Comments from philbertgray

Showing 1 - 25 of 82 comments

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Remembering Cinerama (Part 44: Sacramento) on Dec 16, 2009 at 1:17 pm

A quick FYI about the Esquire theatre. The theatre in Sacramento was twinned sometime in the 80s. After a few years it was gutted and the building converted to offices. The facade and marque were kept intact. In early 2000 the the theatre auditorium was demolished and replaced with an Imax auditorium. The builders retained the original facade along with the original Esquire sign. The Imax auditorium is huge and almost overwhelms the original facade and sign. Sacramento has restored the Crest Theatre which is a few blocks down from the Esquire.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Conway Theater on Nov 13, 2009 at 1:25 pm

Several shots of the exterior of the Conway Theatre can been seen in the film “September 30th, 1955” The exterior is used as the backdrop over the closing titles in the film. Pity it’s gone now, but since the motto for Arkansas is “four tooth minimum” it doesn’t surprise me.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Historic Park Theatre on Oct 19, 2009 at 9:12 pm

This was destroyed by fire today. It was apparently a complete loss

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Victory Theatre on Oct 9, 2009 at 1:47 pm

An interior shot of the auditorium can be found here while the article remains on the internet. It will take a lot of work to bring this theatre back from the looks of it.
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Click on photo to enlarge it.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Ocean Theatre on Aug 13, 2009 at 4:25 pm

A color photo of The Ocean Theatre’s marquee in 1971

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Hunter Theatre on Aug 13, 2009 at 4:02 pm

Here is a postcard that includes the marquee for The Hunter theatre. The bank in the background is The Nevada Bank. I think it might be a valid assumption that this is the Hunter theatre in Elko.

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about 4th Avenue Theatre on Jul 12, 2009 at 12:57 pm

This article from June 15th 2009 doesn’t bode well for the theatre. It may well be lost or significantly altered. The owner has not cooperated in efforts to save and restore the theatre.

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Rialto Theater on Jul 12, 2009 at 12:29 pm

A photo of the World Premiere of Red River in Denison in 1948

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Pussycat Guild Theatre on Jul 12, 2009 at 12:24 pm

Here is an ad for The Guild Theatre and Centre Theatres on Market Street from 1945. At the time the Theatres were called The Studio and The Roundup and showed western films exclusively.

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Preservationists win partial victory in battle to save Metro Theater on Jul 4, 2009 at 12:53 pm

Save a portion of the auditorium? This is like saving a portion of the Mona Lisa. San Francisco is proving once again that it places no value on the history of this once unique city. The so called preservation law is laughable. In essence it states a building’s facade may be considered historical but the interior has no value. At this rate San Francisco will look more like Los Angeles than Los Angeles before long. At the very least this is a shameful decision by a group of merchants on pissy Union Street who value nothing more than the almighty dollar. Shame on them as well as the nutless board of supervisors who let commerce slash through and destroy what few remnants of the past remain.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Jose Theatre on May 9, 2009 at 12:50 pm

A photo of the theatre can be seen here:

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about West Side Theatre on May 9, 2009 at 12:36 pm

A photo of the current interior can be seen here:

http://www.westsidetheatre.org/inside.html

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Ideal Theatre. on May 7, 2009 at 8:03 pm

Here is a brief excerpt of an article on the history of Corsicana Theaters published by The Navarro County Historical Society in 1971

By 1912, Max Levine was ready to build a new theater. His Cozy Theater only had a seating capacity of 200, and when it was completed his Ideal Theater seated 500. On April 6, 1912, he purchased the property on which to build the new plant for $3,140, and the Ideal Theater opened its doors at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 13, 1913.

The theater boasted an orchestration as big as any church organ in town, and it also had a player piano equivalent to a ten-piece orchestra. John Remonte rigged an electric clock to operate a synchronized arrow outside the theater to indicate the point to which the program had progressed. Louis Levy was also one of the theater’s projectionists.

In July 1917, Levine hired architect M. T. Horn and J. E. Metcalf, contractor, to remodel the theater and add a roof garden at a cost of something over $29,000.

It was at this point, the beginning of a new era, that Lancaster chose to end his story. The Ideal Theater, now under condemnation, was the scene in his boyhood of many happy hours watching the adventures of Johnny Mack Brown and Randolph Scott.

A link to the complete article is at

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Parkway Theatre on May 7, 2009 at 6:52 pm

The city of Baltimore is once again hoping to renovate the Parkway Theatre as a performance venue to help revitalize the downtown section north of Pennsylvania Station. In combination with two other buildings in the immediate area the total cost of the project is estimated at $1 billion dollars.

The city is discouraging proposals that rely on public funding.

The below article about the project appeared in The Baltimore sun Website on May 7 2009

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Times Theatre on May 7, 2009 at 1:24 pm

The Times restrooms were to the left and right of the screen at the back of the theatre. Each was accessed by a four or five step stairway. I loved the times for the diversity and price but it was always so bizarre to exit the bathroom and face everyone in the auditorium staring at you as you came down the stairs. I really hated it when the times closed. The Times and the Powell were the best bargains in town for reruns and older films.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Fox West Coast State Theatre on May 7, 2009 at 12:20 pm

The following photo lists this theatre as the showcase. It may have been the State.

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Fabulous Fox Oakland to reopen February 5, 2009 on Dec 25, 2008 at 7:12 pm

Hey Jakeboy, thanks for the correction. Guess I’m having flashbacks to the 70s when I thought head bands and tie dyed tea shirts were cool!!!!!

philbert

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about The Movies reopens on Dec 21, 2008 at 3:04 am

A little trivia for film fans, Andy Devine was born in Kingman. The hotel where he grew up is still there, including the staircase where he fell and drove a stick into his throat that caused that raspy sort of voice he has.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Fox Oakland Theater on Dec 20, 2008 at 4:20 pm

The restored Fox Oakland reopens 2/5/2009. It has been leased by Bill Graham productions for a year and will serve as a venue for live productions only. No plans for any use involved with films.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Rodeo City Music Hall on Dec 4, 2008 at 7:54 am

I occasionally went to this theatre in the early 1960s. It was pretty much a rat hole back then. The downtown area was mainly a bunch of closed stores and the area was really run down. It cost 50 cents to see a second run movie.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Remembering Cinerama Part IV on Sep 30, 2008 at 10:20 am

I saw a “special presentation” of “Thrillarama” in 1956 at the Tyler Theatre in Tyler Texas. It was a poor man’s version of Cinerama with a specially installed portable curved widescreen. It utilized the existing two 35 mm cameras instead of the three required to be installed for Cinerama. There was a visible join line down the middle of the presentation where the projection of both cameras running at once met.

After a scant few presentations the film disappeared. It most likely would have never played in Tyler except one of the sequences was a performance of the “Apache Belles”, an all girl sports support precision group that performed at sports functions representing Tyler, Tx. More info can be found about Thrillarama at the below webwsite

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philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Remembering Cinerama Part III on Sep 20, 2008 at 9:14 pm

Here are some Cinerama related photos at The Orpheum in Cinerama

Cinerama sign being delivered to Orpheum View link

Auditorium of Orpheum being readied for Cinerama curved screen View link

Cinerama screen being installed in auditorium of Orpheum View link

Cinerama marquee at Orpheum during showing of (one strip) It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad World View link

All photos from San Francisco Public Library on line photograph collection

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Woodstock Theatre on Sep 17, 2008 at 4:29 pm

The Woodstock Theatre can be seen in the 1993 film “Groundhog Day” with Bill Murray. The theatre name was changed to The Alpine for the film.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Liberty Hall on Sep 17, 2008 at 1:55 pm

The photos in the above comment section were taken inside the Liberty Theater in 2004.

philbertgray
philbertgray commented about Liberty Hall on Sep 17, 2008 at 1:06 pm

Several interior Views of the Liberty Theater posted on My Space. The proscenium looks intact but the rest of the theater appears to be a mess as far as structure. Could not connect the pictures with a date. There are two pages worth. Click on each picture to enlarge.

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