Mann Southtown Theatre
7770 Penn Avenue S,
Minneapolis,
MN
55423
7770 Penn Avenue S,
Minneapolis,
MN
55423
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 54 comments
Budyboy100…Hopefully, this will put to rest any question of whether or not “Star Wars” played at SOUTHTOWN per your memory. What follows is a week by week breakdown of the bookings for the SOUTHTOWN during the 67-week run of “Star Wars.” As you can see, at no time during that original release did “Star Wars” play at SOUTHTOWN.
05.27.1977 … ROCKY
06.03.1977 … ROCKY
06.10.1977 … ROCKY
06.17.1977 … ROCKY
06.24.1977 … ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
07.01.1977 … ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
07.08.1977 … ISLANDS IN THE STREAM
07.15.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
07.22.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
07.29.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
08.05.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
08.12.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
08.19.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
08.26.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
09.02.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
09.09.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
09.16.1977 … THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
09.23.1977 … A STAR IS BORN
09.30.1977 … A STAR IS BORN
10.07.1977 … THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT
10.14.1977 … THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT
10.21.1977 … THE OTHER SIDE OF MIDNIGHT / TOM THUMB
10.28.1977 … CARRIE
11.04.1977 … DAMNATION ALLEY
11.11.1977 … CAMELOT
11.18.1977 … LED ZEPPELIN: THE SONG REMAINS THE SAME
11.25.1977 … POCO: THE ADVENTURES OF A LITTLE DOG LOST
12.02.1977 … 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY
12.09.1977 … LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
12.16.1977 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
12.23.1977 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
12.30.1977 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
01.06.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
01.13.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
01.20.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
01.27.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
02.03.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
02.10.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
02.17.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
02.24.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
03.03.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
03.10.1978 … CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND
03.17.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
03.24.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
03.31.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
04.07.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
04.14.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
04.21.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
04.28.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
05.05.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
05.12.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
05.19.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
05.26.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
06.02.1978 … THE GOODBYE GIRL
06.09.1978 … HERE COME THE TIGERS
06.16.1978 … GREASE
06.23.1978 … GREASE
06.30.1978 … GREASE
07.07.1978 … GREASE
07.14.1978 … GREASE
07.21.1978 … GREASE
07.28.1978 … GREASE
08.04.1978 … GREASE
08.11.1978 … GREASE
08.18.1978 … GREASE
08.25.1978 … GREASE
09.01.1978 … GREASE
Source: Minneapolis Tribune
Big Red, I would LOVE to see the photos you have of this theater, if you could, my email is , I would be very grateful. Thank you.
budyboy100… You are really beginning to test my patience! Do you honestly believe that the information I’ve been posting here and in the Star Wars anniversary thread has been culled from memory or pulled out of my ass?!
Dude, I researched the matter by consulting the very source you keep recommending! In other words, I already went through the archived copies of the Minneapolis newspaper (and Variety) week by week and relayed to you my findings. “STAR WARS” DID NOT PLAY AT SOUTHTOWN DURING 1977.
And one other thing: The SOUTHTOWN during the timeframe in question was operated by General Cinema, not by Mann.
Is this the same Mann chain from Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, Ca?
http://0mg.com
Michael,
Sigh…..
I don’t want to bore you with my claims against your facts…….
The question can easily be solved by someone currently in Minnesota going to the newspaper office and looking at all the records from opening day, (May sometime) through the summer it opened, say until the end of August. Mann theaters always ran a list of all their theaters and what was showing.
BTW, the review that got me to the movie was in a weekly blurb called ‘The Reader’. Who knows what happened to that.
Interestingly, someone mentioned that 2001 was soon to celebrate an anniversary. Well, I saw it on a re-release in the 70’s in Super 70 format at the Cooper Cinerama, not the undivided step cousin called the Cooper Cameo, but the one with the 105 foot louvered screen. You likely won’t believe that either………but I did.
Budyboy100, regarding our “debate”… I replied to this already on the Happy 30th, Star Wars! page, but here it is again. Sigh…
The ST. LOUIS PARK theater had an exclusive for the Minneapolis market from May 25 until July 14. The additional area runs identified in my earlier post started on July 15th.
Regarding my “incomplete evidence” for May & June 1977, the SOUTHTOWN during this period of time was showing “Rocky.”
Still not convinced? Here’s industry trade VARIETY’s take on the matter from their issue of July 27, 1977, page 16:
“Now in ninth week, ‘Star Wars’ played its first seven weeks exclusively at suburban St. Louis Park before splitting to other sites.”
bigred… My SHELARD PARK question was rhetorical! In other words, my point was that “Star Wars” didn’t play there. (Thanks, though, for the rundown.) Nevertheless, I’d like to know where you found a list that claims it ran at SHELARD PARK.
As for budyboy100 and the SOUTHTOWN thing, your point is well taken regarding the many “Star Wars” return engagements. If budyboy or anyone wishes to research GCC’s old booking records or the newspaper ads on microfilm, the official U.S. re-releases of “Star Wars” were as follows:
07/21/78 (7 weeks)
08/15/79 (3 weeks; included debut of “Empire” trailer)
04/10/81 (2 weeks; included debut of “Episode IV A New Hope” subtitle)
08/13/82 (3 weeks; included debut of “Jedi” trailer)
And in summer ‘83, selected markets ran a “Star Wars”/“Empire” double feature.
bigred… What is SHELARD PARK???
If you go to the Happy 30th, Star Wars! discussion, you can (1) see the list of 43 original bookings of “Star Wars” Michael Coate posted (he cites ST. LOUIS PARK for the Minneapolis showing), and (2) can read the debate budyboy100 refers to between he and Coate.
Who do you think won the debate: Michael Coate or budyboy100?
Help anyone, Michael C. and I a having an ongoing debate about whether or not Star Wars (the original) played at the Southtown back in 1977. (Not whether it opened there, it apparently didn’t, but a short time later if it played there.)
Anyone see Star Wars at the Southtown?
Would someone mind telling me what Kraus Anderson doesn’t own? The city I grew up in (Bloomington) has been destroyed and I have a sneaking suspicion they’re behind the Andy’s Tap mall closing as well? Anyone know? I know they own Valley West. The mod Bloomington of today makes me ill.
If anybody has photos of the southtown theater when it was still a single screen, I would love to see some pictures. You can send them here:
Thanks for emailing me with those pics bigred, The last time I had seen the Southtown Theater was just before it was torn down. I had not seen pictures of it EVER, my memory was all I had. Southtown was where our family went to see most movies, and I believe it was one of the most popular theaters in the Twin Cities south suburbs. It was always such a fun place, and even after the Mall of America Theater opened still remained a mainstream theater. The lobby in Southtown was gorgeous, and it had to be some of the area’s finest 1960’s interior decor. I do not remember what the original auditorium looked like for it was divided into two screens before I was even born. The Twin Cities now only has two theaters left with decor along the lines of Southtown in style and era. One is the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis (still operating) another is Terrace in Robbinsdale (closed but still standing)However these theaters were built about a decade earlier, and are better examples of the 1940’s and 50’s rather than the 1960’s styles. I hope that there are still parts of the Southtown’s lobby still in existence today, maybe theater chains will someday use such relics to build grand theaters once again. Right now, I’ve not been too impressed with the new cineplex theaters that have opened, it’s hard to like them when you recall how much better the classics were.
Thanks for emailing me with those pics bigred, The last time I had seen the Southtown Theater was just before it was torn down. I had not seen pictures of it EVER, my memory was all I had. Southtown was where our family went to see most movies, and I believe it was one of the most popular theaters in the Twin Cities south suburbs. It was always such a fun place, and even after the Mall of America Theater opened still remained a mainstream theater. The lobby in Southtown was gorgeous, and it had to be some of the area’s finest 1960’s interior decor. I do not remember what the original auditorium looked like for it was divided into two screens before I was even born. The Twin Cities now only has two theaters left with decor along the lines of Southtown in style and era. One is the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis (still operating) another is Terrace in Robbinsdale (closed but still standing)However these theaters were built about a decade earlier, and are better examples of the 1940’s and 50’s rather than the 1960’s styles. I hope that there are still parts of the Southtown’s lobby still in existence today, maybe theater chains will someday use such relics to build grand theaters once again. Right now, I’ve not been too impressed with the new cineplex theaters that have opened, it’s hard to like them when you recall how much better the classics were.
Thanks for emailing me with those pics bigred, The last time I had seen the Southtown Theater was just before it was torn down. I had not seen pictures of it EVER, my memory was all I had. Southtown was where our family went to see most movies, and I believe it was one of the most popular theaters in the Twin Cities south suburbs. It was always such a fun place, and even after the Mall of America Theater opened still remained a mainstream theater. The lobby in Southtown was gorgeous, and it had to be some of the area’s finest 1960’s interior decor. I do not remember what the original auditorium looked like for it was divided into two screens before I was even born. The Twin Cities now only has two theaters left with decor along the lines of Southtown in style and era. One is the Riverview Theater in Minneapolis (still operating) another is Terrace in Robbinsdale (closed but still standing)However these theaters were built about a decade earlier, and are better examples of the 1940’s and 50’s rather than the 1960’s styles. I hope that there are still parts of the Southtown’s lobby still in existence today, maybe theater chains will someday use such relics to build grand theaters once again. Right now, I’ve not been too impressed with the new cineplex theaters that have opened, it’s hard to like them when you recall how much better the classics were.
bigred – Could you please e-mail me photos of the Southtown Theater? I am trying to trigger a memory for my 80 year old father. Thank you so much!
bigred, I understand you have photos of the Southtown Theater; could you please email me them? My address is
bigred, I understand you have photos of the Southtown Theater; could you please email me them? My address is
In the fall of 1975, the Southtown held a film festival of Hollywood Musicals of the 1950-1960’s era. I recall that it ran 6-8 weeks and featured them all in 70MM and stereo sound. Many of these films played their premier downtown showcase runs at theaters that did not have the huge screens because they were built as RKO (Keith-Albee) vaudeville theaters. I saw several of them. Generally, they were poorly attended with 40-50 people per showing. The only other huge screens at the time were the Cooper Cinerama in St. Louis Park and the GCC Orpheum and Plitt Skyway 1 downtown. The Orpheum generally didn’t play musicals after Mary Poppins. All of the few 1970-1980’s musicals that were released showcase went to the Cooper and Skyway 1 downtown. I consider it a privilege to have seen these great films at the Mann Southtown. I consider it the finest suburban theater build in the 1960’s era , with the ABC Brookdale, a distant second.
Am wanting to see photo’s of this theater. I’m amazed that not even the Minnesota Historical Society has pictures of it; Southtown was beautiful. I think what happened is that it never crossed anyone’s mind that such a neat gathering place would ever be torn down. When word did come, the theater was closed and torn down in almost a blink of an eye. I thought it was pretty sneaky of the (then) owners of the building, Kraus Anderson Reality. This lovely building was pretty much replaced with a McDonald’s. Please email pics of this theater to me a I would really appreaciate it.
Lots of memories here. First movie I saw at Southtown as a young child was “The Poseidon Adventure”….then we went to Montgomery Ward’s for glazed doughnuts and warm spanish peanuts at the candy counter. I must have sat through 25 showings each of “Grease”, “Rocky” and “Superman” at the Southtown theatre as well. My candy obsessed friend would buy giant SweetTarts at the snack bar and lick them until her tongue was bleeding. I miss the old Bloomington. Southtown was a particulary plush theatre with beautiful bathrooms and a HUGE single screen.
“Southtown did have 70 mm.”
I wasn’t questioning the theatre’s 70mm presentation capability; I was questioning the person’s claim of seeing “Soylent Green” in 70mm. (I’m not aware of any 70s having been struck for that title. For that matter, I’m not aware of it even being mixed in stereo.)
Big Red, email those pics to and I will be eternally grateful!
Oh my God-I spent my whole childhood at that theatre! We moved to Bloomington in 1963 when I was a kid and I swear, if I close my eyes, I can still see that patch of land with the ‘for sale’ sign on it that eventually became the Mann Theatre. I saw eveything there from ‘A Hard Day’s Night’, ‘Help’, ‘Tommy’, ‘the Sound of Music’, ‘Star Wars’, ‘Grease’ and so many, many more. Just looking at that massive marquee was magical! I later moved away and didn’t move back to Minneapolis until 1998 and was brokenhearted when I went past Southtown and saw my theatre gone! Awesome memories! I remember that sometimes they use to have spotlights in front and to a kid—well, Hollywood had come to us!!
“Saw Solyent Green there in 70mm.”
Are you sure you’re not confusing widescreen “scope” with “70mm”?
“Also, Star Wars…”
“Star Wars” opened in Minneapolis at the St. Louis Park. It later expanded to the Southdale and Northtown, both similar-sounding in name to the subject of this thread, the Southtown. (Both “Empire” and “Jedi” opened at the Southtown.)
By the way, the Southtown Theater is actually located in Bloomington, not Minneapolis proper.
Big Red, I would kill to see those pics. Any chance of posting them?