Chatham Cinema
701 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15219
701 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15219
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 50 of 57 comments
1983:
01/01 The Dark Crystal
01/21 Gandhi
03/25 The Outsiders
04/15 – 06/09 CLOSED
06/10 Octopussy
07/08 Hysterical
07/15 Breathless
07/22 Class
08/05 Get Crazy
08/12 Cujo
09/02 Flashdance/Raiders of the Lost Ark
09/09 Nightmares
09/23 Tootsie/The Survivors
09/30 The Lonely Lady
10/07 The Final Option
10/14 – 10/27 CLOSED
10/28 The Wicked Lady
11/04 The Osterman Weekend
11/21 – 12/08 CLOSED
12/09 Scarface
1982:
01/01 Neighbors
01/15 French Lieutenant’s Woman
01/29 The Story of O (X)
02/19 They All Laughed
02/26 Ragtime
03/05 Heartland
03/19 Porky's
04/30 Montenegro
05/14 – 05/27 CLOSED
05/28 Rocky III
07/09 Little Darlin’s (X)
07/16 Tara, Tara, Tara (X)
07/23 Taboo (X)
07/30 Night Shift
08/20 Zapped!
09/03 Diner
09/10 Texas Chainsaw Massacre
09/17 Butterfly
09/24 The Tempest
10/01 CLOSED
10/15 Not a Love Story
10/29 It Came from Hollywood
11/05 The Missionary
11/19 The Empire Strikes Back
11/29 CLOSED
12/17 Honkytonk Man
12/29 The Dark Crystal
Jan. – Oct. 1981:
01/01 9 to 5
02/20 Tess
04/10 Excalibur
05/22 Death Hunt
06/05 Ms. 45
06/12 Raiders of the Lost Ark
10/16 All the Marbles
10/30 Priest of Love
July 1980:
07/01 Rough Cut
07/18 Caligula
Our video distributor showed Blood Simple to owners/buyers of local video stores at The Chatham and that might be last movie shown there. That was in 1985.
Well, the theater had its share of flops. But booking for booking, it had the district’s best track record.
I’ll never forget George Pappas, our own Gen. George Patton, with arms folded in his office, overlooking the crowds streaming in on weekend nights and barking the occasional order to a patron to extinguish a cigarette or whatever. That theater was exceptionally well managed and the biggest joy to visit.
No idea Ed, This was a nice booth, 2 Simplex X-L 35-70 projectors with Strong Futura II lamps. I can’t remember a movie that did'nt do well here.mega lines all the time. More than once we had to hold the start of the movie to get everyone in. Damn shame they are all gone.
Any idea where the Bouvys are?
I had the honor of working this theatre for local 171 as a projectionist, I worked with Chuck Bouvy, I later worked with Jan Bouvy at the Warner, when she was the manager there. Jan & Chuck would know me as none other than Mungo. I really miss them and those wonderfull days.
Re the post by Dan Clementi…I am Adail Bouvy’s cousin. She will be happy to know that she is remembered fondly. Thank You.
Jan. – Oct. 1981 will be provided at a later date.
Nov.-Dec. 1981:
11/01 Priest of Love
11/13 Private Lessons
12/02 DARK
12/18 Neighbors
Renewing link.
Is there a way to magnify the Pittsburgh newspaper pages posted? They appear so small they’re unreadable. The guys who post NY Times pages and stories for New York theaters somehow manage to fill the computer screen, and even the smallest type is readable. Pittsburgh Cinema Treasures contributors post small, inky black images. Have no idea what the difference is in the way they’re posted. I’ve had no luck trying to enlarge the Pittsburgh ones. Would love to be able to read them line by line. Thank you for any help on this.
Grand opening ad on this page at View link
Am I correct that the auditorium space has no seats not a screen but that it has never been used since its theater days for any other purpose? Has the floor been made level?
I worked as an usher there from January to July 1969 during my senior year in high school. It was a great job for students, because you could study during the show. We made $1.00/hour at that time, as ushers weren’t covered under minimum wage laws. Can’t remember if the “candy girls” were covered. There was usually some serious dating going on between the ushers and candy girls.
The Chatham was unquestionably the classiest movie theater in Pittsburgh. They actually rented tuxedos for the ushers to wear.
George Pappas, the manager, was indeed an imposing figure. Always impeccably groomed with a commanding voice. I also well remember George Gatto (head usher) and Adail Bouvy (head cashier).
During the Bullitt chase scene, we used to go down to watch the people in the front rows laugh hysterically. When the cars were jumping down the hills you could really feel your stomach move as though you were there.
Sometimes we’d go to a restaurant around the corner near Duquesne U called Frank and Wally’s. A big plate of french fries with gravy was 35 cents. Other times, we’d go across the street to Angie’s Arena Lounge for a Coke.
What a great memories I have of that time!
I’ve gone past this place many times too—never knew there was a movie theater in here.
Also, I’m sad that they’re going to be replacing the Civic, I mean Mellon Arena. To me, it’s a landmark and I love its nickname, the Igloo.
It was on the end on Fifth Avenue, right across Washington Place where they are building the new arena. The old entrance appears to be cemented up now – I wonder if the auditorium, etc. is still in there?
All the time I’ve gone past this building, I never knew it had a movie theatre.
1980 (missing July):
01/01 The Jerk
02/15 All That Jazz
03/28 Serial
04/18 The Human Factor
05/09 Heart Beat
05/23 The Gong Show Movie
06/06 La Cage Aux Folles
06/19 Rough Cut
08/01 Caligula
10/03 Oh, God! Book II
10/24 It’s My Turn
10/31 Caligula
11/14 Gloria
12/01 – 12/18 DARK
12/19 Nine to Five
1979:
01/26 Movie Movie
03/02 Agatha
03/14 Norma Rae
04/27 Love at First Bite
05/25 The Prisoner of Zenda
06/15 Rocky II
09/14 Old Boyfriends
09/21 Rust Never Sleeps
09/28 Time After Time
11/02 Running
11/30 DARK
12/14 The Jerk
1978:
01/01 The Turning Point
04/26 F.I.S.T.
06/14 Youngblood
07/03 Youngblood/The Mack
07/14 Youngblood/Last House on the Left
07/19 Revenge of the Pink Panther
09/13 The Turning Point
09/20 An Unmarried Woman
09/27 Julia
10/05 The Boys From Brazil
12/11 DARK
12/22 Moment by Moment
The 1977 titles:
01/01/77 How Funny Can Sex Be?
02/04/77 Rocky
04/01/77 Demon Seed
04/22/77 Providence
05/04/77 Rocky
05/25/77 Cinderella (X-rated)
06/22/77 Silver Streak/Play It Again Sam
07/01/77 Harlan County USA
07/08/77 Slap Shot
07/15/77 Last Remake of Beau Geste
08/17/77 And Now My Love
08/24/77 Voyage of the Damned
08/31/77 Return of the Pink Panther/The Pink Panther Strikes Again
09/07/77 Live a Little, Love a Little/Trouble with Girls
09/14/77 The Deep/Obsession
09/23/77 3 Women
10/07/77 Oh, God!
12/21/77 The Turning Point
I was not aware the P-G had Archives back that far. I’ve already been through all of the microfilms at CLP and Hillman from 01/58 through 12/81.
But I am also doing the same thing for 33 other large cities, using Variety and the out-of-town newspapers as well. I lived in NYC for a number of years and had access to most of them at the NY Public Library. For that one I’m only doing 01/60 through 12/75.
I’m researching through the Post-Gazette archives on Google. I’m also working on the Bank and some of the suburban houses – I’ve already done the North Hills theater.