movie theaters (Cincinnati, Lebanon, Congress: high school, college, price)

[goyguy]

"Mary Poppins" probably played at the Albee, but perhaps at the Keith. My sisters and I saw it at the Vogue in Hartwell. Being accustomed to mainly seeing flicks there, it was always a treat to visit one of the opulent movie palaces downtown. I still remember gawking wide-eyed around the Albee when taken there to see "Sound of Music."
Seems strange to me that no new cinema has opened downtown for quite some time, but maybe the twenty-or-however-many-plex at Newport on the Levee represents too much competition. It's anybody's guess how long the megatheaters will hold out before Netflix puts them under. Even Showcases are starting to disappear.

[boringscreenname]

We go to Springdale and have been to Esquire once, and we've been to the Dollar Saver in Eastgate a few times.

[jlawrence01]

Originally Posted by goyguy

"Mary Poppins" probably played at the Albee, but perhaps at the Keith. My sisters and I saw it at the Vogue in Hartwell. Being accustomed to mainly seeing flicks there, it was always a treat to visit one of the opulent movie palaces downtown. I still remember gawking wide-eyed around the Albee when taken there to see "Sound of Music."
Seems strange to me that no new cinema has opened downtown for quite some time, but maybe the twenty-or-however-many-plex at Newport on the Levee represents too much competition. It's anybody's guess how long the megatheaters will hold out before Netflix puts them under. Even Showcases are starting to disappear.

The Albee was too large and high overhead facility for a cinema.

The Studio Cinemas in the Playboy building was a good place to watch foreign and independent films in the 80s but generally, many of the showings were to audiences under 20 people.

The Movies on Race St. did OK for years but I belive that has closed in the last five years.

As people buy their home theatre systems, the demand for movie tickets really declines. Personally, although I love foreign films, I rarely head to the cinema as MOST people lack common courtesy. It is pretty bad when you head to a movie with a total of SEVEN viewers in the theatre and one women manages to crunch her candy wrapper for at least an hour of the film.

[skippercollector]

I've seen literally hundreds of movies in the theater, but these are the biggies, since Mary Poppins:

1969 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, at Dent Drive-In
1975 Jaws, at Northgate Cinemas
1977 Rocky, at what I think was Skywalk Cinemas
1977 Star Wars, at Showcase Erlanger
1978 Grease, at Showcase Erlanger
1978 Saturday Night Fever, at the second-run Westwood Cinema (first R movie I saw)
1980 Apocalypse Now, at Westwood Theater
1981 Raiders of the Lost Ark, at Covedale Theater
1982 Tootsie, at Northgate Cinemas
1984 A Nightmare on Elm Street, at Covedale Theater
1985 Ghostbusters, at Showcase Erlanger
1985 Back to the Future, at Showcase Springdale
1988 Rain Man, at Showcase Springdale
1990 The Little Mermaid, at Westwood Cinema
1991 Beauty and the Beast, at Showcase Springdale (I also saw it years later at the IMAX when it was briefly at Newport on the Levee)
1993 Jurassic Park, Showcase Springdale
1994 Forrest Gump, Covedale Theater
1995 Apollo 13, at Showcase Western Hills (my all-time favorite movie)
1996 Independence Day, at Showcase Western Hills
1996 The Full Monty, at the Esquire
1998 Titanic, at Showcase Western Hills
2004 The Day After Tomorrow, at Danbarry Western Hills (it was a first-run because for some reason Showcase Western Hills wasn't showing it)
2010 Avatar, at Danbarry Western Hills (a friend and I don't like James Cameron so we waited until a Tuesday at DB WH because admission is $2)

I've also seen some re-releases, such as some Disney movies, Gone with the Wind, 2001, Butch Cassidy and Lawrence of Arabia, at theaters.
As you can see, movies leave a great impression on me, which is why I often remember the theater.

[unusualfire]

I miss the Cinema grill that used to be in Mt Lookout.

[Hartwell Girl]

where was the woodlawn drive in located? i heard it closed in the mid 70's. i found some info about being on Springfield pike but i was wondering if it was were the kroger is now located or south of glendale-milford. any idea?

[MiddleCincinnati]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

where was the woodlawn drive in located? i heard it closed in the mid 70's. i found some info about being on Springfield pike but i was wondering if it was were the kroger is now located or south of glendale-milford. any idea?

The drive-in was located near the northeast corner of Springfield Pike and Glendale-Milford, or for people who prefer route numbers, 747 and Bypass 50. I can't quite picture it any more, but I believe the entrance lay south of the Goodwill, between the site of Jerry's (later Mr. Jim's Steakhouse, later still Daily Donuts) and the big truck-loading center. Seems to me the drive-in lot itself was behind the Goodwill and the Jerry's.

[t45209]

Originally Posted by Hartwell Girl

where was the woodlawn drive in located? i heard it closed in the mid 70's. i found some info about being on Springfield pike but i was wondering if it was were the kroger is now located or south of glendale-milford. any idea?

The Woodlawn Drive In was on Springfield Pike on or just south of the site of Goodwill Industries...about where that Processall small business is. Many times we drive by there and my dad points it out as the place he saw Psycho.

The Kroger is on the site of what once was a beautiful green pasture. As recently as the 1980s they were still raising cattle there, and the pasture was grazing land for them. There was a sign at the gate of the farm that proudly proclaimed that they raised Aberdeen Angus on the property. It was a shame to see that old farm disappear, but one good thing that came out of it was an example of adaptive reuse...the barn on the farm was a sturdy brick structure with gothic detailing. When they built the apartments, they repurposed the barn as the clubhouse.

[Hartwell Girl]

wow, i was way off. thanks for the help! i was trying to picture an area with fairly newer developments since it said it closed around 1975....i seem to forget that was over 35 years ago ;-) Thank you again for your help! there was a great show on about old drive in's in cincinnati and since i work in woodlawn we were all trying to figure out where it would have been. now i have an answer for them tomorrow! I told them this forum would have an answer for us!!

[goyguy]

My mind's eye still pictures the big green screen backdrop that faced the Pike. Kid-friendly flicks weren't screened there all that much, to my recollection, so I never saw anything there. But I think my sisters once went with a carload of chums to see some series or other (probably Disney.) One of the last movies presented was "Marathon Man." A friend of mine couldn't stop talking about the dentist drill scene.
The drive-in site is still mostly open land, with some scattered small businesses. Although the big shade trees and lush lawns of the Angus farm have also been relegated to memory it's still a jolt to see a strip mall where they'd been. OTOH a great deal of the surrounding acreage has been preserved and will stay that way, since it's now owned by the county park system.
I could go on about Woodlawn, but a chance will present itself soon enough.