There are the letters that I put up on the marquee “THEATRE CLOSED” I cried like a baby putting those letters up there. I had patrons stopping at the red light there saying “Now what are we suppose to do?” We had the best food around. Everybody cried.
I was managing the gainesville d.i. in about 1986 when the owner wanted to run porn and when I installed screen 3 at the playtime. I said porn was a bad idea. We almost went bankrupt. BAD IDEA. A lot of drama because of it. Went back to first run the money rolled in.
When I worked for eastern federal at the midway and fox drive in, the DM came to us and said that the drive ins just was not making it, (money), at the time and shut all drive ins and some indoors at the same time. What a bummer. That really takes the wind out of your sails.
I wonder if the church ever found the secret closet upstairs yet.Oh and by the way while I’m on a roll here with butter & syrup,another one of my films that they burned,WHICH I PAID FOR IN CASH was The African Queen!!! Yep such morons.
You know what really burns my grits about this church was that all this church thought that ALL those films were NOT porn.Some of those films were classic foreign clean films that can not be replaced.One of those films was mine and it was the very first bruce lee movie made.
I remember when the theatre closed its doors in the mid 80s when I worked at the midway drive in which at the same time closed.We had to pull all the equipment out of there due to when eastern federal corp was closing a LOT of theatres at that time.Due to rumor,EFC was on lease.
I worked at this theatre back in 1976 to 1979. The separate box office,balcony and restrooms upstairs were still there from the segregation times and you could still hear a gun shot from the balcony at 10:30pm everynight when that guy was shot. Did not like being up there working alone AT ALL.
It was very common for patrons to complain that a woman would sit beside them out of thin air and start talking about old movies that played there. I prescreened a movie one late night with witnesses and we had the same problem on a constant basis. Did she die there?
When I quit threading the projectors at night before closing up and going home it all stopped but before opening up the next day,you could hear conversations through the door before opening up. When you put the key in the door you could hear a womans voice say Shhhh.
I will never get over the fact that before we entered the building to start the day at about 12:00 noon,we could hear the movie running but when we entered it would shut down. Checked all doors,all is well. Go figure…..
I ran this drive in about 1985.Second screen was destroyed by hurricane. Improved food quality,sound and screen which brought up per cap about 150%. Took out terminal Devry projector & put in Brenkert projector with 4500 watt lamphouse & WOW what an improvment.
It cost about 1 million to put the building on the ground and in the first year it made more than enough to cover all expenses. It made so much money in one day that we had to hire the alachua county sheriff dept. to make 3 runs to the bank to drop deposits.
Litchfield Cinemas was one of the best theatre chains that I had worked at as head of projection booth before it first opened and there after for over 2 years. The owner (McKisset or McKisett) only bought the best NEW equipment. He talked to you like a real human being.
There are the letters that I put up on the marquee “THEATRE CLOSED” I cried like a baby putting those letters up there. I had patrons stopping at the red light there saying “Now what are we suppose to do?” We had the best food around. Everybody cried.
I was managing the gainesville d.i. in about 1986 when the owner wanted to run porn and when I installed screen 3 at the playtime. I said porn was a bad idea. We almost went bankrupt. BAD IDEA. A lot of drama because of it. Went back to first run the money rolled in.
Went there. The drive way and original fence line is still there but now is a lumber company.
When I worked for eastern federal at the midway and fox drive in, the DM came to us and said that the drive ins just was not making it, (money), at the time and shut all drive ins and some indoors at the same time. What a bummer. That really takes the wind out of your sails.
I wonder if the church ever found the secret closet upstairs yet.Oh and by the way while I’m on a roll here with butter & syrup,another one of my films that they burned,WHICH I PAID FOR IN CASH was The African Queen!!! Yep such morons.
You know what really burns my grits about this church was that all this church thought that ALL those films were NOT porn.Some of those films were classic foreign clean films that can not be replaced.One of those films was mine and it was the very first bruce lee movie made.
I remember when the theatre closed its doors in the mid 80s when I worked at the midway drive in which at the same time closed.We had to pull all the equipment out of there due to when eastern federal corp was closing a LOT of theatres at that time.Due to rumor,EFC was on lease.
Everytime we heard the shot, I thought a xenon bulb had exploded but to no avail. You could smell fresh burnt gun powder though.
I worked at this theatre back in 1976 to 1979. The separate box office,balcony and restrooms upstairs were still there from the segregation times and you could still hear a gun shot from the balcony at 10:30pm everynight when that guy was shot. Did not like being up there working alone AT ALL.
It was very common for patrons to complain that a woman would sit beside them out of thin air and start talking about old movies that played there. I prescreened a movie one late night with witnesses and we had the same problem on a constant basis. Did she die there?
When I quit threading the projectors at night before closing up and going home it all stopped but before opening up the next day,you could hear conversations through the door before opening up. When you put the key in the door you could hear a womans voice say Shhhh.
I will never get over the fact that before we entered the building to start the day at about 12:00 noon,we could hear the movie running but when we entered it would shut down. Checked all doors,all is well. Go figure…..
I ran this drive in about 1985.Second screen was destroyed by hurricane. Improved food quality,sound and screen which brought up per cap about 150%. Took out terminal Devry projector & put in Brenkert projector with 4500 watt lamphouse & WOW what an improvment.
It cost about 1 million to put the building on the ground and in the first year it made more than enough to cover all expenses. It made so much money in one day that we had to hire the alachua county sheriff dept. to make 3 runs to the bank to drop deposits.
Litchfield Cinemas was one of the best theatre chains that I had worked at as head of projection booth before it first opened and there after for over 2 years. The owner (McKisset or McKisett) only bought the best NEW equipment. He talked to you like a real human being.