Edited from my April 30, 2020 (11:46 AM) comment: The Harlem Drive-In opened its gates on May 21, 1949 with Larry Parks in “The Swordsman” along with a few short subjects, with an original screen size of 48x55ft. It was first operated by Alfred Haals.
Once remodeled before the 1952 season, the original screen blew down by heavy winds in July 1958 forcing a short closure until screen replacement. The original speakers operated until 1977 when it was replaced with radio.
The Lansdale Theater opened in December 1922, but suffered fire damage in early-January 1923. It reopened later that same year.
On November 1, 1944, the interior of the theater received major damage after a four-point deer ran wild inside the theater, destroying the theater’s organ, broke their wooden grillwork, and damaged multiple seats. Police were able to catch the deer after being trapped beneath the stage.
The Hi-Way Drive-In opened its gates on August 5, 1953 with Marilyn Monroe in “Niagara” with no extra short subjects, with the original installations of a 60ft screen (before the later installations of CinemaScope), a capacity of 400-cars, and a children’s playground in front of the screen.
It was first operated by William Goldman of Royersford who previously managed several Philadelphia area Warner Brothers theatres since 1937. The assistant of the theatre was Ammon L. Mauger of Royersford who started his life as an usher in 1931.
The Hi-Way Drive-In originally started life as a seasonal drive-in but later turned into an all-year drive-in. Budco operated the Hi-Way Drive-In during its later years.
The Hi-Way Drive-In closed for the final time on September 5, 1988 with Corey Haim in “License To Drive” and Bruce Willis in “Die Hard” after the property was bought by Robert Ayerle. It was later demolished to make way for a shopping center.
As of 2023, Giant Food Stores occupies the former theater site.
The Idle Hour Theatre is short-lived. The theater opened its doors on April 13, 1921 with a one-day showing of Marshall Neilan in “Dinty”. This was followed by Charles Chaplin’s “The Kid” a day later. It was first operated by M.E. Church.
The Idle Hour Theatre was originally located on an unknown street but was moved to East Vernon Street in September 1921 for a short period of time before a fire destroyed the Idle Hour Theatre on October 8, 1921. The roof and interior received very serious damage from the fire.
The theater was relocated to a building occupied by Elmer Hughes, and reopened in November 1921 also on East Vernon Street. It was managed by Jason E. Lawhorn.
The Idle Hour Theatre closed a year later in late-1922.
This was the first movie theater to operate in Charlton since the then-troubled Ritz Theatre closure following the arrest of its brief owner in late-1988. Moviegoers across the town of Charlton were forced to watch first-run movies in surrounding towns including Aliba, Knoxville, Osceola, Pella, Oskaloosa, and Centerville among others throughout the following eight years until the opening of the Vision II.
The Vision II Theatre opened as a $2 first-run house on April 14, 1996 with “Mr. Holland’s Opus” at Screen 1 and “Happy Gilmore” at Screen 2 (but did had an open house two days prior). The theater housed a total capacity of 258 seats, with 138 seats at Screen 1 and 110 seats at Screen 2. It was first constructed in October 1995 by volunteers of a local donation group.
The Ritz Theatre opened its doors on August 31, 1927 with Forrest Stanley in “The Cat And The Canary” along with a vaudeville presentation of “Page Kiddies”, an Our Gang short, and a “Topics Of The Day” newsreel. It was first operated by T.W. Thompson.
Not only William L. Perkins architected the Ritz retaining only the facade and building, but Western Electric sound was also installed just before its May 22, 1930 reopening with Charles Farrell in “High Society Blues” along with an unknown comedy and a “sound” newsreel.
It was later operated by Wally Stolfus who installed CinemaScope inside the Ritz Theatre on August 15, 1954 (with “The Robe”).
In the late-1970s, owners Gerald Clark of Osceola and the husband-and-wife management team of Bill and Cindy Cox operated the Ritz Theatre. However, they did had a couple of short closures. Its first closure is an August 1, 1979 lease, and the second is for an unknown amount of reasons on February 28, 1980. Both closures only lasted for a few months. After its second short closure, the Ritz reopened its doors on June 4, 1980.
The Ritz Theatre received too much trouble in the 1980s, causing a few short closures, and a few management changes. What it really ended the Ritz Theatre’s movie house run is that in late-1988, the Ritz closed as a movie house for the final time right after short-lived owner 20-year-old Jeffrey Johannes of Knoxville, Iowa (former Nevada resident who briefly reopened the Ritz after yet again another short closure), pleaded guilty to second-degree theft and failing to pay restitution and meet other terms of his probation. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
This immediately left moviegoers to watch films in Albia, Knoxville, Osceola, Pella, or Centerville. In October 1989, the Ritz reopened as the Ritz Cabaret, a restaurant with live entertainment.
The Holland Theatre closed for the final time on January 1, 2001 with “Dude, Where’s My Car”, in connection with the opening of the Pella Cinemas which opened a few days prior.
The Holland Theatre was last operated by Fridley Theatres who began operating the theater in 1995, and had a seating capacity of 350 seats.
The Pella Cinemas opened its doors on December 28, 2000 with “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” at Screen 1, “What Woman Want” at Screen 2, and “Rugrats In Paris” at Screen 3, featuring a total capacity of 600 seats (with 200 seats in each auditorium). It is first operated by the Central States Theatres Corporation, but was now independently operated.
The Pella Cinemas caused the closure of the longtime first-run Holland Theatre downtown which closed on January 1, 2001.
Robert Morton first operated the Albia Drive-In until he was transferred to Fremont, Nebraska in April 1956. Tom Ryan of Cairo, Nebraska became the new manager for both King Theatre and Albia Drive-In in Albia, who also formerly managed the Cairo Theatre in Cairo, Nebraska.
It appears that the King Opera House has reopened last year, as I recently saw Google Maps view of the theater. Its current functions are first-run features, family features, performing arts, and concerts.
The original King name was named after the first owner, Dr. Sylvester King, who opened the original 600-seat (later 550-seat) King Opera House (later King Theatre) during the first week of March 1903 and operated the theater until his death. After his death, Adrienne Moser and Mr. and Mrs. Roy T. Alford operated the theater until it was destroyed by a fire on January 16, 1921.
Some information about the original King Opera House featured a red-bricked front, a grand arched double-door entrance with six-round stained glass windows surrounding the arch. The original King Opera House’s first manager is Mr. Elbert Payton, who was a firm of Payton & Swearngen managers of the Centerville armory-opera company. After Payton leased the building on February 26, 1903, the total amount of seats that costed $2,000 were installed within less than 24 hours.
The King Theatre was then rebuilt and reopened its doors on November 17, 1921 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest” along with speeches led by Mark D. Pabst and Attorney Chas. E Miller, and an unknown vaudeville segment before showing. The original pipe organ was played by Ms. Adrienne Alford, and was operated by Mr. Roy T. Alford and Mark D. Pabst.
As of 1921, the front view of the theatre featured a white brick enamel surface with the ticket booth in the center and plenty of space for patrons to pass through the large doors which were one of each side. They were also used as emergency exits. The interior of the building featured pleasing effects with harmony shades with old rose predominating including the soft stage curtains and lights as well as the carpeted aisles make a noiseless tread, and the organ sits low beneath the stage.
Talkies were installed in the Spring of 1929. Later on, Mike Galer was the operator the King Theatre during World War II, who installed the V-type marquee by the Roy Hansen Lustrolite Company of Davenport in October 1939 with an estimate $1,500, replacing a rectangle-shaped marquee. The marquee was first erected by the company on September 23, 1939. CinemaScope was installed in mid-1954.
On December 8, 1981 after running “Mommy Dearest”, the King Theatre closed following both building disrepair and the retirement of W.W. Hartzell (who operated the theater since 1968), leaving Monroe County without a movie theater for 10 months and a week. However, two months and a week later, it was announced that renovation will take place and plans to reopen the theater.
First-run movies returned to Monroe County when the King Theatre reopened as the Barbary Coast Opera House on October 16, 1982 with “Annie” after renovation led by the husband-and-wife team of Dan and Diana Walker along with eight other theater employees. However, during renovation, the theater was scheduled to reopen earlier that year in May or June 1982, but was delayed after the Walker family was involved in a vehicle accident in late-July 1982. The injured family members were transported to a Des Moines hospital, while back in Albia, members of the Albia Community Theatre were able to help renovate the theater while the family members recover from their injuries in Des Moines. Some features of the theater include an old-fashioned confectionary concession area, a capacity of 332 seats, and the restored marquee painted red and gold. Its policy at the time are mainly and primarily first-run features, but selective second-run and selective classic films were added sometimes as well as a couple of live performances, performing arts, special events, and concerts. However by the mid-1980s, only first-run films were shown, as well as a special event once-or-twice per year (such as performing arts and concerts). What’s odd about it is that the original embossed tin-ceiling were lowered, and were covered with composition ceiling tiles. Atop scaffolding, Dan cleaned the 30-ft-high ceiling with a vinegar solution before painting.
In early-1986, the Barbary Coast Opera House was refurbished, which also led to a schedule change. The change led the theater to show their first-run titles five-days-a-week instead of seven (Wednesdays through Sundays). This unfortunately would later change to three-days-a-week (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) and remained like that for many years.
Dan and Diana Walker operated the Barbary Coast Opera House for almost 13 years, even they became musicians for an extremely brief time in May 1992, but continued running first-run features at the time.
On June 1, 1995, it was announced that brothers Steve Goodson and Ed Cruz of Corona, California, would take over operations of the formerly-known Barbary Coast Opera House. However, Diana and Dan continued their live aspects of the theater which rarely happens there as it was a mainly first-run movie house.
The theater reopened as the Albia Theatre on June 16, 1995 with “Topdog” featuring updated installations of Dolby Surround Sound which replaced a previous Dolby system. Steve Rudd would later become the owner of the Albia Theatre by the late-1990s.
In 2010, the theater was purchased by the Albia Area Improvement Association and turned it into a publicly held entity. $60,000 were given for digital projection and newly-made sound system were installed both inside, $76,000 were given to replace all of the stage curtains, and a new roof for $40,000. The original King Opera House name returned the following year, and with its longtime primary first-run and special events house still running at the time, selective second-run and classic films returned as special matinees.
The V-type marquee that was installed in 1939 was removed on April 29, 2019, and the King Opera House closed in May 2020 following restoration of the building, which happened right at the same time the Coronavirus Pandemic took the screens away.
The King Opera House remained closed throughout the rest of 2020 and all of 2021, until it reopened its doors in early-2022. The King Opera House reopened on February 27, 2022 as a brief performing arts and concerts house, and on March 11, 2022, first-run movies return to the King Opera House (with selected family reruns during the holiday season).
I know but I recently read an article about THX before the film came out, and said that only one Orlando area location installed THX on the film’s release day, which comes along with a couple of Los Angeles and Dallas locations. I don’t know any projection/sound status the GCC Fashion Square had when the film came out, but with its 70mm (6-Track) logo shown on the Park Triple Theatre’s showtime section, my best bet has to be the Park Triple Theatre.
The Park Triple Theatre is also the first movie theater in Florida to have the installations of THX on May 25, 1983, just on time for its 70mm presentation of “Return Of The Jedi”.
The Dale I & II opened on December 27, 1974 with “Journey Back To Oz” at Screen 1 and “That’s Entertainment” at Screen 2.
Cineplex Odeon operated the theater for a time, but it became a $1 second-run discount house in June 1988. Cineplex Odeon managed to continue operating the theater. However, Regal Cinemas did operate the Dale I & II for a time but didn’t last long, lasting from October 24, 1997 until closing for the final time on July 31, 1998. It was lastly known as “Regal Dale City 2”.
During its days as a 10-screen theater, all ten screens featured stereo sound (with two screens featuring 70mm projection), and has an original total capacity of 2,500 seats (with an estimate 400 seats in each auditorium).
Opened on May 17, 1985 and closed in February 2002. First operated by Circle/Showcase, later Cineplex Odeon, and finally Loews Cineplex for a short time.
On May 27, 1974, eighteen people (10 adults and 8 juveniles) were taken into custody after police say they threw rocks and beer bottles at officers, injuring six people including three officers at the Woodbridge Sunset Drive-In during a special holiday showing of Elvis’s “The Last Tickle”. During the incident, an officer’s K9 accidentally leaped at a wrong male as the chief was lunged at a youth trying to attack an officer from behind.
Julius C. Ferlazzo, the owner of the Woodbridge Sunset Drive-In at the time, complained about the incident disrupting the film. With quick thinking, he canceled the rest of the Elvis movie by immediately turning off the 35mm projector, and asked all youths to leave the theater immediately. Police later reported that a second call from security guard who reported the fights and asked for medical attention for an unconscious youth. EMS arrived on-scene without injury. However, two police units were able to responded but were pelted by rocks and bottles right at the time they entered the theater. Both officers left the scene immediately, and requested help. SWAT moved in with 20 riot-equipped officers when rock and bottles continued to barrage. They said that eight to 10 canisters of tear gas were used to dispel the crowd.
Police said after the riots ended and the youth leaving the theater, they recovered hundreds of beer cans, several bags of marijuana, and two blackjacks.
One of the three drive-ins in Metairie became statewide headlines on May 9, 1959 following an unexpected death of a 16-year-old boy from asphyxiated carbon monoxide at the site of the drive-in while dating his 15-year-old girlfriend at the time (who was unconscious after being knocked out for several hours by fumes).
The actual opening date is September 9, 1950 with a one-day showing of Randolph Scott in “Colt 45” with no extra short subjects.
Edited from my April 30, 2020 (11:46 AM) comment: The Harlem Drive-In opened its gates on May 21, 1949 with Larry Parks in “The Swordsman” along with a few short subjects, with an original screen size of 48x55ft. It was first operated by Alfred Haals.
Once remodeled before the 1952 season, the original screen blew down by heavy winds in July 1958 forcing a short closure until screen replacement. The original speakers operated until 1977 when it was replaced with radio.
The Harlan Drive-In closed after the 1984 season.
A 1951 aerial view shows the start of the drive-in’s construction.
The Lansdale Theater opened in December 1922, but suffered fire damage in early-January 1923. It reopened later that same year.
On November 1, 1944, the interior of the theater received major damage after a four-point deer ran wild inside the theater, destroying the theater’s organ, broke their wooden grillwork, and damaged multiple seats. Police were able to catch the deer after being trapped beneath the stage.
Reopened as Towne Theatre on November 15, 1967 with “To Sir, With Love”.
The Hi-Way Drive-In opened its gates on August 5, 1953 with Marilyn Monroe in “Niagara” with no extra short subjects, with the original installations of a 60ft screen (before the later installations of CinemaScope), a capacity of 400-cars, and a children’s playground in front of the screen.
It was first operated by William Goldman of Royersford who previously managed several Philadelphia area Warner Brothers theatres since 1937. The assistant of the theatre was Ammon L. Mauger of Royersford who started his life as an usher in 1931.
The Hi-Way Drive-In originally started life as a seasonal drive-in but later turned into an all-year drive-in. Budco operated the Hi-Way Drive-In during its later years.
The Hi-Way Drive-In closed for the final time on September 5, 1988 with Corey Haim in “License To Drive” and Bruce Willis in “Die Hard” after the property was bought by Robert Ayerle. It was later demolished to make way for a shopping center.
As of 2023, Giant Food Stores occupies the former theater site.
The Idle Hour Theatre is short-lived. The theater opened its doors on April 13, 1921 with a one-day showing of Marshall Neilan in “Dinty”. This was followed by Charles Chaplin’s “The Kid” a day later. It was first operated by M.E. Church.
The Idle Hour Theatre was originally located on an unknown street but was moved to East Vernon Street in September 1921 for a short period of time before a fire destroyed the Idle Hour Theatre on October 8, 1921. The roof and interior received very serious damage from the fire.
The theater was relocated to a building occupied by Elmer Hughes, and reopened in November 1921 also on East Vernon Street. It was managed by Jason E. Lawhorn.
The Idle Hour Theatre closed a year later in late-1922.
This was the first movie theater to operate in Charlton since the then-troubled Ritz Theatre closure following the arrest of its brief owner in late-1988. Moviegoers across the town of Charlton were forced to watch first-run movies in surrounding towns including Aliba, Knoxville, Osceola, Pella, Oskaloosa, and Centerville among others throughout the following eight years until the opening of the Vision II.
The Vision II Theatre opened as a $2 first-run house on April 14, 1996 with “Mr. Holland’s Opus” at Screen 1 and “Happy Gilmore” at Screen 2 (but did had an open house two days prior). The theater housed a total capacity of 258 seats, with 138 seats at Screen 1 and 110 seats at Screen 2. It was first constructed in October 1995 by volunteers of a local donation group.
The Ritz Theatre opened its doors on August 31, 1927 with Forrest Stanley in “The Cat And The Canary” along with a vaudeville presentation of “Page Kiddies”, an Our Gang short, and a “Topics Of The Day” newsreel. It was first operated by T.W. Thompson.
Not only William L. Perkins architected the Ritz retaining only the facade and building, but Western Electric sound was also installed just before its May 22, 1930 reopening with Charles Farrell in “High Society Blues” along with an unknown comedy and a “sound” newsreel.
It was later operated by Wally Stolfus who installed CinemaScope inside the Ritz Theatre on August 15, 1954 (with “The Robe”).
In the late-1970s, owners Gerald Clark of Osceola and the husband-and-wife management team of Bill and Cindy Cox operated the Ritz Theatre. However, they did had a couple of short closures. Its first closure is an August 1, 1979 lease, and the second is for an unknown amount of reasons on February 28, 1980. Both closures only lasted for a few months. After its second short closure, the Ritz reopened its doors on June 4, 1980.
The Ritz Theatre received too much trouble in the 1980s, causing a few short closures, and a few management changes. What it really ended the Ritz Theatre’s movie house run is that in late-1988, the Ritz closed as a movie house for the final time right after short-lived owner 20-year-old Jeffrey Johannes of Knoxville, Iowa (former Nevada resident who briefly reopened the Ritz after yet again another short closure), pleaded guilty to second-degree theft and failing to pay restitution and meet other terms of his probation. He was sentenced to five years in prison.
This immediately left moviegoers to watch films in Albia, Knoxville, Osceola, Pella, or Centerville. In October 1989, the Ritz reopened as the Ritz Cabaret, a restaurant with live entertainment.
The Holland Theatre closed for the final time on January 1, 2001 with “Dude, Where’s My Car”, in connection with the opening of the Pella Cinemas which opened a few days prior.
The Holland Theatre was last operated by Fridley Theatres who began operating the theater in 1995, and had a seating capacity of 350 seats.
The Pella Cinemas opened its doors on December 28, 2000 with “How The Grinch Stole Christmas” at Screen 1, “What Woman Want” at Screen 2, and “Rugrats In Paris” at Screen 3, featuring a total capacity of 600 seats (with 200 seats in each auditorium). It is first operated by the Central States Theatres Corporation, but was now independently operated.
The Pella Cinemas caused the closure of the longtime first-run Holland Theatre downtown which closed on January 1, 2001.
It was once known as “Village Theatre 1 & 2” when it twinned in the 1970s.
Robert Morton first operated the Albia Drive-In until he was transferred to Fremont, Nebraska in April 1956. Tom Ryan of Cairo, Nebraska became the new manager for both King Theatre and Albia Drive-In in Albia, who also formerly managed the Cairo Theatre in Cairo, Nebraska.
It appears that the King Opera House has reopened last year, as I recently saw Google Maps view of the theater. Its current functions are first-run features, family features, performing arts, and concerts.
The original King name was named after the first owner, Dr. Sylvester King, who opened the original 600-seat (later 550-seat) King Opera House (later King Theatre) during the first week of March 1903 and operated the theater until his death. After his death, Adrienne Moser and Mr. and Mrs. Roy T. Alford operated the theater until it was destroyed by a fire on January 16, 1921.
Some information about the original King Opera House featured a red-bricked front, a grand arched double-door entrance with six-round stained glass windows surrounding the arch. The original King Opera House’s first manager is Mr. Elbert Payton, who was a firm of Payton & Swearngen managers of the Centerville armory-opera company. After Payton leased the building on February 26, 1903, the total amount of seats that costed $2,000 were installed within less than 24 hours.
The King Theatre was then rebuilt and reopened its doors on November 17, 1921 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest” along with speeches led by Mark D. Pabst and Attorney Chas. E Miller, and an unknown vaudeville segment before showing. The original pipe organ was played by Ms. Adrienne Alford, and was operated by Mr. Roy T. Alford and Mark D. Pabst.
As of 1921, the front view of the theatre featured a white brick enamel surface with the ticket booth in the center and plenty of space for patrons to pass through the large doors which were one of each side. They were also used as emergency exits. The interior of the building featured pleasing effects with harmony shades with old rose predominating including the soft stage curtains and lights as well as the carpeted aisles make a noiseless tread, and the organ sits low beneath the stage.
Talkies were installed in the Spring of 1929. Later on, Mike Galer was the operator the King Theatre during World War II, who installed the V-type marquee by the Roy Hansen Lustrolite Company of Davenport in October 1939 with an estimate $1,500, replacing a rectangle-shaped marquee. The marquee was first erected by the company on September 23, 1939. CinemaScope was installed in mid-1954.
On December 8, 1981 after running “Mommy Dearest”, the King Theatre closed following both building disrepair and the retirement of W.W. Hartzell (who operated the theater since 1968), leaving Monroe County without a movie theater for 10 months and a week. However, two months and a week later, it was announced that renovation will take place and plans to reopen the theater.
First-run movies returned to Monroe County when the King Theatre reopened as the Barbary Coast Opera House on October 16, 1982 with “Annie” after renovation led by the husband-and-wife team of Dan and Diana Walker along with eight other theater employees. However, during renovation, the theater was scheduled to reopen earlier that year in May or June 1982, but was delayed after the Walker family was involved in a vehicle accident in late-July 1982. The injured family members were transported to a Des Moines hospital, while back in Albia, members of the Albia Community Theatre were able to help renovate the theater while the family members recover from their injuries in Des Moines. Some features of the theater include an old-fashioned confectionary concession area, a capacity of 332 seats, and the restored marquee painted red and gold. Its policy at the time are mainly and primarily first-run features, but selective second-run and selective classic films were added sometimes as well as a couple of live performances, performing arts, special events, and concerts. However by the mid-1980s, only first-run films were shown, as well as a special event once-or-twice per year (such as performing arts and concerts). What’s odd about it is that the original embossed tin-ceiling were lowered, and were covered with composition ceiling tiles. Atop scaffolding, Dan cleaned the 30-ft-high ceiling with a vinegar solution before painting.
In early-1986, the Barbary Coast Opera House was refurbished, which also led to a schedule change. The change led the theater to show their first-run titles five-days-a-week instead of seven (Wednesdays through Sundays). This unfortunately would later change to three-days-a-week (Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays) and remained like that for many years.
Dan and Diana Walker operated the Barbary Coast Opera House for almost 13 years, even they became musicians for an extremely brief time in May 1992, but continued running first-run features at the time.
On June 1, 1995, it was announced that brothers Steve Goodson and Ed Cruz of Corona, California, would take over operations of the formerly-known Barbary Coast Opera House. However, Diana and Dan continued their live aspects of the theater which rarely happens there as it was a mainly first-run movie house.
The theater reopened as the Albia Theatre on June 16, 1995 with “Topdog” featuring updated installations of Dolby Surround Sound which replaced a previous Dolby system. Steve Rudd would later become the owner of the Albia Theatre by the late-1990s.
In 2010, the theater was purchased by the Albia Area Improvement Association and turned it into a publicly held entity. $60,000 were given for digital projection and newly-made sound system were installed both inside, $76,000 were given to replace all of the stage curtains, and a new roof for $40,000. The original King Opera House name returned the following year, and with its longtime primary first-run and special events house still running at the time, selective second-run and classic films returned as special matinees.
The V-type marquee that was installed in 1939 was removed on April 29, 2019, and the King Opera House closed in May 2020 following restoration of the building, which happened right at the same time the Coronavirus Pandemic took the screens away.
The King Opera House remained closed throughout the rest of 2020 and all of 2021, until it reopened its doors in early-2022. The King Opera House reopened on February 27, 2022 as a brief performing arts and concerts house, and on March 11, 2022, first-run movies return to the King Opera House (with selected family reruns during the holiday season).
Now reopened.
I know but I recently read an article about THX before the film came out, and said that only one Orlando area location installed THX on the film’s release day, which comes along with a couple of Los Angeles and Dallas locations. I don’t know any projection/sound status the GCC Fashion Square had when the film came out, but with its 70mm (6-Track) logo shown on the Park Triple Theatre’s showtime section, my best bet has to be the Park Triple Theatre.
The Park Triple Theatre is also the first movie theater in Florida to have the installations of THX on May 25, 1983, just on time for its 70mm presentation of “Return Of The Jedi”.
The Dale I & II opened on December 27, 1974 with “Journey Back To Oz” at Screen 1 and “That’s Entertainment” at Screen 2.
Cineplex Odeon operated the theater for a time, but it became a $1 second-run discount house in June 1988. Cineplex Odeon managed to continue operating the theater. However, Regal Cinemas did operate the Dale I & II for a time but didn’t last long, lasting from October 24, 1997 until closing for the final time on July 31, 1998. It was lastly known as “Regal Dale City 2”.
Actual opening date is June 27, 1986.
During its days as a 10-screen theater, all ten screens featured stereo sound (with two screens featuring 70mm projection), and has an original total capacity of 2,500 seats (with an estimate 400 seats in each auditorium).
Opened on May 17, 1985 and closed in February 2002. First operated by Circle/Showcase, later Cineplex Odeon, and finally Loews Cineplex for a short time.
Closed in September 1987 following roof collapse.
On May 27, 1974, eighteen people (10 adults and 8 juveniles) were taken into custody after police say they threw rocks and beer bottles at officers, injuring six people including three officers at the Woodbridge Sunset Drive-In during a special holiday showing of Elvis’s “The Last Tickle”. During the incident, an officer’s K9 accidentally leaped at a wrong male as the chief was lunged at a youth trying to attack an officer from behind.
Julius C. Ferlazzo, the owner of the Woodbridge Sunset Drive-In at the time, complained about the incident disrupting the film. With quick thinking, he canceled the rest of the Elvis movie by immediately turning off the 35mm projector, and asked all youths to leave the theater immediately. Police later reported that a second call from security guard who reported the fights and asked for medical attention for an unconscious youth. EMS arrived on-scene without injury. However, two police units were able to responded but were pelted by rocks and bottles right at the time they entered the theater. Both officers left the scene immediately, and requested help. SWAT moved in with 20 riot-equipped officers when rock and bottles continued to barrage. They said that eight to 10 canisters of tear gas were used to dispel the crowd.
Police said after the riots ended and the youth leaving the theater, they recovered hundreds of beer cans, several bags of marijuana, and two blackjacks.
Closed in May 1992.
One of the three drive-ins in Metairie became statewide headlines on May 9, 1959 following an unexpected death of a 16-year-old boy from asphyxiated carbon monoxide at the site of the drive-in while dating his 15-year-old girlfriend at the time (who was unconscious after being knocked out for several hours by fumes).
Correction: This is one of its original 70mm projectors.