In the 80s, during its three-screen incarnation, it was run by Pete Gall, former owner of the Guild in Cincinnati, the former Cinema Malibu in Hamilton, and the Franklin in Franklin, and the Ludlow in Ludlow KY.
At one time the Ludlow had a 4-channel quadrophonic magnetic stereo capability, which was later transplanted to the Cinema West theatre in Hamilton in 1975.
In the ‘70s, this venue was known as the Franklin Cinema, and was owned/operated by Clarence “Pete” Gall and his Malibu Inc. company, which also operated the Cinema Malibu in Hamilton (formerly the Linden), and most infamously, the Guild Cinema in Cincinnati.
Clarence “Pete” Gall became the owner of the theatre and gave it the name Cinema Malibu in 1968; his company name was Malibu Inc. Gall would be best known for his time running the Guild Cinema in Cincinnati, which, on his opening night of operation, was raided by the vice squad for playing Russ Mayer’s VIXEN.
It’s safe to say that the Guild’s lean to adult fare began in 1969, where they transitioned from R-rated art films and moveovers to straight up softcore. In the hierarchy of the active adult theatres in Cincinnati of the time, they would share higher-profile titles with Cinema X on Race St., while the Royal would effectively be second-run double features and the Imperial stressed their striptease performers more than the movies they played. Besides VIXEN, the Guild also opened PUTNEY SWOPE, Morrissey’s TRASH, and Art Napoleon’s THE ACTIVIST (ghost released by Universal under the “Regional Films” alias).
1972 saw some cracks in the fascade, interspersing a Charlie Chaplin compilation and the Black drama THE BUS IS COMING with the skin flicks. It looks like they went dark for a few months, and reopened in December of that year under a new owner, “Mark I Theatres,” and a new name, Midtown Cinema, and became a second-run double feature house. They even instituted super late night 2am shows on the weekend. More importantly, much like Black-attended theatres as the Regal and the State, they stopped listing showtimes in the Cincinnati papers and only occasionally put their name in display ads if joining a city-wide saturation run. They apparently dabbled back in adult films again, attempting to play DEEP THROAT in 1974 after it had already been shut down at the Alpha Fine Arts in Northside; they too had their run raided and ended early.
Some time before 1976, they entered a joint-operation agreement with the Alpha, and rebranded again as Eden Theatre. Looks like they still weren’t putting times in the papers, but reportedly they concentrated on exploitation fare like martial arts movies, and were only open on weekends.
In the ‘70s, the space was rebranded the “Video Theatre” and dabbled in countercultural programming. The original videotape version of Ken Shapiro’s THE GROOVE TUBE sketch program played there, followed by Ernest Pintoff’s “magazine” film DYNAMITE CHICKEN with Richard Pryor, and Emile de Antonio’s documentary MILLHOUSE.
According to an article in The Cincinnati Post about adult businesses published on June 22, 1973, this Cinema X location was closed on January 12, 1972, by the Common Pleas Court, and its assets auctioned by the county to pay off the fines.
In a story on adult businesses in The Cincinnati Post on June 22, 1973, it states that the Monte Vista had been shut down by a Common Pleas Court order on November 1, 1972. Sometime later in 1973, the theatre reopened and returned to second-run double features.
Origionally owned and operated by Jack Goldman, grandfather to current Esquire theatre operator Gary Goldman. It was part of a five-screen black theatre circuit Jack had in Cincinnati, along with the Regal and the Roosevelt downtown, the Lincoln in the West End, and the Roxy in Lockland.
This photo is a little misdirecting because the actual theatre building is not the brown complex at the corner, it’s the white-painted structure to the far right.
At some point, this building had served as a synagogue, with Hebrew text carved into its current facade. A banner hanging in front proclaims a business called “Truth Bar & Grill” Coming Soon, and looking it up shows documents drawn up in 2020, so it could be delayed by Covid or the venture aborted.
An organization called Bonekrushers National Pro Wrestling Tranining Center is listed next door at 6105 Vine Street, and passing by the location, it would appear they are using the theatre space at 6109 to train their students and present exhibition matches to the public. Their alumni apparently includes former TNA champ Abyss and WWE Diva Jillian Hall.
I was able to get a tour of the theatre from the people working on renovating it. Their plans are very ambitious, involving developing the lot next door for more arts-based activity and hosting. They’re still looking for funding, but they appear to be well organized so I think they can pull it off. Can we change the status to “renovating”?
By process of elimination, I believe this drive-in was featured in a pivotal scene in Umberto Lenzi’s 1989 kidnap thriller HITCHER IN THE DARK with Josie Bissett, which was shot around the Virginia Beach area. Amusingly enough, during the scene, the movie being screened is the Italian caveman comedy GRUNT, which to the best of my knowledge, never actually got a U.S. release.
I never got to meet Phil, but I was always grateful to him as the “silent partner” behind The Movies repertory cinema downtown. I recall he invited investors to participate in his movie projects in their calendars. He also ran April Fools Distribution, who handled the Pink Floyd at Pompeii concert film.
YOUNG GANGS FROM WILDWOOD HIGH is a retitling of TEAM-MATES.
ONE-NIGHT STAND is a retitling of PETS with Candice Rialson.
HOT AND BOTHERED is a retitling of Sergio Martino’s LOVING COUSINS (CUGINI CARNALI) with Susan Player.
Marci, if you can scan any of that material, you can upload the jpegs as images in the photo gallery. Do you have any pix of the interior during that time?
Since they didn’t list in the newspaper, did they print flyers for the neighborhood shops? Like, obviously people in the immediate vicinity would see the marquee and know what’s playing, but was that enough to draw substantial crowds for a given booking?
Nitpicky thing, especially since I’m ultimately guilty of the mistake in my initial submission, but could the listing be changed to Mt. Adams instead of the full word Mount? Seeing as how that’s the manner of spelling it was always presented in, and it would bring it in line stylewise with other Greater Cincinnati towns like Mt. Healthy. I guess I’m compulsive like that. ;/
That’s illuminating information, Mbeino - do you have any ads or other promotional material from when your dad and granddad ran it? Since they rarely did newspaper ads, I’m dying to know how they got word out about their bookings.
I did get that wrong - it was Holiday Amusements that booked the Auto-In, along with the Acme, Dent, Starlite, Hiway 28, Lake, and Mt. Healthy drive-ins. Levin Services booked the Ferguson Hills.
In the 80s, during its three-screen incarnation, it was run by Pete Gall, former owner of the Guild in Cincinnati, the former Cinema Malibu in Hamilton, and the Franklin in Franklin, and the Ludlow in Ludlow KY.
At one time the Ludlow had a 4-channel quadrophonic magnetic stereo capability, which was later transplanted to the Cinema West theatre in Hamilton in 1975.
In the ‘70s, this venue was known as the Franklin Cinema, and was owned/operated by Clarence “Pete” Gall and his Malibu Inc. company, which also operated the Cinema Malibu in Hamilton (formerly the Linden), and most infamously, the Guild Cinema in Cincinnati.
Clarence “Pete” Gall became the owner of the theatre and gave it the name Cinema Malibu in 1968; his company name was Malibu Inc. Gall would be best known for his time running the Guild Cinema in Cincinnati, which, on his opening night of operation, was raided by the vice squad for playing Russ Mayer’s VIXEN.
It’s safe to say that the Guild’s lean to adult fare began in 1969, where they transitioned from R-rated art films and moveovers to straight up softcore. In the hierarchy of the active adult theatres in Cincinnati of the time, they would share higher-profile titles with Cinema X on Race St., while the Royal would effectively be second-run double features and the Imperial stressed their striptease performers more than the movies they played. Besides VIXEN, the Guild also opened PUTNEY SWOPE, Morrissey’s TRASH, and Art Napoleon’s THE ACTIVIST (ghost released by Universal under the “Regional Films” alias).
1972 saw some cracks in the fascade, interspersing a Charlie Chaplin compilation and the Black drama THE BUS IS COMING with the skin flicks. It looks like they went dark for a few months, and reopened in December of that year under a new owner, “Mark I Theatres,” and a new name, Midtown Cinema, and became a second-run double feature house. They even instituted super late night 2am shows on the weekend. More importantly, much like Black-attended theatres as the Regal and the State, they stopped listing showtimes in the Cincinnati papers and only occasionally put their name in display ads if joining a city-wide saturation run. They apparently dabbled back in adult films again, attempting to play DEEP THROAT in 1974 after it had already been shut down at the Alpha Fine Arts in Northside; they too had their run raided and ended early.
Some time before 1976, they entered a joint-operation agreement with the Alpha, and rebranded again as Eden Theatre. Looks like they still weren’t putting times in the papers, but reportedly they concentrated on exploitation fare like martial arts movies, and were only open on weekends.
In the ‘70s, the space was rebranded the “Video Theatre” and dabbled in countercultural programming. The original videotape version of Ken Shapiro’s THE GROOVE TUBE sketch program played there, followed by Ernest Pintoff’s “magazine” film DYNAMITE CHICKEN with Richard Pryor, and Emile de Antonio’s documentary MILLHOUSE.
According to an article in The Cincinnati Post about adult businesses published on June 22, 1973, this Cinema X location was closed on January 12, 1972, by the Common Pleas Court, and its assets auctioned by the county to pay off the fines.
In a story on adult businesses in The Cincinnati Post on June 22, 1973, it states that the Monte Vista had been shut down by a Common Pleas Court order on November 1, 1972. Sometime later in 1973, the theatre reopened and returned to second-run double features.
Looks like they reopened again in November 2022, and as of this post, are still operating.
Screen count is down to 2 though.
The Sandrigham was featured in Colin Eggleston’s infamous 1977 ‘white-coater’ FANTASM COMES AGAIN, in a sequence featuring Rainbeaux Smith.
The Sandrigham was featured in Colin Eggleston’s infamous 1977 ‘white-coater’ FANTASM COMES AGAIN, in a sequence featuring Rainbeaux Smith.
Origionally owned and operated by Jack Goldman, grandfather to current Esquire theatre operator Gary Goldman. It was part of a five-screen black theatre circuit Jack had in Cincinnati, along with the Regal and the Roosevelt downtown, the Lincoln in the West End, and the Roxy in Lockland.
The plot thickens - in early 1975, it was known as the Studio Theatre and indeed listed at 120 N. State St.
This photo is a little misdirecting because the actual theatre building is not the brown complex at the corner, it’s the white-painted structure to the far right.
At some point, this building had served as a synagogue, with Hebrew text carved into its current facade. A banner hanging in front proclaims a business called “Truth Bar & Grill” Coming Soon, and looking it up shows documents drawn up in 2020, so it could be delayed by Covid or the venture aborted.
An organization called Bonekrushers National Pro Wrestling Tranining Center is listed next door at 6105 Vine Street, and passing by the location, it would appear they are using the theatre space at 6109 to train their students and present exhibition matches to the public. Their alumni apparently includes former TNA champ Abyss and WWE Diva Jillian Hall.
I was able to get a tour of the theatre from the people working on renovating it. Their plans are very ambitious, involving developing the lot next door for more arts-based activity and hosting. They’re still looking for funding, but they appear to be well organized so I think they can pull it off. Can we change the status to “renovating”?
By process of elimination, I believe this drive-in was featured in a pivotal scene in Umberto Lenzi’s 1989 kidnap thriller HITCHER IN THE DARK with Josie Bissett, which was shot around the Virginia Beach area. Amusingly enough, during the scene, the movie being screened is the Italian caveman comedy GRUNT, which to the best of my knowledge, never actually got a U.S. release.
Apparently, in 1974, it was then known as the Boondocks cinema.
I never got to meet Phil, but I was always grateful to him as the “silent partner” behind The Movies repertory cinema downtown. I recall he invited investors to participate in his movie projects in their calendars. He also ran April Fools Distribution, who handled the Pink Floyd at Pompeii concert film.
YOUNG GANGS FROM WILDWOOD HIGH is a retitling of TEAM-MATES. ONE-NIGHT STAND is a retitling of PETS with Candice Rialson. HOT AND BOTHERED is a retitling of Sergio Martino’s LOVING COUSINS (CUGINI CARNALI) with Susan Player.
Marci, if you can scan any of that material, you can upload the jpegs as images in the photo gallery. Do you have any pix of the interior during that time? Since they didn’t list in the newspaper, did they print flyers for the neighborhood shops? Like, obviously people in the immediate vicinity would see the marquee and know what’s playing, but was that enough to draw substantial crowds for a given booking?
Nitpicky thing, especially since I’m ultimately guilty of the mistake in my initial submission, but could the listing be changed to Mt. Adams instead of the full word Mount? Seeing as how that’s the manner of spelling it was always presented in, and it would bring it in line stylewise with other Greater Cincinnati towns like Mt. Healthy. I guess I’m compulsive like that. ;/
That’s illuminating information, Mbeino - do you have any ads or other promotional material from when your dad and granddad ran it? Since they rarely did newspaper ads, I’m dying to know how they got word out about their bookings.
I did get that wrong - it was Holiday Amusements that booked the Auto-In, along with the Acme, Dent, Starlite, Hiway 28, Lake, and Mt. Healthy drive-ins. Levin Services booked the Ferguson Hills.