1863 Cinema
36 Michigan Avenue,
Smithers,
WV
25186
36 Michigan Avenue,
Smithers,
WV
25186
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previous Names: Fountain Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Fountain Theatre was operating since at least the late-1920’s. It was operated by Logan Theaters in the 1940’s. Later renamed 1863 Cinema, it was closed in 1979.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 16 comments)
Here’s the short URL of the same link above:
http://goo.gl/maps/pmLuT
If you look at the upper left of the building, “Fountain” is engraved above the air conditioners. It’s not legible in the picture though (and perhaps not in real life either).
I checked out the picture and I could barely make out part of “Fountain”, cool!
Clickable version of kpkilburn2’s link. Zooming in on the Google street view you can see the address, 36 Michigan Avenue, on the door of the building.
The building looks as though it could have been built in 1863, so I’m wondering if that’s how the theater got its name? Or was it named to commemorate West Virgina’s admission to the Union as a state in 1863?
Yes, “1863” was to commemorate WV and was also used for a restaurant my father owned before he opened the theater. He kept the name “1863” for the theater when he reopened it in 1977.
I was looking for a theater in Anstead, WV called the Ritz, later reopened and renamed Cinema 63 by my father. I don’t see it on the site, but maybe I’m just missing it?
On my blog, you can see a video tour of the 1863 Cinema as it was in 2000 operating as an auction house. The wallpaper was still intact and the writing in the projection booth was still legible.
http://kpkilburn.wordpress.com/2013/07/17/1863-cinema/
kpkilburn2: I have now added a page for Cinema 63, Ansted, WV.
Thanks, Ken.
A “complete” list of movies shown in the 1863 Cinema I compiled years ago. These are from memory and the projection booth wall (where we wrote the names of the movies).
The movies are listed by year of release, not necessarily the year they were shown in the 1863 Cinema. Titles with an asterisk (*) may not have been shown (again, going from memory).
MOVIES SHOWN AT THE 1863 CINEMA
[FROM 1974]
Blazing Saddles
[FROM 1976]
Car Wash
Eat My Dust! *
The Great Smokey Roadblock *
The Gumball Rallay *
The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams
Ode to Billy Joe
Alice Cooper: Welcome to My Nightmare
[FROM 1977]
Across the Great Divide
The Bad News Bears in Breaking Training *
Buck Rogers (This was a re-release of the 1950s serial converted into a full-length feature. It was promoted as “Star Wars Owes it all to Buck Rogers.”)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Damnation Alley *
End of the World
For the Love of Benji
Freaky Friday
The Gauntlet (the 1st Cinemascope movie ever shown in the 1863)
The Goodbye Girl
Grand Theft Auto *
Heroes
High Anxiety
High Velocity
In Search of Noah’s Ark
Pete’s Dragon
Saturday Night Fever
Slap Shot *
Smokey and the Bandit
Star Wars
Which Way is Up?
You Light Up My Life
[FROM 1978]
The Amazing Captain Nemo *
American Hot Wax
The Bad News Bears Go To Japan
Beyond and Back
Born Again
The Buddy Holly Story
Casey’s Shadow
The Cat From Outer Space
Coach
Convoy
Damien: Omen II
Deathsport
Every Which Way But Loose
F.I.S.T.
Foul Play
Goin' South *
Grease
Harper Valley PTA
Hooper
Hot Lead and Cold Feat
Ice Castles
Invasion of the Body Snatchers
It Lives Again
Jaws 2
Laserblast
Magic
Movie Movie *
Oliver’s Story *
The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2
Piranha
Return From Witch Mountain
Revenge of the Pink Panther
Sasquatch, the Legend of Bigfoot
Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Stingray
Thank God It’s Friday
They Went That-A-Way and That-A-Way
Warlords of Atlantis
[FROM 1979]
Note: Most of the movies from 1979 are unconfirmed because, after the theater closed, my father and I went to the 7th Heaven theater which was owned by friends of his. I probably saw some of these at the 7th Heaven in Cheylan, WV.
Alien
The Black Stallion *
Breaking Away *
Escape from Alcatraz *
Fast Break *
A Little Romance (The last movie shown in the 1863 Cinema)
Mountain Family Robinson *
Norma Rae
North Dallas Forty *
On the Air Live with Captain Midnight *
[MISCELLANEOUS TITLES — I DIDN’T LOOK THE YEARS UP FOR THESE]
High Ballin'
Seven Blows of the Dragon
Horror of Dracula
Curse of Frankenstein
Superman: The Movie
The End
Raggedy Ann and Andy Movie
International Velvet
Death on the Nile * (may have been Murder on the Orient Express)
Who’s Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?
The Shaggy D.A.
The Wiz
Young Frankenstein
Jason and the Argonauts
Simon, King of the Witches
Born Free
Digby, The Biggest Dog in the World
American Graffiti
Take This Job and Shove It
[Serials]
Captain Marvel
Batman
I can’t believe I forgot “Walking Tall: The Final Chapter” — it was the first movie shown in the 1863 Cinema.