Villa Theatre

3092 Highland Drive,
Salt Lake City, UT 84115

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1949 CONSTRUCTION

The Villa Theater is best known for its elegant neon-laden façade and sign, as well as its 93-foot curved screen, the largest in the state of Utah.

Opened on December 23, 1949 with Tyrone Power in “Prince of Foxes”. The Villa Theatre was later used as the home of Cinemiracle and Cinerama in Salt Lake City, with its three Cinerama booths still remaining in place. In fact, the theatres' original proscenium, stage, and screen are still intact, and hidden behind the large, curved screen.

The Villa Theatre was last operated by Carmike Cinemas, which renovated the old movie house in 1996.

Due to Carmike’s bankruptcy reorganization, the Villa Theatre was closed in February 2003. It has been converted since then into a rug showroom.

Contributed by Cinema Treasures, Mark Gulbrandsen

Recent comments (view all 27 comments)

mp775
mp775 on August 28, 2007 at 4:29 pm

Preserve Me a Seat will be shown on Friday, September 14 at the Portage Theater in Chicago, IL as part of the “Preserving Palaces” documentary film festival, along with Uptown: Portrait of a Palace. The festival continues Saturday, September 15 with The Wizard of Austin Boulevard, Loew’s Paradise Theatre, and Memoirs of a Movie Palace. A theatre preservation discussion panel will follow the films on Saturday night. For complete information, visit www.portagetheater.org.

terrywade
terrywade on September 2, 2007 at 11:50 am

Thanks Grant for the great photos of The Villa. I got to see this Cinerama/Toddd-AO house many years ago when we had a THS conclave put on by Van Summerill from Odgen Ut. To see the wonderfull curved screen was the hi lite of the tour week. I will be ordering a few of the DVD’S ‘Preserve Me A Seat’ this week. And thanks to Mr Adib who saved the building from the wrecking ball; while not the Roadshow 70mm house it was at least it still stands. Someday maybe the rugs can be sold in a nearby building and big scrren movies can be shown again for the people of Salt Lake. Not first run; that killed it. Bring back as many restored 70mm prints and some old Cinerama films for a new generation to enjoy. Turn it into a Curved Screen Museum and bring in the visiting tourists that come to see the Mormon Temple.

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 25, 2009 at 11:07 pm

Here is an undated photo of the marquee:
http://tinyurl.com/n4zqdz

kencmcintyre
kencmcintyre on June 26, 2009 at 9:37 am

No, it was on a site called pinballrebel.com. I guess they posted the photo from your source.

Mike Rogers
Mike Rogers on December 28, 2010 at 1:22 pm

70mm Roadshow Engagement “THE BIG FISHERMAN” Bibical movie.this on Oct 2 1959.

wpzephyr
wpzephyr on June 18, 2011 at 12:36 am

What a piece of irony that the above photo shows a hearse headed toward our deceased theatre. Makes the demise of the Villa that much sadder.

In3rdmillennium
In3rdmillennium on December 7, 2015 at 9:03 am

I saw Superman with Christopher Reeve for the 1st time here. It was a family movie night. It’s a super memory I have. Also my wife and I saw L.A. Confidential here.

davidcoppock
davidcoppock on April 8, 2017 at 9:29 am

I think this might be the cinema and it’s marquee seen briefly in the movie “Drive me crazy”.

rivest266
rivest266 on April 4, 2022 at 12:34 pm

Grand opening ad 1 Villa Theatre opening 1Villa Theatre opening 1 23 Dec 1949, Fri The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) Newspapers.com Grand opening ad 2 Villa Theatre opening 2Villa Theatre opening 2 23 Dec 1949, Fri The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) Newspapers.com

rivest266
rivest266 on April 4, 2022 at 12:38 pm

Grand opening ad posted.

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