AMC Esquire 7

Once operated by Ansell Bros Theatres, later by Mid-America Theaters and then by RKO in April 1984 before AMC took over in December 1985.

Made it back here for the first time in 20 years during Thanksgiving 2022. It was an immense joy to be back in the theatre that helped to spark my lifetime love for cinema.

The decreases in seating capacity actually help to enhance the film experience here. They’ve brought the box office indoors which leads to a super cramped lobby and concession area. But the presentation was excellent. And I love what they’ve done to the original auditorium. Also interspersed throughout the theater are photos commemorating its various incarnations - as original single screen house, to the old #4 addition in the mid 1970’s and beyond.

Huge photo dump added! Enjoy!

November 8, 1939 grand opening ad in photo section. It was the Theatre of Tomorrow.

Oceantracks, The Exorcist played at the Brentwood, not the Esquire on its opening. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/4398979/the_exorcist/

That would make a total of 796 seats for the whole complex. That’s quite a drop from 2,202.

Exhibitors have gotten themselves into a situation where they have to re-seat their theaters with bigger seats because they’ve made their customers' butts enormous by peddling those giant tubs of greased popcorn.

Seating capacity of the Esquire has been drastically reduced by the renovation. Photo captions in the article JAlex linked to says that the big, main screen auditorium now has 270 seats, there are four auditoriums with 100 seats each, and a screening room with 63 seats. The capacity of the seventh auditorium is not given, but as it has to be less than 270 the total capacity of the house now must be less than 1,000, and less than 900 if the seventh auditorium is small enough.

Take tons of pics & post ‘em when they reopen! God only knows when I’ll get back home to see the redo for myself!

The Esquire is actually located in Richmond Heights. Jerry Alexander, do you know anything about the Gaslight Square Cinema, from what I found it was located at Olive and Boyle which was the Gaslight Square area, in the what late 1950’s or early 1960’s. My best friends father had a few notes on the Cinema but sketchy.

Not gone but it Lou’s like everything that was original is gone. I feel your pain. Most of the paces that I went to…. All those concerts at the Arena and Kiel Auditorium, movies at The Varsity, Shady Oaks, the Granada, the TransLux, even the theaters at the malls are gone and so are the Malls… Northwest Plaza is almost completely gone.

Chris, have you driven by there in the last few days? It looks like it’s closed for demolition. The long glass panels are broken out, the “Esquire” letters on the marquee are gone,the marquee is pretty much trashed, and if you look inside there interior has been completely gutted and there are a number of dumpsters. It’s a pity that it suffered that horrible pseudo postmodern renovation that obliterated much, but not all of the original Art Decó façade and interior, but it looks like all original remnants have now been destroyed. It is nfortunate that the last if the Art Decó theaters in the city has been treated this way. A beautiful renovation and modernization of an old theater is The Tivoli on Delmar. Though they changed it from one big screen to three smaller ones, the original decor was lovingly preserved and the. we was beautifully integrated. I fear that the Esquire not be so lucky. I’m pretty sick of the disdain this city shows towards it’s architecture.

Should’ve left it with one big screen like it was originally designed. I remember seeing Blazing Saddles upstairs in one of the little shoebox rooms in 1974. Never went back.

I’ll lead off by saying it was a MAJOR crime to not show “Jedi” at Creve Coeur or Mark Twain! Anyway, the Esquire was definitely a mixed bag.

In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the main auditorium was notable for its 70mm and 6-track Dolby Stereo capabilities, best used for films like “Blade Runner” and “Aliens.” The original fourth auditorium was one of Mid-America’s usual utilitarian screens. Nothing special, just reasonably sized. Saw movies like “Predator” there. My memory was that it had a separate entrance, box office and concession. You entered on the east side, as opposed to the other three screen’s north entrance.

Best not to speak of the impossibly awful two upstairs screens. Don’t get me started! Mid-America was advertising that “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” was being shown at the Esquire on the “largest screen in the city.” When my mom and I got there for a matinee, it was instead showing in one of the tiny shoebox-sized upstairs screens. That memory still gets on my nerves!

The newer four screens are along Mid-America’s amazingly unremarkable blueprint: unappealing and nondescript. I saw movies in those four auditoriums, but definitely never wanted to. Bad in the way the Woods Mill was.

The Esquire’s updating of the main auditorium around 1989 did go well, however, and had good projection and sound.

I remember standing in line in what liked seemed forever with my parents to see Return of the Jedi here. Also remember skipping school to see Young Guns II here as well. Great memories for me.