Warner Theatre
332 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
332 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
16 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 87 comments
Jan. – Oct. 1981:
01/01 The Jazz Singer
01/30 Blood Beach
02/06 Altered States
03/06 Bruce Is Loose
03/13 Hangar 18
03/20 The Final Conflict
04/10 Star Wars
04/24 The Howling
05/15 The Hand
05/22 Outland
06/19 Superman II
08/21 An Eye for an Eye
09/18 Savage Weekend
09/25 Return of the Dragon/Game of Death
10/09 Body Heat
10/30 Prince of the City
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The auditorium is gone, they tore it down, and redid it for store space.The Historical Society fought like mad to keep the lobby intact. They were very disapointed when they put an esculator right in the middle of the lobby. I am not sure if it’s still there, the last time I was there i don’t remember seeing it. I was surprised to find my old front door key still worked, but I just could'nt bring myself to go inside. It still hurts me alot.
To even find some brass poster cases and at least on chandelier is amazing though such a shame that the theatre has been basically lost to memory. I wonder what happened though I can almost piece together the reasons as it is usually the result of “urban renewal” and the advent of television, etc.
I was in what remains of the theater in late August and as far as I can tell, all there is is a section of the lobby which ends with a few steps up to a modernized section. Either the auditorium is gone or has been gutted out. Some terrific brass poster cases and at least one chandelier, but that is about it.
If the “tower mall” failed, what are the chances of it becoming a theatre again?
It’s now called the Warner Center and yes it was to be a tower mall but gladly it failed.
Also see the function is listed as a “shopping center”!
norelco: What is the status of this Warner Theatre as it is listed as closed?
The only booth left was the center one wich we used till the end. The other 2 on the left and right rear were removed but you could see where they plastered over the holes for the booth exhaust pipes. Once they closed the upstairs booth we moved everything down to the center booth and used that one till the final day.The 2 Norelco AA2 projectors upstairs were removed about a year before the theatre closed. We used the century JJ’S downstairs till the end.
Were those three Cinerama projection booths still there at the end? I guess I had forgotten. Either they were less obtrusive by then, or we just got used to them being there after 41 years.
Al Martino, who died recently, made an appearance at the Warner during the an early afternoon performance of “The Godfather.” He was in town for something else, probably a week’s engagement at the Holiday House, and agreed to make an unadvertised appearance at the Warner.
The media was notified about what would be happening. Immediately after the scene in which his character Johnny Fontane sang at the wedding, the film was stopped, and the huge audience groaned. Someone – possibly Mike Cardone – walked out on stage and introduced the delighted audience to Martino.
There was 3 projection booths downstairs at the back of the auditorium. One on each side and the one in the middle. That is how we ran cinerama all 3 projectors hit the screen at the same time.Yes the curtain was still working till the very end.
Wow it was 10 years to the day, that I had a heart attack while running movies at the Jennifer theatre in DC. I just got hit with that thought April 14,1993. I told all my union pals I was trying to get out of paying taxes.
Sorry I could'nt remember but I do know Jan’s assistant manager ran away with all the money on the last night, then came flashdance and then the end, still hurts alot.
To clarify, the “Flashdance” premiere April 14, 1983, was a week after the martial arts double bill, which was the final regular full-schedule engagement.
Flahdance was the last one, we started to take out the projectors a few days later,m the projectors ended up in the new cinema world.
Officer Vic Cianca, who has a cameo in “Flashdance,” attended that premiere. Blessedly he is still with us.
The last regular program to play for 6 ½ days at the Warner was an ignominious double bill of “Bruce and Shao Lin Kung Fu” and a holdover of “Bruce vs. Bill.” They did no business at all. Hardly a suitable ending for the theater that introduced Pittsburgh to “The Ten Commandments,” “Gigi,” “Ben-Hur,” “The Nun’s Story” and so many others.
That “Flashdance” premiere was April 14, 1983.
The gutting of the Warner began on or about Aug. 5, 1983. For a few days after that, you could stand on the Forbes Street side and, with that side of the theater ripped open, see from the outside the balcony overhanging the orchestra.
The last movie ever to play at the Warner was a special showing of Flashdance. Two weeks later it was gone. I had the honor of running the last movie there.
What was the last film to play at the Warner?
I was the last projectionist to have the honor of working this beauty on it’s last showing. No it was not divided it closed as a single screen theatre balcony and all was intact.God how I miss this place. Many wonderfull years there.
Pittsburgh’s Cinerama history posted here.
Jan. – Oct. 1981 will be provided at a later date.
Nov.-Dec. 1981:
11/01 Prince of the City
11/13 Chinese Connection/Fist of Fury
11/25 An Eye for an Eye/Escape from New York
12/04 Reds
Renewing link.
1980:
01/01 The Black Hole
02/01 The Runner Stumbles
02/08 “10"
02/15 Saturn 3
02/29 The Godsend
03/07 Coal Miner’s Daughter
04/11 The Visitor
04/18 Foxes
04/25 Last Rites; The Godsend
05/02 Norma Rae
05/09 Norma Rae/The Rose
05/21 The Empire Strikes Back
09/10 Schizoid
09/17 The Boogey Man
09/26 He Knows You’re Alone
10/03 Caligula
10/10 Private Benjamin
11/14 Fantasia
12/15 – 12/18 DARK
12/19 The Jazz Singer
1979:
01/01 The Wiz
02/07 Halloween
02/23 The Deer Hunter
05/25 Alien
08/03 North Dallas Forty
09/21 Mr. Mike’s Mondo Video
09/28 The Stud
10/10 Apocalypse Now
12/21 The Black Hole