Kingston Four Cinema
8357 Kingston Pike,
Knoxville,
TN
37919
8357 Kingston Pike,
Knoxville,
TN
37919
2 people
favorited this theater
The Kingston Four Cinema was a very interesting, though short lived, four-plex: built in the 1970’s, opening on December 17, 1976. The four auditoriums were each an octagon, one was larger than the other three. The construction looked like poured concrete. The lobby was was a square that fit into the space where the octagons joined.
There was no marquee as such, but a large signboard stood on the street. The floors were nicely raked and the hall was clean and nicely-if simply-decorated for the period. It was still showing first run pictures in 1993. In 1994 it changed to second run movies and was closed by Carmike May 16, 1996. It was demolished in the late-1990’s. There was a lot of competition in the neighborhood and though the hall backed up to I-40 with a second large signboard facing the interstate and it had plenty of parking, sadly it didn’t make the cut.
Contributed by
Will Dunklin
Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.
Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
GMNash – also the same design as the University Cinemas in Huntsville, AL. Built as a 4-plex with 2 more screens added later. The building still stands, and recently has been renovated into something else.
This was a midnight movie destination for years in the late 70’s-early 80’s, including at least one year, if not two years of consecutive Rocky Horror Picture Show runs.
WE played “ROCKY HORROR” at Regency Cinemas in Augusta,HAD nightmares too,more trouble than it was worth.
According to local newspapers, this theater switched to discount movies in 1994 and was later closed by Carmike on May 16, 1996.
tntim, link is dead. This opened on December 17th, 1976. Grand opening ad already posted.
Can anyone remember the seating capacities of each auditorium?
There was a fire that broke out in theater #4 on December 21, 1979 Newspaper article is posted in the photo section.
Can anyone remember what the feature was for the week of 15 July, when Star Wars came to town?
Saw many movies here in the late 1970’s but I remember two in particular. I remember Dad taking my bro and I to see the first Superman movie starring Christopher Reeve here around 1980 on a Sunday night and to the former Darryl’s down the road on Bearden Hill for dinner that night. Also remember my mom and her co-worker taking myself and her daughter to see “Animal House” back in 1978. I was only nine at the time, but that movie was my first introduction to college fraternities, something that would eventually be out of my reach later on in 1989 due to my GPA and lack of funds. Before finding this page, I had completely forgotten about the fire that happened a year after in 1979. Must be why they moved The Rocky Horror Picture Show down the road to the old Capri Terrace Tap House where it ran for many years afterwards and always at midnight. I remember finally getting to take in the “Rocky Horror” experience that I first became aware of from the movie scene in “Fame” in 1993 when I went to see it at a midnight showing and that was only because I had the next day off from work at the time.
Fotomac, The movies playing on July 15, 1977 were “Orca”, “The Island of Dr, Moreau”, “Final Chapter Walking Tall”, and “The Other side of Midnight”.