Columbia Theatre
583 Peachtree Street,
Atlanta,
GA
30309
583 Peachtree Street,
Atlanta,
GA
30309
6 people
favorited this theater
Showing 51 - 68 of 68 comments
I remember when it was THE ATLANTA THEATRE, first run roadshow films like STAR! with Julie Andrews played here. It was really quite a theatre in the 60’s. Always a brightly lit impressive marque that made the movie going experience exciting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWXjFHqc7gc
PS. I linked to this page from here: View link
This is a great site for pictures of historic Atlanta, and all of the various pictures of the theater that are linked in this thread are all on this same page. Check it out.
I actually saw The Living Daylights at the Columbia. The opening night was a pretty big deal, with people in their 20s like me anxious to see a new James Bond for the first time in 15 years. There was huge line going down the street to see the movie on opening night — almost like a premiere. This was around the time that I and my fellow 20-somethings were starting to make Buckhead into a destination spot, and we were also moving toward Midtown and The Highlands for amusement.
The Columbia had a really great screen. The only other regularly-running 70mm screen in the in-town was at Phipps Plaza. (Long story short, this was before wing with Parisian and the food court and the current theater was added to Phipps in the early-to-mid 90s. At that time, the mall terminated at probably about the point where the box office is now. There were two theaters downstairs and a 70mm screen upstairs.)
Anyway, the summer in which The Living Daylights was released was the summer of 1987. I remember because I also saw The Untouchables at The Columbia, and I saw them both with the same girl. Regrettably, I never saw either her, or the Columbia again after that summer. I’m not sure when The Columbia ceased regular operations, but I do know that when the Summer of 1989 came around I drove from Athens to see Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and also Batman on a 70mm screen, and both times I went to Phipps.
The interior of the Uptown Theatre in Washington DC is, with the exception of the colour scheme and positioning of the left and right projectors, is almost identical to the Atlanta.
I saw THE LAST DRAGON here with my dad back in ‘85. This is the last movie I saw here before the theater closed for good. It was a throwback (even 20 years ago) to a bygone era in movie theaters.
I saw THE SOUND OF MUSIC here in it’s 73' release and it was SOLD OUT! Amazing screen. Amazing theatrical experience that in not duplicated today. BIG lobby displays got you excited about the picture and it felt like an EVENT. The films would play for months, so if you really fell in love with a film, there was plenty of time to see it over and over.
THE ATLANTA THEATRE TICKET STUB.
View link
As I indicated above, my Dad took me to see “How the West Was Won” during its opening run at the Martin’s Cinerama downtown. I believe that “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” — which my Dad also took me to seee — also did its opening run at Martin’s downtown.
What an elegant and fantastic movie theater that was. I do not know of a movie theater currently in Atlanta that rivals it except for the Fox, which rarely if ever shows movies anymore.
Front view picture.
View link
Atlanta is the city that oves to tear down anything over 20 years old.. Just afew great theaters left (Old time)..Fox and the Plaza Atlantas oldest oderating movie house……
Here is a picture of the theatre when it was THE TOWER.
View link
Here are a couple of photos from the Sam Malone collection of the theatre when it was know as the Atlanta.
When this location was the Tower Theater, my parents went to revival meetings there.
When they put carpet all through the theater, patrons were not allowed to bring drinks into the auditorium. This kept the auditorium clean, but after Weis took over the theater people could bring drinks in and that ruined the carpet.
I remember seeing several movies there before it became the Columbia. King Kong was very good there because of the extremely large screen. The Wiz was a disappointment not only because the movie was awful but it was not in cinemascope.
After it became the Columbia, I went to many movies there. The screen was great. The sound was great. Any movie could be good there. The only exception was Jaws 3-D. Besises being a terrible movie, they had a flat screen in front of the curved screen.
I have a picture I took before they demolished the theater. I miss it very much.
Not sure if anyone cares, but I have an old drive-in movie theatre trailer for the film Circus World that has a tag-on ad for the Martin Cinerama Atlanta at the end of it.
Doesn’t show any images from the theatre itself, at least not photo stills (there’s a drawn image of the interior of a theater, but it might be a generic piece of art for all I know)… anyway, if anyone wants a copy (and you can pony up dubbing/postage costs), drop me a note at http://producttrends.blogspot.com
“In 1982 a private owner cleaned it up and reopened it as the [‘New’] Columbia”
Anyone know the name of the owner/company that operated the theater at this time?
My dad took me to Martin’s Cinerama in Atlanta several times when I was a young child. I clearly remember going to see “How the West Was Won” and “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm.” The huge screen with the curtain and the elegant setting in general were marvelous. My dad pointed out the three projectors to me and briefly explained how the Cinerama process worked.
I do not remember whether it was the downtown Atlanta or the North Druid Hills Road location that my dad took me to. Based on the information I have provided, can anyone tell me which theater it was I went to?
This theatre had many names during its lifetime: Erlanger, Tower, Martin Cinerama, Atlanta, & Columbia. The Fox actually got its 70mm equipment from the Lowe’s Grand after a fire there.
Ralph Daniel
Marietta GA
This theatre actually started life as the “Ehrlanger” opera house. The original decor was more in the line of other period houses for operatic use. The chandeliers from the auditorium are in the former “Baptist Tabernacle” (now know as the “house of blues.” The auditorium was draped over when the cinerama system was installed. The original balcony decor remained concealed.
R. McGee
Atlanta, GA