I don’t think the site was completely vacant until the Kodak/Dolby Theater was built; as I recall, a large bank building with parking lots was built on part of the Hollywood Hotel site. Also the building that housed the Mann Chinese II & III (the original additional auditoriums built in 1979 and then demolished when the Kodak/Dolby and the rest of of the complex was built, not the current Chinese 6) also occupied part of the site that fronted on Hollywood Boulevard.
A Birmingham resident, Mr, Cyril Barbier, has recently constructed a large, extremely detailed scale model of this theatre. There is a link to an article about it here and a link to a slide show that includes pictures of the theatre as it is today and several photos of the model.
I don’t think the picture of the Carlton Theatre that shows it playing ‘A Privatee’s Affair" is the Carlton Theatre to which this entry refers if one looks at either of the pictures at the links in the comments above.
Other news reports about this new theater operation indicates that will be owned by Frank Theatres which is intriguing in that the chain always has been rather bottom-line conscious and there would appear to be some risk involved in this venture. Regal closed it in 2009 after less than a decade in operation, and another operator closed it again after about a year. Considering that the mall itself is not doing well, it will be interesting to see what happens. Frank appears to have only one other theater with a cafe-lounge.
KCB3Player: It was not the Alamo Drafthouse chain that took over the Majestic Theater complex at Zona Rosa; it was a Studio Movie Grill franchise. The Alamo Drafthouse chain has had far more success in its operations than SMG.
It gets barely a mention in this article, but AMC is giving up control of the Midland to the Cordish Company, its former partner in operating both the Midland the Main Street theaters. It had been previously announced that Cordish had signed an agreement with Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas to operate the Main Street Theater.
The website lists as the contact website; if that does not work, you might want to contact the city of Highland Park, IL as the city owns the theater at (847) 432-0800 .
Rave Cinemas lists its general contact address as . I think it might be profitable to direct your initial inquiry there or by phone to their corporate number 214-880-6300.
Considering that the closure occurred over six months ago, Rave have sold the property or placed it back in the hands of its landlord, but they would know who to contact about purchasing the theater’s equipment if it is still available.
It has to be kept in mind though that until November, 1964 when the Century 21 opened in San Jose, Cinerama regarded the Bay Area as a single market with the exhibition site being San Francisco. I am sure many people, especially Cinerama fans in the greater San Jose area, made the forty mile or drive to San Francisco to see Cinerama films at the Orpheum or the Golden Gate and were accustomed to doing so.
By the time “Ice Station Zebra” opened in San Jose, it had completed its run at the Orpheum several months previously in San Francisco and, in a way, Cinerama (at least the 70mm version) in San Jose was sort of catching up to the Cinerama exhibition history that was now fully played out in the City.
The Century 21 certainly would have wanted to play successful Cinerama films as long as they were substantially profitable, and, at the same time, may have had contractual obligations to play other Cinerama films at certain times. It seems to me that it is obvious, looking at the list of Cinerama films that did not play in San Jose that by the end of the run of “Ice Station Zebra,” the San Jose Cinerama houses had pretty much given up on Cinerama.
The run that impresses me on this list (and on some others) was the relatively long run “Grand Prix”. Considering how relatively forgotten that film is now, that racing photography must have impressed many people in some markets at the time.
Tinseltoes, the lists of nearby theaters here on CT do include demolished theaters probably because it helps people better visualize where theaters were in relation to existing theaters or other past theaters. But this Mecca Theater should be removed because of its location. I do not know how these lists of nearby theaters are generated (it can’t be by zip code) because the lists often miss other nearby theaters.
This theater is not closed; it has been renamed (as can be seen in the photo) as the Scottish Rite Auditorium and is used as a Masonic hall and as a rental auditorium.
I am speculating, but my guess would be that it was masked down for one or both of two reasons. First, as you probably know, 20th Century Fox’s licensing agreement with D-150 equipped theaters required the screen to be masked down except when showing anything but a film lensed in D-150 (all two of them). I have read that some D-150 equipped theaters did not always do this, but I have no knowledge of any instances of noncompliance.
Secondly, those 70mm prints of “This is Cinerama” had a projected ratio of only 2.20 to to 1 rather than the original ratio of about 2.60 to 1 when the three-panel process was used. It was not possible to transfer the full width of the original three-panel images onto the 70mm stock – the left and right original images were cropped. So, “This is Cinerama” in 70mm had the projected ratio of just about any wide screen film of its era except for three-panel Cinerama films and those shot in Ultra Panavision 70/Camera 65.
This theater is apparently back in business; an organization called the Cass City Cinema is running a summer festival of films filmed in and around Detroit and the website is indicating a fall reopening and the installation of digital equipment. View link
A replica of the Carthay Circle has been built at Disney’s California Adventure Park adjacent to Disneyland in recognition of the role the theater had in launching some of Disney’s famous films. Unfortunately, the building only houses a restaurant and cocktail lounge (and probably one of the ubiquitous gift shops so characteristic of Disney parks).
This theater has been acquired by the Michigan-based Neighborhood Cinema Group (NCG) and will reopen on June 22, 2012. View article
The theater is closing as of Sunday, July 8, 2012, according to the Harvard Crimson: View article
I don’t think the site was completely vacant until the Kodak/Dolby Theater was built; as I recall, a large bank building with parking lots was built on part of the Hollywood Hotel site. Also the building that housed the Mann Chinese II & III (the original additional auditoriums built in 1979 and then demolished when the Kodak/Dolby and the rest of of the complex was built, not the current Chinese 6) also occupied part of the site that fronted on Hollywood Boulevard.
It is the Regency II; the Regency I was around the corner in the same block but facing Van Ness.
A Birmingham resident, Mr, Cyril Barbier, has recently constructed a large, extremely detailed scale model of this theatre. There is a link to an article about it here and a link to a slide show that includes pictures of the theatre as it is today and several photos of the model.
An article from 1977 that announced the closing of this theater: View link
I don’t think the picture of the Carlton Theatre that shows it playing ‘A Privatee’s Affair" is the Carlton Theatre to which this entry refers if one looks at either of the pictures at the links in the comments above.
Other news reports about this new theater operation indicates that will be owned by Frank Theatres which is intriguing in that the chain always has been rather bottom-line conscious and there would appear to be some risk involved in this venture. Regal closed it in 2009 after less than a decade in operation, and another operator closed it again after about a year. Considering that the mall itself is not doing well, it will be interesting to see what happens. Frank appears to have only one other theater with a cafe-lounge.
Two articles recalling the collapse of the ceiling at the Park Theatre: View link
View link
KCB3Player: It was not the Alamo Drafthouse chain that took over the Majestic Theater complex at Zona Rosa; it was a Studio Movie Grill franchise. The Alamo Drafthouse chain has had far more success in its operations than SMG.
It gets barely a mention in this article, but AMC is giving up control of the Midland to the Cordish Company, its former partner in operating both the Midland the Main Street theaters. It had been previously announced that Cordish had signed an agreement with Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas to operate the Main Street Theater.
Some photos: View link
The website lists as the contact website; if that does not work, you might want to contact the city of Highland Park, IL as the city owns the theater at (847) 432-0800 .
Rave Cinemas lists its general contact address as . I think it might be profitable to direct your initial inquiry there or by phone to their corporate number 214-880-6300.
Considering that the closure occurred over six months ago, Rave have sold the property or placed it back in the hands of its landlord, but they would know who to contact about purchasing the theater’s equipment if it is still available.
It has to be kept in mind though that until November, 1964 when the Century 21 opened in San Jose, Cinerama regarded the Bay Area as a single market with the exhibition site being San Francisco. I am sure many people, especially Cinerama fans in the greater San Jose area, made the forty mile or drive to San Francisco to see Cinerama films at the Orpheum or the Golden Gate and were accustomed to doing so.
By the time “Ice Station Zebra” opened in San Jose, it had completed its run at the Orpheum several months previously in San Francisco and, in a way, Cinerama (at least the 70mm version) in San Jose was sort of catching up to the Cinerama exhibition history that was now fully played out in the City.
The Century 21 certainly would have wanted to play successful Cinerama films as long as they were substantially profitable, and, at the same time, may have had contractual obligations to play other Cinerama films at certain times. It seems to me that it is obvious, looking at the list of Cinerama films that did not play in San Jose that by the end of the run of “Ice Station Zebra,” the San Jose Cinerama houses had pretty much given up on Cinerama.
The run that impresses me on this list (and on some others) was the relatively long run “Grand Prix”. Considering how relatively forgotten that film is now, that racing photography must have impressed many people in some markets at the time.
Tinseltoes, the lists of nearby theaters here on CT do include demolished theaters probably because it helps people better visualize where theaters were in relation to existing theaters or other past theaters. But this Mecca Theater should be removed because of its location. I do not know how these lists of nearby theaters are generated (it can’t be by zip code) because the lists often miss other nearby theaters.
This theater has now become a discount house: View article.
This theater is closing “for an unspecified period of time” according to this article.
There is additional information about the theater and several pictures of it on its page at CinemaTour.
This theater is not closed; it has been renamed (as can be seen in the photo) as the Scottish Rite Auditorium and is used as a Masonic hall and as a rental auditorium.
I am speculating, but my guess would be that it was masked down for one or both of two reasons. First, as you probably know, 20th Century Fox’s licensing agreement with D-150 equipped theaters required the screen to be masked down except when showing anything but a film lensed in D-150 (all two of them). I have read that some D-150 equipped theaters did not always do this, but I have no knowledge of any instances of noncompliance.
Secondly, those 70mm prints of “This is Cinerama” had a projected ratio of only 2.20 to to 1 rather than the original ratio of about 2.60 to 1 when the three-panel process was used. It was not possible to transfer the full width of the original three-panel images onto the 70mm stock – the left and right original images were cropped. So, “This is Cinerama” in 70mm had the projected ratio of just about any wide screen film of its era except for three-panel Cinerama films and those shot in Ultra Panavision 70/Camera 65.
Since the article indicates that the owner is now partnering with the Movie Buff Theater in Indy, perhaps you might contact that theater:
Movie Buff Theatre 3535 West 86th Street Indianapolis , IN 46268 (317)876-3331
website: http://www.moviebufftheatre.com/Default.aspx
This theater is apparently back in business; an organization called the Cass City Cinema is running a summer festival of films filmed in and around Detroit and the website is indicating a fall reopening and the installation of digital equipment. View link
This webpage from Roland Lataille’s site has pictures of the Martin Cinerama in New Orleans.
A replica of the Carthay Circle has been built at Disney’s California Adventure Park adjacent to Disneyland in recognition of the role the theater had in launching some of Disney’s famous films. Unfortunately, the building only houses a restaurant and cocktail lounge (and probably one of the ubiquitous gift shops so characteristic of Disney parks).