Center Theatre

215 1st Avenue NW,
Hickory, NC 28601

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DavidZornig
DavidZornig on May 29, 2020 at 11:45 pm

Circa 1980 and 1956 photos added courtesy Tom Bollinger. Showed Adults Only films circa 1980. Severn Allen was manager in 1956, per his late son Ken Allen: “He started the Saturday morning kiddie shows in conjunction with the Downtown Merchants Association — essentially low-cost babysitting while the parents shopped. My father was the one who turned Elvis (and Colonel Tom Parker) down. They were working their way to New York where Elvis was scheduled to go on the Ed Sullivan Show. My father had never heard of Elvis, had the theater booked with pictures that week and sent them on their way. When he told the Paramount folks about it on his daily call, they nearly fainted. One of dad’s favorite stories.”

Trish888
Trish888 on June 7, 2015 at 6:48 pm

The Embassy Theatre opened in 1949. Mr. Henry H. Brown was listed as the Manager of this 450 seat Theatre. This theatre was for people of color. It featured first rate movies, big bands and dancing girls on Saturday nights. The last listing we could find for the Embassy Theatre was in 1958. On a street view map of today the address comes up an empty open field.

http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/42745

Mike (saps)
Mike (saps) on August 15, 2012 at 3:52 am

I don’t see a listing for the Embassy here.

atmos
atmos on March 13, 2010 at 11:16 am

The architect was Erle Stillwell.