According to this article, a Centre Theater at 111 South Bickford sustained some wind damage on April 29, 2010. Is this same theater as the El Caro which the above comment places at 111 North Bickford? View link
A rather awkward name for a theater though; one would think that, at a minimum, something simple such as Highway 90 Cinemas would be less clumsy.
Before UA’s bankruptcy and merger into the Regal chain, the chain, unlike many others, did not always use United Artists or UA to identify its theaters either in directory ads or as a part of a theater’s signage, though the name would appear on door decals, the pre-show filmed segments, etc. A significant number of theaters that the UA circuit opened in the 1970s were simply known as “The Movies at ______”
tlsloews: I did find some additional information about this; you can email me at golgafrinchan48 at att dot net. This discussion is, as you noted, not really on topic.
Just a little from some books I have read; my understanding is that after Marcus Loew died, William Fox wanted to buy Loew’s and the deal was actually announced. But Louis B. Mayer opposed it (remember that at that time Loew’s controlled MGM), and used his influence to press for an anti-trust investigation. Then Fox was injured in an automobile accident, the stock market crashed in 1929, Fox lost control of his holdings, and the deal came to nothing.
Actually, that’s a rather simplified version of the story! The whole version would fill books (and has). UPC originally was a maze of sub-companies because the Paramount-owned theaters were operated through a bunch of subsidiaries including former independent circuits such as Balaban & Katz, United Detroit Theaters, etc. In addition, the UPC-ABC merger had a rough time in the courts before it was approved.
One has to feel sorry for the good folks of Orlando; although undoubtedly some of them saw Cinerama features in other cities, the uninitiated there only got the 70mm version and, with the exception of “2001” and possibly “Khartoum,” got only a few of the weakest of the films in that format. I am sure a lot of people left the Beacham shaking their heads muttering something like, “What’s the big deal with this Cinerama thing?”
d.qualley: Yes, for awhile, the ABC Broadcasting Companies did operate theaters. The story is rooted in the aftermath of the 1949 Paramount Consent Decree and the early struggles of ABC to gain a secure foothold in television in the early 1950s. A company called United Paramount Theaters (UPC) was formed to manage the former Paramount-owned theaters. UPC then acquired ABC, which was having difficulty in firmly establishing its TV network. UPC saw possibilities in the company, renaming UPC as American Broadcasting Company-Paramount Theaters, Inc. This was later shortened to the American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. In the 1970s, the Midwestern group of theaters was sold to a new company headed by Henry Plitt, who had been an executive within the ABC theaters division. About a decade later, Plitt sold the Midwestern group of theaters (which, at least at one time would have included the Brookdale) to Cineplex-Odeon (which in turn was acquired by Sony/Loew’s, which in turn became part of AMC; in the process a number of theaters were closed or sold to other operators). All of this occurred well before the Disney acquisition of ABC or the more recent Paramount TV network.
From an architectural/acoustical point of view, the Hippodrome might well have made a great opera house, but Cleveland (though home to a renowned symphony orchestra) has never really had the same or even a similar opera history as other cities of its size and potential resources. Caruso did appear at the Hippodrome in 1911 during one of the NYC Metropolitan touring performances; the Met also played the Hippodrome the following year.
Historically, Cleveland opera lovers have more or less counted on touring opera companies over the decades, especially the Met, which had a regular run for many years at Public Hall. Since the rebirth of Playhouse Square, a local company has played at the State. But during the time when the Hipp might have been available or ripe for opera house conversion, there really was no local company that would have been able to really make use of it as gargantuan as it was or raise the funds necessary to make it a true opera house.
There may be more going on here than the article reports; first Furlinger sells the Terrace; now, according to this article, the Hippodrome (a former traditional IMAX theater) is not doing well: http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0410/727713.html
No, the theater shows films of all ratings (except perhaps NC-17). It is a very well-appointed, comfortable modern multiplex, and the little museum area devoted to Mary Pickford and her husband, Charles “Buddy” Rogers is a unique touch. (I have always thought it a bit odd though that Mary Pickford, though known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was Canadian by birth).
There would not be the loss of a climatic build to a movie’s climax if the intermission was built into the film’s construction from the outset, as it was during the days of the great roadshow presentations. Directors of films such as “2001,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben-Hur,” “Cleopatra,” etc., understood that epic, extended-length films needed an Act I – Act II structure; in fact, in the grand old roadshow day,s one could often anticipate that the intermission was nigh by a couple of indicators, such as the swelling of the musical score, a pullback camera shot, or even sometimes something obvious, such as the chorus on the soundtrack of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, World” singing, “Now step into the lobby/for whatever/is your hobby…”. If directors such as Cameron, and Jackson and others want their films described as “epic"they should learn a lesson from the golden age of the epic film. An intermission should not simply mean just stopping the film for fifteen or twenty minutes.
According to this article about a new art cinema soon to open in Austin, Landmark will no longer be managing the Dobie in the fall of 2010 and that mall management is looking for a new operator for the theater: View link
This theater suffered wind damage on April 29, 2010; article with picture here: View link
According to this article, a Centre Theater at 111 South Bickford sustained some wind damage on April 29, 2010. Is this same theater as the El Caro which the above comment places at 111 North Bickford? View link
The new owners want to add Bollywood fare and change the refreshment stand offerings: View link
A rather awkward name for a theater though; one would think that, at a minimum, something simple such as Highway 90 Cinemas would be less clumsy.
Before UA’s bankruptcy and merger into the Regal chain, the chain, unlike many others, did not always use United Artists or UA to identify its theaters either in directory ads or as a part of a theater’s signage, though the name would appear on door decals, the pre-show filmed segments, etc. A significant number of theaters that the UA circuit opened in the 1970s were simply known as “The Movies at ______”
If $25 million sounds expensive, it was not that long ago that they were saying $40 million.
This theater may re-open if grant funds become available; story here: View link
An article about the theater’s plans for 3-D projection and other upgrades: http://www.ktuu.com/Global/story.asp?S=12372960
When I read the line referred to above, I hear an echo of Lowell Thomas saying, “Ladies and gentlemen: This is Cinerama!”
An article about an attempt to turn this theater into a performing arts center by two people with an apparently dubious track record: View link
tlsloews: I did find some additional information about this; you can email me at golgafrinchan48 at att dot net. This discussion is, as you noted, not really on topic.
Just a little from some books I have read; my understanding is that after Marcus Loew died, William Fox wanted to buy Loew’s and the deal was actually announced. But Louis B. Mayer opposed it (remember that at that time Loew’s controlled MGM), and used his influence to press for an anti-trust investigation. Then Fox was injured in an automobile accident, the stock market crashed in 1929, Fox lost control of his holdings, and the deal came to nothing.
Actually, that’s a rather simplified version of the story! The whole version would fill books (and has). UPC originally was a maze of sub-companies because the Paramount-owned theaters were operated through a bunch of subsidiaries including former independent circuits such as Balaban & Katz, United Detroit Theaters, etc. In addition, the UPC-ABC merger had a rough time in the courts before it was approved.
One has to feel sorry for the good folks of Orlando; although undoubtedly some of them saw Cinerama features in other cities, the uninitiated there only got the 70mm version and, with the exception of “2001” and possibly “Khartoum,” got only a few of the weakest of the films in that format. I am sure a lot of people left the Beacham shaking their heads muttering something like, “What’s the big deal with this Cinerama thing?”
d.qualley: Yes, for awhile, the ABC Broadcasting Companies did operate theaters. The story is rooted in the aftermath of the 1949 Paramount Consent Decree and the early struggles of ABC to gain a secure foothold in television in the early 1950s. A company called United Paramount Theaters (UPC) was formed to manage the former Paramount-owned theaters. UPC then acquired ABC, which was having difficulty in firmly establishing its TV network. UPC saw possibilities in the company, renaming UPC as American Broadcasting Company-Paramount Theaters, Inc. This was later shortened to the American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. In the 1970s, the Midwestern group of theaters was sold to a new company headed by Henry Plitt, who had been an executive within the ABC theaters division. About a decade later, Plitt sold the Midwestern group of theaters (which, at least at one time would have included the Brookdale) to Cineplex-Odeon (which in turn was acquired by Sony/Loew’s, which in turn became part of AMC; in the process a number of theaters were closed or sold to other operators). All of this occurred well before the Disney acquisition of ABC or the more recent Paramount TV network.
An article about the theater, with a picture: View link
The article indicates that the seat count is 137.
From an architectural/acoustical point of view, the Hippodrome might well have made a great opera house, but Cleveland (though home to a renowned symphony orchestra) has never really had the same or even a similar opera history as other cities of its size and potential resources. Caruso did appear at the Hippodrome in 1911 during one of the NYC Metropolitan touring performances; the Met also played the Hippodrome the following year.
Historically, Cleveland opera lovers have more or less counted on touring opera companies over the decades, especially the Met, which had a regular run for many years at Public Hall. Since the rebirth of Playhouse Square, a local company has played at the State. But during the time when the Hipp might have been available or ripe for opera house conversion, there really was no local company that would have been able to really make use of it as gargantuan as it was or raise the funds necessary to make it a true opera house.
Guys, I hate to be a party pooper, but these comments are way off topic.
There may be more going on here than the article reports; first Furlinger sells the Terrace; now, according to this article, the Hippodrome (a former traditional IMAX theater) is not doing well: http://www.wciv.com/news/stories/0410/727713.html
No, the theater shows films of all ratings (except perhaps NC-17). It is a very well-appointed, comfortable modern multiplex, and the little museum area devoted to Mary Pickford and her husband, Charles “Buddy” Rogers is a unique touch. (I have always thought it a bit odd though that Mary Pickford, though known as “America’s Sweetheart,” was Canadian by birth).
This should be the ABC Plitt; it opened as the Brookdale Theater.
An article that focuses on the By-Jo and an area drive-in, the Holiday: View link
There would not be the loss of a climatic build to a movie’s climax if the intermission was built into the film’s construction from the outset, as it was during the days of the great roadshow presentations. Directors of films such as “2001,” “The Ten Commandments,” “Ben-Hur,” “Cleopatra,” etc., understood that epic, extended-length films needed an Act I – Act II structure; in fact, in the grand old roadshow day,s one could often anticipate that the intermission was nigh by a couple of indicators, such as the swelling of the musical score, a pullback camera shot, or even sometimes something obvious, such as the chorus on the soundtrack of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, World” singing, “Now step into the lobby/for whatever/is your hobby…”. If directors such as Cameron, and Jackson and others want their films described as “epic"they should learn a lesson from the golden age of the epic film. An intermission should not simply mean just stopping the film for fifteen or twenty minutes.
It is here: /theaters/7410/
According to this article about a new art cinema soon to open in Austin, Landmark will no longer be managing the Dobie in the fall of 2010 and that mall management is looking for a new operator for the theater: View link
An article about the theater: http://www.sgvtribune.com/living/ci_14906538