Heights Theatre
3951 Central Avenue NE,
Columbia Heights,
MN
55421
3951 Central Avenue NE,
Columbia Heights,
MN
55421
12 people
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Projection is in a variety of formats. 35mm reel-to-reel, 70mm, and digital.
70mm is coming back to the Heights. They will be presenting “West Side Story” in 70mm on 22 Sept at 7:30.
West Side Story must have done well. I was there on Monday or Tuesday and good crowd. The print was super. Minneapolis is so lucky to have the Heights.
Oh and West Side Story did well. That was really a fun show.
Tom and Dave bought the theater in 1998, NOT 1988 as it says above, and they seat just under 400, about 395 or so. Trust me. I work there.
Oooh! I’m excited for you guys!! Wish I could be there to see “West Side Story”, since that’s my alltime favorite film! Anyway-it’s a great-looking theate, the Heights. Enjoy!!
Kirk: Let us know how WSS went!
“West Side Story” is screening here for a week. A new print is promised.
The Heights is in a class all by itself. Not only first run shows, but FUN showings as well. In the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the original Planet of the Apes, Lawrence of Arabia, and the Wizard of Oz there. And Jerry Marien (the lollypop munchkin) was in attendance for that showing, and at 88 years young, it was wonderful to meet him in person. Thank you Heights!
From The Minnesota Daily:
October 31, 2001
Pick of the Week
War & Peace. The Heights Theater, 3951 Central Ave., NE, Mpls. Shows in two parts: Part I at 7 p.m. Thursday and Part II at 7 p.m. Friday. Then the whole enchilada will be shown on Saturday starting at 2:30 p.m. with a Russian-catered dinner break. $10 (valid for any screening). (783) 788-9079. “Holy Glasnost Batman, it’s the original 1968 print of War and Peace!” That’s right Robin and gang, War and Peace, the epic, cinematic, retelling of Tolstoy’s novel is back. The non-Audrey Hepburn version won the 1968 Best Foreign Language Oscar along with the hearts of critics and bourgeious alike. (In Russian with English subtitles, this baby has enough Pravda in it to kill a yak.) This version is a rare, highly sought 70mm print and thus deserves the last remaining 70mm screen in the cities, The Heights Theatre. Many film lovers agree that this is the best substitute for not reading the book, because director Sergei Bondarchuk faithfully follows Tolstoy’s story of love, life and death in Napoleonic Europe. This whale of a film is six hours long so you can either catch it in installments on Thursday and Friday night, or buckle up for the 2:30-10:00 thrill ride on Saturday (you’ll be given a 90-minute break to grab your sanity and some dinner). November 1-3.
-Sean McGrath
The Heights has a very cozy and unique auditorium, and the lobby is decorated with very neat nostalgia. I like to go to movies here not only because of the splendidness of the theater, but because it seems its owners really care about the place. The theater continues to look better and better. I would like to see more of a main street feel take shape around the building, however, as it feels a little out of place right now given it is practically the only building on that side of the road (most everything else is set back so far from Central Avenue that there is no streetscape) The Heights with a revamped Central Avenue would definetly be a Grand site.
Here is the 1933 photo mentioned above:
http://tinyurl.com/gvb89
The Heights has an amazing history of getting the absolute best prints of older, classic films. The absolute, by far single best presentation of any film I’ve ever seen was “Oklahoma” at the Heights about three years ago, in its original Todd-A-O format. I am not kidding, it looked infinitely better than any DVD I’ve ever seen, and was so fresh and immediate you could almost forget you were watching a film and not actors on the stage! And the SECOND best presentation also happened to be at the Heights: “Singin' In The Rain” about two years ago. These are people who clearly care about the quality of what they’re showing to their customers.;
This is one of the last Twin Cities' theaters to run changeover projection. They use three Norelco AAII projectors and have a full Dolby CP200 Sound System. The booth is capable of both manual and automated changeovers. Within the last few years they ran a 70mm Russian print of War and Peace, totalling 28 reels!
I pass this theatre every day to work ( I live a mile away) and it has been wonderful to see it transform from an ugly green/teal duckling to a beautiful building. If I am not mistaken, the owners own the diary queen next to it and they have built a courtyard in between the two buildings and you can use the side exit of the theatre and go right into the courtyard and have ice cream right after your movie. A very “cool” idea!
A better 1933 picture-
View link
I’m fortunate that this theatre is in my neighborhood, so I’ve been happy to watch its restoration under the current owners. It’s just plain fun to see a movie here. The live organist is great, and they do other neat stuff before the movie. Sometimes they show WWII-era news reels, B&W Mickey Mouse cartoons, etc.