Historic Houston Theaters

[sevfiv]

the OST theater:

[TJones]

Sev, Darn you and your never ending supply of photos ! (shakes a fist at Sev.)

[Diane]

Thanks for posting this picture of the old OST. I was in the audience there at least once a week for either the Friday night feature or the Saturday morning "Fun Club." Mr. Foster, the manager, ran a "tight ship" & would patrol the aisles with his flashlight making sure that we behaved ourselves. On Sat mornings they would often have local "stars" show up to give autographs to the kids. I remember one morning when wrestling star, Ray Gunkel & country star, Jerry Jericho, were there but none of the kids, except me, seemed to know who Jerry was. We didn't have a TV yet, at that time, but I was a big c/w music fan & listened to the KNUZ c/w shows religiously. The kids in Ray Gunkel's line stretched all around the lobby but Jerry Jericho's line only had one fan.....me. I remember feeling sorry for him & tried to make conversation but was too shy to be very convincing.

As our group got older, the Friday night feature became more appealing & we didn't particularly care what was on the screen, we just went to "see & be seen." It was even better if your current "interest" was there & sometimes, Mr. Foster would open the balcony seats for "hand holding", if we were lucky. Such innocence in the fifties. Thanks for the memories!

[PCfixit]

Would anyone have any pictures of the inside or outside of the gulfgate cinema or maybe even a close up picture of the walkover bridge from gulfgate mall? I have seen alot of aerial photos but you can't see any details and it looks like they were taken before the cinema was built.

[TJones]

Sev, if you are out and about, maybe you could run over to Galena Park, and take a few shots of the El Capitan theater. It is just north of 225 over by the Washburn tunnel.

Edited December 3, 2005 by TJones

[Subdude]

Picture of the OST when it had neon:

And detail of El Capital neon:

[TJones]

that second pic of the el capt. is that out of the chronicle or the post ?

[Subdude]

Chronicle

[gnu]

Sev, if you are out and about, maybe you could run over to Galena Park, and take a few shots of the El Capitan theater. It is just north of 225 over by the Washburn tunnel.

The El Capitan's sister theater is the Granada. It's out Jensen near Tidwell and It's still there, I dont remember what it is now, if anything. I took a "scenic" drive out Jensen a couple of months ago and "found" it. Sorry no pics though.

There is also another old theater near the El Capitan. I think it's a shooting range now. It is in the old Pasadena downtown area..maybe on Shaw? I don't know what it was called though.

[TJones]

Chronicle

Someone bought that place about 15 yrs ago or so, and redid all the neon and everything, It was beautiful, but I think it has rundown again.

Edited December 3, 2005 by TJones

[sevfiv]

is the capitan lit up at night? i guess i'll find out tonight

anyhow, i read that the city of pasadena bought it and redid the front and neon hoping to turn it into a public performance hall or something like that - i guess that got scrapped

and Diane, thanks for sharing the memories - i always love to hear people's experiences at these places

Edited December 4, 2005 by sevfiv

[Subdude]

More info

[sevfiv]

[gnu]

Sevfiv,

When you went out to the Epson Drive-In...Did you happen to snap some shots of the Granada theatre, near there on Jensen? I think it has the same facade as the Capitan but it says Granada where it says pasadena on the capitan.

I keep saying I am gonna go up there and take a pic but I haven't made it yet.

Gnu

[sevfiv]

Sevfiv,

When you went out to the Epson Drive-In...Did you happen to snap some shots of the Granada theatre, near there on Jensen? I think it has the same facade as the Capitan but it says Granada where it says pasadena on the capitan.

I keep saying I am gonna go up there and take a pic but I haven't made it yet.

Gnu

i didn't make it to the granada, but i plan on heading back to that area soon. i'll check it out as well as the epsom drive-in, since it was raining and i got soaked when i went (i am surprised any of the pictures actually turned out)

Edited December 21, 2005 by sevfiv

[gnu]

i didn't make it to the granada, but i plan on heading back to that area soon. i'll check it out as well as the epsom drive-in, since it was raining and i got soaked when i went (i am surprised any of the pictures actually turned out)

i know everyone appreciates your contributions! rain or shine

keep up the good work!

thanks!!!

[sevfiv]

the granada on jensen - the interior looked really neat through the glass doors, but the exterior was missing all the bulbs and in a pretty trashy strip mall... :closedeyes:

[gnu]

the granada on jensen - the interior looked really neat through the glass doors, but the exterior was missing all the bulbs and in a pretty trashy strip mall... :closedeyes:

Great pics! The interior does look cool. I'll bet it was pretty nice in its day.

At least it didn't get gutted...yet.

Edited December 29, 2005 by gnu

[Subdude]

Once again thanks for great pictures. I just drove up there the other day to check it out, but I didn't realize you could get inside. Great interior.

[Markus]

Hey, the Capitan looks great!

I grew up in Pasadena and the old theater looked pretty bad at some points. The city bought the whole strip there and made the entire thing into some type of 'city services' building as well as redoing the front of the Capitan.

They did that around '95 iirc, and at my age then didn't care much about it. But I'm pretty proud of 'em for doing it now that I appreicate these type things. Pasadena did that with a few old buildings...why, I have no idea, but like I said I really appreciate it now. Wish they could have gone over to South Houston and saved the BEST building as well.

The other theater in 'old downtown' Pasadena IS the gunrange on Shaw. The range has been there as long as I remember, and I used to do odd jobs there when I was young (~14 or so, I was born in '75)

..oh, and don't forget the triple-X drive in on Red Bluff! It was a favorite bicycle destination for the older kids to sneak too when I was waaay young.

[Ashikaga]

Hey, the Capitan looks great!

I grew up in Pasadena and the old theater looked pretty bad at some points. The city bought the whole strip there and made the entire thing into some type of 'city services' building as well as redoing the front of the Capitan.

They did that around '95 iirc, and at my age then didn't care much about it. But I'm pretty proud of 'em for doing it now that I appreicate these type things. Pasadena did that with a few old buildings...why, I have no idea, but like I said I really appreciate it now. Wish they could have gone over to South Houston and saved the BEST building as well.

The other theater in 'old downtown' Pasadena IS the gunrange on Shaw. The range has been there as long as I remember, and I used to do odd jobs there when I was young (~14 or so, I was born in '75)

..oh, and don't forget the triple-X drive in on Red Bluff! It was a favorite bicycle destination for the older kids to sneak too when I was waaay young.

On DriveIns.Com, a guy I graduated from high school with posted a comment about the Red Bluff Drive-In Theatre. He said that it spent its last days as an X-rated theatre and that it had a tall wooden fence around it so that people couldn't see the screen from the outside.

[Markus]

On DriveIns.Com, a guy I graduated from high school with posted a comment about the Red Bluff Drive-In Theatre. He said that it spent its last days as an X-rated theatre and that it had a tall wooden fence around it so that people couldn't see the screen from the outside.

You could see. I can't even fathom it having such a thing these days.

Just think how tall that "fence" would have to be to fully protect a four story screen.

Also, the fence that was there didn't completely around it. It was similar to a large aluminum boundry that auto 'junk yards' have.

[Ashikaga]

You could see. I can't even fathom it having such a thing these days.

Just think how tall that "fence" would have to be to fully protect a four story screen.

Also, the fence that was there didn't completely around it. It was similar to a large aluminum boundry that auto 'junk yards' have.

Oh, did you personally look over and/or through that "fence"? What movie were they showing that night, The Devil in Miss Jones? On DriveIns.Com it shows an X-rated theatre currently operating in Tyler, Texas called The Apache. It shows a photo of a small projection booth right in front of the screen. To me, it doesn't look like it would be an enjoyable experience to try to watch any movie there.

[Markus]

Oh, did you personally look over and/or through that "fence"?

Under.

[Ashikaga]

Under.

After the movie, you must have had a terrible backache and/or a crick in your neck.

[Markus]

After the movie, you must have had a terrible backache and/or a crick in your neck.

from the whoopin's dished out by our parents when they found out?....yes.

[Ashikaga]

from the whoopin's dished out by our parents when they found out?....yes.

No, I meant from being on the ground on your knees or your stomach with your head underneath the bottom of the "fence" tilted towards the screen for such a long period of time.

[riverrat]

Having grown up in Channelview, I well remember the Brunson in Baytown. Did you know there was also a theater in Channelview called the SANJA? It opened in the late 40's and closed in the early 60's. During the segregated 50's, black patrons were only allowed into the balcony, which had its own entrance up a flight of stairs on the outside of the building. The SANJA was owned by the same theater company that owned the BRUNSON in old Goose Creek and also the BAYWAY in old Baytown. There was also a theater in Pelly. During the early 60's, I dated the daughter of the manager of the DECKER DRIVE-IN. Her name was Charm Bengtson. I think she finally got tired of me...all I ever wanted to do was go to the movies...I guess because we got in free!!

[Ashikaga]

More info

Yes, in that picture of the Santa Rosa Theatre that FOXMULDER took, you can see that it had been stripped of its marquee.

[Ashikaga]

No, I meant from being on the ground on your knees or your stomach with your head underneath the bottom of the "fence" tilted towards the screen for such a long period of time.

DriveIns.Com says that there is a drive-in theatre called the Starlite open in Porter, Texas, about ten miles north of the Houston city limits on U.S. Highway 59. It currently has one screen, and a second screen is under construction. Has anyone out there been to it yet?

Its website conveys the image that it's a family theatre. So I don't think that they will need to build a fence.

You could see. I can't even fathom it having such a thing these days.

Just think how tall that "fence" would have to be to fully protect a four story screen.

Also, the fence that was there didn't completely around it. It was similar to a large aluminum boundry that auto 'junk yards' have.

Yes, I double-checked David Snyder's comment on DriveIns.Com. He did indeed say that the Red Bluff Drive-In had a tall fence (he didn't say that it was wooden).