Here is an item from the Tucson Daily Citizen dated 2/17/69:
City officials have a relocation problem in connection with the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, that has them scratching their heads.
It involves a new site for the Plaza Theater, 132 W. Congress St. The Plaza is the only movie house showing strictly Spanish language films. Urban renewal Director Donald Laidlaw said there has been “no positive results to date” in relocating the theater. He asked today that owners of suitable property, particularly in the downtown area, contact him if they will build or remodel to suit the tenant The theater requires a building of 7,000-8,000 square feet. It also would need 150 off-street parking spaces.
This is part of a July 2002 article in the Arkansas Business Journal:
No movie theaters in central Arkansas played the type of movies Matt Smith prefers.
So in March, Smith, 32, opened Market Street Cinema in Little Rock to showcase the thought-provoking independent and foreign films that rarely show up at the multiplex.
Smith’s move was the first indication that the movie theater business is making a comeback in Arkansas after a wave of bankruptcies by national chains a couple of years ago.
Smith is being followed by Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas, which plans to open in December an 18-screen theater on 15 acres on the south side of Col. Glenn Road, just west of Interstate 430.
Rave officials won’t say what the cost of the project will be, but the company spent $3.7 million to buy the land, and the building permit filed with the City of Little Rock shows the building will be 95,000 SF and cost about $8.2 million.
Fueling the resurgence of movie screens were record box office receipts in 2001, when ticket sales in the United States reached $8.4 billion. With hits such as “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and “Spiderman” in theaters now, the record could be broken again this year.
Don Burchett, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners, said he didn’t know of any theaters other than Rave’s under construction in the state.
Gust A. Stathis, theater operator, was one of the buyers of the Fox Theater, 3161 Elston Avenue, recently reported purchased by Dr. Ansel H. Tulupan, for $35,500, through the Mark Levy Realty Company. Stathis is operating the theater.
Zion’s only movie theater, which opened in 1948 after a stiff fight against community blue laws, has closed its doors.
The city’s first theater opened in 1913 but was raided by police and ordered closed by the mayor. Most of the blue laws were repealed at a referendum in 1949.
Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater corporation since it was formed, said the closing was dictated by his desire to retire rather than by failing audiences.
Here is part of a Chicago Tribune article dated 11/24/53:
A half million dollar building program covering 220 feet of frontage from 326 to 356 S. State St. at the northwest corner of State and Van Buren Sts. was announced yesterday. The project includes demolition of the Rialto Theater, now operated as Minsky’s burlesque house, which will ring down its curtains for the last time on Dec. 9.
Joseph Rosenberg, owner of the property, said it will be replaced by a one story building of shops, all air conditioned. The new structure will front 100 feet on State St. with a depth of 100 feet. Edward Steinborn, Inc. is architect. Completion is set for May 1.
The Rialto Theater was built in 1916 by Jones, Linick and Schaefer and operated as a movie house. It has 1,500 seats. Marshall & Fox was architect. After various changes in management and policies it was leased several years ago for occupancy by Minsky’s burlesque. Rosenberg bought it from Yale University and others in 1949 for $500,000 through Louis Manierre of Dibblee and Manierre.
Here is an item from the Chicago Tribune dated 1/16/32:
Benjamin Sacks of the Lakeside Fish and Oyster Company, one of the largest wholesale firms in the country, is remodeling the Lyda Theater property, 315 North Cicero Avenue, which he owns, into a modern food market. The general contract has been awarded to J. Taff & Co. R. Bernard Kurzon is architect. Work is under way, with the expectation of having it open around April 15.
The 925 seat playhouse has been dismantled and the entire building is being remodeled. A new front is to be built. Concessions will be leased for the sale of groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, bakery goods, etc. There will be a delicatessen and soda fountain. The building occupies a site 60x100 feet. Renting and management will be handled by Mr. Sacks. He states he plans to erect other markets in various locations.
HYDE PARK TO HAVE ITS FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Syndicate Buys Beach Theater: $100,000.
Hyde Park is to have its first national bank. The Beach Theater building at the northeast corner of Harper avenue and Hyde Park boulevard, directly across from the Hyde Park hotel, was sold yesterday.
This June 1930 item in the Chicago Tribune calls the theater the Bijou Academy:
Harry Parker, a chauffeur, was sentenced to twenty days in the county jail for contempt yesterday by Judge Hayes in the Superior court for giving perjured testimony. Parker was a witness in the $50,000 damage suit brought against the Bijou Academy theater, 16 South Halsted street.
Here is part of a February 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune:
Louise Miller and Annette Edler are as close as sisters can be. Their sisterly adventures date back to the 1940s. Back then, they would clean their parents' house top to bottom for an allowance of 25 cents. It isn’t much by today’s standards, but at that time it bought each sister an entire Sunday afternoon’s worth of activity.
Miller and Edler would walk from their home just behind where the Great American Bagel sits today on Ogden Avenue in Westmont to the movie theater at 25 S. Cass Ave. They crossed a lot of empty fields on the way, but their parents didn’t worry about their safety. “In Westmont, you know, you didn’t lock your door. You trusted everybody,” Miller reminisced recently.
Once downtown, Miller and Edler spent pieces of their allowance one at a time: 5 cents for popcorn — with real butter — in a white bag; 10 cents for a kid’s discounted movie ticket; 6 cents for an ice cream cone after the movie. The sisters saw countless Hollywood classics at the Westmont Theater. “Abbott and Costello … Dale Evans … Gene Autry,” Miller recalled.
As the girls grew up, they discovered other pastimes, such as the roller rink, or baseball games. They were so busy moving on with life they never really took note of when or why the Westmont Theater closed. “We probably outgrew it,” Miller said, adding that she hoped I would be able to find out whatever happened to the old mainstay.
The Westmont Theater started as a business for the Zulas family, who bought the empty theater just after the Depression. In the beginning, an adult movie ticket — 15 cents before 6:30 p.m. — bought you two features, a cartoon, coming attractions and the newsreel, said Helen Zulas, whose late husband, Jim, wore the red blazer and black slacks usher uniform at the Westmont for years.
Young people and families came to the theater, and the Sweet Shop next door, to be in the center of the action in Westmont. When students graduated from nearby Central School, the theater would shut down for a day so the ceremony could be held there, Zulas said. After nearly two decades, the Zulas family sold the business to the man running the movie projectors, Charles Avgeris. The theater then became that family’s business, said George Avgeris, who took tickets from customers as a 4th grader and worked as an usher when he got older.
During World War II, moviegoers took special interest in the newsreels, which offered them a connection to current events around the world. “In those days, it was really busy. … For certain movies, we had to get out these velvet colored chains and block off people and everything,” Avgeris said. “Those were the great days of theater. Motion pictures. Before television. There really was no other entertainment.” But Avgeris' father and his business partner had a falling out, and Charles Avgeris left the Westmont Theater. A few years later, the theater closed.
The building stayed empty until it became the temporary location of the Bank of Westmont, which was building a new location down the street. The bank left the theater marquee up as it occupied the space. After the bank, the theater building became Raikes, a dime store. And after that, it turned into a Custom One Hour Photo and Framing shop, which it remains today, said Gerry Szymski, a lifelong Westmont resident.
Here is part of an article in the Zanesville Times Recorder dated 12/28/75:
Sunrise Cinema has opened all three of its theaters to good selections that ought to have appeal for every segment of the community. Its feature attraction is “Winterhawk,” an absolute must for serious movie fans. The panoramic splendor of the open west is set off in brilliant color and sparkling scenery to set the stage for a Blackfoot legend you will remember for a long time.
John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn star in the fun-filled Hal Wallis production, “Rooster Cogburn.” Burt Reynolds is featured in the movie, “Hustle.” All three are playing simultaneously from a single projector on three separate screens in three separate quarters of the new Sunrise Cinema managed by personable Charles Nassar who also runs the projector.
Here is a May 1940 item from the Zanesville Signal:
Two theaters operated by the Zanesville Theaters, Inc. will close shortly for repairs and improvements, it was announced today by E.J. Heinle, local theaters manager. The Grand theater on upper Main street will be closed following the last show Saturday night. In addition to beautifying the interior, new sound equipment will be installed and other improvements made during the period the theater is closed.
The Quimby theater on South Fifth street will close following the run of “The Pace that Kills,” which opens there with a midnight show Saturday night. The showing of this feature will end sometime during the coming week.
New sound and projection equipment will be installed in the Quimby also and new seats will be placed during the shut-down. Other repairs and renovations are planned for both theaters, including new screens, all to be done before the theaters reopen.
Here is part of an 8/1/85 article from the Elyria Chronicle Telegram:
FAIRVIEW PARK â€" A couple of days ago, residents and merchants near the Fairview Theater were scratching their heads in amazement at the signs proclaiming the 38-year-old theater had been closed. The ink was hardly dry on the signs on the theater doors at 21655 Lorain Rd. when businessman Morrie Zryl replaced them with signs that told of the next attraction-“Will Reopen Soon.” “We’ll be opening sometime in August – the 23rd at the latest,” Zryl said. “We’re going to turn it back into a first-run theater.”
Zryl, who owns the Colony Theater on Shaker Square, said he knew more than a month ago about plans by National Theatre Corp. to close the double-screen theater because of sagging profits. He said he considered the purchase of the theater as a chance to offer the same kind of good movies on the west side that he now offers on the east side at the Colony. In recent months, Fairview had been showing sub-run movies, which are usually films four to eight weeks old. “We will offer mostly firstruns, but we won’t turn down showing quality sub-runs, Zryl said. "Fairview Park fits in nicely to my plans.”
Russ Winter, vice-president of National Theatre Corp. in Lyndhurst. said his decision to close the theater was in line with a growing trend in metropolitan areas away from single screen and double-screen “neighborhood” theaters. He said multiple screen movie houses were much more profitable. “There’s something neat about a single service theater, but they’re not making business,” Wintner said. “The industry has changed. Per capita, we do a better business in multiple theaters.†Zryl, who has operated the single-screen Colony Theatre for the past four years, vehemently disagreed that people do not want to go neighborhood-type theaters anymore.
This is part of an article dated 1/20/06 in the Elyria Chronicle Telegram:
For nearly 20 years, residents of western Cuyahoga County suburbs and eastern Lorain County were entertained by movies at a six-screen multiplex adjacent to Westgate Mall in Fairview Park. The theater’s screens went dark for the last time earlier this week. Although the closing may have appeared abrupt to some, it was tied to the long-range major redevelopment of the former Westgate Mall property into an upscale open-air shopping center.
Opened in the late 1980s and operated by the Boston-based General Cinema Corporation, the six-screen, 1,700-seat theater was located next to the former Higbee’s home store. It was acquired by the Kansas City-based AMC Theater Corporation in the late 1990s when that firm purchased the majority of operations from the financially-troubled General Cinema Corp. The theater officially closed after the final screenings of movies Monday night, according to Melanie Bell, AMC’s director of public communications. While she was unable to provide details relating to the Westgate closing, Bell said the company has a “long-term business strategy of continuously upgrading theaters, which includes closure of different theaters.”
When asked if the Westgate theater had done good business in recent years, Bell said she had no specifics about the location, but indicated that older theaters in general would not fare as well as newer, much larger theaters sporting amenities including stadium seats, cup holders, digital sound systems and high-tech ticket booths. AMC owns and operates approximately 3,475 screens in 220 theaters located in 28 states.
Here is part of a lawsuit from the early 1980s. Plaintiff lost.
On March 24, 1979, Jocelyn Vargas attended a movie, “Boulevard Nights,” at the Alhambra Theatre on Polk Street in San Francisco. After leaving the theater, as she and her friends were walking down the street to catch a bus, she was shot by someone who, it is alleged, was a “member of the general public prone to violence … who had been attracted to said Alhambra Theatre by the showing of said violent movie … .” Through her mother, as guardian, she has sued various defendants, including petitioners, who are alleged to be the producers of the movie. Her mother, alleging damage for medical treatment and loss of services, is also a plaintiff. Their complaint, as relevant here, is that petitioners “knew, or should have known, that said movie was a violent movie and would attract certain members of the public to view said movie who were prone to violence and who carried weapons … [and] would, or were likely to cause grave bodily injury upon other members of the general public at or near the showing of said movie,” but that petitioners “negligently failed to warn” Jocelyn of these facts, and “negligently failed to take sufficient steps to protect patrons,” such as herself, “at and near said Alhambra Theatre.” In a second cause of action, plaintiffs allege in addition that petitioners “willfully allowed the showing of said movie to the general public, knowing and thereby impliedly representing to members of the general public … that said movie could be viewed in safety,” that they “intended that patrons, such as Jocelyn Vargas, should rely on their representations,” and she did so rely, to her detriment.
Here is an item from the Tucson Daily Citizen dated 2/17/69:
City officials have a relocation problem in connection with the Pueblo Center Redevelopment Project, that has them scratching their heads.
It involves a new site for the Plaza Theater, 132 W. Congress St. The Plaza is the only movie house showing strictly Spanish language films. Urban renewal Director Donald Laidlaw said there has been “no positive results to date” in relocating the theater. He asked today that owners of suitable property, particularly in the downtown area, contact him if they will build or remodel to suit the tenant The theater requires a building of 7,000-8,000 square feet. It also would need 150 off-street parking spaces.
This is part of a July 2002 article in the Arkansas Business Journal:
No movie theaters in central Arkansas played the type of movies Matt Smith prefers.
So in March, Smith, 32, opened Market Street Cinema in Little Rock to showcase the thought-provoking independent and foreign films that rarely show up at the multiplex.
Smith’s move was the first indication that the movie theater business is making a comeback in Arkansas after a wave of bankruptcies by national chains a couple of years ago.
Smith is being followed by Rave Motion Pictures of Dallas, which plans to open in December an 18-screen theater on 15 acres on the south side of Col. Glenn Road, just west of Interstate 430.
Rave officials won’t say what the cost of the project will be, but the company spent $3.7 million to buy the land, and the building permit filed with the City of Little Rock shows the building will be 95,000 SF and cost about $8.2 million.
Fueling the resurgence of movie screens were record box office receipts in 2001, when ticket sales in the United States reached $8.4 billion. With hits such as “Star Wars: Attack of the Clones” and “Spiderman” in theaters now, the record could be broken again this year.
Don Burchett, president of the Arkansas chapter of the National Association of Theater Owners, said he didn’t know of any theaters other than Rave’s under construction in the state.
If you put in 310 W. Texas and then rotate the photo you will see the Brunson.
This is from the Chicago Tribune, dated 8/12/45:
Gust A. Stathis, theater operator, was one of the buyers of the Fox Theater, 3161 Elston Avenue, recently reported purchased by Dr. Ansel H. Tulupan, for $35,500, through the Mark Levy Realty Company. Stathis is operating the theater.
The Chicago Tribune announced in October 1958 that the Bugg was going to be razed in favor of a parking lot.
This was in the Chicago Tribune on 5/31/59:
Zion’s only movie theater, which opened in 1948 after a stiff fight against community blue laws, has closed its doors.
The city’s first theater opened in 1913 but was raided by police and ordered closed by the mayor. Most of the blue laws were repealed at a referendum in 1949.
Onnie Bridges, president of the Zion Theater corporation since it was formed, said the closing was dictated by his desire to retire rather than by failing audiences.
Here is part of a Chicago Tribune article dated 11/24/53:
A half million dollar building program covering 220 feet of frontage from 326 to 356 S. State St. at the northwest corner of State and Van Buren Sts. was announced yesterday. The project includes demolition of the Rialto Theater, now operated as Minsky’s burlesque house, which will ring down its curtains for the last time on Dec. 9.
Joseph Rosenberg, owner of the property, said it will be replaced by a one story building of shops, all air conditioned. The new structure will front 100 feet on State St. with a depth of 100 feet. Edward Steinborn, Inc. is architect. Completion is set for May 1.
The Rialto Theater was built in 1916 by Jones, Linick and Schaefer and operated as a movie house. It has 1,500 seats. Marshall & Fox was architect. After various changes in management and policies it was leased several years ago for occupancy by Minsky’s burlesque. Rosenberg bought it from Yale University and others in 1949 for $500,000 through Louis Manierre of Dibblee and Manierre.
Here is an item from the Chicago Tribune dated 1/16/32:
Benjamin Sacks of the Lakeside Fish and Oyster Company, one of the largest wholesale firms in the country, is remodeling the Lyda Theater property, 315 North Cicero Avenue, which he owns, into a modern food market. The general contract has been awarded to J. Taff & Co. R. Bernard Kurzon is architect. Work is under way, with the expectation of having it open around April 15.
The 925 seat playhouse has been dismantled and the entire building is being remodeled. A new front is to be built. Concessions will be leased for the sale of groceries, fruits, vegetables, fish, bakery goods, etc. There will be a delicatessen and soda fountain. The building occupies a site 60x100 feet. Renting and management will be handled by Mr. Sacks. He states he plans to erect other markets in various locations.
Here is a March 2009 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d9yyh9
That’s what was noted earlier. I was wondering if any part of the drive-in remains.
This site mentions that the Avaloe had a Barton organ.
http://tinyurl.com/ddcdbk
I think that building is too narrow to be a former theater. It may have been built after the old theater building was razed.
From the Chicago Tribune, 12/17/22:
HYDE PARK TO HAVE ITS FIRST NATIONAL BANK
Syndicate Buys Beach Theater: $100,000.
Hyde Park is to have its first national bank. The Beach Theater building at the northeast corner of Harper avenue and Hyde Park boulevard, directly across from the Hyde Park hotel, was sold yesterday.
Here are some additional photos. That’s a griffin on the roof.
http://tinyurl.com/dcmvco
Here is a 1951 photo from the U of Chicago library. I’m not sure if this has already been posted:
http://tinyurl.com/c3xldy
Here is a small ad from a 1919 issue of the Chicago Defender:
http://tinyurl.com/bhouu2
This June 1930 item in the Chicago Tribune calls the theater the Bijou Academy:
Harry Parker, a chauffeur, was sentenced to twenty days in the county jail for contempt yesterday by Judge Hayes in the Superior court for giving perjured testimony. Parker was a witness in the $50,000 damage suit brought against the Bijou Academy theater, 16 South Halsted street.
Liver and let live, that’s what I always say.
There is a building at 25 S. Cass that houses a photo shop, but it’s unknown if this is the original theater building.
Here is part of a February 2009 article in the Chicago Tribune:
Louise Miller and Annette Edler are as close as sisters can be. Their sisterly adventures date back to the 1940s. Back then, they would clean their parents' house top to bottom for an allowance of 25 cents. It isn’t much by today’s standards, but at that time it bought each sister an entire Sunday afternoon’s worth of activity.
Miller and Edler would walk from their home just behind where the Great American Bagel sits today on Ogden Avenue in Westmont to the movie theater at 25 S. Cass Ave. They crossed a lot of empty fields on the way, but their parents didn’t worry about their safety. “In Westmont, you know, you didn’t lock your door. You trusted everybody,” Miller reminisced recently.
Once downtown, Miller and Edler spent pieces of their allowance one at a time: 5 cents for popcorn — with real butter — in a white bag; 10 cents for a kid’s discounted movie ticket; 6 cents for an ice cream cone after the movie. The sisters saw countless Hollywood classics at the Westmont Theater. “Abbott and Costello … Dale Evans … Gene Autry,” Miller recalled.
As the girls grew up, they discovered other pastimes, such as the roller rink, or baseball games. They were so busy moving on with life they never really took note of when or why the Westmont Theater closed. “We probably outgrew it,” Miller said, adding that she hoped I would be able to find out whatever happened to the old mainstay.
The Westmont Theater started as a business for the Zulas family, who bought the empty theater just after the Depression. In the beginning, an adult movie ticket — 15 cents before 6:30 p.m. — bought you two features, a cartoon, coming attractions and the newsreel, said Helen Zulas, whose late husband, Jim, wore the red blazer and black slacks usher uniform at the Westmont for years.
Young people and families came to the theater, and the Sweet Shop next door, to be in the center of the action in Westmont. When students graduated from nearby Central School, the theater would shut down for a day so the ceremony could be held there, Zulas said. After nearly two decades, the Zulas family sold the business to the man running the movie projectors, Charles Avgeris. The theater then became that family’s business, said George Avgeris, who took tickets from customers as a 4th grader and worked as an usher when he got older.
During World War II, moviegoers took special interest in the newsreels, which offered them a connection to current events around the world. “In those days, it was really busy. … For certain movies, we had to get out these velvet colored chains and block off people and everything,” Avgeris said. “Those were the great days of theater. Motion pictures. Before television. There really was no other entertainment.” But Avgeris' father and his business partner had a falling out, and Charles Avgeris left the Westmont Theater. A few years later, the theater closed.
The building stayed empty until it became the temporary location of the Bank of Westmont, which was building a new location down the street. The bank left the theater marquee up as it occupied the space. After the bank, the theater building became Raikes, a dime store. And after that, it turned into a Custom One Hour Photo and Framing shop, which it remains today, said Gerry Szymski, a lifelong Westmont resident.
Here is part of an article in the Zanesville Times Recorder dated 12/28/75:
Sunrise Cinema has opened all three of its theaters to good selections that ought to have appeal for every segment of the community. Its feature attraction is “Winterhawk,” an absolute must for serious movie fans. The panoramic splendor of the open west is set off in brilliant color and sparkling scenery to set the stage for a Blackfoot legend you will remember for a long time.
John Wayne and Katherine Hepburn star in the fun-filled Hal Wallis production, “Rooster Cogburn.” Burt Reynolds is featured in the movie, “Hustle.” All three are playing simultaneously from a single projector on three separate screens in three separate quarters of the new Sunrise Cinema managed by personable Charles Nassar who also runs the projector.
Here is a May 1940 item from the Zanesville Signal:
Two theaters operated by the Zanesville Theaters, Inc. will close shortly for repairs and improvements, it was announced today by E.J. Heinle, local theaters manager. The Grand theater on upper Main street will be closed following the last show Saturday night. In addition to beautifying the interior, new sound equipment will be installed and other improvements made during the period the theater is closed.
The Quimby theater on South Fifth street will close following the run of “The Pace that Kills,” which opens there with a midnight show Saturday night. The showing of this feature will end sometime during the coming week.
New sound and projection equipment will be installed in the Quimby also and new seats will be placed during the shut-down. Other repairs and renovations are planned for both theaters, including new screens, all to be done before the theaters reopen.
Here is part of an 8/1/85 article from the Elyria Chronicle Telegram:
FAIRVIEW PARK â€" A couple of days ago, residents and merchants near the Fairview Theater were scratching their heads in amazement at the signs proclaiming the 38-year-old theater had been closed. The ink was hardly dry on the signs on the theater doors at 21655 Lorain Rd. when businessman Morrie Zryl replaced them with signs that told of the next attraction-“Will Reopen Soon.” “We’ll be opening sometime in August – the 23rd at the latest,” Zryl said. “We’re going to turn it back into a first-run theater.”
Zryl, who owns the Colony Theater on Shaker Square, said he knew more than a month ago about plans by National Theatre Corp. to close the double-screen theater because of sagging profits. He said he considered the purchase of the theater as a chance to offer the same kind of good movies on the west side that he now offers on the east side at the Colony. In recent months, Fairview had been showing sub-run movies, which are usually films four to eight weeks old. “We will offer mostly firstruns, but we won’t turn down showing quality sub-runs, Zryl said. "Fairview Park fits in nicely to my plans.”
Russ Winter, vice-president of National Theatre Corp. in Lyndhurst. said his decision to close the theater was in line with a growing trend in metropolitan areas away from single screen and double-screen “neighborhood” theaters. He said multiple screen movie houses were much more profitable. “There’s something neat about a single service theater, but they’re not making business,” Wintner said. “The industry has changed. Per capita, we do a better business in multiple theaters.†Zryl, who has operated the single-screen Colony Theatre for the past four years, vehemently disagreed that people do not want to go neighborhood-type theaters anymore.
This is part of an article dated 1/20/06 in the Elyria Chronicle Telegram:
For nearly 20 years, residents of western Cuyahoga County suburbs and eastern Lorain County were entertained by movies at a six-screen multiplex adjacent to Westgate Mall in Fairview Park. The theater’s screens went dark for the last time earlier this week. Although the closing may have appeared abrupt to some, it was tied to the long-range major redevelopment of the former Westgate Mall property into an upscale open-air shopping center.
Opened in the late 1980s and operated by the Boston-based General Cinema Corporation, the six-screen, 1,700-seat theater was located next to the former Higbee’s home store. It was acquired by the Kansas City-based AMC Theater Corporation in the late 1990s when that firm purchased the majority of operations from the financially-troubled General Cinema Corp. The theater officially closed after the final screenings of movies Monday night, according to Melanie Bell, AMC’s director of public communications. While she was unable to provide details relating to the Westgate closing, Bell said the company has a “long-term business strategy of continuously upgrading theaters, which includes closure of different theaters.”
When asked if the Westgate theater had done good business in recent years, Bell said she had no specifics about the location, but indicated that older theaters in general would not fare as well as newer, much larger theaters sporting amenities including stadium seats, cup holders, digital sound systems and high-tech ticket booths. AMC owns and operates approximately 3,475 screens in 220 theaters located in 28 states.
Here is part of a lawsuit from the early 1980s. Plaintiff lost.
On March 24, 1979, Jocelyn Vargas attended a movie, “Boulevard Nights,” at the Alhambra Theatre on Polk Street in San Francisco. After leaving the theater, as she and her friends were walking down the street to catch a bus, she was shot by someone who, it is alleged, was a “member of the general public prone to violence … who had been attracted to said Alhambra Theatre by the showing of said violent movie … .” Through her mother, as guardian, she has sued various defendants, including petitioners, who are alleged to be the producers of the movie. Her mother, alleging damage for medical treatment and loss of services, is also a plaintiff. Their complaint, as relevant here, is that petitioners “knew, or should have known, that said movie was a violent movie and would attract certain members of the public to view said movie who were prone to violence and who carried weapons … [and] would, or were likely to cause grave bodily injury upon other members of the general public at or near the showing of said movie,” but that petitioners “negligently failed to warn” Jocelyn of these facts, and “negligently failed to take sufficient steps to protect patrons,” such as herself, “at and near said Alhambra Theatre.” In a second cause of action, plaintiffs allege in addition that petitioners “willfully allowed the showing of said movie to the general public, knowing and thereby impliedly representing to members of the general public … that said movie could be viewed in safety,” that they “intended that patrons, such as Jocelyn Vargas, should rely on their representations,” and she did so rely, to her detriment.