Cinema West
4349 19th Street,
Lubbock,
TX
79401
4349 19th Street,
Lubbock,
TX
79401
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- Jun 18, 2010 — "Jaws"... Happy 35th!
- May 14, 2010 — Please Post Today, May 14 --- "Jaws," Happy 35th
Cinema West was opened November 9, 1967 by Lubbock Theatres. It was located on 19th Street between Quaker Avenue and Peoria Avenue. The twin screen seated 650. It was operated by Video Independent Theatres from 1980 until its closing in 1998.
Contributed by
Chuck Van Bibber
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Recent comments (view all 12 comments)
My wife and I had our first date at the Cinema West in the fall of 1968 when we saw Clint Eastwood in “Hang ‘Em High”. Pratt is correct, it was not a twin. A theater on an adjacent lot to the east was the Fox Twin which was built at a later date.
The freeway is still under construction. Status should be changed to closed/demolished.
Some of my best moviegoing memories were in the Cinema West, including my first date (“Goonies,” so I was just a pup!), and yes I was there for the ‘90 debut of Dick Tracy… SO many memories… too many to list. I can affirm it was a single screen theater.
All the great old theaters in Lubbock are gone… The Fox Theater (where I saw “Empire Strikes Back,” “E.T.” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark” for the first time), and the Winchester Twin on 50th and Slide (where “Return of the Jedi” debuted in '83) are long gone. (Winchester was the twin-screen facility.) The Fox got gobbled by the Marsha Sharp right down from the Cinema West, the Winchester by an expanding grocery store. (ouch!) Didn’t the Winchester “weather” a pretty big tornado once upon a time?!?!
Anybody remember the Backstage Theater? Little tiny thing behind the Copper Caboose? That’s where I saw “Star Wars” for the first time, in 2/1979, on my 6th birthday. That theater barely made it out of the 70’s…
(Ulp!) A moment for all the great old theaters in Lubbock!!
My first great movie experience was at Cinema West when I saw “Jaws” in 1975. I was seven years old. I went back to see it nine more times. That theater will always be a warm memory from my childhood. I moved from Lubbock in 1990. I wish I could have seen one more movie before it was demolished. Rest in Peace Cinema West!
This was the only Video Independent Theater I didn’t work in the early 70’s. My older brother was the projectionist there in 1971-1972. I worked as a projectionist at the Arnett Benson, the Village and the State 1970-1972. Started at the Winchester as a Usher and Doorman in 1969. Very fond memories……too bad all these are gone.
I, too, have fond memories of the Cinema West. The first movie I saw there at Christmas 1967 was “The Happiest Millionaire,” and the theater actually had uniformed ushers in red coats! I was there for the last time when it had its final feature, “Titanic.” A good friend of mine was a projectionist there, and he used to bring in a bunch of us “after hours” to show us films when the place was supposed to be closed! He took a tape recorder up to the booth and hooked it up so he could make recordings of the music from “Camelot” when it played there. Those were the days!
Oh…the movies I saw there. The last decently sized screen in Lubbock. Ladyhawke, Goonies, Titanic and the special edition re-relase of Star Wars IV are the ones that come to mind.
The narrative says it opened in 1975, but this is off quite a bit. Tinseltoes posted Boxoffice article states it opened in NOV 67, which is correct. I worked there as usher then doorman in 1968 time frame, then my last job with Video Independent Theaters was as projectionist there in 68-69.
The projectors were old (but functional) and came from older theater that had been torn down. I think from the Tower (could be wrong on that), but definitely from older theater. The four track stereo heads were obviously much newer. The DC power source for the carbon arcs was rectifiers.
It was torn down and there is no trace. Marsha Sharp Freeway US 82/62 Brownfield Highway, goes over the south side of the lot.
The site was turned into a playa lake when the Marsha Sharp Freeway was built.
Was this where “Back to the Future” opened?