The Paramount had 2 female statues, one over each exit near the stage. They were about 7 feet tall. A private collector had these in his home until this summer when they were auctioned off along with all the other items in the house. Don’t know where they ended up.
The old Princess at 511 Church Street was built in 1917 and was a vaudeville theater that eventually changed over to exclusively movies in the 1930’s. As mentioned above, the Cain-Sloan department store was built on the site of the old Princess and the new Princess was built one block to the east at 415 Church street in 1949. According to the local newspaper, in December 1959, the theater closed for a few weeks for installation of 70mm projection / stereophonic equipment and re-opened as the Crescent on Christmas Day 1959 with an extended run of The Big Fisherman. This was followed by other long-runs in 1960 including Ben Hur and Spartacus.
Three panel Cinerama began in 1961 and 70mm Cinerama began in 1964 with It'a A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Around 1967 or 1968, Cinerama moved to the Belle Meade Theater when Loews took over the Crescent from Martin Theaters.
I live in the USA and I was on R&R in Sydney in 1970 and saw M.A.S.H. at the Embassy. I guess I picked that film because I was in a MASH type unit in Vietnam. I enjoyed Sydney and its very friendly folks.
A high rise apartment building replaced the Tennessee at the corner of 6th and Church. The same developer put a high rise condominium building near 4th and Church where the Crescent Theater stood. Too bad all the folks moving back downtown can’t go to the movies there anymore. The Paramount site is a parking lot and I believe a new federal building is going to be built there.
The Palace has a long, narrow auditorium plus a small balcony which was converted into the projection room during the renovation. I would guess the theater width is about 25 or 30 feet and the orignal screen for silent films extended most of that distance in the 1.33 aspect ratio. So when Cinemascope came along in the 1950’s and with no room to widen the screen, the 2.66 picture had to fit onto a 1.33 screen resulting in a smaller picture, unfortuately. After the renovation, the new screen is now about 1.85 to accomodate most of the current releases.
Yes, Patsy, that’s correct. There was also a drive-in a few miles northwest of Carthage. It was the Green Hills Drive-In. I believe it closed in the 1980’s.
The Paramount location is still a parking lot. When I go by there, I recall it in the ‘60s when I saw A HARD DAYS NIGHT, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, COOL HAND LUKE, Jerry Lewis and Don Knotts films, and others there. The “classy films” such as the Doris Day/Rock Hudson and Sandra Dee/Bobby Darin movies played down the street at the Art Deco wonder, the Tennessee Theater.
The vertical “Tennessee” sign was nine stories tall. You could see it on Church street from several blocks away. It was gorgeous and a show in itself. Hundreds of white lights lit up the entire sign that would cascade down leaving the Tennessee neon red letters. Then the cycle would start over. Anyone know what became of it when the building was demolished?
The Fox is a magical place to see a movie. Why can’t we get more than 6 a year? The ones scheduled are pretty lame every summer lately.
See the Roxy Theater in New York, NY – named after the nickname of its builder, Samuel “Roxy” Rothafel.
The Paramount had 2 female statues, one over each exit near the stage. They were about 7 feet tall. A private collector had these in his home until this summer when they were auctioned off along with all the other items in the house. Don’t know where they ended up.
Here are a couple of photos of the Tennessee Theater/Sudekum Buildiing in the 1980s plus a couple more of a program from the summer of 1963.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quanloi/4617250782/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quanloi/4616635343/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quanloi/4616633993/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/quanloi/4617246280/
The old Princess at 511 Church Street was built in 1917 and was a vaudeville theater that eventually changed over to exclusively movies in the 1930’s. As mentioned above, the Cain-Sloan department store was built on the site of the old Princess and the new Princess was built one block to the east at 415 Church street in 1949. According to the local newspaper, in December 1959, the theater closed for a few weeks for installation of 70mm projection / stereophonic equipment and re-opened as the Crescent on Christmas Day 1959 with an extended run of The Big Fisherman. This was followed by other long-runs in 1960 including Ben Hur and Spartacus.
Three panel Cinerama began in 1961 and 70mm Cinerama began in 1964 with It'a A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. Around 1967 or 1968, Cinerama moved to the Belle Meade Theater when Loews took over the Crescent from Martin Theaters.
The Belcourt is a twin by addition, not by division. The 1966 theater was added on the west side of the original. They both now share the same lobby.
I live in the USA and I was on R&R in Sydney in 1970 and saw M.A.S.H. at the Embassy. I guess I picked that film because I was in a MASH type unit in Vietnam. I enjoyed Sydney and its very friendly folks.
A high rise apartment building replaced the Tennessee at the corner of 6th and Church. The same developer put a high rise condominium building near 4th and Church where the Crescent Theater stood. Too bad all the folks moving back downtown can’t go to the movies there anymore. The Paramount site is a parking lot and I believe a new federal building is going to be built there.
The Palace has a long, narrow auditorium plus a small balcony which was converted into the projection room during the renovation. I would guess the theater width is about 25 or 30 feet and the orignal screen for silent films extended most of that distance in the 1.33 aspect ratio. So when Cinemascope came along in the 1950’s and with no room to widen the screen, the 2.66 picture had to fit onto a 1.33 screen resulting in a smaller picture, unfortuately. After the renovation, the new screen is now about 1.85 to accomodate most of the current releases.
Yes, Patsy, that’s correct. There was also a drive-in a few miles northwest of Carthage. It was the Green Hills Drive-In. I believe it closed in the 1980’s.
The Paramount location is still a parking lot. When I go by there, I recall it in the ‘60s when I saw A HARD DAYS NIGHT, JASON AND THE ARGONAUTS, COOL HAND LUKE, Jerry Lewis and Don Knotts films, and others there. The “classy films” such as the Doris Day/Rock Hudson and Sandra Dee/Bobby Darin movies played down the street at the Art Deco wonder, the Tennessee Theater.
Just wondering why Loew’s added “State” to the names of several of their theaters? Why not just Loew’s St. Louis"?
The vertical “Tennessee” sign was nine stories tall. You could see it on Church street from several blocks away. It was gorgeous and a show in itself. Hundreds of white lights lit up the entire sign that would cascade down leaving the Tennessee neon red letters. Then the cycle would start over. Anyone know what became of it when the building was demolished?