Central City Cinema
10789 Old Halls Ferry Road,
St. Louis,
MO
63136
10789 Old Halls Ferry Road,
St. Louis,
MO
63136
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June 2nd, 1972 grand opening ad in photo section
I have something to add to JAlex’s post: The Post-Dispatch once reported that the Jerry Lewis chain was planning to build a cinema in the St. Louis suburb of Overland; it was never constructed. The three Jerries that came to fruition in this market were the one on this page, the one that became the Bridgeton/Bridgewood, and one on Bellefontaine Road that survived longer than the others as a link in a small chain (People’s, maybe? My research notes are in storage.)
I think this ended up being a dollar show in the 90’s… I’m pretty sure I took my kids here to see “Mousehunt”…
Passed this place a million times. Never saw a movie inside.
And, apparently, in many other markets. A comment for the JL in Canton, CT says he was sued in 1973 by franchise holders…who won the case.
An article in the Post-Dispatch in February 1974 said 10 franchises had been sold in Eastern Missouri and Southern Illinois…and that the Jerry Lewis moniker was no longer being used. The article further stated 2 were closed—Bridgeton and Lake of the Ozarks; 5 were operating under different names; and 3 were never built…in Highland, Ill., Mt. Vernon, Ill. and South St. Louis County.
And, one wonders if the eventual Mid-America and Wehrenberg connection in St. Louis was possibly just as bookers.
And, a correction to my comment of 10:26 this morning: the last name of the Central City manager was Gowan, not Cowan.
It also means that Jerry Lewis Cinemas bailed on St. Louis after barely a year in business.
I’ll make this even more confusing…Central City eventually went to Wehrenberg, and the Bridgeton Cinema, if memory servers, went to Mid-America, who changed its name to the Bridgewood…OK, I need to get out of the house now :)
Not helping the confusion was an item in the Box Office magazine issue of 5/14/73 which read:
“Edward B. Arthur, of Arthur Enterprises, has announced that effective 5/4, the Central City Cinema and the Bridgeton Cinema 1 & 2, became part of the Arthur Management Circuit.
\"Central City will remain under the locl management of Les Cowan and the Bridgeton 1 & 2 under David and J. R. Robb.”
Kyle’s recollection is correct. Wehrenberg operated the venue from December 1975 to October 1976. This after Arthur operated from May 1973 to December 1975.
I’m almost certain Wehrenberg Theaters ran this place for a while in the 70s, as I remember a Central City Cine in their newspaper listings for a brief period of time.
Anyway, here’s a link to the church’s website: http://catcchurch.org/Home_Page.html
If you go to the site, there’s music playing on every page, so be ready to turn your volume down. But if you look at pictures you can tell that their auditorium still looks very much like a movie theater.
Jerry Lewis Explains his Cinemas downfall on Jerry LEWIS CINEMAS,Canton.Ct.
Venue closed in May 1979. In its final months specialized in X-rated product.
Another St. Louis area theatre that I’ve driven past a zillion times but never gone inside.
This was one of three Jerry Lewis cinemas that operated in the St. Louis market. Venue opened in May 1972 and was later known as the Central City.