Graceland Twin Cinema

I discovered the Graceland Twin Cinemas in the mid-1970s, and it quickly became one of my favorite venues to see a movie. I would drive all the way to Columbus specially to go to the Graceland Twin Cinemas. The attraction was not only the $1.00 admission, but the fact that, unlike most multiplexes, the Graceland had screens that were wide enough to fully show anamorphic widescreen prints. I remember Disney’s “The Black Hole,” despite its faults, being an absolutely gorgeous film to watch on the full wide screen at the Graceland. Their screens were an obvious advantage to the showings of many other films including “The Untouchables,” ”The Thing” and “Scarface.” The short-lived 3D revival in the early 1980s gave the Graceland the opportunity to show their technical expertise. A showing of “Fantastic Invasion of Planet Earth” (an edited version of a film originally titled “The Bubble”) contained a floating tray sequence that actually made it look as if the tray was only three feet away from your face. To this day it remains the finest 3D effect I have experienced in a movie. The technical quality of the presentations was superior to that found in the more expensive first-run houses. There were obviously fully qualified projectionists in the booth. And after the movie, I would go across High Street to the Krispy Kreme and get a donut that was so fresh that it was still warm and squishy!

The Seasonal Concepts is NOT the location of the theatre. The Graceland Cinema building was demolished and was west of the Seasonal Concepts store.

Theatre opened on Wednesday, February 28, 1973. First features were THE GREAT WALTZ and 1776. It was the last of the Jerry Lewis Theatres to open in the Columbus area.

Columbia 1 and 2 in what city?

We now have a page for the York Plaza.

The Graceland started out as a Jerry Lewis cinema in the ‘70’s; the chain had another location in Columbus, a single screen called the York Plaza. When the Lewis chain went under they were picked up by Nicholas Circone and Marvin Goldfarb, who also dabbled in hotel/motel movie distribution, the ancestry to the “Spectravision” services that are common today. It was widely held that since Graceland had the longest continuous run of ROCKY HORROR since the film’s opening, it would stand to reason that it opened at Graceland during their stewardship.
Bob and Belinda Judson took over both theatres in the '80’s, along with the Grandview theatre, and operated them as second run houses. When they had a dispute with the property owners of Graceland Shopping Center, they closed the theatre and briefly attempted to set up ROCKY HORROR at the York Plaza, but that folded after a couple weeks. The Judsons eventually left theatre operation, and Belinda is now an Executive Director of the Mid-States branch of National American Theater Operators.
Glenn Ackerman, creator of the Raintree Cinemas and later the Flickers cinema/restaurant chain, took over operation of the Graceland Twin and returned ROCKY HORROR to regular play. Eventually, however, Ackerman would close all of his locations and the Graceland went dark for good in the late '90’s.