Village Theatre
700 Fort Couch Road,
Bethel Park,
PA
15241
700 Fort Couch Road,
Bethel Park,
PA
15241
4 people
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Cinemette Corporation of America, Stanley-Warner Theatres
Previous Names: South Hills Village Theatre
Nearby Theaters
This was originally a single screen theatre, opened on July 19, 1966 with Dick Van Dyke in “Lt. Robinson Crusoe U.S.N.” and was operated by RKO Stanley Warner. Upon RKO-Stanley Warner’s exit from the area it was operated by Cinemette. The theatre was big (1,300 seats on one floor) and was decorated with plush seats and a lot of gold draperies in the auditorium and was very upscale to fit in with the shopping center, as I recall.
When I was there it was fairly new, we saw “The Detective” with Frank Sinatra. Later, after Cinemette was running it they divided it into five screens. It was closed by Carmike Cinemas on August 17, 1997.
It was demolished, and Carmike Cinemas built a 10-plex on the site.
Contributed by
dave-bronx
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Recent comments (view all 18 comments)
Was this the theatre in the parking lot outside the mall? I saw EARTHQUAKE there too. The first film I saw at this theatre (and it ran for quite a while) was LOST HORIZON in 1973. It was a wonderful movie going experience and a great theater to see a BIG film in. I also remember seeing the re-release of MARY POPPINS in this theatre.
Another Village Theater . . http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWXjFHqc7gc
I remember the brains of Cinemette had the construction crews knock out the walls for exit doors while people were sitting in the theatres watching the movies, all the daylight poured in and managment could'nt understand thier problems and complaints. DAH
I think I saw the early 90s version of “Dracula” here.
“ROLLERCOASTER” with George Segal was in Sensurround.
Does anyone have any old pictures of the original theatre that they could post?
Great theater. Century 35/70 projectors. Separate Simplex projector for trailers if you were running 70. Huge picture window for projectionist to keep an eye on the picture. Back in the day, S/W was the #1 class operation. Projection angle was 3 degrees at most.
I have some pictures. I’ll dig them out soon.
July 19th, 1966 grand opening ad in photo section.
Higher quality grand opening ad:
South Hills Village theatre opening Tue, Jul 19, 1966 – Page 13 · Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com
The final operator here, Carmike Cinemas, closed the Village 5 on August 17, 1997 tlo create the 10-screen theater that it launched on July 10, 1998 in the same spot.