Martin Cinerama
4218 Lindell Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63108
4218 Lindell Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63108
3 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Martin Theatres, Trans-Lux Movies Corp.
Firms: Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild & Paschel
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Trans-Lux Cinerama
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Apr 1, 2013 — "2001: A Space Odyssey" 45th Anniversary – The Cinerama Engagements
- Aug 14, 2009 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 38: St. Louis)
The Martin Cinerama, the first theatre built in St. Louis since the Fox Theatre in 1928, opened January 10, 1963 with Laurence Harvey in “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” as part of a chain of Martin Theatres of Georgia.
It claimed to have the world’s largest indoor screen, which measured 100 feet on a curve. The two story building attempted to be a “modern movie palace”. The entire theatre was dressed in all burnt orange with gold trim. It was carpeted wall to wall, with the seats even set on carpet.
Opened as a Cinerama format theatre, with the original three projector equipment and later 70mm. It was an established road show house until its last few years of operation.
The theatre seated 1,120 total between the two floors. Trans Lux Theatres took over operation of the theatre in 1968 and the last 3-strip Cinerama film to be screened was a re-issue of “The Is Cinerama” in June 1973. It was still capable of screening 70mm films and was closed in 1988. It was demolished in 1997.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 23 comments)
Yes,Plez do if you can.Movie ads anything we eat them up.
Martin Theaters of Georgia, Inc. & Martin Theaters of Alabama, Inc. in the Martin Bldg., Columbus, Ga., Roy E. Martin Jr. Chairman of the Board had 159 theaters in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Martin CINERAMA, New Orleans, Louisiana, Martin CINERAMA, St. Louis, Missouri, Tennessee, Virginia and Seattle, Martin CINERAMA, Seattle, Washington.
I have pictures of the theatre on my web site.
http://incinerama.com/ctmartinstl.htm
The J. Evan Miller collection of Cinerama Theater Plans lists the Martin Cinerama Theatre in St. Louis as having been designed by the architectural firm of Finch, Alexander, Barnes, Rothschild, & Paschal.
January 10th,1963 grand opening ad in photo section.
New Showcase Presentations in St. Louis article includes mention of the Cinerama and 70mm engagements here (and other St. Louis area cinemas).
The Martin Cinerama in St. Louis was an identical twin to the Martin Cinerama in New Orleans. Both are gone now.
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Cinerama’s lengthy run is mentioned in the piece.
MSC77 Fiddler opened June 27th at the Virginia Theater in Atlantic City NJ.It was Reserved performances. Can you add the above information to that page too.
Mikeoaklandpark: I can add the Atlantic City detail if it was a reserved seat run. I would prefer not to add it, however, if it was a reserved performance since the focus of my article’s Roadshow Engagements segment was specifically on the film’s reserved-seat bookings (i.e. phase one of its release cycle). Reserved performances (i.e. modified roadshow) were phase two.