Georgia Twin
2210 N. Druid Hills Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30303
2210 N. Druid Hills Road NE,
Atlanta,
GA
30303
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Under the Cinerama banner, the theatre had a seating capacity of 1,000 which was greatly reduced during the “twining”.
Cinerama movies I saw there:
Mediterranean Holiday
Hallelujah Trail
Battle of the Bulge
Russian Adventure
Grand Prix
Ice Station Zebra
Krakatoa – East of Java
It’s a shame to see it gone. I’ve always wondered why this location was such a poor performer when the Tara, being of the same time frame, size and area has managed to flourish despite similar modifications over the years. It’s not like Loews was particularly good to the Tara or their other locations in the 70’s.
Well, you can certainly add the tag “demolished” to the header as there is nothing left but a concrete slab. I have posted a couple of pictures to the photo section. One of them shows the site of the lobby.
This theater was built by Martin in 1964 in the living room style of the mid 60’s when there was a lot less neon and more character involved. The original name was Georgia Cinerama. In the foreground of the lobby picture you can see the map of Georgia that was inlaid into the tile floor between the doorman’s position and the concession stand. I remember this from my movie going days but had forgotten about it. By the time I worked here it had been twinned and the lobby, in addition to having another set of rest rooms installed, had been carpeted.
Lots of good movie going memories here for me during the single screen days, starting with Patton in the summer of 1970. Some of the others I can recall were Tora, Tora, Tora, Andromeda Strain, Mary Queen of Scots, Frenzy, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Sting, Airport 75, Front Page, and probably others. Although I looked inside many times, I don’t recall ever actually watching a movie here after it was twinned. Terrible presentation with tiny screens, keystoned projection, seats still in their original curved rows so they didn’t really face the new screens…..I could go on and on, even more than I already have.
I agree about the Tara, but it isn’t quite as rounded as the Cinerama, otherwise the resemblance is remarkable. When I moved to Northern NJ a visit to the Zeigfeld was a must. I don’t even recall what we saw, I was busy checking out the theater, it was a spot on for the Rialto except it wasn’t rough and threadbare. A shame it was gutted, but NYC property is what it is.
Not a Martin, but I always thought Loew’s Tara, built 3 years later looked a lot like this one with vertical running lights added. The Georgia was built in the center of a parking lot so it was easy to see the entire theater which had a finished look all the way around. Tara backed up to a service alley and was not finished in the back. From the front they looked similar although inside they were very different.
Another Martin design, the downtown Rialto, has an almost identical twin, or did until a couple of years ago. The Ziegfeld in NYC, built by Walter Reade in 1968, is almost an exact duplicate of the Rialto.
Martin built a ton of twins and triples in the 70’s similar to the Martin Theatre in Talladega, AL, the southeast was virtually littered with them. They were never bashful about reusing a design. I have a recollection of another theater somewhere that had both the distinctive ribbed walls and overall shape as the Cinerama, but can’t put my finger on it. I keep trying to think of another area that would have had similar demographics in that time frame that would have supported a house of this size in their market. Perhaps another regular will have some suggestions.
Rstewart: Martin did have at least one theater designed by Brookbank, Murphy & Shields, the successors to the firm that designed the Georgia Cinerama. It’s the only one I’ve identified so far, being the Madison Theatre in Nashville, which doesn’t look much like the Georgia house. Chains tend to stay with the same architects for many projects, though, so it’s entirely possible that there is a near-twin to the Martin Cinerama out there somewhere.
I was only in the auditorium once prior to the butchering and that was a long time ago. The offices were small as I remember, when you went into the back door there was a narrow stairway to the second floor. Martin liked to use plans over and over again, I wonder did they use this plan elsewhere to compare it to? I know I have seen another theater with a similar shaped footprint somewhere in the southeast, but can seem to recall where.
Wow, that is a couple of stinkers to introduce your newest offering! Stan, see my reply to your question in the photo section.
Thanks for that 1976 ad. What a couple of losers and very fitting for the opening of that pathetic replacement for a once fine theater. In the photo section I have added a picture of the rear of the building showing the location of the Martin regional office entrance. In the comment I have posed a question that I hope Raymond Stewart can answer.
Two screens opening on May 28th, 1976. Grand opening ad in the photo section.
This opened on April 14th, 1965 Grand opening ad posted
The church is now gone, and the building is owned by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. I have been unable to find out what their plans are for it as of this date.
Demolished?
Linkrot repair: The July 27, 1964, Boxoffice article wit the aerial rendering is now at this link.
The J. Evan Miller collection of Cinerama Theater Plans lists the Georgia Theatre as a 1964-65 project designed by the architectural firm of Brookbank & Murphy, in collaboration with the Cinerama Company. The architectural firm later became Brookbank, Murphy & Shields.
Saw my first “big girl” film there…The Sting.
Here is a rendering from an aerial perspective of Martin’s Georgia Theatre, published with a brief article in Boxoffice of July 27, 1964, about the time construction began.
I’ve been unable to find an article devoted to the opening of the house, but Boxoffice of March 29, 1965, said that the Georgia Theatre was scheduled to open with the roadshow of “The Greatest Story Ever Told” on April 14. July 19, 1965, Boxoffice item said that the Georgia Theatre had opened during Holy Week, following a four-week delay caused by weather-related construction problems. The same item said that “Hallelujah Trail” was set to open at the house on July 29.
Ouch!
I remember this when it was a SINGLE large theater. I also remember seeing the 1973 re-release of THE SOUND OF MUSIC there. It was a MOB scene. Totally sold out. Incredible experience. I also remember seeing the re-release of THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE at the Georgia Cinerama. Another film I saw there was BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS.
In later years it became a draft house and was never the same. Last film I saw there was John Water’s HAIRSPRAY. Not the best movie going experience I ever had but an interesting one. I was on a first date and ended up having great sex afterwards.
This theatre was not too far from the TOCO HILLS movie theatre. Someone once wrote that growing up in Atlanta was like watching your past being hauled away in a dump truck.
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A complete rundown of the Cinerama presentations in Atlanta can be found here.
I’m not sure from StanMalone’s lengthy May 15, 2007 article which movie played where, but here’s what I remember:
GEORGIA Cinerama: Mediterranean Holiday, Hallelujah Trail, Battle of the Bulge, Russian Adventure, Grand Prix, Krakatoa.
MARTIN’S Cinerama: 2001, Patton, This Is Cinerama (reissue). After it became the Atlanta, they presented a two-week sequence of 2001 & 2010, both projected on the Cinerama screen. Although 2010 was a 35mm print, it looked OK on the big screen.
Stan:
In your post of May 15 you wrote that the “Martin Cinerama opened just as the run of How The West Was Won was ending its run at the Roxy.”
During my research of the original roadshow bookings of How The West Was Won the information I found is that the MARTIN CINERAMA was in fact the venue in which “HTWWW” played. It was a 30-week run beginning March 15, 1963.
I guess this makes me your second unofficial fact checker. :–)
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