Comments from 50sSNIPES

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50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Bartow Mall Twin on Sep 22, 2021 at 7:27 pm

Yes, This Theater Is First Known As The “Trans-Lux Inflight Cine”, And It Opened On July 11, 1968 With “Green Berets”. It Changed Its Name To The “Bartow Mall Cinema” In 1974, And Was Twinned On May 27, 1978, Renaming As The Bartow Mall Twin (Some People Liked To Call It The Bartow Mall Cinemas I & II).

The Theater Due To The Partial Burning Of The Mall, The Last Advertisements According To The Tampa Tribune Before The Bartow Mall Fire Were Delivered On April 30, 1981. The Final Films That Were Screened Before The Fire Were “Coal Miner’s Daughter” At Screen 1 And “The Devil And Max Devilin” At Screen 2.

The Burning Of The Mall Is Actually Caused By The Owner Of The Mall, 25-Year-Old Joseph H. Deutsch Of Lakeland (890 Birch Lane), Who Was Later Arrested That June 24th By The Polk County Sheriff’s Office For A Charge With 2 Counts Of Second-Degree Arson, For Spilling A Flammable Liquid In A Restaurant Adjacent To The Mall, Destroying Some Businesses And 19 Other Stores, Estimating Over $1,000,000 Of Damage. The Fire Did Not Affect The Theater. Joseph Was Taken To Polk County Jail With A $20,000 Bond. He Was Later Reported That He Was Released On Bail.

And Believe It Or Not Right After Almost 2 Years, The Bartow Mall Twin Briefly Reopened Its Doors Again On January 14, 1983. But Sadly, It Didn’t Do Much Business. The Theater Closed Its Doors For The Final Time Exactly A Week After Its Reopening. The Only Attractions They’ve Screened During Its Only Week Were “Spring Fever” At Screen 1 And “Concrete Jungle” At Screen 2, And That Is It. The Theater Closed.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Universal Cinemark at Citywalk on Sep 22, 2021 at 12:45 pm

On April 22, 2011, a 33-year-old man from Winter Haven was found unconscious in front of the Universal Cineplex after being tased by an off-duty Orange County Sheriff officer due to disorderly conduct. The man was then taken to Dr. P. Phillips Hospital and later died.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Haines City Twin on Sep 21, 2021 at 1:47 pm

Short-Lived Theater. Opened In January 1978, Closed In 1982.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Gem Theatre on Sep 19, 2021 at 5:16 am

Opened On May 31, 1939, Closed As A Movie House In 1951 Leaving It Vacant, And Was Destroyed By A Fire In May 1953.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Studio Theatre on Sep 16, 2021 at 1:59 pm

Opened with Perry Marmont in “San Francisco Nights”, along with a Mack Sennett short and a stage presentation.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Wales Drive-In on Sep 15, 2021 at 7:25 pm

Opened on May 29, 1952 with “Texans Never Cry” and “Birds Of Paradise”. It was closed on August 16, 1983 with “Coming Of Age” as its last film, and the screen was demolished 9 days later on August 25, 1983.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Boulevard Triple Theatre on Sep 15, 2021 at 6:49 pm

Opened On February 10, 1978, Closed On June 11, 1998.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Continental Mugs & Movies 2 on Sep 15, 2021 at 6:44 pm

It Was First Known As The Continental Theatre, Which Opened Its Doors As A 500-Seat Single-Screener On February 1, 1968 With Walt Disney’s “The Happiest Millionaire”. It Was Twinned In 1979, Which Changed Its Name To The “Continental I & II”.

The Name Was Later Updated As The “Continental Twin” In 1983. The Theater Changed Its Name Once Again To The Continental Mugs & Movies 2 In 1989.

It Was Closed On February 11, 1993.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Woodland Plaza Cinema on Sep 14, 2021 at 11:23 am

ABC Florida State Theatres operated this theater during its early years.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Starlite Drive-In on Sep 12, 2021 at 1:16 pm

Information about the Starlite goes as follows:

The 68ft screen tower is surfaced on a transite board with metal counter flashing between each piece of 4x8ft board. A red lead base with an extremely white pigment was used to give reflecting qualities. An article states that the tower contains enough wood to put in 5 indoor theaters, but I don’t think that’s the case. There were 7,000 teco rings and 4,000 bolts being used under building the tower’s framework. The tower is set on a footing of more than 300 yards if concrete, reinforced in steel and self-supporting. The back side which we all know faces the U.S. 45, which was also covered with a transite board with stainless steel stripping between each piece of board. More than 5,000ft of those were used outside of the tower. All of those steel works were done by the George L. Mesker Steel Corporation of Evansville, Indiana. This theater surrounds the beautiful sites of 500 Lombardy poplar trees which were planted, 126 evergreens, and over 500 shrub plants being used in landscaping in grounds.

With the back of the screen contains an intricate lighting system, which consists of flood lighting from the base and from the roof with multi-colored lamps. The back contains the “Starlite” 8x4ft letters with 2in strips of Scotchlight illuminating the center of lettering. The other letters “Drive”, “In”, and “Theatre” were 3x2ft.

When the theater opened, not just the attractions, but 3 door prizes were given away by each entry. The first prize contains a Noma Electric Doll, a talking doll with a press of a button contains a soundbox either he or she can laugh, talk, sing, or even saying her prayers, which were extremely ultra rare to find. The second prize contains a Stewart-Warner Portable Radio, styled in a green plastic case with a pullout handle for easy carrying. And the last prize contains a Dormey Portable Electric Food Mixer, a faster way to bake. For the kiddies, there are also Souvenir Rings especially designed for the Starlite by Penny King. Also for the little ones contains pony rides. There were 3 of them, named Gus, Red, and Koko, in front of the screen tower. And lastly, the first 1,000 women who attended the Starlite in its opening day will receive orchids, that came from Hawaii.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Hill-Top Drive-In on Sep 12, 2021 at 12:45 pm

Opened On August 5, 1949 With “The Babe Ruth Story”.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Deerbrook Cinema on Sep 11, 2021 at 7:46 pm

In July of 1971, plans for this theater is included as it was part of an expansion of the mall. The theater opened sometime between 1972 and 1973, because the Chicago Tribune haven’t receive any attractions for the Deerbrook until June of 1973.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about LaGrange Theatre on Sep 11, 2021 at 7:38 pm

ABC/Great States also operated the LaGrange as well since the early 1970s.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Governor Theatre on Sep 11, 2021 at 5:42 pm

It actually opened on April 25, 1938, with Andy Devine in “In Old Chicago” along with a cartoon. The cartoon actually reads “SKIPPY”, which kinda makes sense. I don’t know what the title for the actual cartoon is called.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Park Theatre on Sep 11, 2021 at 5:16 pm

In 1947, the theater was renamed as the Park Theatre to match its former name. It was closed as late as September 17, 1953.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Roof Garden Drive-In on Sep 11, 2021 at 5:09 pm

Actually, the Roof Garden Drive-In continued operations prior to 1951 because its partial-seasoned. I looked through various 1949-1950 pages of the Daily American, and reported that construction was in process in July of 1949.

The Roof Garden would then later open its gates on July 25, 1949 with Richard Basehart and Scott Brady in “He Walked By Night”, but I cannot find a single grand opening advertisement anywhere, but it did announce a week prior to watch for a grand opening attraction. I dug up completely deeper and I can’t find it anywhere.

It closed for the final time at the end of the 1975 season, but on November 17, 1975, some rubble from the screen was devastated in a fire. The theater was then sold on March 3, 1976.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Midway Drive-In on Sep 11, 2021 at 11:40 am

Closed In September 1987.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Midway Drive-In on Sep 10, 2021 at 2:04 pm

Opened On April 19, 1949 With Dick Powell In “Rogues' Regiment” And Penny Singleton And Arthur Lake In “Blondie’s Big Deal”.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Northwest Plaza Cinema on Sep 8, 2021 at 7:50 pm

UPDATE: Became A Twin On December 20, 1974, Reopening With “The Towering Inferno” At Screen 1 And Walt Disney’s “The Island Of The Top Of The World” And “Winnie The Pooh And Tigger Too” At Screen 2. Expanded To A Quad On April 9, 1982, And A 9-Plex On November 17, 1989.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about New City Cinema 6 on Sep 8, 2021 at 7:40 pm

Opened with Walt Disney’s “The Ugly Dachshund” and “Winnie The Pooh And The Honey Tree”.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Gulf to Bay Drive-In on Sep 8, 2021 at 6:36 pm

The Gulf-To-Bay Opened Its Gates On November 15, 1949. It Was Closed On July 25, 1984 With “Breakin'” And “Hot Dog” As Its Last Films. It Was Later Announce That August That Apartment Sites Will Be Constructed In Its Site, Which Began In Early 1985.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Des Peres 14 Cine' on Sep 8, 2021 at 4:57 pm

Opened On September 28, 1973.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Showtown USA Twin Drive-In on Sep 8, 2021 at 2:29 pm

Opened On December 1, 1972.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Countryside Six on Sep 8, 2021 at 1:39 pm

This is AMC’s second Clearwater location, with the first being the Clearwater 4 (later the Clearwater 5) being located at the Clearwater Mall which AMC operated it throughout its history from September 1972 Until October 2000.

50sSNIPES
50sSNIPES commented about Cameo Theatre on Sep 8, 2021 at 6:31 am

On September 2, 1974, the Cameo Theatre flipped the table after running X rated films and began stunting with second-run films, which reopened with the 1972 film “Pete N Tillie”. However, that stunt didn’t last for so long, and flipped back to X rated films during the week of June 22, 1975, but had another lawsuit later that September. The Cameo’s short-lived stunting sequences had flopped big time. The following year, The Cameo Theatre on June 2, 1976 had failed to pay fines in obscenity cases. The theater was forced to close its doors for the final time after jury trials and convictions brought fines from an estimate total of $43,500.