A Question for the Oldies

[nice90sguy]

I hate to admit that I grew up in Peoria, IL but there it is. Several of the movie houses - the Rialto, the Palace, the Madison - had been vaudeville theatres and they were so beautiful - red velvet seats, stages, statues, carvings, curtains. Imagine at showtime curtains parting to reveal the screen, and closing after the movie finished. Now theatre interiors are just boring boxes with all the appeal of a dumpster.

So many towns in the US have the most beautiful Deco movie theaters. I went to one in Charleston, GA that made me wish I was watching Clark Gable and Colbert in a 1930s filem.

 

[onehitwanda]

Lisa Hayes.. with those large curls hanging down... and occasionally when it was down...

I'll be in my bunk.

 

[BgDaddy33]

I'll be in my bunk.

 

[onehitwanda]

View attachment 2292384

god I loved her.

 

[alohadave]

View attachment 2292384

This picture just goes to show that it's not just AI that has trouble drawing hands.

 

[onehitwanda]

This picture just goes to show that it's not just AI that has trouble drawing hands.

hey, it was the 80's, they barely had pens.

Also, Lynn Minmay can go do one.

 

[gunhilltrain]

I’ve heard people talk about a sense of wonder. Of occasion. Not sure I’ve ever experienced that at the theater.

Em

For one thing, into the 1970's in cities and inner suburbs, every theater had it's own architectural style both in the interior and exterior design. Even the humblest place had something unique about it. The really big ones gave you a sense of wonder from merely entering them. The Loew's Paradise was one such place. Before it became a duplex, and then a triplex and then a quad, it had nearly 4,000 seats including he balcony.

Here are some photos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Loews_Paradise_GC_jeh.JPG

https://flic.kr/p/2iTR9Qo

The last I saw it was being used as a church, of all things.

P.S.: The top link shows the exterior.

 

[gunhilltrain]

It was great, you could grope strange women during the loud bits

I believe that happened in porn theaters. I doubt it would work elsewhere. Some conventional theaters were converted to porn venues before they finally closed.

 

[EmilyMiller]

For one thing, into the 1970's in cities and inner suburbs, every theater had it's own architectural style both in the interior and exterior design. Even the humblest place had something unique about it. The really big ones gave you a sense of wonder from merely entering them. The Loew's Paradise was one such place. Before it became a duplex, and then a triplex and then a quad, it had nearly 4,000 seats including he balcony.

Here are some photos:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Loews_Paradise_GC_jeh.JPG

https://flic.kr/p/2iTR9Qo

The last I saw it was being used as a church, of all things.

P.S.: The top link shows the exterior.

That’s beautiful

Em

 

[Voboy]

hey, it was the 80's, they barely had pens.

Also, Lynn Minmay can go do one.

I always suspected the SDF-1 had some bathroom somewhere, with graffiti saying "MINMEI FUCKS HER BROTHER!"

I was always into Miriya, myself.

 

[BgDaddy33]

god I loved her.

Whenever she would say, "but Rick.." in that dreamy, there-is-so-much-more-to-tell-you voice..

Plus she was older than Rick..

Yup.. just yup...

 

[nice90sguy]

The last I saw it was being used as a church, of all things.

Very appropriate, if you think about it.

 

[Duleigh]

god I loved her.

Who dat?
(I spent the 80's more isolated than the vast majority of the folks here)

 

[onehitwanda]

Who dat?
(I spent the 80's more isolated than the vast majority of the folks here)

Lisa Hayes, one of the three characters in the love triangle that drives much of the plot in Macross/Robotech series 1 and, now that I think about it, probably one of the primary causes for my love of redheads.

 

[Duleigh]

Lisa Hayes, one of the three characters in the love triangle that drives much of the plot in Macross/Robotech series 1 and, now that I think about it, probably one of the primary causes for my love of redheads.

Where I lived we only had NBC, CBS, and the CBC (zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz) Two weak American networks and the most boring thing Canada ever made (and for Canada that's saying a lot)

 

[Saltfountain]

What was it like going to see one of the 1970s / 80s blockbusters at the theater? Given my fandom, I’ll go for A New Hope or Raiders, but feel free to substitute.

Was it different to the movie experience now?

I’m kinda thinking because I often wait to see things on streaming. Oppenheimer and Barbie for example. What was it like when that wasn’t an option. And when you didn’t have websites dedicated to your fan obsessions.

Em

There was much more of a sense of anticipation than there is now. I remember being ridiculously excited about Batman finally being released as a movie (a proper Batman, not Adam West being camper than a boy scout jamboree).
These days, all the big releases tend to be formulaic, movie by numbers from Marvel.

It also felt much more of a shared experience...

 

[Duleigh]

Dollar Theaters! I forgot about the dollar theaters. For a buck you could go watch an old movie on the big screen. I must have watched Star Wars 4 & 5 ten times each. And The African Queen! Casablanca! Fort Apache! (Teenage Shirley Temple was so HOT!) It was so great. A date night a young airman could afford, take the wife and kids and be able to go out to dinner and still pay the bills.

Imagine Die Hard on a big screen with no commercials for a dollar. You kids have no idea how superior our upbringing was.

Drive ins - greatest date on earth. Imagine sitting on lounge chairs watching a movie, the stars circling above, a cooler full of beer and soda, a sack full of popcorn with real butter (because you made it at home) There was even a playground for the little ones. Life was so much better before the corporations took over.

 

[gunhilltrain]

That’s beautiful

Em

Right now the building is not being used. I don't know how much of the interior survived the various remodelings done over the years. I have used it several times in various stories.

This is the best site for movie theaters. It attempts to catalog every one that ever existed in North America, at least:

https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/900

 

[alohadave]

Drive ins - greatest date on earth. Imagine sitting on lounge chairs watching a movie, the stars circling above, a cooler full of beer and soda, a sack full of popcorn with real butter (because you made it at home) There was even a playground for the little ones. Life was so much better before the corporations took over.

My parents watched Carrie in their VW bus at the drive-in. My dad says that he nearly jumped out the window at the last scene.

 

[Saltfountain]

My parents watched Carrie in their VW bus at the drive-in. My dad says that he nearly jumped out the window at the last scene.

Congratulations on avoiding the spoiler, even on a nearly 50yo movie...

That was better too back in the day

 

[FifthEstate]

I was ten years old when Star Wars came out, and my memory is very vivid.

It's an almost stereotypical response, but it's the truth.

The screen goes black. The theater is silent.

The now famous opening words appear: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..."

Again, darkness.

Then BLAM. The opening horns of John Williams brilliant score as it plays over the opening crawl.

The pan down from space to a planet.

A spaceship flies into frame.

And then that Star Destroyer enters...and just keeps coming.

And a ten year old boys life is forever changed.

Djmac and me are the same age (I was 11). I remember feeling exactly the way he so eloquently described.

I’ve heard people talk about a sense of wonder. Of occasion. Not sure I’ve ever experienced that at the theater.

I still remember waiting in line with my family for A New Hope like it was yesterday. I’ve never felt like that attending a movie before or since. As for ROTLA, I was 16 by then and I saw it at the drive-ins with my buddies while drinking beers for one of the first times!

 

[gunhilltrain]

Very appropriate, if you think about it.

Other theaters were converted to churches, like another Loew's theater in Washington Heights built around the same time as the Paradise. It looks like it has been restored for movies again.

https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/900

 

[gunhilltrain]

I hate to admit that I grew up in Peoria, IL but there it is. Several of the movie houses - the Rialto, the Palace, the Madison - had been vaudeville theatres and they were so beautiful - red velvet seats, stages, statues, carvings, curtains. Imagine at showtime curtains parting to reveal the screen, and closing after the movie finished. Now theatre interiors are just boring boxes with all the appeal of a dumpster.

Here are the three you mentioned.

https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9891

https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9892

https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/2647

 

[LetsMisBehave]

Back in around 1981 two friends were behind a bloke who was watching Carrie with his girlfriend at a cinema which did regular re-runs of older movies. The bloke was a bit of a jerk and had put his feet up on the seat in front of him, saying no problem or scares with the film when that scene happened.
He certainly scared the person in front of him as his legs ended up around the man's neck.
The person who told the story was not given to exaggeration and the person he went with confirmed it.
In my neck of the woods, the Jehovah's Witnesses seemed to have a liking for buying up old cinemas for temples. Certainly two of the vast ones which closed in the 1980s were bought up by them

 

[Zootonius]

On the subject of 80s movies, many of you youngsters likely never heard of the movie, S.O.B. Where Julie Andrews talks about her 'boobies'

*Actually, she exposes her boobies