The theatre opened on Saturday, 8/16/1947. The opening features were LIVING IN A BIG WAY and DARK DELUSION. THey also ran a Popeye short.
The Columbus Dispatch described the theatre as “having a distinctive facade of cut stone and pale green and brown terra cotta. The marquee, resembling the New York World’s Fair perisphere, will have space for 560 lights. The theatre is part of a new $4,000,000 business center.”
“An arcade lobby, with ticket window to the right and display windows to the left, will lead to the main foyer. Over a thousand patrons can be accommodated in the auditorium in which blue, yellow and red are dominant decorative colors. Features for convenience include a crying room for babies and hearing aids for the hard of hearing. Ample parking space has been provided.”
At one time, the theatre name was to be the Driving Park Theatre, named after the early 20th century racetrack located nearby.
This headline speaks the truth! Call it Lie-Max, Imax Light, or, my preferred term, Imax Junior, it is NOT true Imax. Until the digital systems can light a minimum 60' x 90' screen, they are not true Imax.
To follow up on retroguy’s post about a car hitting the Clinton, The Columbus Dispatch reported on 6/2/2010 that the owners of the building had been ordered in April, 2010 to fix the “deteriorating buildings at 3367 – 3383 N. High St.” The owner would face a fine of $250 per day starting on August 1, 2010. This week, the city inspectors ordered the owner to hire an engineer to check structural integrity. The building must also be kept secure. Some preservationists would like to save the Clinton Theater building, but the buildings are graffiti covered and deteriorated.
I don’t think this theatre is going to have a very happy ending.
In February or March 2010, all of the comments disappeared from the Cleve Theatre (Columbus Ohio) page, and I was able to grab them from the Google Cache. Looks like the phantom deleter struck again!! Something very strange going on around here.
Ron, thanks for pulling them out of Cache-land. Very much appreciated.
I haven’t gotten that far in my research yet, but I do have a note that it became the Agora approximately April 1970. It was taken over by Henry & Joe LoConti, who invested $200,000 in the project.
I should have more exact data by the end of the summer.
The Little Theatre did become the Little Art Theatre. The local police tried many times to shut that down. Many films were confiscated and managers arrested. Film censorship was a huge issue well up into the 1970’s. Building was finally condemned and torn down.
You are only talking about a distance here of about 100 yards…unless you really looked at the maps, you wouldn’t know the difference. If you would ask someone to circle an area of a map that would be considered Arlington, they include this shopping center. If I didn’t live here, I certainly wouldn’t have noticed the difference. As I said above, the city boundaries here get very, very confusing.
The WORLD theatre actually opened in 1947 in the building that housed the Olentangy at 2523 North High Street. On 9/14/1949, the WORLD moved to the Alhambra building, and the Olentangy became known as the Little Theatre, playing classic films.
In October, 1956, Charles Sugarman installed a 12' x 24' Cinemascope screen.
In Ohio, a beer license is different from a liquor license. They have had beer for a long time. They have quite a selection of national and local brews.
Raysson, I think you mean “Dolby Stereo”. Shades of Spinal Tap.
I saw EMPIRE at the beautiful Dayton Mall I theatre just after it opened. One of my most memorable movie experiences.
It also had my favorite name from all of the Star Wars series: Lando Calrissian. It’s even fun to say: Lan-do. Billy Dee was a great choice there. Today, I could see it played by Denzel Washington.
In this case, the theatre is in Columbus, BUT the 43220 zip code also includes the north part of the city of Upper Arlington, where I live. It also includes some unincorporated/township areas.
Things can get very confusing in the northwest part of Columbus. You might live in Columbus proper, go to school in the Worthington School district, and have a mailing address of Dublin. It really takes careful study of the local maps to really figure things out.
No fight intended, and certainly no disrespect to MikeRogers. I wish only that the Force stay strong among us, and we resume discussing one of the the most memorable theatres of its time. All hail the Cine Capri, with the hope that we DO see the likes of it again.
Please allow me to go off-topic here and address MikeRogers comment.
While growing up, we all want to be something special. Sure, while a child, we say we want to be a fireman or policeman, but, deep in our hearts, we want to be a hero. For my generation, it was Davy Crockett and, later, the 7 Mercury astronauts. For those growing up in the last decade loved and idolized the LORD OF THE RINGS. More recent folk seem to be especially entranced by AVATAR.
That group that grew up in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and even, to some extent, those just a bit younger, STAR WARS was one of the most memorable events of their childhood and adolescence. Luke and Han Solo were men without peer, Princess Leia was the most beautiful creature in the universe, and Darth Vader was the epitome of evil. They read the books, hung the posters and listened to the music until their lives matured.
Seeing STAR WARS and its companion films was a big moment. Folks of those years remember where and when they first saw it, and tell the tales of standing in lines as badges of honor. They argue about which theatres got the coveted 70mm prints, and who saw it in the new process of Dolby Stereo.
Sure, its a “B” movie…even George Lucas will admit to that. But, its a darn good story that really captures people.
That, MikeRogers, is why there are so many comments about the STAR WARS series and the theatres where it played. And they were very significant money makers for the theatre owners.
I enjoy the STAR WARS comments, and I really hope to see many more.
According to Box Office magazine, 2/19/1968, this theatre was originally operated by Cincinnati Theatre Company, a division of Associated Theatres of Cleveland.
Please don’t assume this was to be a multi-purpose venue. It was always planned to be for movies. I’m glad they dropped the “Theatre Arts Center” name before opening…I agree it is confusing.
My source for this was a 1963 issue of Boxoffice magazine.
In early 1984, Royal Theatres, operator of the Forum at the time, announced that they were going to build a 6-screen theatre behind the Forum. It was to seat 2,500 with 2-500 seat rooms. Dolby and 70mm equipment was to be included. This project was never completed.
The theatre opened on Saturday, 8/16/1947. The opening features were LIVING IN A BIG WAY and DARK DELUSION. THey also ran a Popeye short.
The Columbus Dispatch described the theatre as “having a distinctive facade of cut stone and pale green and brown terra cotta. The marquee, resembling the New York World’s Fair perisphere, will have space for 560 lights. The theatre is part of a new $4,000,000 business center.”
“An arcade lobby, with ticket window to the right and display windows to the left, will lead to the main foyer. Over a thousand patrons can be accommodated in the auditorium in which blue, yellow and red are dominant decorative colors. Features for convenience include a crying room for babies and hearing aids for the hard of hearing. Ample parking space has been provided.”
At one time, the theatre name was to be the Driving Park Theatre, named after the early 20th century racetrack located nearby.
This headline speaks the truth! Call it Lie-Max, Imax Light, or, my preferred term, Imax Junior, it is NOT true Imax. Until the digital systems can light a minimum 60' x 90' screen, they are not true Imax.
No balcony.
To follow up on retroguy’s post about a car hitting the Clinton, The Columbus Dispatch reported on 6/2/2010 that the owners of the building had been ordered in April, 2010 to fix the “deteriorating buildings at 3367 – 3383 N. High St.” The owner would face a fine of $250 per day starting on August 1, 2010. This week, the city inspectors ordered the owner to hire an engineer to check structural integrity. The building must also be kept secure. Some preservationists would like to save the Clinton Theater building, but the buildings are graffiti covered and deteriorated.
I don’t think this theatre is going to have a very happy ending.
In February or March 2010, all of the comments disappeared from the Cleve Theatre (Columbus Ohio) page, and I was able to grab them from the Google Cache. Looks like the phantom deleter struck again!! Something very strange going on around here.
Ron, thanks for pulling them out of Cache-land. Very much appreciated.
I haven’t gotten that far in my research yet, but I do have a note that it became the Agora approximately April 1970. It was taken over by Henry & Joe LoConti, who invested $200,000 in the project.
I should have more exact data by the end of the summer.
The Little Theatre did become the Little Art Theatre. The local police tried many times to shut that down. Many films were confiscated and managers arrested. Film censorship was a huge issue well up into the 1970’s. Building was finally condemned and torn down.
You are only talking about a distance here of about 100 yards…unless you really looked at the maps, you wouldn’t know the difference. If you would ask someone to circle an area of a map that would be considered Arlington, they include this shopping center. If I didn’t live here, I certainly wouldn’t have noticed the difference. As I said above, the city boundaries here get very, very confusing.
Theater opened on 6/6/1972.
The WORLD theatre actually opened in 1947 in the building that housed the Olentangy at 2523 North High Street. On 9/14/1949, the WORLD moved to the Alhambra building, and the Olentangy became known as the Little Theatre, playing classic films.
In October, 1956, Charles Sugarman installed a 12' x 24' Cinemascope screen.
On May 3, 1965, the screen was blown down by a storm, and the drive-in was forced to close. It reopened with a new screen on 5/17/1965.
Theatre closed on October 14, 1950. Closing features were Ghost of Frankenstein and Baron of Arizona.
In Ohio, a beer license is different from a liquor license. They have had beer for a long time. They have quite a selection of national and local brews.
Raysson, I think you mean “Dolby Stereo”. Shades of Spinal Tap.
I saw EMPIRE at the beautiful Dayton Mall I theatre just after it opened. One of my most memorable movie experiences.
It also had my favorite name from all of the Star Wars series: Lando Calrissian. It’s even fun to say: Lan-do. Billy Dee was a great choice there. Today, I could see it played by Denzel Washington.
In this case, the theatre is in Columbus, BUT the 43220 zip code also includes the north part of the city of Upper Arlington, where I live. It also includes some unincorporated/township areas.
Things can get very confusing in the northwest part of Columbus. You might live in Columbus proper, go to school in the Worthington School district, and have a mailing address of Dublin. It really takes careful study of the local maps to really figure things out.
No fight intended, and certainly no disrespect to MikeRogers. I wish only that the Force stay strong among us, and we resume discussing one of the the most memorable theatres of its time. All hail the Cine Capri, with the hope that we DO see the likes of it again.
Please allow me to go off-topic here and address MikeRogers comment.
While growing up, we all want to be something special. Sure, while a child, we say we want to be a fireman or policeman, but, deep in our hearts, we want to be a hero. For my generation, it was Davy Crockett and, later, the 7 Mercury astronauts. For those growing up in the last decade loved and idolized the LORD OF THE RINGS. More recent folk seem to be especially entranced by AVATAR.
That group that grew up in the late 70’s and early 80’s, and even, to some extent, those just a bit younger, STAR WARS was one of the most memorable events of their childhood and adolescence. Luke and Han Solo were men without peer, Princess Leia was the most beautiful creature in the universe, and Darth Vader was the epitome of evil. They read the books, hung the posters and listened to the music until their lives matured.
Seeing STAR WARS and its companion films was a big moment. Folks of those years remember where and when they first saw it, and tell the tales of standing in lines as badges of honor. They argue about which theatres got the coveted 70mm prints, and who saw it in the new process of Dolby Stereo.
Sure, its a “B” movie…even George Lucas will admit to that. But, its a darn good story that really captures people.
That, MikeRogers, is why there are so many comments about the STAR WARS series and the theatres where it played. And they were very significant money makers for the theatre owners.
I enjoy the STAR WARS comments, and I really hope to see many more.
The Carousel Theater was constructed after the Carrousel Motel. Architect was Tom Tilsley, who worked for the same firm that designed the motel.
Now, to the question…why was the theatre CAROUSEL and the motel CARROUSEL?
Original name was TORCH DRIVE-IN. Name changed to 40-East when taken over by Frank Yassenoff in 1967.
My guess would be that they tore down the Carmago to build the Carrousel Inn.
The Carrousel Inn was right across the street from the Carousel Theatre.
Question for Cincinnatians—-Which came first…the Carousel Theatre or the Carrousel Inn?
According to Box Office magazine, 2/19/1968, this theatre was originally operated by Cincinnati Theatre Company, a division of Associated Theatres of Cleveland.
According to a 1968 Boxoffice Magazine, Cinema III opened at this site on 2/27/1968 with a screening of CAMELOT.
Original name was North Hi Drive-In.
Opening date was 6/4/1952. First features were “Belles On Their Toes” and “North of the Great Divide”
Please don’t assume this was to be a multi-purpose venue. It was always planned to be for movies. I’m glad they dropped the “Theatre Arts Center” name before opening…I agree it is confusing.
My source for this was a 1963 issue of Boxoffice magazine.
In early 1984, Royal Theatres, operator of the Forum at the time, announced that they were going to build a 6-screen theatre behind the Forum. It was to seat 2,500 with 2-500 seat rooms. Dolby and 70mm equipment was to be included. This project was never completed.