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Sure. Like I said, most of his movies were horrible, actually. His theaters though, were not! He was better at theaters than he was at movies, if that makes sense. I do remember eating breakfast though with some actors who ended up being quite famous! Jaclyn Smith and Slim Pickens. Slim was already pretty famous but this was before Charley's Angels made Jaclyn Smith famous.
What brand was his theater? I live in the south so I wondered if I ever attended a showing at one of them.
My great uncle started with theaters in tents but eventually built a smashing theater in New Orleans, which has been thankfully refurbished after being destroyed by Katrina.
That is wonderful. So glad it was saved and blessings to whoever cared enough to restore it.
My mom would take me and my sister to the movies every weekend (sometimes 2 or 3). Many of our old theaters were really quite beautiful, but my favorite was the Waikiki #3.
It was a stunning art deco building and the interior had decorative palm trees, other vegetation with birds lining the sides and hazy clouds on the sky (ceiling); when the lights were darkened tiny lights twinkled.
My grandfather helped with the decorative aspects in the theater and I always felt a little smug when I overheard tourists admiring the effect.
How interesting! Care to expound on this subject at all?
Please do. Paramount, Warner, and RKO were majors. The only three local circuits I can think of that even could claim a hundred or more were Gulf States, Martin, and U.A. - which was large enough to have major divisions.
We had a couple of these theaters in town that remained for a time after the multiplexes came in. They would show midnight matinees and different things, one of the theaters was only a dollar for admission. We had fun going to midnight shows and there was a 24 hr diner nearby so everyone went there after. Those theaters and Drive Ins were their own experiences that you just didn't get going to a cineplex.
The Santee Drive In is closing on New Year's Eve (Santee is a small town in San Diego East County). We've been planning to go for years, just for the experience, but something always came up, and now it's too late. Another little fun piece of the past is disappearing.
Please do. Paramount, Warner, and RKO were majors. The only three local circuits I can think of that even could claim a hundred or more were Gulf States, Martin, and U.A. - which was large enough to have major divisions.
This was throughout the southern states. Especially Louisiana and Arkansas, but also through other southern states. The theaters were named several different names over the years.
I remember going to the little strip mall theater out in small town Texas with Mom to see "Two Weeks Notice". It was a Friday, the place was packed, and the cashier looked at me oddly when I asked if there was a senior's discount ...... it was dollar night or something. We weren't from around there. And what do I remember most?
Two high school girls standing by the take your photo box, one of them tying the halter top of the other.
Gee thanks--I have fond, vivid memories of single screen movie theaters, and I don't consider myself "seriously old." I loved going to our local movie theater so much that I made a cardboard model of it when I was 11 years old, with little drawings of movie posters and stills. The owner of the theater gave me a stack of obsolete tickets, and I played "going to the movies" with my little model. On weekends we went to see whatever the theater was playing, or we took the bus downtown to one of the movie palaces with the huge screens. Around the World in 80 Days...The Alamo...West Side Story...How the West Was Won...Charade...My Fair Lady...A great time to grow up and become a movie lover. The breathtaking movie experience was being whittled away already with the multiplexes. Our little local theater soldiered on as a single screen until into the mid-80s, and then it closed.
Gee thanks--I have fond, vivid memories of single screen movie theaters, and I don't consider myself "seriously old."
Same here; I'm in my sixties and remember single screens, nice-sized theaters, buying snacks that didn't cost the moon, and courteous people in the audience.
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So glad it was saved and blessings to whoever cared enough to restore it.
Another little fun piece of the past is disappearing.
Our little local theater soldiered on as a single screen until into the mid-80s, and then it closed. 
