Paramount Theatre
727 Church Street,
Nashville,
TN
37203
727 Church Street,
Nashville,
TN
37203
2 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 142 comments
Tis,Nick wrote somewhere he wants more PICTURES.You send them down and I will see that he gets them or by-pass Me and Mail them to Nick,any personal pics from your days?
No I didn’t work in the booth but I was a good union billposter in my young days. I bet you remember old Mac who managed the Capitol and then the Bordeaux- I posted a lot of paper with him. That was in the winter, in the summer I was off with the circus. Oops- I’m going to air all my old linen here if I don’t watch it.
RIGHT ON,Dave,If you were an operator,thanks for the years you gave us in the booth.I got out right when all that was about to change,I wanted to manage and promote films,the Booth was your guys world.
I’m sure you’re right, Mike. Everywhere you look there’s some cheaper way to run things. And of course there are experienced people sitting at home unable to find work.
I’m glad I’m an old man and have had my day- sure wouldn’t want to start over in today’s world.
I’ll just sign as “The Old Grouch”
(I’d rather be a has-been than a never-was)
When those carbon arcs were pulled out of Theatres across the country that is when the theatre Business ended as most of old theatre dawgs know, It wasn’t long before the platters showed up,Owner quickly realized a 17 year old could be trained to thread a film.No cue marks.No Carbons to adjust,so Who needed a union man in the booth. I saw it happen and I wanted NO part of it.Kids ran the booth and I bet in 90 per cent of the booths today are that way,but what the heck,Films are like Dvd’s now.Film is a thing of the past. Thanks Nick and Tis for caring.
Thanks again for posting those photos Nick.
I have a LOT of Paramount lobby photos, but I don’t know how to post them here.
Here are some photos of the Paramount provided by tlsloews. These were taken around opening date circa 1930. A beautiful shot of the front entrance with blade sign, marquee, and box office:
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Nice clean projection booth:
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Great shot of auditorium with a full house:
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Thanks for information Dave.
Today there was a full obit telling of his starting at the Paramount in 1930 as an usher. Also a young picture of him. He was born on 11/11/11 (Nov 11, 1911) and died 1/15/11 (Jan 15, 2011).
Did anyone else notice in the Tennessean where Ben H Garrett, age 99, had died? Mr Garrett took over management of the Paramount from Charles Amos in the mid-to-late 1940s. Russ McCown told me probably fifteen or more years ago that he was then working as night watchman at the L&C Tower.
In November 1956 Elvis Presleys “Love Me Tender” graced the screen at the Paramount.
By the way, the photo I have is circa 1930 the year they opened. The Vertical Sign was huge,just by looking at the photo if you took the vertical off the building and set it on the sidewalk it would be just a little taller than the 2 story building.Also the storefronts of the building were white washed and hand draw pitcures were drawn on the windows showing what could be there,and done very nice.Also the original marquee was much larger than the photos posted above.I also have a photo of the booth. I will post as soon as possible.
Thanks Dave, hope you both are doing better now.
For awhile I was able to get every issue of Nashville Retropect but my wife broke her hip in December then then I had a stroke in April and we were both in a nursing home for quite awhile. Since then I have been somewhat resticted in getting around so can’t get back to the place I usually got these. I have some pix of the Paramount lobby I might be able to post someday.
Thanks Dave, I have a photo of the Paramount with the original marquee and a photo if the projection booth,but I do not have a scanner to post them.I will post them as soon as possible.If you ever pick up a copy of the Nashville Retropect which is published once a month,they have a write up on Nashville Theatres in most issues.
tisloews: I was in that sign shop over fifty years ago. The guy who did the work up there was Monk Ferguson. Those windows above the marquee were the sign shop windows, the shop being right over the lobby entrance.
The two Statues mentioned in the Sept 9,2010 post, I believe that they were Angels with their wings out.Looked pretty spooky in the dark in the theatre as a kid.
MORE HISTORY OF THE NASHVILLE PARAMOUNT.From an artical written by Stanley E. Hime a former projectionist there. Charles “Charlie” Amos was the first manager,later his assistant Ben Garrett would become Manager.The theatre had a sign shop where the displays were crafted.Sometimes a display was glued to the lobby floor and patrons walked over them.Three projectionists who worked there were Isaac B. Hime,Roy M Martin,and William Brown,,The original projectors were 35 mm Simplex Machines,The theatre open with “Fast and Loose” starring Miriam Hopkins, Frank Morgan, and Carol Lombard.In the early years the ladies room had a maid and the mens room had a valet.The projection booth was also equipted with an EFFECTS MACHINE for projecting designs on the screen or curtains.
This is a very late response to the question above about an Orpheum Theater in Nashville. Yes there was indeed an Orpheum. It faced 7th Avenue and the stage entrance was on Capitol Blvd right across from the Knickerbocker. In other words it was behind Castners and downhill from the YMCA. It was eventually torn down for a parking lot. It began life as a vaudeville house but later went to road shows and served as the playhouse here until the late 1930s, when those attractions started playing the Ryman. Why there is not a page on this program for our Orpheum I do not know. Possibly because it wasn’t a movie house, ergo not a Cinema Treasure.
Funny how statues get missing. The MILLER theatre in Augusta had a beautiful Statue of a female in the lobby.And is now missing,heck stolen since the theatre was closed in the early 80’s. The Statue was given to the Miller from the World’s Fair and was in the lobby there until someone swiped it.
The Paramount had 2 female statues, one over each exit near the stage. They were about 7 feet tall. A private collector had these in his home until this summer when they were auctioned off along with all the other items in the house. Don’t know where they ended up.
More info on the Paramonts organ,it reportly cost $50,000 and was first played by C SHARPE MINOR for 4 weeks and then by Mary Elizabeth Hicks.Other organists were Leon Cole and Bob Luck.This theatre was sold to Martin theatres in 1978.The organ ended up in a home in Evansville, Indiana.
Thanks Nick.
Thanks Nick I thought it might be listed at another name,I could not find it under the LOEWS listings.