I think it was run by Countrywide Theatres when it burned. I remember the screen was set up on the stage and tilted slightly back. Once you were into the movie for a little while you stopped noticing the slant.
The Capitol showed Caligula when it first came out. No other theatres within 50 miles would touch it. Not even in Rochester or Syracuse.
When it closed it was part of the Martina Theatres chain. After closing it was used by the Rochester Film Festival occasionally. Saw “Weekend of a Champion” about racer Jackie Stewart here. It was a small older theatre but very nice in its day.
The Holiday Cine was operated by Martina Theatres. They were always suing Loew’s and JoMor Theatres for unfair competition. They ran older downtown theatres and a couple of suburban houses.
The Holiday was the site of a stabbing or two and the theatre didn’t last long; only two or three years. It went from first run to ‘blaxploitation pics pretty quickly.
Theatres in Rochester also ran some 63mm prints. It’s basically a blown up 35er. Theatre ads got smaller and less detailed in the 90’s as video became more popular and fewer people read the papers. Local theatres no longer made and placed the ads themselves. It was left to the distributor or NSS.
It’s now a Masonic Hall. Went there as a little kid. Was run by “Dan the movie man.”
We kids lived in fear of him…‘keep your feet off the seats and quit throwing popcorn!’
Not fancy but fairly large for a small town. The lobby was tiny. Large bullseye painted on the ceiling (I have no idea). Wicker chairs with cushions in the back row.
Of course it got the movies after they were done in nearby Rochester but they ran kiddie shows Saturday morning.
Good (if vague) memories, except suffering through ‘Mary Poppins’.
Glad we have access to indie movies via the Little. This place used to be so snooty they didn’t sell soft drinks, only fruit juice and flavored water.
It’s now a non-profit since it couldn’t make it as a business.
Chuck-
I have photographs of the Pittsford theatres somewhere. I’ll try to find them and upload them. No promises; it’s been awhile!
I think ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘Mr. Mom’ were playing when the pics were taken.
I remember Hoyt’s Cine well. Nice theatres. I believe they tied for 1st place with Loews Ridge Road as ther best theatres in Rochester in the Democrat and Chronicle…way back when.
The local Loew’s had the phrase slapped on their marque for a month and ran an ad.
Remember the “stop blind bidding” ad? They even asked you to sign a petition in the lobby before you left. The ad was from NATO and was pretty poorly done. It featured a couple buying a car before they even saw it, on the word of the salesman. The open curtain revealed a beat up something or other, then compared the purchase to what theatres went through to book movies.
I used to help make up the ads for our theatres every week. We’d get the ad slicks that the distributor or National Screen Service sent us and go at it with scissors and glue. I saved some of the slicks from a few favorite movies but they’re long gone now.
Maybe you can find some old copies of your local paper(s) in some old houses, garages and the like.
Old posters are available from Moviegoods.com. Some tend to be a bit pricey. Also, try E-Bay.
I feel like I’ve been on the Moon. I didn’t even know about this until today.
At first, as a former Loew’s employee (many years ago), I was a little sad. After thinking it over for only a few minutes I’m happy to see the Loews name go. It hasn’t really been Loews for years and the mystic cloud of a holding company that owned Loews just turned the theatres into a bunch of mutiplex shoe boxes anyway.
It doesn’t matter what chain you go to—whatever made going to the movies special is gone.
The days are numbered for movie theatres. Bring on the DVD’s and pay-per-view.
Hopefully, some theatres will remain and perhaps show older and independent movies along with some Hollywood mainstreamers for those of us that would like to experience ‘going to the movies’ again.
BTW, getting older stinks.
Loew’s opened the Pittsford theatre in 1965. It had 1200 seats and although it wasn’t like the old palaces, it was the largest, nicest and most modern theatre in Rochester.
In 1971 Loew’s added a free standing theatre w/600 seats at the same location, and soon after, twinned the 1200 seater in front.
The theatres closed in 1999 because of competition from the slap dash megaplexes that popped up near every mall in town.
The Loew’s did not become the Marshall’s store. The larger theatre is now a privare athletic club and the smaler theatre behind it is now a furniture store.
Regal be damned!
I think it was run by Countrywide Theatres when it burned. I remember the screen was set up on the stage and tilted slightly back. Once you were into the movie for a little while you stopped noticing the slant.
The Capitol showed Caligula when it first came out. No other theatres within 50 miles would touch it. Not even in Rochester or Syracuse.
When it closed it was part of the Martina Theatres chain. After closing it was used by the Rochester Film Festival occasionally. Saw “Weekend of a Champion” about racer Jackie Stewart here. It was a small older theatre but very nice in its day.
This was a goldmine location for Loew’s.
Just what everybody needs…another generic twenty screen empty theatre showing the same stuff all the other empty multi-screens are showing.
It was run by JoMor. Showed a lot of ‘art’ films as well as mainstream. JoMor abandoned it when they started building more suburban theatres.
That lavander color scheme (Thanks,I was never sure what it was) was standard stuff for Loew’s in the 60’s.
Jim- You’re right. The theatre opened in ‘88 and was bought by Zurich in the 90’s. I don’t remember any 70mm movies there either
The Holiday Cine was operated by Martina Theatres. They were always suing Loew’s and JoMor Theatres for unfair competition. They ran older downtown theatres and a couple of suburban houses.
The Holiday was the site of a stabbing or two and the theatre didn’t last long; only two or three years. It went from first run to ‘blaxploitation pics pretty quickly.
Theatres in Rochester also ran some 63mm prints. It’s basically a blown up 35er. Theatre ads got smaller and less detailed in the 90’s as video became more popular and fewer people read the papers. Local theatres no longer made and placed the ads themselves. It was left to the distributor or NSS.
It’s now a Masonic Hall. Went there as a little kid. Was run by “Dan the movie man.” We kids lived in fear of him…‘keep your feet off the seats and quit throwing popcorn!’
Not fancy but fairly large for a small town. The lobby was tiny. Large bullseye painted on the ceiling (I have no idea). Wicker chairs with cushions in the back row.
Of course it got the movies after they were done in nearby Rochester but they ran kiddie shows Saturday morning.
Good (if vague) memories, except suffering through ‘Mary Poppins’.
Glad we have access to indie movies via the Little. This place used to be so snooty they didn’t sell soft drinks, only fruit juice and flavored water.
It’s now a non-profit since it couldn’t make it as a business.
Chuck-
I have photographs of the Pittsford theatres somewhere. I’ll try to find them and upload them. No promises; it’s been awhile!
I think ‘Return of the Jedi’ and ‘Mr. Mom’ were playing when the pics were taken.
I remember Hoyt’s Cine well. Nice theatres. I believe they tied for 1st place with Loews Ridge Road as ther best theatres in Rochester in the Democrat and Chronicle…way back when.
The local Loew’s had the phrase slapped on their marque for a month and ran an ad.
Remember the “stop blind bidding” ad? They even asked you to sign a petition in the lobby before you left. The ad was from NATO and was pretty poorly done. It featured a couple buying a car before they even saw it, on the word of the salesman. The open curtain revealed a beat up something or other, then compared the purchase to what theatres went through to book movies.
I used to help make up the ads for our theatres every week. We’d get the ad slicks that the distributor or National Screen Service sent us and go at it with scissors and glue. I saved some of the slicks from a few favorite movies but they’re long gone now.
Maybe you can find some old copies of your local paper(s) in some old houses, garages and the like.
Old posters are available from Moviegoods.com. Some tend to be a bit pricey. Also, try E-Bay.
I feel like I’ve been on the Moon. I didn’t even know about this until today.
At first, as a former Loew’s employee (many years ago), I was a little sad. After thinking it over for only a few minutes I’m happy to see the Loews name go. It hasn’t really been Loews for years and the mystic cloud of a holding company that owned Loews just turned the theatres into a bunch of mutiplex shoe boxes anyway.
It doesn’t matter what chain you go to—whatever made going to the movies special is gone.
The days are numbered for movie theatres. Bring on the DVD’s and pay-per-view.
Hopefully, some theatres will remain and perhaps show older and independent movies along with some Hollywood mainstreamers for those of us that would like to experience ‘going to the movies’ again.
BTW, getting older stinks.
Loew’s opened the Pittsford theatre in 1965. It had 1200 seats and although it wasn’t like the old palaces, it was the largest, nicest and most modern theatre in Rochester.
In 1971 Loew’s added a free standing theatre w/600 seats at the same location, and soon after, twinned the 1200 seater in front.
The theatres closed in 1999 because of competition from the slap dash megaplexes that popped up near every mall in town.
The Loew’s did not become the Marshall’s store. The larger theatre is now a privare athletic club and the smaler theatre behind it is now a furniture store.
Regal be damned!