Warner Theatre
332 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
332 5th Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
16 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Stanley-Warner Theatres, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: Charles Howard Crane
Previous Names: Grand Theatre
Nearby Theaters
News About This Theater
- Mar 31, 2013 — "2001: A Space Odyssey" 45th Anniversary – The Cinerama Engagements
- Oct 24, 2010 — "The Alamo"...Happy 50th!
- May 21, 2010 — Happy 30th, "Empire"
- Nov 18, 2009 — Happy 50th, "Ben-Hur"
- Aug 21, 2009 — "Alien" 30th Anniversary
- May 1, 2009 — Remembering Cinerama (Part 29: Pittsburgh)
- Jul 9, 2007 — TRON...Happy 25th!
This beautiful movie palace was a major theatre in Pittsburgh. It opened as the Grand Theatre on March 7, 1918 with Douglas Fairbanks in “Headin' South” and Winifred Westover in “Her Husband’s Wife”.
Renamed Warner Theatre on January 2, 1930. From October 1953, it was converted into a Cinerama theatre. It showed many of the reserved seat engagements during the 1960’s, such as "Ben-Hur," "The Alamo," "Exodus,".
The elaborate interior was primarily beige with deep red carpeting and curtains. Its large marquee posted huge mylars on its side, depicting the poster artwork for the current film. This made the theatre a special focus in the downtown center, especially at night.
The theatre was later left to deteriorate. I remember an article in the 1980’s about a poor woman who was hit by a portion of the ceiling while watching a film. Not long after, the theatre was closed on April 14, 1983 with a special benefit premiere of Jennifer Beals in “Flashdance”.
The auditorium was demolished, and a two story shopping center named Warner Center was built on the site. Today you can see the beautiful doors and a portion of the huge lobby which was retained.
Contributed by
Kenneth Kunkel
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Recent comments (view all 87 comments)
I would have loved to go the Warner when it was open. Can anyone confirm that the theater is haunted?
I saw a lot of movies at the Warner, mostly first-run roadshows, from “Seven Wonders of the World,” in 1957, up to “The Exorcist,” in 1973. The Warner was the only theatre in Pittsburgh that had the Cinerama franchise, with the 3-projector system of showing those extravaganzas. So, I saw “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm,” “How the West Was Won,” “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” and “2001” all there. I also saw “Ben-Hur” there many times, first in its original release, in early 1960, and later for its reissue, in 1969. I even saw a re-issue there of Disney’s “Fantasia,” in 1964, which had been stretched out to imitate widescreen. Weird. (Although, that was the last time the good folks at Disney included the original, uncut version of “The Pastoral Symphony,” with the little pickaninny, black centaurette, named “Sunflower,” who was disappeared from the next reissue, in 1970, and whose existence the studio has more or less disowned ever since. But that, as they say, is another story.) I still recall the long lobby connecting the street entrance to the Warner auditorium, where you entered in about the middle of the audience, and had to walk to your left to get up to the back of the downstairs seating. I miss all those movie palaces of yore!
StarryGreen: Yes, the description now states that the Warner opened as the Grand Theatre, but it didn’t say that at the time I asked the question. When I first visited Cinema Treasures I wondered why so many comments just repeated things that were already stated in the theater descriptions, but it turned out to be the other way around.
The descriptions are periodically updated by the site’s editor with new information that is posted in comments, such as K2’s reply to my question, confirming my suspicion that this house was once the Grand. Be sure to check back now and then to see if something new has been discovered about the theater.
December 31st, 1929 grand opening as Warner in photo section
2005 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece on the Warner.
https://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2005/02/04/Has-Downtown-s-historic-Warner-Centre-seen-its-final-act/stories/200502040172
Hey WarnerChatham,
When did you take the pictures of the Warner theatre?
The Pictures were taken between 1980 and 1983 when I worked there.
So WarnerChatham, the deeply curved Cinerama screen was still there before they closed?
That is correct. The curved Cinerama screen was still being used up until the Theater closed in April of 1983. The curtain still opened and closed properly as well.
Fifty years ago today THE EXORCIST opened here. The Warner was among only two-dozen cinemas in twenty-one North American markets to play the film at release launch.