Comments from kencmcintyre

Here is a March 2006 opinion (or e-pinion, perhaps) from icorvallis.com about the closing of the Whiteside:

Numbers don’t favor revival of old Whiteside Theater

by Paul Turner

In the course of kindling the phoenix of the Avalon Cinema, I stumbled upon a piece of Corvallis history: the ticket stub from the last show at the Whiteside Theater. It was from January 2002. The movie was “Lord of the Rings.” It was the last movie on the last night that the last movie palace in Corvallis had something shimmering on its silver screen.

The Whiteside Theater is owned by Regal Cinemas, the same folks who bring you the Ninth Street Cinemas. They closed the Whiteside a couple of years before Carmike dropped that 12-plex into north town. Wonder if they ever considered that keeping the Whiteside open might’ve made Carmike back off our fair hamlet – at least for a while. Every day when I walk past the closed doors of the Whiteside, I contemplate the circumstantial dominos that fell and led to her fall. People still wonder why I opened a theater across the street rather than putting my energy into the Corvallis icon. When folks ask directly, I usually cut them short by pointing out, “If you have a million-five you’re not doing anything with, I’ll be glad to take her on.”

The theater is in foreclosure and may sold at auction next week:
http://tinyurl.com/psg3e

Here is a bio from tulsapreservationcommission.com. They may use the same fact checker as the Historical Society:

MAJESTIC THEATER (406 South Main Street)

Constructed in 1918, the Majestic Theater was Tulsa’s first theater designed for motion pictures. The 570-seat theater was the first in the city to be equipped for sound. It was also the first theater to include a pipe organ, and was once the possessor of the largest marquee in the state. In 1929, it was the first theater in the state of Oklahoma to show the “Jazz Singer,” Hollywood’s first “talkie.” In 1952, it was the first theater to show a 3-D movie, “Bwana Devil.” The popularity of the Majestic began to decline as suburban theaters, such as the Brook and the Delman, began attracting Tulsa audiences. By the late 1960s, the Majestic’s focus had become limited to adults-only films. The last motion picture was shown at the Majestic on September 9, 1973.

Miami is one of my planned overnights on my Route 66 trip this summer. The itinerary from Los Angeles includes overnights in Kingman and Winslow AZ, Grants and Santa Rosa NM, Amarillo TX, El Reno and Miami OK, Rolla and St. Louis MO, and Chicago. This is about two hundred miles a day on the Mother Road.

Here are some photos of the Coleman from a Route 66 website:
http://tinyurl.com/fabrn

Here is an article about the Metcalf family:
http://tinyurl.com/mhaod

Here is an interesting article about the Saenger and the Silent Film Festival:
http://tinyurl.com/qnxar

Here is an interesting article about the renovation of the Melba:
http://tinyurl.com/mnc2r

According to this site, in the early days men were not admitted to the theater without jacket and tie. I don’t think that would work today:
http://tinyurl.com/jges9

Unfortunately, the link above won’t let you enlarge the images. There are pictures of the Carver and the Lyric in Waycross, but until they fix the site you might want to use a magnifying glass:
http://www.wayx.net/historicimages.html

Of course, if it was a bad film, the airsick bags would be in the seat pocket in front of you.

The article I posted discusses the Bel Air Drive-In, but also calls it the Fly-In Drive-In. I’m not sure which one is correct.

There is information about the opening of this theater on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/zq5kh

Here is a website from the current occupants:
http://www.averittcenterforthearts.org/about.html