Randall Park Cinema I-II-III

20801 Miles Road,
North Randall, OH 44128

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Showing 26 - 38 of 38 comments

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on September 2, 2005 at 3:49 am

You can post the pics to
http://i8.photobucket.com/
I’m pretty sure it’s a free site

moviefan03
moviefan03 on September 1, 2005 at 4:42 pm

You can send those to me at I appreciate it.
Im interested in seeing them just because I collect photos of older movie theaters becasue I find them to be interesting and to compare them to todays theaters.

Thanks Mark

MarkBudnick
MarkBudnick on September 1, 2005 at 12:40 pm

Sure…have a few of Southgate’s exterior too, but haven’t scanned those in yet.

Where should I send them?

And,…ahh…why do you want them LOL

Mark

moviefan03
moviefan03 on September 1, 2005 at 8:32 am

Mark, Anyway you can e-mail me those pics?

MarkBudnick
MarkBudnick on September 1, 2005 at 6:58 am

I have some pics and tried to upload them, but I guess the “Add A Photo” feature is offline.

I managed the theaters in the late 80’s.

BTW, Hi Gary P!

Mark Budnick

moviefan03
moviefan03 on August 31, 2005 at 3:14 pm

General Cinema turned this theater into a second-run discount theater in 1991. Randall Park Mall Cinemas closed its doors on November 18,1993. The last movies shown were “Sleepless in Seattle”,“Striking Distance”, and “In The Line Of Fire”.

moviefan03
moviefan03 on May 31, 2005 at 7:58 pm

This theater also played “Back To The Future” back in 1985. Does anyone have any photos of this theater????

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on May 31, 2005 at 3:07 pm

At the time Randall Mall was built, it was the largest indoor shopping center in the country, and was commanding a very high price per square foot. General Cinema Corporation in those days was known for being, well, er.., let’s say “frugal”, and was looking for the most bang for their buck, which resulted in this theatre being very “compact”. Their main intention in going into this property however was to protect the Southgate Cinema I & II, (in my opinion a much nicer theatre) a few blocks south on Northfield Road, from a competing theatre of Loews or National Theatre Corp. going in there. At a managers meeting while the Randall Park Cinema was under construction, we were told that any theatre there will hurt the Southgate Cinema, and as long as it was us and not Loews, the money was ‘going into a different pocket on the same coat’. The Randall 3 and Southgate 2 Cinemas were originally booked together as a five-plex.

reuben10
reuben10 on May 31, 2005 at 1:40 pm

Correction—Wholly Moses was not released until 1980

reuben10
reuben10 on May 31, 2005 at 11:52 am

This most unique property, if such a term can be ascribed to shopping-mall cinemas, is tucked into the upper level of the mall behind all retail in the area above the lower main entrance to the mall. From the outside on the Northfield Road side of the mall, the boxes that are the auditoria are visible, and on the inside, the service corridors encircle the rear of the property, with the emercency exits and behind-screen area access doors visible and marked (and replacement seat cushions stacked on top of the screen areas). The cinema is still intact, houses, concessions, restrooms and all (including some old take-up reels), and it has been used as storage by units in the mall in better times. Contractually, it can not re-open as a cinema, since the twelve-screen Lowe’s that opened in 1999 forbids that, but who knows how much longer the mall will last anyway.

Decor-wise, it’s typical mid-70s mall cinema…lots of red carpet and dim lighting, and due to the spatial constraints, lots of levels, long corridors, and stairs. Some thought was involved in the construction of this property; it was not just a typical box as GCC usually constructed at the time. The cinema was also one of the first theaters in the area where once a ticket was purchased, one could spend the entire day watching all screens, lest one be caught, which never happened. First shows when opening were Murder by Death and Wholly Moses. Also used to do midnight movies from late 70s to mid 80s, notably Dawn of the Dead, which was quite apropo, considering this cinema was in a huge, 70s shopping mall.

ohiogary
ohiogary on May 27, 2005 at 10:06 pm

General Cinema sold all the projection equipment shortly after the theatre closed. In 1990 the Randall Cinema ran “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” on all three screens. The lines circled through the mall all the way to the Sears store. It was a sight to see. And by the way, they only hand one print of the movie to run on the three screens!

moviefan03
moviefan03 on March 26, 2005 at 7:35 am

I was at Randall Park Mall yesterday, and as I walked by Diamond’s Mens Shop, I noticed that a door was opened that showed those infamous steps that took you to the cinema, which makes me question whether or not the theater has been gutted or if it is still there, but used as a storage room.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on July 26, 2004 at 11:53 am

RANDALL PARK MALL CINEMA I – II – III
Northfield Rd. & Miles Rd.
North Randall, Ohio

General Cinema walked away from this train wreck when the landlord – E.J.DeBartolo Corp. would not cooperate with them in modifications to make the place handicapped accessable.