San Antonio Movie Theatres

[outafocus]

My favorite suburban theatre was the Broadway. It had a nice balcony, a large, curtained screen, was 70mm capable, and had comfortable seats. It was always well managed and clean.

I also liked the Wonder before they twinned it. I LOVED the waterfall curtain.

My least favorite suburban theatre was the Josephine. It had no balcony, and was downright ugly inside. It did have a nice curtained screen.

The best drive in to see a movie was the Bandera Road. The original screen there was made of aluminum, and was silver in color. It made the picture much brighter than a white screen. It also was a full CinemaScope width.

My least favorite was the Valley Hi. It had a CinemaScope width screen, but that's all I can say good about it.

[gy2020]

I just completed a Photo Album of Indoor Theatres in San Antonio, http://www.city-data.com/forum/album...id=4117&page=3

[perticusrex]

Originally Posted by gy2020

I just completed a Photo Album of Indoor Theatres in San Antonio, http://www.city-data.com/forum/album...id=4117&page=3

Oh snap! Fox was my theater when I was a kid....until somebody got shot, then my parents starting taking us to Nakoma dollar theater. (totally lame) Century South! I had no idea Casa dos Pedros had been serving craptaculous food for so long! And Godfather's Pizza was the shizz!

[the_dimwit]

I won't do AMC (Huebner Oaks, at least) anymore. Went with a friend who is in the Navy. He was told that they don't do military discounts. In this town, especially, I was taken aback by the news. Besides, Silverado and Palladium are closer to home...

--Dim

[pianoboypinoyJR]

I saw on the news last night that the new Alamo Drafthouse theater in the Park North Plaza (Loop 410 between Blanco and San Pedro, on the site of the old Central Park Mall) is opening Nov 20th. It's the first Alamo Drafthouse built from the ground up and the first to feature stadium seating. There's also a comedy club opening in the same complex. As for theaters that are currently open, I enjoy going to Huebner Oaks and Palladium, although Palladium's parking lot does get really crowded at times. One time, I saw a movie there and ended up parking across the street, in front of Target and Best Buy.

[Snowglobe]

I read something written over 3 years ago by Roger Ebert about how many movies are not projected properly:

"Train projectionists to show films at the proper light and sound levels. Twenty years after I first wrote about this problem, many movie theaters continue the insane practice of dialing down the intensity of projector lamps under the mistaken belief that they can reduce their power bills and extend lamp life. As a result, many movies are projected so dimly that their impact is diminished. I've quoted Eastman Kodak experts who say the light level has no effect on bulb life."

I have always wondered if I have ever seen a movie projected at the right light levels. Does anyone have any experience with this in San Antonio theatres?

[outafocus]

I was a projectionist here in San Antonio for 12 years, 1972-84, and I also made service calls to projection rooms all over Texas through the mid 90s. In the days of carbon arc lamps, most of the theatres had good light, but reflectors would get bad, and many theatre owners were reluctant to buy new ones. When the xenon bulb lamphouse came out, many lamphouses were ordered too small for the screen, and as xenon bulbs age, they dim. Most of the San Antonio theatres had pretty good screen presentations. General Cinema Corporation that had the North Star, McCreless, and Ingram Square Cinemas was best. They INSISTED on changing the bulbs at half their warranted life. The other San Antonio companies were pretty good about changing them on an as needed basis.

The darkest screen presentation I ever encountered was at the Broadway Theatre in Galveston. The bulb was on it's last legs, and the reflector was bad. The owner said he was in the market for a used reflector because the new ones were too expensive.

Now digital projection is supplanting film. The lamps in the digital machines are nowhere as intense as carbon arc, or xenon. It will be interesting to see how the digital setups fare.

[Willsatx]

Thanks for the pics, bring back great memories.