Joy's Twin Cinema I & II

In 1972, the latest franchisees of the Jerry Lewis Cinema circuit were Mr. and Mrs. Lester McCarter and Mr. and Mrs. Jake Ussery. They would be in the future home of the McMillan Mall in West Monroe. The Mall was going up in phases and their cinema would join anchors Beall’s, Sears and A&P Grocers. Their one-button automated projection would provide them with profits over the 25-year leasing period. As the Mall was getting closer to the opening date in early Fall of 1973, Lewis had left the Cinema circuit bearing his name. The phones to the parent company, Network Cinema Corporation, had been disconnected and the company was now in bankruptcy facing lawsuits and about to dissolve.

The McCarters and Usserys soldiered on to their ribbon cutting and opening on August 31, 1973 and September 1, 1973. They simply removed Jerry Lewis’s likeness opening not as the Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema I & II but as the truncated Twin Cinema I & II. The ribbon-cutting event featured the films “On Any Sunday” and “Stand Up and Be Counted”. The September 1, 1977 event featured “5 Fingers of Death” and “Cahill”. The McMillan Mall official grand opening date was November 1, 1973 so the operators had a third opening event. They changed the name with updated signage to the McMillan Cinema I & II. The Usserys left the operation within a year.

Phase II of the McMillan Mall would bring another anchor in G.C. Murphy’s Morgan & Lindsey store. But the McCarters would part ways selling the operation to the Joy Theatre Circuit. The theatre would relaunch under the name of Joy’s Twin Cinema I & II on July 16, 1976. Give credit to Network Cinema as the automation equipment must have still functioned given the grand re-opening showtimes of 7:39p and 9:22p for “Crazy Jack and the Boy” and 7:16p and 9:24p for “Logan’s Run”.

The McMillan Mall became the Glenwood Mall. The cinema closed. Then the Mall closed. In a $7 million refresh, the facility which once housed the Cinema became the Glenwood Medical Mall.

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