Town & Country Cinema
3955 E. Broad Street,
Columbus,
OH
43213
3955 E. Broad Street,
Columbus,
OH
43213
2 people
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This reopened with two screens on May 20th, 1977. Grand opening ad posted.
This opened on September 21st, 1966. Grand opening ad posted.
Hmmm I thought I saw SUPERMAN at Cinema East, but maybe it was at Town & Country. I know I saw PORKY’S (1982) at T&C. My friends saw it before me because they were either 17 or said they were and I said “I’m 16”…so I waited in the lobby and then we all went back thru the line and this time I said I’m 17 and we all saw PORKY’S. As a kid I saw Disney’s SLEEPING BEAUTY on re-release there as well.
I remember those ‘early bird" 50 cent matinees. I saw a fair number of movies there including Torn Curtain, Penelope, Hombre, Glen Ford in Rage, The Stalking Moon etc. I always liked the theatre but Jlgreenlee ’s comment about the Cinema East is true, that was a classy place – I belive it opened with a roadshow of Lord Jim, but I remember seeing a wide range of films there from Caprice to a sneak preview of Viva Maria! .
Opened 9/21/1966 with TORN CURTAIN. Matinee seats $.50.
T&C Cinema, wow, this sight is really bringing back memories, cant imagine movie complexes being in the areas that they were like this one. Don’t really remember what movies I saw here, but did see a few. Lived on far east side of Columbus, and frequently Whitehall for grocery shopping, movies, drive in, Massey’s Pizza etc. from late 60s through my formative years.
I worked at Cinema East, just down the street, while my brother worked at Town & Country. He and his friends used to collect large popcorn buckets and even soda cups after the features, and then resell them while pocketing the money. Eww. Anyway, seeing a movie at Cinema East was always a better experience, since it had a single, large screen (and balcony).
I know I saw Superman and Superman II at Town & Country. It’s true, there was nothing remarkable about the place, and it won’t be missed.
Also, the street address was 100 Robinwood Avenue in Whitehall.
The Cinema Grill was still operating here on January 1 and 2, 1994, when the Dispatch says it showed matinees of a G-rated animated film called “We’re Back! A Dinosaur’s Story”.
I looked this theatre up in the Columbus Dispatch (Dispatch.com) online archive. Although I could only read the first few sentences of each article without paying, I did learn the following facts:
The theatre closed as a General Cinema on Thursday, September 25, 1986. Acccording to a Dispatch article published the previous day, “General Cinema Corp., which has run the East Side twin-screen theater since its opening in 1966, had no intentions of closing the theater, which was doing well, said Hubert Bourne, General Cinema’s district manager.” Perhaps someone can look up the full text of this article and find out why it actually closed.
In March of 1989, a stage company called Columbus National Theatre signed a lease to convert this cinema into a three-stage complex. They were supposed to open their first season the following July, but ran into problems with building inspectors. It’s not clear whether they ever in fact occupied this building.
In July 1991, the Whitehall City Council turned down a proposal by Columbus Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse to reopen the venue as a second-run cinema serving beer and wine. Later that month, the Ohio Supreme Court somehow overruled the city council, so Cinema ‘n’ Drafthouse proceeded with their plans.
This cinema was at the intersection of East Broad Street and Robinwood Avenue, on the south side of Broad Street.
A few blocks further east, also on the south side of Broad, was the Cinema East. Its address was 4177 East Broad Street in Whitehall. It was a large first-run single-screen theatre, probably built in the early to mid 1960s.
According to my parents, a Target store will soon be built on this site.
Although this was called the Town & Country Cinema, it was located on the south side of East Broad Street while the Town & Country shopping center itself was on the north side. Both the cinema and the shopping center were within the suburb of Whitehall (not Bexley).
The shopping center still exists, but it’s a shadow of its former self. It’s a very long strip center which predated enclosed malls.
A typical bland GCC house of the late ‘60’s. It did have the blue shadowbox screen, but that was the only distinctive thing. Was twinned, as stated, with a wall down the middle. Dolby was never installed here…only mono sound.
Yes, that’s true the Columbus GCC theaters were all alike. They were nice enough until they were twinned. They are all closed or razed now, I believe. I used to go to the Olentangy location quite a bit in the 70’s-80’s. Now there’s a restaurant there. Sad.
I don’t have the exact street address, but it was in the Bexley/Whitehall neighborhood of Eastern Columbus on Broad Street, near a shopping center also called Town & Country.
It’s last attempt at operation was in the mid-90’s, when the Cinema'n'Drafthouse chain remodeled and reopened it as a second-run movie restaurant. It closed in six months.
All GCC theatres in the Columbus area were essentially of the same vintage with the exception of the University Flick Cinema. All had the feature of being originally single screens that were twinned right down the middle (and the seats weren’t realigned ).
A generic blue shadowbox GCC theatre. Twinned later in life. Nothing special.
Operated as a Sub-run Cinema/Grill after being twinned for a short time. Razed in the early 90’s.