 1,000. Change was on the horizon with television and industry reshaping. Paramount-Kincey’s parent company, Paramount Pictures, Inc., entered into a consent decree to exit the exhibition space. Hugh Smart’s Key Theatres took on the venue following the Paramount decree and got a long-term lease extension from the City in 1956 that allowed Key to remodel the venue extensively - likely for the last time. That remodeling included the transition to widescreen technology to present CinemaScope films. On December 17, 1969, Key Theatres sold the Paramount Theatre to Martin Theatres of Georgia Circuit.

In April of 1970, Martin announced the creation of a suburban luxury venue, the Martin Twin. That would be the death knell for the Paramount Theatre as Martin announced that the Twin would replace the almost 50-year old venue. Movie theaters dotted the outskirts of High Point ending the movie palace era downtown. The Paramount Theatre closed permanently on November 19, 1970 with the film, “Soldier Blue.” The Martin Twin opened the next day.

The City of High Point put out a bid process for the next operator of the theatre just as it had done in 1923. But times had changed and there was no operator to be found and just one bidder who wanted to demolish the venue. The City had architectural plans drawn up to save the space but the costs exceeded $300,000. Thus, the venue was demolished in its 50th year of existence beginning in late June of 1973.

Virtually nothing from the Paramount Theatre was deemed worthy of salvaging. Well documented in its demolition, photos show the seats and interior design viewable - not only from inside the theatre - but from the street as the demolition process proceeded.