Phipps Plaza 1 & 2 and Penthouse Theatre
3500 Peachtree Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30326
3500 Peachtree Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30326
4 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 75 of 99 comments
Stories and photos thats the good sites on C.T.
I don’t think that happened either…I never heard about it. You know for a while there people spread all kinds of stories about Regency Mall.
I used that site because it just seemed like a site full of theatre pictures…just what I needed! It doesn’t cost anything to put on pictures.
Ok…I did get to meet Chuck Norris at Phipps. He came in with a small group of people to see the first movie of the day…he wanted nachos and they were not ready. They sent this poor girl with them out about five times to check on them. Apparently Chuck REALLY wanted those nachos! Not as exciting as a murder or robbery…sorry :)
Robin,you won’t bore any of these folks,I know you had things that happened in Atlanta.just got to think about it.In fact you got tons of pictures.Does it cost you to put pictures on? I read on the REGENCY MALL FLICKL site that someone wrote a manager was killed at the triple in a robbery. I do not believe that. I don’t know what FLICKL does,but show pictures and people comment what they don’t know.
What kind of stories? I don’t want to bore everybody!
Rick, you have the same problem alot of us have cause we would love to see it. I don’t have the equipment either and i have tons of newspaper ads from theatres all over the South. Robin, WAITING ON YOUR PHIPPS stories.
I guess the Phipps Plaza theatre was the first theatre to be inside a MALL. Up until then the box office for every theatre was pointed directly outdoors.
Seeing a post for the Phipp’s Plaza theatre in Atlanta the other day brought back some fond memories from many years ago.
During the fall of 1969 I was completing training for the Pennsylvania National Guard at Ft. Gordon outside Augusta, GA. I was 21 years old at the time and was already half owner of two theatres in Pennsylvania. I would spend each weekend in Augusta during which time I would always see a movie or two at the downtown theatres, or just stop in and talk shop with the theatre managers.
I was already a movie palace junkie, having worked in several large ones back in Pennsylvania while a teenager. I promised myself that when my training was completed in January, that before returning north I would travel to Atlanta to visit the fabulous Fox Theatre. Each weekend I would buy the Sunday Atlanta Journal and Constitution newspaper to see what was playing at Atlanta theatres. On Pearl Harbor Day, Sunday December 7th, 1969 I noticed a large ad, 6 col. X 15 inches, advertising the opening of Atlanta’s newest theatre… the Phipp’s Plaza.
Never one to have much interest in the design or beauty, or lack of, of post TV era theatres, I would normally have not given that ad any further attention. However, it did catch my eye, and suggest that this might indeed be something a bit different … something special. Maybe even a new trend in movie theatre design. The ad read as follows: “By the year 2000 Atlanta could be the leading city in the world. Atlanta’s Phipp’s Plaza Theatre with Ultra-Vision is a sneak preview.†It continued with: “In the ordinary sequence of events Phipp’s Plaza Theatre should appear about three decades from now. Happily it’s coming to Atlanta’s “Fifth Avenue South†in the next few weeks.
The Ultra-Vision System introduces the ultimate in sight and sound. Every seat is picture perfect. Images so real you can almost talk to them. Your complete viewing and listening pleasure has been assured by Ultra-Vision.
The auditorium has no corners, no corner seats, no stairways. Even the front row is restful to the eyes. Continental rocking chair seating, almost sinfully luxurious, affords easy come and go access without disturbing those seated. There’s free covered parking and outside parking too.
The foyer? More like an art gallery than a theater lobby.
Phipp’s Plaza Theatre: a show in itself, a showcase of tomorrow. Where you may expect the finest motion pictures in the industry.â€
At the very bottom of the ad it advertised the opening attraction in rather smallish type, just one line about an eighth inch high: Natalie Wood/Robert Culp, Elliott Gould/Dyan Cannon in BOB & CAROL & TED & ALICEâ€. Below that in much larger letters in stated OPENING FRIDAY DECEMBER 19th, 1969.
After seeing that ad, I decided that while in Atlanta I would check out that theatre as well.
It was mid January when I was released from active duty, and I immediately traveled to Atlanta. I caught a matinee showing of “The Reivers†starring Steve McQueen at the fabulous Fox. I stayed for two showings actually, one to watch the movie, and one to move about and check out the entire theatre. That in itself is worth a trip to Atlanta. That evening I ventured to the new Phipp’s Plaza Mall to discover just what the new theatre there had to offer. There, I introduced myself as a fellow theatre owner, and expressed my interest in seeing what this new “ahead of its time†theatre was all about. The manager gave me a complete tour, including the booth where he showed me the Ultra-Vision setup and explained how it worked. I must admit that I was impressed. If I had to run a “modern†theatre, I would want it to be like that one. I did not watch the movie, as I had already seen it elsewhere.
I find it interesting to note that while they suggested in their advertising that the theatre was about three decades ahead of its time, three decades later in 1999 it was completely outdated, not by its design, comfort, or technology, but by the changes within the industry that made it impossible to profitably operate a large single screen theatre. It had by that time become, in its original concept, just as outdated as the huge Fox downtown.
I still have the newspaper tear sheet with the advance opening ad that I quoted from. It’s a shame that I don’t know how to link or post it here.
Robin, You have Great pictures of this theatre you MUST get them posted and also try and put COULMBIA 1 and 2 on for me.And get Cathy to start with the stories.Maybe Dick is reading this?
The effects and costumes in STAR WARS are at times every bit as cheap looking as they are in FLESH GORDON
We had a great time at this theatre. Again, no official titles…just supervisors. Cathy, Kim, and I got moved here when Plitt sold their theatres in Augusta. Mr. A was glad to have us there because he knew we would do all of his work for him. LOL He told us we could make the schedule and have as many hours as we wanted…we worked plenty! We were scheduled to get there at 9 to do paperwork and answer phones. Most days we were late. Haha What could he say? Most days we worked til closing…the theatre was our life. We worked with a great bunch of people and loved every minute of it. I’ll have to think of some stories to add.
O.K.Robin?????
Hey, TLSLOEWS,ROBIN managed this classy theatre. I was never there so she is going to have to START WRITING.
I,ll be wainting Robin and Mike.
Robin, you gotta start filling up this theatre with your stories.
How can anyone say 2001 was boring! Do you have any idea the talent that came from that film. You would have to see 2001 in70mm on a large screen.Well, forget about it.theatres today have SMALL screens.
Had it not been for the craftsmen on that film i would hate to see the direction of sci-fi. This Computer made stuff is the worst thing that happened to the movies.
For one thing it took jobs from behind the camera and it front of the camera.
2001 was soooo….. boring, a real snoozer. How can you not like light sabers?
Clifford…no offense, but your arguments are weak and irrational. That you disliked STAR WARS doesn’t bother me. What bothers me is that you seem to characterize STAR WARS (and Lucas & Spielberg) as scapegoats for everything you think is wrong with the film business. You come off like an old fart disenchanted with change (i.e. progress).
Whether you liked or disliked STAR WARS is simply a matter of taste…but you seem to confuse taste with objective criticism. If you believe STAR WARS is overrated, that’s an unscientific opinion you’re entitled to…but one millions of people would disagree with. You know, not everyone thinks CITIZEN KANE or 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY are masterworks; to the typical person, those works are boring and not very entertaining.
All I know is that STAR WARS put a LOT of butts in seats, making LOTS of film industry folks very wealthy and LOTS of moviegoers very happy.
To Cobait, Let me clear something up. I don’t “hate” anyone. That’s too strong a word, but what I do hate is what that movie did to film in general. But then it makes me sick that single theatre auditoriums are no longer being built. The ones that are left are closing or being torn down. Remember the days when going downtown was exciting because of ALL the movie marquees? There are no more movie marquees anymore. I don’t particularly like cineplexes all that much. I don’t like the pressure of a movie having to OPEN BIG on a weekend or else fail. I think Drive In Movies made the America a friendlier place and no those are all practically gone.
Where are the great artists? The great filmmakers like Carol Reed and Orson Wells or William Wyler? Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock?
Clifford, Boy are you so right. Unlike you i didn’t care for any of the STAR WARS movies.MOst of the STAR WARS crowd would walk out on the first 21 minutes of 2001.
I’m not saying there haven’t been good movies made since STAR WARS. On the contrary, but STAR WARS is and always has been overrated. It’s just another “good vs. evil” american film that glorifies war. What’s special about that? It has mediocre special effects and bad costumes. Don’t get me wrong, I actually liked the 2nd one THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. Couldn’t stand the 3rd one with the teddy bears. That enterprise and alot of the crowd pleasing Spielberg films turned the art of filmmaking into theme park ride movies. Made them junky. This is nothing new. There has been much written about the decline of american films because of this. Sure there are some wonderful and very good films made since, but tell me, where are the great ones?
You’re crazy, Clifford! To imply the industry stopped making good films because of STAR WARS is ridiculous. And why do you hate those who simply enjoyed what they thought was a good movie?
It turned the art of film into theme park rides. That’s what it did.
What is it you think STAR WARS did to the industry, Clifford, that was so bad?
I HATE what STAR WARS did to the industry and ALL the people that made that horrible enterprise successful.
My favorite memory was watching the premiere of Revenge of the Jedi in the Penthouse with my girlfriend at the time Leslie M. We both worked for the Plitt Promenade. I think Mickey may have gotten transferred over here?