The original Nixon Theatre (and adjoining Nixon Restaurant) was located in Downtown Pittsburgh on Seventh Avenue on the site of what was the Alcoa Building and across from what is now Mellon Square Park.
It was demolished in the late 40’s or early ‘50 and the Senator Theatre on Liberty Avenue eventually became the “new” Nixon Theatre.
The Kings Court (no apostrophe) was originally a hard-ticket, reserved seat operation, exhibiting films such as “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (the opening attraction), “The Blue Max”, “A Man for All Seasons” (played about 8 months), “Oliver” (ran just shy of an entire year), “Song of Norway” and “Half a Sixpence”.
Between the roadshows, the theatre booked films like “Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice”, “Easy Rider”, “Nicholas and Alexander”, “A Thousand Clowns” and “The Comedians”. Not until much later did the Kings Court take aim on the college market.
It was a class operation: management and floor staff always in tuxedos, first class projection and sound, ownership that really cared about the condition of the building.
The Denis was twinned by Associated Theaters in the late 60’s.
The second theatre, the Encore, was built over the lobby of the original theatre (if you could get behind the Encore screen, you would find the previous entrance to the main auditorium’s balcony – and a portion of the main stairway up into the old Encore was part of the stairs used to reach the old balcony). When the second theatre was added, Associated continued to utilize the balcony on the Denis side, accessed by a former emergency stairway at the end of the main lobby, but subsequently transformed it into the fourth theatre (anyone with a heart condition never went up there)when the conversion to a quad took place. Before Cinemette (who had earlier purchased the local Stanley-Warner properties) absorbed the Associated circuit in the eary 70’s, the Denis appeared in a daily newspaper directory with the Gateway, Fulton, Kings Court, Forvm, Liberty (East Liberty), South Hills (Dormont), Roxian (McKees Rocks),
McKnight, Crest, Regent (East Liberty), Cinema World (Pleasant Hills) and Bellevue.
The Stanley-Warner Village was originally intended to be a Cinerama house – it had an enormous flat screen behind a gold traveler but also featured a curved contour curtain behind which would be the Cinerama screen. The booth was equipped with 70mm equipment. It was very impressive to see the outer curtain open to reveal yet a second set of curtains. Unfortunately, Cinerama was on the way out by the time the Village opened (it had a hard ticket box office behind a removable display case in the outer lobby – next to the regular boxoffice – that was never used.
The North Hills Theatre was designed by Drew Eberson and built by Stanley-Warner Corporation, opening in l964. It was configured with a large main floor and a small balcony overhanging the rear of the auditorium. The theatre was equipped for 70mm. The theatre operated as a single screen until the lease expired and the shopping center owner sought additional retail space.
It was a great theatre.
The Hollywood building was gutted and rebuilt by Warner Bros. Theaters in the late 1940’s. Its seating capacity was about 914.
The Hollywood was a deluxe second run venue, playing Warner, Universal, RKO, Disney and United Artists product. The Harris SouthHills, a mile or two away (capacity about 1300) ran the Fox, MGM, Columbia and Paramount films.
The decor of the Hollywood was art deco and featured a small balcony (seating about 100). A lower level lounge beneath the lobby included overstuffed couches and easy chairs – and as the popularity of television increased back in the ‘50’s – a large screen black and white tv. The rear wall of the lobby (actually the back wall of the main auditorium) was mostly glass (usually covered with a drape that could be opened to accommodate standing room crowds who could watch the film and hear the soundtrack from speakers in the lobby ceiling).
The marquee, containing literally thousands of bulbs and two glass attraction panels, was removed when the city widened the street and the glass tile facade was replaced with stucco.
After the consent decree, the Hollywood was transferred to the Stanley-Warner circuit and was eventually sold (along with the remaining SW properties) to Cinemette Theaters. Ownership was later transferred to the Neighborhood Theaters circuit that closed the building after several years on a dollar policy. Property owner Richard Stern and his CineMagic reopened the theatre prior to its final closing.
In its day, the Hollywood was a great theatre (I saw hundreds of movies there) – great sight lines, big screen. Sadly, there is probably no one who could make a go of this location in today’s marketplace. Competition from the multiplexes and video rentals, as well as an enormous parking problem around the theatre, makes this grand old theatre – a thing of the past.
The Strand was originally a Warner Bros. Theatre, later a Stanley-Warner operation and the as part of the Pittsburgh-based Associated Theatres circuit. The theatre was built in was was a health club. The auditorium floor was above the tiled swimming pool (the air conditioning compressor sat in the center of the abandoned pool below the theater). Entrance to the auditorium was from behind the acreen (the audience was facing you as you entered) and booth access was via a ladder from the rear of the seating area. Film was hoisted up and down via a system of ropes and pulleys. The theatre played mostly third run double features.
The original Nixon Theatre (and adjoining Nixon Restaurant) was located in Downtown Pittsburgh on Seventh Avenue on the site of what was the Alcoa Building and across from what is now Mellon Square Park.
It was demolished in the late 40’s or early ‘50 and the Senator Theatre on Liberty Avenue eventually became the “new” Nixon Theatre.
The Kings Court (no apostrophe) was originally a hard-ticket, reserved seat operation, exhibiting films such as “Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines” (the opening attraction), “The Blue Max”, “A Man for All Seasons” (played about 8 months), “Oliver” (ran just shy of an entire year), “Song of Norway” and “Half a Sixpence”.
Between the roadshows, the theatre booked films like “Bob and Ted and Carol and Alice”, “Easy Rider”, “Nicholas and Alexander”, “A Thousand Clowns” and “The Comedians”. Not until much later did the Kings Court take aim on the college market.
It was a class operation: management and floor staff always in tuxedos, first class projection and sound, ownership that really cared about the condition of the building.
Alas, those days are long gone.
The Denis was twinned by Associated Theaters in the late 60’s.
The second theatre, the Encore, was built over the lobby of the original theatre (if you could get behind the Encore screen, you would find the previous entrance to the main auditorium’s balcony – and a portion of the main stairway up into the old Encore was part of the stairs used to reach the old balcony). When the second theatre was added, Associated continued to utilize the balcony on the Denis side, accessed by a former emergency stairway at the end of the main lobby, but subsequently transformed it into the fourth theatre (anyone with a heart condition never went up there)when the conversion to a quad took place. Before Cinemette (who had earlier purchased the local Stanley-Warner properties) absorbed the Associated circuit in the eary 70’s, the Denis appeared in a daily newspaper directory with the Gateway, Fulton, Kings Court, Forvm, Liberty (East Liberty), South Hills (Dormont), Roxian (McKees Rocks),
McKnight, Crest, Regent (East Liberty), Cinema World (Pleasant Hills) and Bellevue.
The Stanley-Warner Village was originally intended to be a Cinerama house – it had an enormous flat screen behind a gold traveler but also featured a curved contour curtain behind which would be the Cinerama screen. The booth was equipped with 70mm equipment. It was very impressive to see the outer curtain open to reveal yet a second set of curtains. Unfortunately, Cinerama was on the way out by the time the Village opened (it had a hard ticket box office behind a removable display case in the outer lobby – next to the regular boxoffice – that was never used.
The North Hills Theatre was designed by Drew Eberson and built by Stanley-Warner Corporation, opening in l964. It was configured with a large main floor and a small balcony overhanging the rear of the auditorium. The theatre was equipped for 70mm. The theatre operated as a single screen until the lease expired and the shopping center owner sought additional retail space.
It was a great theatre.
The Hollywood building was gutted and rebuilt by Warner Bros. Theaters in the late 1940’s. Its seating capacity was about 914.
The Hollywood was a deluxe second run venue, playing Warner, Universal, RKO, Disney and United Artists product. The Harris SouthHills, a mile or two away (capacity about 1300) ran the Fox, MGM, Columbia and Paramount films.
The decor of the Hollywood was art deco and featured a small balcony (seating about 100). A lower level lounge beneath the lobby included overstuffed couches and easy chairs – and as the popularity of television increased back in the ‘50’s – a large screen black and white tv. The rear wall of the lobby (actually the back wall of the main auditorium) was mostly glass (usually covered with a drape that could be opened to accommodate standing room crowds who could watch the film and hear the soundtrack from speakers in the lobby ceiling).
The marquee, containing literally thousands of bulbs and two glass attraction panels, was removed when the city widened the street and the glass tile facade was replaced with stucco.
After the consent decree, the Hollywood was transferred to the Stanley-Warner circuit and was eventually sold (along with the remaining SW properties) to Cinemette Theaters. Ownership was later transferred to the Neighborhood Theaters circuit that closed the building after several years on a dollar policy. Property owner Richard Stern and his CineMagic reopened the theatre prior to its final closing.
In its day, the Hollywood was a great theatre (I saw hundreds of movies there) – great sight lines, big screen. Sadly, there is probably no one who could make a go of this location in today’s marketplace. Competition from the multiplexes and video rentals, as well as an enormous parking problem around the theatre, makes this grand old theatre – a thing of the past.
The Strand was originally a Warner Bros. Theatre, later a Stanley-Warner operation and the as part of the Pittsburgh-based Associated Theatres circuit. The theatre was built in was was a health club. The auditorium floor was above the tiled swimming pool (the air conditioning compressor sat in the center of the abandoned pool below the theater). Entrance to the auditorium was from behind the acreen (the audience was facing you as you entered) and booth access was via a ladder from the rear of the seating area. Film was hoisted up and down via a system of ropes and pulleys. The theatre played mostly third run double features.