Just as is the case now, I was residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the day of 9/11. And being as the terrorist attacks that day were both on New York City and Washington, D.C. — with Philadelphia being right in between the two, plus Atlantic City, New Jersey as well — I very much felt the impact and emotion of both attacks full throttle, while having every good reason to fear that these two in-between cities could get hit next. Particularly given how a third terrorist mission had been intercepted and forced to crash land in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And for me personally the attacks came totally out of the clear blue. As was I’m sure the case for many, I was totally clueless who all was behind them and at a total loss to comprehend what the provocation was. And now, just as was the case then, I know that there was no justification for them, now that it’s well known who was behind them, plus what the provocation actually was. But I can also see how naive I was at the time for thinking that Philadelphia and Atlantic City could’ve been terrorist targets next. For just as is the case now, there was little about Philadelphia or Atlantic City at that time that could be said to be truly legitimate. Case in point, during the moments when New York City’s World Trade Center towers were coming under attack, certain Atlantic City casino operators considered shutting down all operations for the safety sake of their gambling clientele. But those playing the slot machines in Atlantic City that day wanted no parts of that. As always, they were playing the slot machines feverishly that morning right before the news broke, continued feverishly playing when the news broke, and feverishly played the slot machines non-stop well into the night long after the news had broken. I.e., they could not possibly have cared less! Meantime, here in Philadelphia, all members of the Philadelphia Fire Department joined in solidarity with the firefighters of New York City and Washington D.C., and that much I felt very proud of, for I thought it was a magnificent act on their part. However, Philadelphia’s fire commissioner saw this action quite differently. When Philadelphia’s firefighters put out the black flag in front of all their fire stations to show their solidarity, he immediately ordered every last single one of those flags taken down, saying such should only be reserved for tragedies that happen in Philadelphia, not New York City or Washington. And that was very typical of how Philadelphia’s governmental agency heads and politicians reacted to the attacks over all, both that day and in the weeks following 9/11. As for the role that Philadelphia’s and Atlantic City’s movie theaters played in all this, then, just as now, Philadelphia had no great movie theaters to speak of, while Atlantic City lost every last single one it had when casinoization overswept that once great seaside town. So in my case, there was no cinematic outlet to look to, other than one or two multiplexes some distance away. And they’re no good for anything. Meantime, upstanding religious establishments here in Philadelphia and Atlantic City had disappeared years before. So there wasn’t that to look to either.
As much as I hate to say it, I can say now in looking back that there was plenty of solidarity on the part of Philadelphia and Atlantic City that fateful day of September 11, 2001. But let the truth now be told, the solidarity then, as is the case now, aside from those such as me, was with the terrorists. And today we’re seeing living proof of that as Philadelphia prepares to go the way of casinoization as had Atlantic City, with everyday Philadelphians having no say over it whatsoever. There’s also a renegade cancer center up here in Philadelphia’s northeast section — where I live — that’s about to do some very devastating stuff in its zealous quest to expand, and which to me has all the smell of America’s next big terrorist attack to come. It’s a cancer center that boasted having Nobel chemists on its team at one time, but appears as if it’s been hijacked. That might sound like an exaggeration, but believe me, it’s not. And just to make a special note, the movie theater closest to it was just shut down. As if in preparation.
It was movies I saw early on in my life — BEN HUR, KING OF KINGS, THE ROBE, ON THE WATERFRONT, THE AGONY & THE ECSTASY, etc., etc., etc. — that inspired me to want to become a Christian. But nothing has ever turned me off more to Christianity then the experience of going to church. I have seen churches of all different shapes and forms and in many different places. And if their role is to uplift and inspire us and commit to doing the Christian good, boy, they are doing one heck of a lousy job at it! As Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce in 1974’s LENNY put it so well, “People are leaving the church in droves and returning back to God.” Which I feel was true back when movie theaters were being run so well. But let me just say of the here and now, inless I just want to play a really cruel and unChristian-like joke on someone, the last thing I would tell anyone in search of any sort of spiritual uplift is: “Go to church.” Maybe church was a great place to go for this at one time. But I’ve never seen that in my lifetime. As a little kid being dragged to church, I hated it! But then movies like those I listed above made me a great lover of Christianity, so much so, that I actually started going back to church again with a whole new outlook. But oh how all the churches were so quick to disappoint. But I still love those movies! And believe me when I say it’s from them that I get my Christian values, not the churches. The churches are just out to make a buck, while I think it’s very dangerous for anyone to put much faith in them.
The way you describe Vickburg can easily be interchangeable with other parts of the U.S. right now. Where I’m currently living, Philadelphia, PA, once had been a major population center but not long ago fell behind Phoenix, AZ population-wise, while it’s a no brainer why. It started when the seashore resorts of neighboring New Jersey all went downhill thanks to when casinos came to Atlantic City. And now with two big casinos about to come to Philadelphia soon also, I expect a lot more people to be upping and moving out. And our theaters here in Philadelphia now are a mess, believe me! To date, we do not have one digital cinema theater here anywhere in the entire city, while in this case it’s purely politics. The reasoning is, why bring digital cinema to Philadelphia at this late stage when every last remaining movie theater is earmarked for demolition or about to be transformed into something else? For in case you don’t know, there are no movie theaters left in Atlantic City whatsoever, though just prior to when the casinos came to there they had several movie palaces still in operation. But check out Cinema Treasures' various pages on Atlantic City movie palaces of yore and note the dates they shut down. Next, look at the date of when casinos overswept that city — starting in 1978. How the dates correspond is no pure coincidence.
But in terms of the scenario you describe in and around Vicksburg, I thought what you described was just a Northern problem. But where you are in the South is getting hit with it, too. And bad reports are coming out of the Chicago suburbs and so on. Meaning, not the best place to try to introduce digital cinema just yet. But it will come. America’s just got to let this plague run its course first.
I feel the exact same way, hdtv267, so thanks for pointing that out! At the same time I deeply admire those who weren’t afraid to go against all odds and come right and speak the truth at this and other Cinema Treasures' webpages — if for no other reason just to tell it like it really is. Which IS important. For it’s regarding such people that movies — as an advanced art form — actually got through and opened some eyes, rather than merely being worthless entertainment just to make the buck while keeping everyone down and dumb. And opening peoples' eyes to what’s really important, that’s what it’s all about, really, when it comes to movie theaters. Take that vital dimension away, and what’s the point of keeping the AMC Orleans 8, the Boyd, the DuPage Theater in Lombard, Illinois and so on around? And let it be said of the Orleans that in the truest sense it was long torn down before this now to come.
It was always just a matter of time that digital cinema would match and then surpass film, not to mention its ease of use projection-wise. But what surface hasn’t really even been scratched yet is digital cinema’s potential of become a powerful new medium, something which isn’t dreamed of right now. But as it was with breakthrough technologies of the past, as new mediums go it comes just at a time when the world needs to change but is stubbornly refusing to. And how this will unfurl nobody knows as of yet. Right now it’s in a phase similar to when the first electric guitar came along, as a type of substitute for what came before, but never sounding quite right when merely treated as that. But a time is going to come when digital cinema is going to shed the mask of traditional expectation and dazzle viewers with things they never dreamed possible, that will make the most advanced movie theaters of today look like horse-and-buggies, leaving them all in a trail of dust. A time will come when digital cinema theaters will say to traditional ones as the two types battle it out, “Yes, but can you do this?” And it will be the huuuuuuge WOW!
Hughie, from what I can tell, MSN has changed the sign-up process since I visited your website several years back. Because I don’t remember having to consent to accept spam to get to your Orleans website that time around. But the other night when I tried re-visiting it, there was no getting around that MSN requirement so as to go further. And believe me, I get enough spam as it is, soooo…
Anyway, getting back onto the topic of the Orleans Theatre again, architecturally speaking it had been Northeast Philadelphia’s first generic theater. The GCC Northeast not long after the second. All Northeast Philadelphia’s theaters prior to then had been designed by real architects and had much to admire architecturally. But neither the Orleans or GCC Northeast could lay any sort of claims to having been “architectural marvels,” not even by the greatest stretch. On that front, if anything, they served as milestones of great architecture being put aside in Northeast Philadelphia’s case. Sort of like what happened in Florence, Italy under the Medici in reverse. While I’ll be the first to say that the Orleans Theatre had an air of class to it in its first few years of its operation, great architecture certainly was not a factor in that. Not even in the least. For look at it, folks. Architecturally, it was just a large cinderblock box, nothing more, and with superficial embellishments added onto it afterward to try to give it some personality. But truth be said, REAL theaters are a bit more than simply that, just to do the big reality check here. What the Orleans lacked architecturally was well made up for by how well it was run in the first years. But when that aspect was politically phased out, what was the point of anyone with any substance going there anymore? Just to go slumming, a.k.a. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS?
I think it’s sad that the Orleans is coming down because of the fact that Philadelphia’s forgotten and cast-aside people will have one less thing to help keep their spirits afloat — although I found it sad that this was in the form of those only out to rip them off. In its last 20 years of operation, Chicago’s Hull House it clearly was not. And of course the Target Store that’s going to replace it soon is going to be the same thing. Worse, actually, in that the Target Store will be a major sales outlet for selling Chinese slave-labor produced goods to a people who in yesteryear would’ve produced these same things. A situation bad both for China and the U.S., of course. In China’s case, people of high intelligence are being forced to put all their intelligence aside for the sake of satisfying the mindless U.S. consumer market, while here in America people of low intelligence but with great manufacturing productivity skills if given the opportunity are being forced to somehow fit into an ever-ongoing American services-based economy only. As if. So in that sense there’s perhaps a bit of symbolism in AMC’s choosing Labor Day to shut the Orleans 8 down. And probably not purely coincidental.
Hughie, you put together a great website regarding the Orleans, which I remember quite well from having visited it several years ago. But the trouble is, which I was just reminded of when I tried to revisit it just now, is that you have to go through an icky sign-up process with MSN before they let you ever get to it, which entails your having to consent to whatever spam they see fit to clog up your e-mail in-box with. So given that, why not create a whole new website dedicated to the memory of the Orleans that functions like a normal one does? That is, one without all those hassles that I don’t think it’s fair people should have to put up with. Thanks, Hughie! And we’ll all be looking forward to your new website soon!
Eddie, unless you’re British, Canadian, New Zealander, Australian or whatever, we spell it “Labor” Day in this country, NOT “Labour” Day, just so you’ll know for next year, and therafter. And yes, it’s a very keen observation you made. When evil forces move, they do so quickly. And at long last it does look like you’re right, the AMC Orleans 8 is all about to become history soon.
I think at the very least it would be great if the main building (the original Orleans Theatre) could be spared the wrecking ball and restored as a single screen theater once more. But the key word there is “think,” and that’s asking far more of Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers than they’re clearly capable of. So as you say, Eddie, RIP Orleans 8.
Meantime, my fondest memory of it will always be of when I walked over there at age 11 to see THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES. It was a single-screen theater at that time and all new within, its just having been freshly built the year before. I saw countless other movies there, too, of course. But that particular memory I hold of the Orleans stands out the most for some reason, probably because it was the FIRST movie I ever saw there, but of that I’m not fully sure. And being as I was a little kid unaccompanied by any parents, I remember feeling intimidated entering into such a well-groomed all-new theater all alone, as if to say I had to prove to the management that I could act proper when coming to the theater just on my own that way, just to give a greater sense of what that era was like. And needless to say I was well behaved from start to finish, from the Red Skelton opening to the Red Skelton close. So alas, c'est la vie, Orleans Theatre, huh? I’m grateful, though, that I got to experience it when it was the best time to. The wrecking ball can’t knock that down.
Based on the recent photo that Lost Memory provided us a link for (see above), if this beautiful theater cannot be described as upscale, most particularly when you look at William Harold Lee’s masterful architectural work, which appears to be being meticulously maintained, I think somebody is very mixed up with what they regard as “upscale.” This theater is upscale. The alternative which is being proposed is just somebody who obviously isn’t very well educated not thinking straight. It’s like saying, “Let’s take the Mona Lisa down from the wall to put up something more ‘upscale’.”
It seems to me that MobMovs is a great way to get exposure for films that established theaters refuse to exhibit, the risks being too high that it would be financially practical for them to exhibit them. And not because they’re bad films per se, but because paying patrons like to have some degree of certainty of what they’re paying to see before they pay to see it. But who can possibly object to seeing a movie if it doesn’t cost them anything to see it? And if the reception to the free film is very good, MobMovs can actually be seen as performing a good service for the established theaters by identifying for them movies that audiences take well to. And without it costing them anything. It’s yet another basis for seeing MobMovs as very positive.
That sounds perfectly reasonable. Concessions can also be sold to help defray the costs. And of course you can always seek out potential sponsors. At the same time I don’t think it’s wrong to be sensitive to nearby regular or drive-in theaters that exist in the area who perfectly understandably would get incensed if you’re showing to people for free what they themselves must charge patrons money to see. But they, too, of course, have the same options to look to that you do. Plus, if they’re showing mainstream films and you’re not, they retain that competitive edge.
Another thing to consider, since they’re already fixed in place as a thing of permanance, they don’t have to go through the time, labor and cost of setting up and dismantling each time they show a film the way you do. And because they’re not showing films in a public place they have much greater authority to control audience behavior. So that gives them a competitive edge, too.
In terms of bringing MobMovs to areas where there are no theaters around anywhere, I think they can serve as great lead-ins to bringing permanent theaters to that area. In other words, they’re a great means to feeling out that area’s potential market. If the makeshift movie exhibiting set-ups get well received, a theater of permanence becomes inevitable. If not, the MobMov equipment can then easily be transported to another location to see if that place holds potential, and at a minimum of expenditure, no whole buildings having to be torn down and new ones built in the process. So in that sense I very much like the MobMov concept.
AlAlvarez, everyone who has seen digital cinema so far has sung nothing but the highest praises of it. So if you and others who see things as you do want to expend precious time and effort denying that, be my guest. But the rest of the world, including me, is going to go forward with this new technology with or without you.
And seriously, don’t you think that’s long overdue? I just wish that the U.S. could be at the forefront of this. But on that front you have plenty of company right now. Which is why Europe is getting to take the lead in this. But it could be us if folks like you would dare to cross over to the good guy side. But oh, God forbid you should consider doing that.
Great points, Vince! And ultimately it does come down to the customer being the ultimate judge. The hell with that supply side economics business. Which ultimately had been just a big load of crap anyhow. And if Howard B. Haas was still around today I think he’d be first in line to agree with us, God rest his soul!
Ah, so much for a theater that a lot of people love then. So much for all the steadfast loyalties they’ve shown towards it all these many years, making it the last Northeast Philadelphia movie theater of yore still in operation and which they no doubt had hoped to continue to show steadfast loyalty to for the next 50 years or so. So to that we’re now to the point that we say yeah yeah yeah, the hell with all that. Knock that sucker down and slap up a Target Store in its place — which nobody wants, nobody asked for, but they’re going to get shoved at them anyhow. Because that’s what some mindless twit out on the Main Line or wherever wants them to have. I am soooooo glad I am not among Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers because I couldn’t stand to be that wormy and pathetic. But then these are pure lowlifes in nice suits, nice cars, nice houses making these decisions, and with the brains of maggots. And so quite seriously what else can we expect from them but this kind of thing?
And the name “Target,” how appropriate in this case. As in, look for something people love, and then target it. Knock that sucker down, put up something nobody’s going to like in its place, and that’s “justice.”
Ah, so much for a theater that a lot of people love then. So much for all the steadfast loyalties they’ve shown towards it all these many years, making it the last Northeast Philadelphia movie theater of yore still in operation and which they no doubt had hoped to continue to show steadfast loyalty to for the next 50 years or so. So to that we’re now to the point that we say yeah yeah yeah, the hell with all that. Knock that sucker down and slap up a Target Store in its place — which nobody wants, nobody asked for, but they’re going to get shoved at them anyhow. Because that’s what some mindless twit out on the Main Line or wherever wants them to have. I am soooooo glad I am not among Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers because I couldn’t stand to be that wormy and pathetic. But then these are pure lowlifes in nice suits, nice cars, nice houses making these decisions, and with the brains of maggots. And so quite seriously what else can we expect from them but this kind of thing?
And the name “Target,” how appropriate in this case. As in, look for something people love, and then target it. Knock that sucker down, put up something nobody’s going to like in its place, and that’s “justice.”
Sounds great! With the only possible exception being if by chance you charge people money to enter upon that public space while you’re showing movies there. Which is what they do in Wildwood, N.J.’s case. For although it can be reasonably argued there might not be any way around having to charge customers to come see a movie in a public setting (it costs money for this and that, after all, and in Wildwood’s case they’re showing first run mainstream films), there are vultures who watch for those type situations and then use them as excuses to acquire and privatize that public place permanently. And so that’s the big problem with that.
Though I’ve not heard of any specific cases just yet, the prediction I made has probably come true somewhere already, and is perhaps one of those things getting played down or overlooked in the media because of the politics of it. Which so often is the case when new things come along. And alas, once again America is letting Europe take the lead in this, even though the new technology originated HERE. But at least I’m glad to see that is taking hold in a big way somewhere, while I keep asking, “Man, why can’t it be us doing that this time around, why can’t it be us?!”
How would you evaluate them right now, Eddie, since you seem to be well familiar with both? Also, it would be great if you could add to this evaluation UA Grant Plaza Cinema 9 and Franklin Mills 14, if you’re well up on those, too. For I see no good reason why Philadelphia Magazine should have the ultimate say on this.
That’s a great story, beaumon, and matches up so well with what I’ve been trying to open so many’s eyes to all along.
And one prediction I’m starting to make, speaking to Craig Adams 11’s concerns, as digital cinema takes hold more, it might spell the beginning of the end for the multiplex, while at the same time enabling single screen theaters of yore to come roaring back beyond their wildest dreams.
For think about it: The multiplex was introduced to allow movie theaters to have a great deal more versatility. With reliance on conventional means of film distribution, but audiences not always crazy about the one film a single screen theater was limited in showing and which it could get stuck with for weeks, multiplexes were introduced to enable audiences to have a variety of films to choose from during any given time rather than one. Thus if one film was a flop, other films shown at the multiplex would offset this loss. Hence, when people had to choose between the single-screen theater that might or might not have been exhibiting a film they wished to see, and the multiplex far more likely to, the old single-screen theaters just couldn’t compete with that.
But digital cinema can now change that equation. For single-screen theaters that have switched over to it, they suddenly have the power to get it right and to exhibit on a dime’s notice what movie-goers most want to see. For don’t forget, both by having a website and a special phone number, people can let that single-screen theater know what movie they most want to see, and the single-screen theater can accommodate them on a dime’s notice thanks to what digital cinema technology is capable of. And if the single screen theater is outfitted with an L.E.D. marquee and L.E.D. movie poster display cases, what these two things display can be changed with the snap of the fingers also. No longer does somebody have to get out there with a ladder and manually change what the marquee reads and manually open up the movie poster display cases and remove the old ones to put in the new ones.
Of course, the multiplexes will have access to this capability as well, and some now do. But it becomes a matter of so what, when single screen theaters suddenly have the same. And aside from political obstructions, there’s no reason why a single-screen theater can’t. And I think most people prefer, and not just for nostalgia-sake, the single-screen theater experience — IF it shows the movie they want to see. For a single-screen theater can pour all its resources into that one and only auditorium it has. A multiplex on the other hand has to distribute its resources over all its auditoriums so that each individual one suffers a bit. Which may have worked out when it didn’t have to compete with the single-screen theater. In lieu of its auditoriums not being as exquisite as the old single-screen theaters were, it made up for this by being able to show audiences what they wanted to see.
But digital cinema technology suddenly gives the single-screen theater that capability it never had before. Plus the advantages of being able to pour ALL its resources into that one auditorium it has.
Nice try, DuPage fiends. But all your credibility went up in a cloud of dust in the dust of when the DuPage Theater went down. That movie palace had been your bargaining chip. And you don’t have one now. After the ploy of holding the DuPage Theater for ransom on your part and that of your fellow fiends failed, you went and tore it down to show you meant business. And Senator Barack Obama was a part of it. Right now, however, he’s enjoying the cover of not many people knowing about this. And he wants to keep it that way. So given that, of course he’s not going to comment here. But…..I’m most happy to comment here regarding him, and to lay on him hard as you tell me to lay off.
Not that this is really necessary on my part. Because I’ll tell ya, with a name such as he has and so forth he doesn’t stand a chance of becoming our country’s next president. For see, like you, he, too, lost his bargaining chip when the DuPage Theater in his senatorial district went up in a cloud of dust.
So you’re saying, Eddie, that the 1999 Philadelphia Magazine was too kind and should’ve rated them much lower. I fully agree with you with regard to the AMC Orleans 8, while at the same time I’ve never been to the Neshaminy 24 so I can’t judge on that. Meantime, what things would you suggest these theaters should do to merit at least a 3 rating, which you feel Philadelphia Magazine went too far in giving them?
Just as is the case now, I was residing in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on the day of 9/11. And being as the terrorist attacks that day were both on New York City and Washington, D.C. — with Philadelphia being right in between the two, plus Atlantic City, New Jersey as well — I very much felt the impact and emotion of both attacks full throttle, while having every good reason to fear that these two in-between cities could get hit next. Particularly given how a third terrorist mission had been intercepted and forced to crash land in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. And for me personally the attacks came totally out of the clear blue. As was I’m sure the case for many, I was totally clueless who all was behind them and at a total loss to comprehend what the provocation was. And now, just as was the case then, I know that there was no justification for them, now that it’s well known who was behind them, plus what the provocation actually was. But I can also see how naive I was at the time for thinking that Philadelphia and Atlantic City could’ve been terrorist targets next. For just as is the case now, there was little about Philadelphia or Atlantic City at that time that could be said to be truly legitimate. Case in point, during the moments when New York City’s World Trade Center towers were coming under attack, certain Atlantic City casino operators considered shutting down all operations for the safety sake of their gambling clientele. But those playing the slot machines in Atlantic City that day wanted no parts of that. As always, they were playing the slot machines feverishly that morning right before the news broke, continued feverishly playing when the news broke, and feverishly played the slot machines non-stop well into the night long after the news had broken. I.e., they could not possibly have cared less! Meantime, here in Philadelphia, all members of the Philadelphia Fire Department joined in solidarity with the firefighters of New York City and Washington D.C., and that much I felt very proud of, for I thought it was a magnificent act on their part. However, Philadelphia’s fire commissioner saw this action quite differently. When Philadelphia’s firefighters put out the black flag in front of all their fire stations to show their solidarity, he immediately ordered every last single one of those flags taken down, saying such should only be reserved for tragedies that happen in Philadelphia, not New York City or Washington. And that was very typical of how Philadelphia’s governmental agency heads and politicians reacted to the attacks over all, both that day and in the weeks following 9/11. As for the role that Philadelphia’s and Atlantic City’s movie theaters played in all this, then, just as now, Philadelphia had no great movie theaters to speak of, while Atlantic City lost every last single one it had when casinoization overswept that once great seaside town. So in my case, there was no cinematic outlet to look to, other than one or two multiplexes some distance away. And they’re no good for anything. Meantime, upstanding religious establishments here in Philadelphia and Atlantic City had disappeared years before. So there wasn’t that to look to either.
As much as I hate to say it, I can say now in looking back that there was plenty of solidarity on the part of Philadelphia and Atlantic City that fateful day of September 11, 2001. But let the truth now be told, the solidarity then, as is the case now, aside from those such as me, was with the terrorists. And today we’re seeing living proof of that as Philadelphia prepares to go the way of casinoization as had Atlantic City, with everyday Philadelphians having no say over it whatsoever. There’s also a renegade cancer center up here in Philadelphia’s northeast section — where I live — that’s about to do some very devastating stuff in its zealous quest to expand, and which to me has all the smell of America’s next big terrorist attack to come. It’s a cancer center that boasted having Nobel chemists on its team at one time, but appears as if it’s been hijacked. That might sound like an exaggeration, but believe me, it’s not. And just to make a special note, the movie theater closest to it was just shut down. As if in preparation.
It was movies I saw early on in my life — BEN HUR, KING OF KINGS, THE ROBE, ON THE WATERFRONT, THE AGONY & THE ECSTASY, etc., etc., etc. — that inspired me to want to become a Christian. But nothing has ever turned me off more to Christianity then the experience of going to church. I have seen churches of all different shapes and forms and in many different places. And if their role is to uplift and inspire us and commit to doing the Christian good, boy, they are doing one heck of a lousy job at it! As Dustin Hoffman as Lenny Bruce in 1974’s LENNY put it so well, “People are leaving the church in droves and returning back to God.” Which I feel was true back when movie theaters were being run so well. But let me just say of the here and now, inless I just want to play a really cruel and unChristian-like joke on someone, the last thing I would tell anyone in search of any sort of spiritual uplift is: “Go to church.” Maybe church was a great place to go for this at one time. But I’ve never seen that in my lifetime. As a little kid being dragged to church, I hated it! But then movies like those I listed above made me a great lover of Christianity, so much so, that I actually started going back to church again with a whole new outlook. But oh how all the churches were so quick to disappoint. But I still love those movies! And believe me when I say it’s from them that I get my Christian values, not the churches. The churches are just out to make a buck, while I think it’s very dangerous for anyone to put much faith in them.
The way you describe Vickburg can easily be interchangeable with other parts of the U.S. right now. Where I’m currently living, Philadelphia, PA, once had been a major population center but not long ago fell behind Phoenix, AZ population-wise, while it’s a no brainer why. It started when the seashore resorts of neighboring New Jersey all went downhill thanks to when casinos came to Atlantic City. And now with two big casinos about to come to Philadelphia soon also, I expect a lot more people to be upping and moving out. And our theaters here in Philadelphia now are a mess, believe me! To date, we do not have one digital cinema theater here anywhere in the entire city, while in this case it’s purely politics. The reasoning is, why bring digital cinema to Philadelphia at this late stage when every last remaining movie theater is earmarked for demolition or about to be transformed into something else? For in case you don’t know, there are no movie theaters left in Atlantic City whatsoever, though just prior to when the casinos came to there they had several movie palaces still in operation. But check out Cinema Treasures' various pages on Atlantic City movie palaces of yore and note the dates they shut down. Next, look at the date of when casinos overswept that city — starting in 1978. How the dates correspond is no pure coincidence.
But in terms of the scenario you describe in and around Vicksburg, I thought what you described was just a Northern problem. But where you are in the South is getting hit with it, too. And bad reports are coming out of the Chicago suburbs and so on. Meaning, not the best place to try to introduce digital cinema just yet. But it will come. America’s just got to let this plague run its course first.
I feel the exact same way, hdtv267, so thanks for pointing that out! At the same time I deeply admire those who weren’t afraid to go against all odds and come right and speak the truth at this and other Cinema Treasures' webpages — if for no other reason just to tell it like it really is. Which IS important. For it’s regarding such people that movies — as an advanced art form — actually got through and opened some eyes, rather than merely being worthless entertainment just to make the buck while keeping everyone down and dumb. And opening peoples' eyes to what’s really important, that’s what it’s all about, really, when it comes to movie theaters. Take that vital dimension away, and what’s the point of keeping the AMC Orleans 8, the Boyd, the DuPage Theater in Lombard, Illinois and so on around? And let it be said of the Orleans that in the truest sense it was long torn down before this now to come.
Wow, you’re really relishing this, aren’t you, Howard! “Victory is sweet,” as they say. But there’s also the saying, “Be careful what you wish for…”
It was always just a matter of time that digital cinema would match and then surpass film, not to mention its ease of use projection-wise. But what surface hasn’t really even been scratched yet is digital cinema’s potential of become a powerful new medium, something which isn’t dreamed of right now. But as it was with breakthrough technologies of the past, as new mediums go it comes just at a time when the world needs to change but is stubbornly refusing to. And how this will unfurl nobody knows as of yet. Right now it’s in a phase similar to when the first electric guitar came along, as a type of substitute for what came before, but never sounding quite right when merely treated as that. But a time is going to come when digital cinema is going to shed the mask of traditional expectation and dazzle viewers with things they never dreamed possible, that will make the most advanced movie theaters of today look like horse-and-buggies, leaving them all in a trail of dust. A time will come when digital cinema theaters will say to traditional ones as the two types battle it out, “Yes, but can you do this?” And it will be the huuuuuuge WOW!
Hughie, from what I can tell, MSN has changed the sign-up process since I visited your website several years back. Because I don’t remember having to consent to accept spam to get to your Orleans website that time around. But the other night when I tried re-visiting it, there was no getting around that MSN requirement so as to go further. And believe me, I get enough spam as it is, soooo…
Anyway, getting back onto the topic of the Orleans Theatre again, architecturally speaking it had been Northeast Philadelphia’s first generic theater. The GCC Northeast not long after the second. All Northeast Philadelphia’s theaters prior to then had been designed by real architects and had much to admire architecturally. But neither the Orleans or GCC Northeast could lay any sort of claims to having been “architectural marvels,” not even by the greatest stretch. On that front, if anything, they served as milestones of great architecture being put aside in Northeast Philadelphia’s case. Sort of like what happened in Florence, Italy under the Medici in reverse. While I’ll be the first to say that the Orleans Theatre had an air of class to it in its first few years of its operation, great architecture certainly was not a factor in that. Not even in the least. For look at it, folks. Architecturally, it was just a large cinderblock box, nothing more, and with superficial embellishments added onto it afterward to try to give it some personality. But truth be said, REAL theaters are a bit more than simply that, just to do the big reality check here. What the Orleans lacked architecturally was well made up for by how well it was run in the first years. But when that aspect was politically phased out, what was the point of anyone with any substance going there anymore? Just to go slumming, a.k.a. SULLIVAN’S TRAVELS?
I think it’s sad that the Orleans is coming down because of the fact that Philadelphia’s forgotten and cast-aside people will have one less thing to help keep their spirits afloat — although I found it sad that this was in the form of those only out to rip them off. In its last 20 years of operation, Chicago’s Hull House it clearly was not. And of course the Target Store that’s going to replace it soon is going to be the same thing. Worse, actually, in that the Target Store will be a major sales outlet for selling Chinese slave-labor produced goods to a people who in yesteryear would’ve produced these same things. A situation bad both for China and the U.S., of course. In China’s case, people of high intelligence are being forced to put all their intelligence aside for the sake of satisfying the mindless U.S. consumer market, while here in America people of low intelligence but with great manufacturing productivity skills if given the opportunity are being forced to somehow fit into an ever-ongoing American services-based economy only. As if. So in that sense there’s perhaps a bit of symbolism in AMC’s choosing Labor Day to shut the Orleans 8 down. And probably not purely coincidental.
Hughie, you put together a great website regarding the Orleans, which I remember quite well from having visited it several years ago. But the trouble is, which I was just reminded of when I tried to revisit it just now, is that you have to go through an icky sign-up process with MSN before they let you ever get to it, which entails your having to consent to whatever spam they see fit to clog up your e-mail in-box with. So given that, why not create a whole new website dedicated to the memory of the Orleans that functions like a normal one does? That is, one without all those hassles that I don’t think it’s fair people should have to put up with. Thanks, Hughie! And we’ll all be looking forward to your new website soon!
Eddie, unless you’re British, Canadian, New Zealander, Australian or whatever, we spell it “Labor” Day in this country, NOT “Labour” Day, just so you’ll know for next year, and therafter. And yes, it’s a very keen observation you made. When evil forces move, they do so quickly. And at long last it does look like you’re right, the AMC Orleans 8 is all about to become history soon.
I think at the very least it would be great if the main building (the original Orleans Theatre) could be spared the wrecking ball and restored as a single screen theater once more. But the key word there is “think,” and that’s asking far more of Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers than they’re clearly capable of. So as you say, Eddie, RIP Orleans 8.
Meantime, my fondest memory of it will always be of when I walked over there at age 11 to see THOSE MAGNIFICENT MEN IN THEIR FLYING MACHINES. It was a single-screen theater at that time and all new within, its just having been freshly built the year before. I saw countless other movies there, too, of course. But that particular memory I hold of the Orleans stands out the most for some reason, probably because it was the FIRST movie I ever saw there, but of that I’m not fully sure. And being as I was a little kid unaccompanied by any parents, I remember feeling intimidated entering into such a well-groomed all-new theater all alone, as if to say I had to prove to the management that I could act proper when coming to the theater just on my own that way, just to give a greater sense of what that era was like. And needless to say I was well behaved from start to finish, from the Red Skelton opening to the Red Skelton close. So alas, c'est la vie, Orleans Theatre, huh? I’m grateful, though, that I got to experience it when it was the best time to. The wrecking ball can’t knock that down.
Based on the recent photo that Lost Memory provided us a link for (see above), if this beautiful theater cannot be described as upscale, most particularly when you look at William Harold Lee’s masterful architectural work, which appears to be being meticulously maintained, I think somebody is very mixed up with what they regard as “upscale.” This theater is upscale. The alternative which is being proposed is just somebody who obviously isn’t very well educated not thinking straight. It’s like saying, “Let’s take the Mona Lisa down from the wall to put up something more ‘upscale’.”
It seems to me that MobMovs is a great way to get exposure for films that established theaters refuse to exhibit, the risks being too high that it would be financially practical for them to exhibit them. And not because they’re bad films per se, but because paying patrons like to have some degree of certainty of what they’re paying to see before they pay to see it. But who can possibly object to seeing a movie if it doesn’t cost them anything to see it? And if the reception to the free film is very good, MobMovs can actually be seen as performing a good service for the established theaters by identifying for them movies that audiences take well to. And without it costing them anything. It’s yet another basis for seeing MobMovs as very positive.
It would be great if you post scans of those photos somewhere, John, and provide a link so we could see them.
That sounds perfectly reasonable. Concessions can also be sold to help defray the costs. And of course you can always seek out potential sponsors. At the same time I don’t think it’s wrong to be sensitive to nearby regular or drive-in theaters that exist in the area who perfectly understandably would get incensed if you’re showing to people for free what they themselves must charge patrons money to see. But they, too, of course, have the same options to look to that you do. Plus, if they’re showing mainstream films and you’re not, they retain that competitive edge.
Another thing to consider, since they’re already fixed in place as a thing of permanance, they don’t have to go through the time, labor and cost of setting up and dismantling each time they show a film the way you do. And because they’re not showing films in a public place they have much greater authority to control audience behavior. So that gives them a competitive edge, too.
In terms of bringing MobMovs to areas where there are no theaters around anywhere, I think they can serve as great lead-ins to bringing permanent theaters to that area. In other words, they’re a great means to feeling out that area’s potential market. If the makeshift movie exhibiting set-ups get well received, a theater of permanence becomes inevitable. If not, the MobMov equipment can then easily be transported to another location to see if that place holds potential, and at a minimum of expenditure, no whole buildings having to be torn down and new ones built in the process. So in that sense I very much like the MobMov concept.
AlAlvarez, everyone who has seen digital cinema so far has sung nothing but the highest praises of it. So if you and others who see things as you do want to expend precious time and effort denying that, be my guest. But the rest of the world, including me, is going to go forward with this new technology with or without you.
And seriously, don’t you think that’s long overdue? I just wish that the U.S. could be at the forefront of this. But on that front you have plenty of company right now. Which is why Europe is getting to take the lead in this. But it could be us if folks like you would dare to cross over to the good guy side. But oh, God forbid you should consider doing that.
Ooops! Freudian slip there! I meant to say Jim Rankin! So far as I know, Howard B. Haas is still alive and well meantime. Again my apologies!
Great points, Vince! And ultimately it does come down to the customer being the ultimate judge. The hell with that supply side economics business. Which ultimately had been just a big load of crap anyhow. And if Howard B. Haas was still around today I think he’d be first in line to agree with us, God rest his soul!
Ah, so much for a theater that a lot of people love then. So much for all the steadfast loyalties they’ve shown towards it all these many years, making it the last Northeast Philadelphia movie theater of yore still in operation and which they no doubt had hoped to continue to show steadfast loyalty to for the next 50 years or so. So to that we’re now to the point that we say yeah yeah yeah, the hell with all that. Knock that sucker down and slap up a Target Store in its place — which nobody wants, nobody asked for, but they’re going to get shoved at them anyhow. Because that’s what some mindless twit out on the Main Line or wherever wants them to have. I am soooooo glad I am not among Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers because I couldn’t stand to be that wormy and pathetic. But then these are pure lowlifes in nice suits, nice cars, nice houses making these decisions, and with the brains of maggots. And so quite seriously what else can we expect from them but this kind of thing?
And the name “Target,” how appropriate in this case. As in, look for something people love, and then target it. Knock that sucker down, put up something nobody’s going to like in its place, and that’s “justice.”
Ah, so much for a theater that a lot of people love then. So much for all the steadfast loyalties they’ve shown towards it all these many years, making it the last Northeast Philadelphia movie theater of yore still in operation and which they no doubt had hoped to continue to show steadfast loyalty to for the next 50 years or so. So to that we’re now to the point that we say yeah yeah yeah, the hell with all that. Knock that sucker down and slap up a Target Store in its place — which nobody wants, nobody asked for, but they’re going to get shoved at them anyhow. Because that’s what some mindless twit out on the Main Line or wherever wants them to have. I am soooooo glad I am not among Philadelphia’s current movers and shakers because I couldn’t stand to be that wormy and pathetic. But then these are pure lowlifes in nice suits, nice cars, nice houses making these decisions, and with the brains of maggots. And so quite seriously what else can we expect from them but this kind of thing?
And the name “Target,” how appropriate in this case. As in, look for something people love, and then target it. Knock that sucker down, put up something nobody’s going to like in its place, and that’s “justice.”
Sounds great! With the only possible exception being if by chance you charge people money to enter upon that public space while you’re showing movies there. Which is what they do in Wildwood, N.J.’s case. For although it can be reasonably argued there might not be any way around having to charge customers to come see a movie in a public setting (it costs money for this and that, after all, and in Wildwood’s case they’re showing first run mainstream films), there are vultures who watch for those type situations and then use them as excuses to acquire and privatize that public place permanently. And so that’s the big problem with that.
Though I’ve not heard of any specific cases just yet, the prediction I made has probably come true somewhere already, and is perhaps one of those things getting played down or overlooked in the media because of the politics of it. Which so often is the case when new things come along. And alas, once again America is letting Europe take the lead in this, even though the new technology originated HERE. But at least I’m glad to see that is taking hold in a big way somewhere, while I keep asking, “Man, why can’t it be us doing that this time around, why can’t it be us?!”
Ditto!
How would you evaluate them right now, Eddie, since you seem to be well familiar with both? Also, it would be great if you could add to this evaluation UA Grant Plaza Cinema 9 and Franklin Mills 14, if you’re well up on those, too. For I see no good reason why Philadelphia Magazine should have the ultimate say on this.
That’s a great story, beaumon, and matches up so well with what I’ve been trying to open so many’s eyes to all along.
And one prediction I’m starting to make, speaking to Craig Adams 11’s concerns, as digital cinema takes hold more, it might spell the beginning of the end for the multiplex, while at the same time enabling single screen theaters of yore to come roaring back beyond their wildest dreams.
For think about it: The multiplex was introduced to allow movie theaters to have a great deal more versatility. With reliance on conventional means of film distribution, but audiences not always crazy about the one film a single screen theater was limited in showing and which it could get stuck with for weeks, multiplexes were introduced to enable audiences to have a variety of films to choose from during any given time rather than one. Thus if one film was a flop, other films shown at the multiplex would offset this loss. Hence, when people had to choose between the single-screen theater that might or might not have been exhibiting a film they wished to see, and the multiplex far more likely to, the old single-screen theaters just couldn’t compete with that.
But digital cinema can now change that equation. For single-screen theaters that have switched over to it, they suddenly have the power to get it right and to exhibit on a dime’s notice what movie-goers most want to see. For don’t forget, both by having a website and a special phone number, people can let that single-screen theater know what movie they most want to see, and the single-screen theater can accommodate them on a dime’s notice thanks to what digital cinema technology is capable of. And if the single screen theater is outfitted with an L.E.D. marquee and L.E.D. movie poster display cases, what these two things display can be changed with the snap of the fingers also. No longer does somebody have to get out there with a ladder and manually change what the marquee reads and manually open up the movie poster display cases and remove the old ones to put in the new ones.
Of course, the multiplexes will have access to this capability as well, and some now do. But it becomes a matter of so what, when single screen theaters suddenly have the same. And aside from political obstructions, there’s no reason why a single-screen theater can’t. And I think most people prefer, and not just for nostalgia-sake, the single-screen theater experience — IF it shows the movie they want to see. For a single-screen theater can pour all its resources into that one and only auditorium it has. A multiplex on the other hand has to distribute its resources over all its auditoriums so that each individual one suffers a bit. Which may have worked out when it didn’t have to compete with the single-screen theater. In lieu of its auditoriums not being as exquisite as the old single-screen theaters were, it made up for this by being able to show audiences what they wanted to see.
But digital cinema technology suddenly gives the single-screen theater that capability it never had before. Plus the advantages of being able to pour ALL its resources into that one auditorium it has.
Nice try, DuPage fiends. But all your credibility went up in a cloud of dust in the dust of when the DuPage Theater went down. That movie palace had been your bargaining chip. And you don’t have one now. After the ploy of holding the DuPage Theater for ransom on your part and that of your fellow fiends failed, you went and tore it down to show you meant business. And Senator Barack Obama was a part of it. Right now, however, he’s enjoying the cover of not many people knowing about this. And he wants to keep it that way. So given that, of course he’s not going to comment here. But…..I’m most happy to comment here regarding him, and to lay on him hard as you tell me to lay off.
Not that this is really necessary on my part. Because I’ll tell ya, with a name such as he has and so forth he doesn’t stand a chance of becoming our country’s next president. For see, like you, he, too, lost his bargaining chip when the DuPage Theater in his senatorial district went up in a cloud of dust.
So you’re saying, Eddie, that the 1999 Philadelphia Magazine was too kind and should’ve rated them much lower. I fully agree with you with regard to the AMC Orleans 8, while at the same time I’ve never been to the Neshaminy 24 so I can’t judge on that. Meantime, what things would you suggest these theaters should do to merit at least a 3 rating, which you feel Philadelphia Magazine went too far in giving them?