Comments from ChasSmith

Showing 1 - 25 of 236 comments

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Walter Reade Theater on Jan 15, 2022 at 2:19 pm

I’ve uploaded a street view showing the high rise the theater is in. Juilliard School is the building at far right.

Bruce C.’s photo shows the box office and entrance located on that second level.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Royal Theater on Mar 26, 2021 at 10:39 am

RIP - Larry McMurtry, 84

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about IMAX at the Maritime Aquarium on Jan 22, 2021 at 7:51 am

The Maritime Aquarium has officially announced the opening of their “sensational new 4D theater that will send the action spilling off the screen with thrill-enhancing sensory special effects!”

No thanks.

RIP, IMAX. You were loved.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Pleasant Valley Drive-In on Sep 24, 2020 at 2:42 pm

I was involved in a special live performance presentation of Stephen Sondheim’s musical “Assassins” on Sept. 23, 2020 at the Pleasant Valley Drive-In, and I’m delighted to report that it’s a lovely property. I live only an hour away and it’s an easy drive, so I’m embarrassed to admit that this was my first time there. It will certainly not be my last. I look forward to next season when you can expect to see me back as a paying customer.

My thanks to the owner for accommodating the Warner Stage Company this week, and for your care of this beautiful site.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Coast Playhouse on May 17, 2020 at 11:21 am

While searching for something unrelated, I found a couple of (very tiny) ads in the L.A. Times Calendar section over a couple of weeks in November 1973. What caught my eye was the film titles: a double feature of Ken Russell’s “The Devils” and “The Music Lovers” in the Gary I, and two other main studio releases in the Gary II.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Greenwood Features on Apr 21, 2020 at 10:15 am

Yes, it’s a dark day here in Western Connecticut.

We can only be hopeful that some buyer who wants to run a quality movie theater will come along before it’s too late.

Thank you, Bethel Cinema, for a wonderful run.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Severance Theatre on Mar 12, 2020 at 10:32 am

I’m betting it did, since they had both “Funny Girl” and “Hello, Dolly” in extended runs in 1968 & 1969, and those were likely roadshow engagements. Someone else will have the definitive answer, but to my memory, this was a high profile theater in those first years, and it’s hard to imagine they weren’t 70mm.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Bedford Playhouse on Jun 16, 2018 at 5:21 am

Bedford Playhouse is OPEN.

https://bedfordplayhouse.org/

It’s been beautifully restored (some parts are still being completed) and the main auditorium is presenting movies in state-of-the-art fashion. There will be much more to say about this as time goes on, but if you are in the area…GO.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Neptune Drive-In on Aug 3, 2017 at 8:33 am

In 2017 this is still the Daytona Drive-In Christian Church. An August 1, 2017 article in the NY Times includes a short but nicely shot and edited video documentary. If this link doesn’t work, go to the Times site and search on “Drive-In Jesus”.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/01/opinion/drive-in-church-florida.html

On both Google and Bing Maps, the property is fully recognizable as a former drive-in, with concessions building and many of the speaker poles still remaining.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Hologram USA Hollywood Theater on Apr 28, 2017 at 9:08 am

I lived in Hollywood, and then nearby, from 1972 to 1982, and I’m pretty sure it played there (along with “The Devil in Miss Jones”) pretty much throughout those years.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Plantation Theatre on Mar 26, 2017 at 3:49 pm

Thank you for these, rivest266!

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Cleveland, OH - With demolition permit, it looks like curtains for long-vacant Center Mayfield Theatre on Jan 28, 2017 at 8:11 am

Sad news. The Center Mayfield was one of my primary theaters in my movie-going college days back in the early 1970s.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Continental Art Theatre on Mar 10, 2016 at 6:40 pm

jsomich on January 10, 2005 …..

The Continental was where manager Nico Jacobellis got in big trouble for showing the “dirty” movie, I Am Curious Yellow.

Thanks, that confirms something for me. I was living on Euclid near Eddy Rd. when I turned 21, and one of the first things I did was go down the street there to see “I Am Curious Yellow”. I’d bet this is also the place that ran “The Lickerish Quartet” around that time.

I think they also ran second-run mainstream films, as I recall seeing “The Birds” there.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Judge issues order putting Chautauqua Amphitheater demolition on hold on Jan 30, 2016 at 7:04 am

An issue worthy of attention, to be sure. But nothing at all to do with CINEMA, past or present.

This blog is SO in need of some guidance and oversight.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about It’s Fade to Black for Midtown’s Iconic Ziegfeld Movie Theater on Jan 22, 2016 at 10:20 pm

Sickening. Heartbreaking.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Lauderdale Drive-In on Jan 18, 2016 at 12:39 pm

Thank you! Would love to know the approximate time frame of the two sales, or at least the first one which you said was during your high school years.

Just looked back at my earlier comments and can’t believe I wrote northwest corner! It was the northeast. I have a topo map around here somewhere…

We lived just south of Davie Blvd. (I went to Stranahan), and the Lauderdale and Davie Blvd. drive-ins were our most frequented throughout the early and mid-1960s. Many wonderful memories of that time.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Theatre Gems: Great News From Classic Cinemas! on Nov 10, 2015 at 12:16 pm

I was about to comment on that as well. It’s a big country. I wish theater locations would be identified right at the top of any article.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Hunt's Cinestage Theatre on Sep 29, 2015 at 9:07 pm

I appreciate that info! It’s very helpful and means a lot. Thank you!

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Southington Drive-In on Jul 19, 2015 at 8:26 pm

Can someone who’s attended in the last couple of years provide some information on how they actually project movies? I hope “badly lit DVDs onto a dilapidated screen” is hyperbole, or at least an outdated description. How well or badly is the feature projected? How’s the sound? Are there concessions, and how are they?

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Valley Guild Theatre on Jul 13, 2015 at 9:51 am

Just caught a quick passing shot of this in one of the first season episodes of ADAM-12, with “Reflections in a Golden Eye” showing on the marquee. I think there was a Bob’s Big Boy across the street.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Backstage at Atlanta's Fox Theatre on Jun 9, 2015 at 11:25 am

Beautiful stuff. Keep it coming!

Love the floor plan, too. Always wish there were more of those around.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about News From Loews Jersey City on Jun 4, 2015 at 9:20 pm

Keep fighting the good fight, people.

BTW, anyone who hasn’t yet visited the Loews and walked through its magnificent spaces is really missing something.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Lauderdale Drive-In on May 6, 2015 at 7:24 am

Also, unfortunately, the status should be “demolished”.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Lauderdale Drive-In on May 6, 2015 at 7:22 am

BTW, the drive-in was in the northwest corner of West Broward Blvd. and 27th Avenue — not Wingate Road.

ChasSmith
ChasSmith commented about Lauderdale Drive-In on May 6, 2015 at 7:17 am

My family regularly attended the Lauderdale Drive-In during the early 1960s, and it just happens that our church held early Sunday morning services there. I’ve just uploaded four pages of a 1963 tenth-anniversary program commemorating those services.

Naturally, I wish there were more pictures of the drive-in itself, but the last of the four pages does show a portion of the concession stand!

For anyone who might be interested, the complete program is posted at http://goo.gl/ZTZHm4