Warner Theatre

332 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh, PA 15222

Unfavorite 16 people favorited this theater

Showing 51 - 75 of 87 comments

71dude
71dude on October 16, 2008 at 3:58 am

1978:

01/01 Close Encounters of the Third Kind
03/15 The Fury
04/26 Pretty Baby
05/26 American Graffiti
06/16 Grease
10/06 The Big Fix
11/03 The Manitou
11/10 Paradise Alley
12/01 The Melon Affair
12/18 DARK
12/22 The Wiz

bbriley
bbriley on September 24, 2008 at 7:18 am

Hello all! Thought you may be interested in this. According to a large original poster that I have in my Indy collection: The Stanley(I’m assuming the Warner was known as the Stanley at this time?) & Gateway Theatres, Downtown, PGH, hosted a Live Closed-circuit telecast of the Indy 500 on Memorial Day, May 30th, 1968.
Indy 1968 Poster

rivest266
rivest266 on September 11, 2008 at 10:00 am

Ad for the premiere of Cinerama at the New Google archive at View link

ChuckO
ChuckO on June 3, 2008 at 7:06 pm

“Midway” definitely played at the Gateway Theater during the summer of ‘76 (in Sensurround). I’m pretty sure the Gateway closed in June, 1980 with “Friday the 13th.”

Ron3853
Ron3853 on July 28, 2007 at 2:28 pm

To the best of my knowledge, “Midway” played at the Gateway Theater in downtown Pittsburgh in the summer of 1976.

sydneybird
sydneybird on July 27, 2007 at 6:18 pm

I emailed some friends left in Pittsburg to see what they know about the Warner.

veyoung52
veyoung52 on July 27, 2007 at 2:05 pm

Thanks, sydneybird.

sydneybird
sydneybird on July 27, 2007 at 11:05 am

I am so glad that my ramblings actually provided useful information. I left Pittsburgh in 1982 and upon reviewing the list of movies above, I can’t be sure that I actually saw a movie there since Earthquake (December 1974). I would have sworn that I saw Midway (June 18, 1976) with Sensurround there but I don’t see it on the list and apparently Logan’s Run was playing that same week so that can’t be correct. So, I can only verify up to Dec. 1974.

The Warner could have been divided into two to three screens in the late 70’s early 80’s like some of the other downtown Pittsburgh theaters did by walling off their balcony and installing two small screens up there; or was it one small screen up top and two on the bottom? Somehow I think this happened but I can’t be sure. No one left alive in my family that would have remembered. I hope someone reads this and recalls whether the Warner was divided or not.

veyoung52
veyoung52 on July 27, 2007 at 9:31 am

Sydneybird, thanks, you have actually answered a question that many Cinerama historians have been debating for years….which USA Cinerama houses maintained their installation into the 1970’s. And the Pittsburgh Warner was a mystery. Would you happen to know if the screen/curtain setup was retained until the theatre’s final closing as a theatre? Thanks.

sydneybird
sydneybird on July 27, 2007 at 8:47 am

The first impression as a 14 year old going to the Warner for the first time to see Earthquake (1974) was that the theater was very ornately decorated and that this was going to be a living history lesson of theaters of the past. The architecture was beautiful even if it did show it’s age. I loved it. The balcony was closed for this Sensurround engagement, probably for safety purposes. The next striking thing was that the screen was very different from any screen that I had ever seen. It was not only curved, but very deeply curved. If I remember correctly, it was almost 180 degrees cylinder which meant that the seats started a fair distance back from the center of the screen with a large stage under the footprint of the screen. Further, an octagonal projection booth with three windows was smack in the middle of the audience. My dad would tell me that the three Cinerama projectors would be housed in there, but it had since been retrofitted with a single projector with a special lens to bend the image to project onto the screen. Sorry to say, the lens/screen combination really distorted the image at the corners but you accepted this after a while just because of the shear size of the screen.

Waiting in the hallway off the lobby leading to the theater for the previous showing to be over presented it’s own anticipation as the Sensurround vibrations from the dam-bursting scene came through to rattle the old plaster of the walls. This was going to be fun! Entering the theater I saw the big horn speakers hanging high in the air on both sides of the screen plus some big horn speakers way in the back. The Sensurround effects really shook the balcony adding creaks and moans to the recorded sounds. Though I really didn’t think that Sensurround really shook the seats or added anything more than a little vibration to the air in your lungs, it sure made the theater creak in ways that were terrifying making you look back to see if you were far enough away from the balcony in case it fell in. Were the cracks in the plaster there before Earthquake or because of Earthquake?

Long live the Warner, in our memories.

jerseyboyz
jerseyboyz on April 28, 2007 at 8:05 pm

does anyone remember the opening of the godfather movie in pittsburgh? a post above says it opened at the warner theater on 3/22/72. i was at the opening, and in the middle of the movie, the movie was interrupted, a singer came out on stage and sang the love theme from the godfather. when he was finished, and we were done applauding, the movie was resumed. does anyone remember who the singer was? al martino? tony bennett? vic damone? jerry vale? it definitely was not frank sinatra, and i do not think it was dean martin. any help? please! thanks.

Ron3853
Ron3853 on September 21, 2006 at 12:02 pm

Right now a Washington, PA outfit owned by Jack Piatt called Millcraft is renovating the former Lazarus Department Store into Piatt Place with condominiums and shops. They currently have the inside track to developing more of the Fifth Avenue and Wood Street areas that have become such a blight. They have expressed an interest in acquring the Warner property and making it into an entertainment center with a multiplex cinema, music clubs, and other things. We can only hope that this comes into being. All this, of course, was discussed under the rule of the late mayor Bob O'Connor. Now it is up to Luke Ravenstahl to continue the downtown redevelopment.

raubre
raubre on September 21, 2006 at 11:43 am

I wouldn’t count my chickens before they hatch about downtown. 5th and Forbes is the worst, right now. Hopefully something good will come out of the project. I was on Liberty Ave. last night and it has improved, yet kind of deserted. But it is far from the red light district it has been.

BTW, Kennywood is OK (not great.)

Hopefully the (possible) reopening and proper usage of the Warner will be a good thing.

Hopefully downtown can get back into the swing of things and clean up.

oldmovieman
oldmovieman on September 21, 2006 at 5:41 am

Oh My LuisV….I am glad you enjoyed your visit to Pittsburgh. You are right it was once a great city to live in but no longe. No one has a reason to go downtown anymore. At one time there was kaufmanns, Pittsburgh’s oldest store now Macy’s, Gimbels, and Joseph Horn comapany. Great clothiers and jewelry shops as well, but now nothing. Worst of all at one point it had 7 movie theaters within a three block radius where you saw your show which by the way was at the former Stanley Warner theater, the Stanley, now called something else. The only real theater that survived it all is Heinz hall formally the Penn Theater. It is beautiful. They love to put new restaurants downtown and now build lofts at high prices but no reason for people to go there as it is nothing but a getto. You are right out of the theater and no mans land. The Mayor has a big challenge ahead of him, but he is fighting a losing battle as the mob boys and unions control that city and they are not about to lose one cent from what is going on now, which is nothing. Yes Kennywood is one great park, and a national landmark as well. Keep well.

Luis Vazquez
Luis Vazquez on September 20, 2006 at 5:03 pm

Ouch!!!

I wish better for Pittsburgh than lainnman. I visited last summer (‘05) for the first time and was surprised at how desolate the downtown area was. I had heard that Pittsburg had made great strides in recovering from the steel economy and I believe that it has, but I was expecting a greater vibrancy. My friends and I saw “Tommy” at a beautifully resored theater (I feel terrible that I don’t remember its name). The immediate two block area around the theater had a great buzz before the curtain with many patrons eating at the surrounding restaurants, but a short walk in any direction put you in a no man’s land.

What makes it sadder is that it looks like Pittsburg was quite prosperous at one time. I’m amazed that all of the department stores are gone! The key, of course, is to bring people back downtown to live and play. Theater restorations play an important role. I wish the new mayor well. He’s got a big job ahead of him.

p.s. I loved Kennywood and The Andy Warhol Museum!

oldmovieman
oldmovieman on September 14, 2006 at 6:05 am

Oh Krypton Cowboy are you one of the Cinemette crowd of supporters? Thank you for correcting my spelling, that is what I would expect. Cinemette was nothing but blood sucking evil men who drained everything they got their hands on and then left a tiotal wasted mess that could only reach a bulldozer. The theater was not good for anything. As to who they are, they were part of the Associated Theaters Chain of management and owners that went out and Formed this mess. They should all be put in jail for their goings on in Pittsburgh. As to the film companies supporting the Chatham, where are the film companies any way. They are long gone from film rown on the Blvd of the Allies now arn’t they. The theaters are not to blame for not wanting to go downtown. What about the department stroes leaving, and now Saks wants out, not to mention the headquarters for Mellon Bank. Pittsburgh is a mess, it will always be and as a former Pittsburger I know from experience. There is absolutely nor reason to go downtown or even live in this poor city.

jimkastner
jimkastner on September 12, 2006 at 12:19 am

lainnman,

I would like to hear more of your memories on the Chatham Cinema. I have the original Pittsburgh Press newspaper articles, clippings, ads [for ALFIE] from opening day. I also have pics of what the exterior of the theatre looks like today and plan to take pics [if it still exists] of the parking garage entrance.

Jim Kastner
Murrysville, PA

raubre
raubre on May 30, 2006 at 7:10 pm

I hearrd a very, very nice rumor (and possibly very welcome rumor) about what will happen to the Warner. I was told that this may become a theater once again!!!!! :)

Here is an article out of the Tribune Review that helps back this up.
View link

raubre
raubre on May 17, 2006 at 7:26 am

You mention downtown population. Hopefully that may return. The mayor of Pittsburgh wants to bring business as well as living back to downtown (especially along Fifth and Forbes). Plus many of downtown’s universities and colleges are opening new dornitories in the golden Triangle as well. I hope that maybe they can ressurect the Warner back into a theater if all is successful.

clarkwilson
clarkwilson on May 17, 2006 at 4:30 am

The organ in the Warner was a small, old Wurlitzer 2-manual. What was left of it was salvaged many yaers ago by the Pittsburgh Area Theatre Organ Society. Several years back we purchased all leftover parts of it from them. It’s been out of the building for quite a long time.

KRYPTONCOWBOY
KRYPTONCOWBOY on May 17, 2006 at 2:53 am

Why be so hard on CINEMETTE THEATRES (Notice the correct spelling?)
The era of the downtown movie house was ending from coast to coast.
If anything, Cinemette help to preserve the Pittsburgh downtown movie theatres more than just about any other major theatre circuit in any other major city.
When the Warner closed it was up against $10,000.00 monthly steam heating bills, a shrinking downtown population, the city wide 10 percent amusement tax, pressure from the film companies to match the grosses of the out of the city National Amusement multiplexes that did not pay the 10% tax.
HMMM, if the Chatham was such a wet dream of a theatre, Why didn’t the film companies ever want to put major releases up there. It was STRUGGLING when Cinemette aquired it!

oldmovieman
oldmovieman on May 8, 2006 at 6:37 am

The Chatham Cinema opened on October 25 1966 and was owned by Morris Finkle, owner of the Shadyside, Mt Oliver, Arcade and was his first run house. I was the opening Asst Mrg. The opening film was Paramounts “Alfie” starring Michael Caine. It played for six months to the day, followed by “Barefoot In The Park”, Wait Until Dark, The Odd Couple, and Taming of the Shrew. This was a beautiful theater not exactly in the downtown and had plenty of parking and that great old Red Coach Grill upstairs. Then, you got it, Cinemmette got its hand on it and it was just ruined. I was so sorry to leave that place…it was great. The hanging changelier in the main lobby was imported from Italy and was georgeous. Lines would form every Friday and Saturday night to see the films, did not matter what they were. It was one of the greatest times in my life.

Michael R. Rambo Jr.
Michael R. Rambo Jr. on April 12, 2006 at 6:14 am

It a shame on readin on what happened to the former RKO Stanley Warner’s Warner Theatre, with it becoming a shopping center. Out in Philadelphia, the former Cinerama theatre out there, the former RKO Stanley Warner’s Boyd Theatre/Regal Entertainment Group’s United Artists Sameric 4 Theatre, is being restored by LiveNation back to it’s 1928 looks, and restoring the “Boyd” name.

The Boyd/Sameric 4 had a unique design, having been built by Alexander Boyd, as a “L shape” building, where the main theatre House #1, is the former Boyd Theatre’s auditorium. Sameric’s Screens 2 through 4 were built to the right of Screen 1, turning it from a “L Shape to a ”[“ shape.

clarkbhm
clarkbhm on March 6, 2006 at 8:07 pm

The organ does indeed exist! It’s on the second floor in the far side of the food court. The last store in the food court had to close on 2/28/06 so its possible that the food court may be closed soon. If you want to see it, you should hurry!

carolgrau
carolgrau on October 18, 2005 at 9:10 pm

At the end it was ran by Cinnemette Corp, who left it go to hell so they could dump it.
Norelco