The Vondee Theatre opened its doors on July 15, 1936 with Robert Montgomery in “Trouble For Two” along with the Happy Harmonies cartoon “Bottles” and a Universal Newsreel.
During the mid-1960s, the theater business in Seymour struggled following the closure of the Majestic Theatre in July 1966. At the time, the Vondee Theatre was operating only during the winter months (which began doing that in 1959). People who want to see movies indoors during the summer must travel to neighboring Columbus. However, that all changed when the Vondee Theatre relaunched as an all-season indoor movie house on October 4, 1967 with “The Sound Of Music”.
Charles W. Hawn operated the Vondee for its entire life until the theater closed for the final time in early-1976.
The Vernon Theatre actually closed in 1984. Both the Vernon Theatre and the Pines Drive-In remain as the only movie houses until the launch of the Lee Hills 6 Cinemas that same year.
The 1,250-seat Colquitt Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1942 with Betty Grable in “Song Of The Islands” along with an unnamed Popeye cartoon, a March Of Time reel, and a newsreel (all unlisted on grand opening ad). The Colquitt Theatre itself measures 60x140ft, and was the dominant mainstream A-film house in Moultrie.
On March 3, 1956, during a showing of John Payne in “Slightly Scarlet” (along with an unnamed cartoon and Warner-Pathe News), the Colquitt Theatre was heavily destroyed by a fire with an unknown cause broke out in the false ceiling area and sparks dropped onto the stage screen. Out of the some 600 people who attended the screening, no injuries were reported, and the estimate loss of the theater costed around $200,000 in damages. The people at the independent Moulete Theatres Incorporated chain had no choice but to shift the Colquitt Theatre’s schedule to the nearby Moultrie Theatre.
The Moultrie Theatre, who had been running B-films since the 1942 opening of the Colquitt, began picking up the Colquitt Theatre’s mainstream A-film lineup one week after the fire. The staff quickly installed CinemaScope in the Moultrie following the fire at the Colquitt, and on March 11, 1956, the Moultrie Theatre ran its first A-film in almost 14 years, which is Fred MacMurray in “There’s Always Tomorrow” along with an unnamed cartoon. It would remain like that for the following two years.
After a fully two-year construction, the Colquitt Theatre reopened its doors on March 20, 1958 with Robert Stack in “The Gift Of Love” along with a cartoon and short subjects. The general manager of the theater is Charlie C. Clark, with Mr. Charlie Powell being the president.
As of 1958, the doors are solid oak doors and the foyers are dominated by a Venetian mural depicting a view of old Venice complete with antique buildings and bridges. The Colquitt Theatre is the only movie house in South Georgia that has as much as 41 inches of space in between rows of seats, and was the second theater to do so in the state (with the other one being the Art Theatre in Atlanta). The projection room featured two Century 35mm projectors that is equipped with a 16x41ft Bausch & Lomb-made CinemaScope screen (the largest in South Central Georgia) as well as Kellmorgan General Scientific prime lenses and RCA Magnetic Sound-Acoustical walls. The curtains are draped in gold and white fireproof damask featuring a switch in the booth that raises and lowers automatically which is the waterfall type. Compared to both the 1942 and 1958 Colquitt Theatres, the capacity was reduced a bit from its original 1,250 to 1,000 seats in the 1958 rebuild. There are also two 40-ton air conditioners providing comfortable temperatures all-year-round. There is also an outgoing telephone located next to the water fountain where it was formerly located since the fire.
Exactly a day right after the Colquitt Theatre reopened its doors to the public, the Moulette Theatre nearby experienced a schedule change and returned back to its B-film policy after stunting as an A-film house in dedication to the then-destroyed Colquitt Theatre for two years and two weeks in total. The last A-film the Moultrie Theatre ran is Don Murray in “A Hatful Of Rain” plus a cartoon and comedy reel.
The Georgia Theatres Company chain last operated the Colquitt (who also operated both the Moulette Twin Cinema and the Sunset Drive-In) until the Colquitt Theatre closed for the final time on October 15, 1978 with Michael Brandon in “FM”.
The Sunset Drive-In opened its gates on November 19, 1954 with Spencer Tracy in “Broken Lance” along with the Tom and Jerry cartoon “Just Ducky” and the Tweety & Sylvester Looney Tune “A Street Cat Named Sylvester”.
On March 23, 1977, John H. Stembler, the president of the Georgia Theatre Company, and Hugh Tolleson, president of Southeastern Investment Trust, announced that a new deluxe Twin Cinema was planned near the south end of the plaza featuring automated xeon-latter projection for both screens. Construction didn’t start until the following year.
After a very short construction, GTC opened the Moultrie Twin Cinema’s doors on June 30, 1978 with “Grease” at Screen 1 and “Convoy” at Screen 2, featuring a total capacity of 565 seats (with 355 seats at Screen 1 and 210 seats at Screen 2).
Opened on November 19, 1993 as a Loews theater. It would eventually become a Sony theater the following year and then back to Loews two years later. Loews Cineplex closed Rolling Meadows' only remaining movie house on August 19, 2000 after the building itself was sold.
The capacity of the second Cordele Drive-In looks a lot larger than the first Cordele Drive-In. The first Cordele Drive-In had 145 cars, while this one looks more like 300 (which represent an expenditure of some $100,000 according to a very small article on its construction in September 1965).
The Belvedere Theatre opened its doors on September 17, 1964 with Andy Williams in “I’d Rather Be Rich”.
Twinned in the 1970s, the Eastern Federal Corporation chain operated the Belvedere Theatre throughout much of the late-1970s and into the first half of the 1980s. This lasted until 1986 when it became part of the Chappell Cinemas chain, and would eventually become a $1 discount house. Also, during its Eastern Federal run, its policy switched from first-run to second-run in the early-1980s.
The Belvedere closed as a second-run discount house on August 21, 1988 with “Red Heat” at Screen 1 and “Bad Dreams” at Screen 2.
Once abandoned for a couple of years, the Belvedere then reopened its doors in 1990 as an adult house, and lasted until its closure in the Spring of 2009.
Tifton was once left without a movie theater for a few years after the closure of the triple-screen Town & Country Cinemas at the Town & Country Mall in 1990 due to the mall’s out-of-town landlord’s increasing costs and poor revenues. The closure was actually led by Carmike, who lastly operated the mall cinema. People at the time were forced to travel either 20 to 40 miles away to see first-run movies in Cordele, Moultrie, Valdosta, or Albany.
However in April 1991, the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce is trying to prove that the county of 35,000 has enough fans to support a new theater being built. The chamber has distributed surveys to residents across Tiff County but the city of Tifton will force to sell to a theater company just as if it were an industrial prospect.
Another address that works is 105 Farmers Market Rd, Cordele, GA 31015, and was the second out of two Cordele Drive-Ins in its history.
Martin Theatres opened this one in 1966 as a replacement of a smaller drive-in located south of Cordele on Highway 41 which closed that same year, also named Cordele Drive-In (it will have its own Cinema Treasures page soon).
The New Pex Theatre opened its doors on May 2, 1942. This was generically supposed to be the replacement of the Old Pex Theatre (formerly the Dixie Theatre from July 1923 until May 1937) but it never happened until the following year. Unlike most towns, both the Old and New Pex Theatres served as movie houses at the same time, but for only a short time until the Old Pex Theatre closed in 1943, leaving the New Pex Theatre as the only movie house in Eatonton which became eventually as simply Pex Theatre.
The Pex closed as a full-time movie house in 1979 but briefly reopened a few times in the 1980s as both a special events (and partially movie house but only for special occasions).
The Vondee Theatre opened its doors on July 15, 1936 with Robert Montgomery in “Trouble For Two” along with the Happy Harmonies cartoon “Bottles” and a Universal Newsreel.
During the mid-1960s, the theater business in Seymour struggled following the closure of the Majestic Theatre in July 1966. At the time, the Vondee Theatre was operating only during the winter months (which began doing that in 1959). People who want to see movies indoors during the summer must travel to neighboring Columbus. However, that all changed when the Vondee Theatre relaunched as an all-season indoor movie house on October 4, 1967 with “The Sound Of Music”.
Charles W. Hawn operated the Vondee for its entire life until the theater closed for the final time in early-1976.
Twinned in Late December 1990.
The Vernon Theatre actually closed in 1984. Both the Vernon Theatre and the Pines Drive-In remain as the only movie houses until the launch of the Lee Hills 6 Cinemas that same year.
The Pines Drive-In opened its gates on August 15, 1952 with Jane High in “Fort Osage” with no extra short subjects. It was closed in 1984.
Opened on May 18, 1984.
The 1,250-seat Colquitt Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1942 with Betty Grable in “Song Of The Islands” along with an unnamed Popeye cartoon, a March Of Time reel, and a newsreel (all unlisted on grand opening ad). The Colquitt Theatre itself measures 60x140ft, and was the dominant mainstream A-film house in Moultrie.
On March 3, 1956, during a showing of John Payne in “Slightly Scarlet” (along with an unnamed cartoon and Warner-Pathe News), the Colquitt Theatre was heavily destroyed by a fire with an unknown cause broke out in the false ceiling area and sparks dropped onto the stage screen. Out of the some 600 people who attended the screening, no injuries were reported, and the estimate loss of the theater costed around $200,000 in damages. The people at the independent Moulete Theatres Incorporated chain had no choice but to shift the Colquitt Theatre’s schedule to the nearby Moultrie Theatre.
The Moultrie Theatre, who had been running B-films since the 1942 opening of the Colquitt, began picking up the Colquitt Theatre’s mainstream A-film lineup one week after the fire. The staff quickly installed CinemaScope in the Moultrie following the fire at the Colquitt, and on March 11, 1956, the Moultrie Theatre ran its first A-film in almost 14 years, which is Fred MacMurray in “There’s Always Tomorrow” along with an unnamed cartoon. It would remain like that for the following two years.
After a fully two-year construction, the Colquitt Theatre reopened its doors on March 20, 1958 with Robert Stack in “The Gift Of Love” along with a cartoon and short subjects. The general manager of the theater is Charlie C. Clark, with Mr. Charlie Powell being the president.
As of 1958, the doors are solid oak doors and the foyers are dominated by a Venetian mural depicting a view of old Venice complete with antique buildings and bridges. The Colquitt Theatre is the only movie house in South Georgia that has as much as 41 inches of space in between rows of seats, and was the second theater to do so in the state (with the other one being the Art Theatre in Atlanta). The projection room featured two Century 35mm projectors that is equipped with a 16x41ft Bausch & Lomb-made CinemaScope screen (the largest in South Central Georgia) as well as Kellmorgan General Scientific prime lenses and RCA Magnetic Sound-Acoustical walls. The curtains are draped in gold and white fireproof damask featuring a switch in the booth that raises and lowers automatically which is the waterfall type. Compared to both the 1942 and 1958 Colquitt Theatres, the capacity was reduced a bit from its original 1,250 to 1,000 seats in the 1958 rebuild. There are also two 40-ton air conditioners providing comfortable temperatures all-year-round. There is also an outgoing telephone located next to the water fountain where it was formerly located since the fire.
Exactly a day right after the Colquitt Theatre reopened its doors to the public, the Moulette Theatre nearby experienced a schedule change and returned back to its B-film policy after stunting as an A-film house in dedication to the then-destroyed Colquitt Theatre for two years and two weeks in total. The last A-film the Moultrie Theatre ran is Don Murray in “A Hatful Of Rain” plus a cartoon and comedy reel.
The Georgia Theatres Company chain last operated the Colquitt (who also operated both the Moulette Twin Cinema and the Sunset Drive-In) until the Colquitt Theatre closed for the final time on October 15, 1978 with Michael Brandon in “FM”.
The Sunset Drive-In opened its gates on November 19, 1954 with Spencer Tracy in “Broken Lance” along with the Tom and Jerry cartoon “Just Ducky” and the Tweety & Sylvester Looney Tune “A Street Cat Named Sylvester”.
Opened in June 1948, closed after the 1956 season.
On March 23, 1977, John H. Stembler, the president of the Georgia Theatre Company, and Hugh Tolleson, president of Southeastern Investment Trust, announced that a new deluxe Twin Cinema was planned near the south end of the plaza featuring automated xeon-latter projection for both screens. Construction didn’t start until the following year.
After a very short construction, GTC opened the Moultrie Twin Cinema’s doors on June 30, 1978 with “Grease” at Screen 1 and “Convoy” at Screen 2, featuring a total capacity of 565 seats (with 355 seats at Screen 1 and 210 seats at Screen 2).
It was closed on May 10, 2007.
Opened on February 19, 1993.
Once operated by Loews Cineplex.
Actual closing date is March 1, 2001, and was last operated by Loews Cineplex.
Opened on November 19, 1993 as a Loews theater. It would eventually become a Sony theater the following year and then back to Loews two years later. Loews Cineplex closed Rolling Meadows' only remaining movie house on August 19, 2000 after the building itself was sold.
The capacity of the second Cordele Drive-In looks a lot larger than the first Cordele Drive-In. The first Cordele Drive-In had 145 cars, while this one looks more like 300 (which represent an expenditure of some $100,000 according to a very small article on its construction in September 1965).
This closed in 1966 just in time for the opening of the newer and larger Cordele Drive-In north of town.
Actual closing date is July 27, 2000.
A 1972 aerial view shows the Rio appearing that it was still operational, but was completely gone by the early-1980s.
Closed on August 31, 1984 with Disney’s “The Jungle Book” at Screen 1 and “Footloose” at Screen 2.
Closed on September 5, 1985 with “The Black Cauldron” at Screen 1 and “Cocoon” at Screen 2.
The Belvedere Theatre opened its doors on September 17, 1964 with Andy Williams in “I’d Rather Be Rich”.
Twinned in the 1970s, the Eastern Federal Corporation chain operated the Belvedere Theatre throughout much of the late-1970s and into the first half of the 1980s. This lasted until 1986 when it became part of the Chappell Cinemas chain, and would eventually become a $1 discount house. Also, during its Eastern Federal run, its policy switched from first-run to second-run in the early-1980s.
The Belvedere closed as a second-run discount house on August 21, 1988 with “Red Heat” at Screen 1 and “Bad Dreams” at Screen 2.
Once abandoned for a couple of years, the Belvedere then reopened its doors in 1990 as an adult house, and lasted until its closure in the Spring of 2009.
Tifton was once left without a movie theater for a few years after the closure of the triple-screen Town & Country Cinemas at the Town & Country Mall in 1990 due to the mall’s out-of-town landlord’s increasing costs and poor revenues. The closure was actually led by Carmike, who lastly operated the mall cinema. People at the time were forced to travel either 20 to 40 miles away to see first-run movies in Cordele, Moultrie, Valdosta, or Albany.
However in April 1991, the Tifton-Tift County Chamber of Commerce is trying to prove that the county of 35,000 has enough fans to support a new theater being built. The chamber has distributed surveys to residents across Tiff County but the city of Tifton will force to sell to a theater company just as if it were an industrial prospect.
Another address that works is 105 Farmers Market Rd, Cordele, GA 31015, and was the second out of two Cordele Drive-Ins in its history.
Martin Theatres opened this one in 1966 as a replacement of a smaller drive-in located south of Cordele on Highway 41 which closed that same year, also named Cordele Drive-In (it will have its own Cinema Treasures page soon).
Did Perry had a drive-in theater before 1971, or is this the only one?
The New Pex Theatre opened its doors on May 2, 1942. This was generically supposed to be the replacement of the Old Pex Theatre (formerly the Dixie Theatre from July 1923 until May 1937) but it never happened until the following year. Unlike most towns, both the Old and New Pex Theatres served as movie houses at the same time, but for only a short time until the Old Pex Theatre closed in 1943, leaving the New Pex Theatre as the only movie house in Eatonton which became eventually as simply Pex Theatre.
The Pex closed as a full-time movie house in 1979 but briefly reopened a few times in the 1980s as both a special events (and partially movie house but only for special occasions).
The Adele Theater closed in July 1923 in connection of the opening of the Dixie Theatre (later Pex Theatre).