Historic Houston Theaters

[gnu]

Okay, the Bluebonnet was at 1015 Broadway, just off 45. 

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1015 broadway puts the theater in Harrisburg. Maybe you mean just off the end of 225 or the south loop but not 45. I dunno what is there but I don't think it was the Bluebonnet.

The old theater in the Park Place circle at Broadway and 45 is currently the Circle Pawn Shop..... It opened in about 1941 as the Plaza Theater.

It is at (i think) 3818 broadway

[brucesw]

1015 broadway puts the theater in Harrisburg.  Maybe you mean just off the end of 225 or the south loop but not 45. I dunno what is there but I don't think it was the Bluebonnet.

The old theater in the Park Place circle at Broadway and 45 is currently the Circle Pawn Shop..... It opened in about 1941 as the Plaza Theater.

It is at (i think) 3818 broadway

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Okay, thanks. I didn't bother to look at the map; I thought I had read earlier in the thread that the one off 45 was the Bluebonnet. The location off 225 puts it closer to the one on 75th. Maybe I'll get a chance to see both of them.

[brucesw]

UPDATE:

[Guest danax]

Perhaps the Deluxe - it was on Lyons.

UPDATE:  The Roxy was at 2737 Lyons, the De Luxe at 3303 - looks like from the map, they would have been on either side of 59/Eastex Freeway.

The Venus was at 6515 Lyons - does that come close to I-10?

There was another theatre in the 6th? Ward, the Globe, but I haven't been able to find an address.

MFAH did a show at the De Luxe in 1971 of Black Houston artists called The De Luxe Show.  The catalog was published by Rice and is still available and probably has some pictures of the theatre.  From the poster of the show, it was pretty run down in 1971.

I'll have to put these on one of my Sunday morning tours.

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Here's one still hanging in there on Lyons, just east of 59. Another shot.

[texasboy]

Just look at what Houston has removed from this city. Damn, if only Downtown will ever have that many people again.

[djrage]

This is not quite the same type of theater but I seem to recall going to one place back around 81-82. I was about 11 or 12 so the memory is somewhat vague. I saw The Other Side of the Mountain 2 (yawn) and Back Roads (Didn't mind that one, I had a thing for Sally Field) there with my parents. It was a twin cinema. Something tells me it was off of S. Post Oak and W Belfort ...or in that area. Anyone have any idea what place that may have been?

[brucesw]

Here's one still hanging in there on Lyons, just east of 59. Another shot.

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That was the De Luxe. Sad.

Thanks for the pictures; I wasn't planning on doing a tour so didn't have my camera with me.

[Whitenoize]

Yes.  Almost directly across from it.

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The theater you are thinking about was called the 'Palm Theater'.

It was located on the Hwy 90 and Guenther.

I used to go there with my mom in the 80s.

I remember they had a Q-bert video game in the lobby.

That theater was great. Too bad they tore it down.

[Ashikaga]

The theaters I would have liked to have seen were the Loews State and Metropolitan on Main St.  From the pictures they must have been incredible.

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It appears that the only kind of movie theatres that will be open are ones with 10 to 20 screens. I think that I can safely say that the days of the one or two screen theatres are well in the past.

[Whitenoize]

Ok folks.... let's talk theaters some more!

Does anyone remember a theater inside the Memorial City mall in the 70s or 80s?

I have a vague memory of one with a huge lobby and stairs on the right side when you walk in. The stairs led to the balcony seats I assume.

I remember a red or burgundy carpet also.

Forgive me if the details are off. I was really young at the time.

[djrage]

Ok folks.... let's talk theaters some more!

Does anyone remember a theater inside the Memorial City mall in the 70s or 80s?

I have a vague memory of one with a huge lobby and stairs on the right side when you walk in. The stairs led to the balcony seats I assume.

I remember a red or burgundy carpet also.

Forgive me if the details are off. I was really young at the time.

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I remember a cineplex inside Memorial City mall. The last movie I saw there was Selena.

[sevfiv]

the Brunson in Baytown:

ticketbooth

interior...ick

[gnu]

the Brunson in Baytown:

WOW! I didnt realize it was gutted and open to the sky.

I know the city has been trying to get someone to restore it.

The last movie I saw there was The Empire Strikes Back - in the balcony theater (Like it is at the River Oaks but just one screen upstairs)

[TJones]

WOW! I didnt realize it was gutted and open to the sky.

I know the city has been trying to get someone to restore it.

The last movie I saw there was The Empire Strikes Back - in the balcony theater (Like it is at the River Oaks but just one screen upstairs)

I remember seeing Jaws, Dirty Harry, That Darn Cat, Posiedon Adventure, King Kong, and a slew of others at The Brunson growing up, then in about 1980 or so, my Dad and i discovered The Windsor Theater at 610 and Richmond. We would drive the 45 minutes or so form Baytown just to enjoy those huge, comfy, plush Blue Velvet seats. It was the definately the best way to see a movie.

[57Tbird]

my Dad and i discovered The Windsor Theater at 610 and Richmond.

When the Windsor first opened, it was a Cinerama theater. I remember seeing It's a Mad, Mad World and Grand Prix in the Cinerama format there. T is correct. Very nice seats!

[Guest danax]

When the Windsor first opened, it was a Cinerama theater. I remember seeing It's a Mad, Mad World and Grand Prix in the Cinerama format there. T is correct. Very nice seats!

Was the Cinerama a dome? They had a Cinerama Dome in CA when I was a kid. It seemed very futuristic.

It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World was the funniest movie I had ever seen for many years. Laughed till I cried in the theater. I think I was 6 or 7.

[57Tbird]

Was the Cinerama a dome?

No dome....just a huge curved screen. I think they used three projectors for the wrap-around effect. The first ones, I know, were done that way. It may have evolved to a one projector configuration later on. I think How the West Was Won was the first Cinerama movie.

[Heights2Bastrop]

My first real date was to the Cinerama to see How The West Was Won. I "doubled" with my sister and her boyfriend. I was in junior high at the time.

[djrage]

My first real date was to the Cinerama to see How The West Was Won. I "doubled" with my sister and her boyfriend. I was in junior high at the time.

What was Cinerama? What was the big deal and how did it work? This was before my time. I got here just in time for Sensurround.

Edited October 21, 2005 by djrage

[57Tbird]

What was Cinerama? What was the big deal and how did it work? This was before my time. I got here just in time for Senserround.

The screen was about a 90 degree arc/segment of a circle, if I remember correctly. I know the first Cinerama movies that came out used three cameras/lenses to shoot the action on three different reels. The three film reels were then placed in projectors that were synchronized to shoot in one-third sections on the screen, so that the motion/action would move from one section to another in a continuous motion to theoretically appear as shot with a single camera/lens. However, there was always a distinct separation/overlap between the sections that was, at times, very distracting. The best seats were at the center of the arc. I guess you could say it was a very rough version of today's IMAX, but the screen was not nearly as high. This is all from memory, so the details may not be exact, but it gives you a general idea of how the system worked. I think the first Cinerama movies debuted in the early 60's. That's when I saw my first one.

[brucesw]

No dome....just a huge curved screen. I think they used three projectors for the wrap-around effect. The first ones, I know, were done that way. It may have evolved to a one projector configuration later on. I think How the West Was Won was the first Cinerama movie.

The first Cinerama movie was "This is Cinerama," produced in 1952 and premiered in NY. There were numerous other travelogs in the 50s; "How the West Was Won" was released in '62 according to IMDB. I saw "This is Cinerama" in LA in 1955, the same summer my step-granddad took my brother and I to the newly opened Disneyland. It opens with Lowell Thomas, an investor in the company, reading a narration. Only the center of the screen is exposed. At a certain point, the curtains begin to roll back, and back, and back, and back (146 degree arc). The audience gasps and the gasps turn to shrieks as the opening sequence bursts on the screen, accompanied by sound seeming to come from everywhere: a very realistic roller coaster sequence with every member of the audience sitting in the first car. It was great fun, and Cinerama may never have gotten any better.

Wikipedia has a very good article on Cinerama including excerpts of Bosley Crowther's original NYT review.

Edited October 21, 2005 by brucesw

[57Tbird]

The first Cinerama movie was "This is Cinerama," produced in 1952 and premiered in NY. There were numerous other travelogs in the 50s; "How the West Was Won" was released in '62 according to IMDB.

You're right! I had forgotten about that one. I saw it, so must have been at the Windsor. I don't think the Windsor Theater was built until the early 60's, though. I know the Windsor shopping center was under construction in the mid-50's because we had impromptu drag races on several Sunday afternoons in the parking lot, which was completed while the shopping center buildings were still under contruction.

[TJones]

One of my favorite teenage memories, is going to the Windsor , to see "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" I was 16 and a huge John Hughes fan, and to able to enjoy one of my alltime favorite movies at that theater, is just fantastic. I really believe the comfy chairs made the movie that much better for me.

[Slidey]

Does anybody have any interior photos of the Alabama Theater, from before it became the Bookstop? I'm curious what the balcony area used to contain ... where was the projection booth? Was there a concession stand up there?

I'm also looking for any information about the Theater between when it was built in the 1930s and when it was converted.

Thanks!

Steph

slideyfloor @ yahoo.com

[sevfiv]

this isn't exactly a definitive source, but has a little bit of information and a few links to start with:

http://cinematreasures.org/theater/1462

this is from the development company:

http://www.kaldis.com/alabama.html

i have some books at home...maybe i can find something more

Edited November 10, 2005 by sevfiv

[57Tbird]

Does anybody have any interior photos of the Alabama Theater, from before it became the Bookstop? I'm curious what the balcony area used to contain ... where was the projection booth? Was there a concession stand up there?

I'm also looking for any information about the Theater between when it was built in the 1930s and when it was converted.

Thanks!

Steph

slideyfloor @ yahoo.com

Try The Center for American History There was no concession stand in the balcony area that I can remember from the mid 40's - early 60's.

Edited November 10, 2005 by 57Tbird

[sevfiv]

Try The Center for American History

good link - you can order duplications now too on a case by case basis

[Subdude]

Those Bob Bailey photos do include an interior of the Alabama.

[Slidey]

Thanks! That's exactly what I was looking for.

[Ashikaga]

What Houston used to advertise as its theater district.

Interior of the Metropolitan Theater.

Metropolitan Theater Exterior.

Lobby of Loew's State theater, next to the Metropolitan.

Loew's State entrance:

Majestic Theater, Rusk between Main and Travis.

Delman Theater, Main at Wheeler. This was just torn down last year after a fire.

Mike Rivest's Ultimate Theatre website lists these theatres. Some of them go back as far as the 1920s. Are what housed the Kirby and the Metropolitan extant?