Gadsden Cinema Four
301 N. 12th Street,
Gadsden,
AL
35901
301 N. 12th Street,
Gadsden,
AL
35901
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I was the owner at the time we showed Showgirls, Pink Flamingo, Priest, Crash and several other controversial movies. When we showed Showgirls, it hit all of the north Alabama newspapers (Gadsden, Huntsville, and Birmingham). I was at a conference in Dalton, GA that weekend and ended up leaving early to get to Gadsden for the Sunday night showings (was running 9PM shows only). Fri night sold out, Sat night turned away 400 people. I got there Sunday and ran that one print through all four cinemas and we still sold out.
When we ran Pink Flamingos, we partnered with the local gay bar, Nitro, to have a drag queen contest in the theatre between the 7 and 9 PM showings on Sunday night.
When showing the Priest, which was highly controversial, we a pre-show conversation with a catholic priest about the movie.
The 1996 film Crash with James Spader and Holly Hunter was almost not released in the USA. The film was made by New Line Cinemas and owned by Ted Turner. Ted refused to allow it to be released in the USA because it got an NC-17 rating and “just sick”. The movie was released in Canada and received many awards. So, I got an advance VHS copy and watched it with a Gadsden Times reporter. It was so disturbing that the both of us separated for lunch before we would talk about it. Made the front page of The Gadsden Times for running “cutting edge” movies.
The radio show Rick & Bubba originated in Gadsden during the 90s. They had a business reader board contest. If you mentioned Rick & Bubba, they entered the business into a contest to win $1000 in free radio advertising. Went in whole hog: Rick & Bubba Fat Boy Tuesday all concessions 50% off. Rick & Bubba size popcorn (XL). Rick & Bubba Cinema 1, 2, 3, 4, etc. We showed up during the morning show at the station to bribe them. I paid Ryan’s steakhouse to open their kitchen at 6AM to cook steak meals for the entire morning show crew and my employees delivered to them while on the air. The next week we showed up with 25 gallon drum full of popcorn, gallons of soda, nachos, hot dogs, candy, etc. We got lots of airtime and won their contest. They kept saying on the air they could be bribed, and we did.
I had a lot of fun with that theatre, but alas, in the 1990s, it was on the wrong side of town. The Agricola Shopping Center had a bad reputation and folks would rather stay in the Rainbow Drive area. Also, I had other theatres and had spent so much time promoting the Gadsden Cinema 4, that it was hurting my profitable locations. So, we ended up closing the location. Another operator opened it again two or three years later and ran first run for three years. Again, that location could not compete with Rainbow Drive.
In 1995 I saw my first NC-17 movie, Showgirls, with a group of high school friends at this theater. It was the first time I had to show my driver’s license to do something “adult” so I felt cool –had just turned 17-years old, too. I thought the movie was going to be sexually explicit, but everyone in the theater was yelling, laughing, and having a fun, rowdy time –including us. I loved it. Also, saw a screening of “Pink Flamingos” here in the ‘90s. Around this time you could see second-run movies for, I think, only $1.
I saw all three of the first “Star Wars” films in this theater. Also got booted and threatened with being banned, for trying to sneak into “Alien” when I was 15!
This web page has information about the Gadsden Cinema, including opening date (April 30, 1970,) reopening as a twin (May 28, 1976,) and a 1989 closing. It reopened as a discount four-plex on March 9, 1993. It also says that after the theater closed as a discount house, it reopened as a first run theater on November 5, 1999, then closed for the last time in 2002.
Drove by it this morning on the way back from a run to Oxford. From the outside, nothing seems to have changed.
There is information about the opening of this theater on this site:
http://tinyurl.com/zq5kh