Historic Houston Theaters

[57Tbird]

I clearly recall (around 1974) The Exorcist played "Exclusively" at this theater for a very long time. Lines were around the block every time we passed which was rare but relatives would go out of thier way to show us the mob scene. The fact that they would only show at this place heightened the curiosity & mystique of the infamous film.

I may have been in one of the "mob" scenes you saw. I distinctly remember standing in line around the shops on the west side of the theater and into the parking lot waiting to get in on a very cold winter night. It was in the 1974 time-frame you mention. It was quite shocking for its time, but very tame by today's standards.

[Vertigo58]

I may have been in one of the "mob" scenes you saw. I distinctly remember standing in line around the shops on the west side of the theater and into the parking lot waiting to get in on a very cold winter night. It was in the 1974 time-frame you mention. It was quite shocking for its time, but very tame by today's standards.

Trying not to stray from subject but this had to be the most "clever" advertising ever for a movie. They knew exactly how to tease the listener and viewer. The paperback book was always at the Weingarten store in our neighborhood (we kids had to peek inside when no grown ups were looking). An older girl at school took the book to school and she was the awe of us younger kids. Newspaper kept advertising ..."Held over for 10th Week!" Then the shock from all around the world from clergy and rumours of people getting possessed and others jumping off buildings after seeing the movie. It was relentless not matched to this day. My head is turning around now.

Regannnnnnn!!!!!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Exorcist_(film)

[devonhart]

I guess that a reason why they starting building them with more than one screen was in case parents wanted to see one movie and kids wanted to see another, one could go to one screen and the other could go to the other one.

I think it had to do more with profits, with the same staff it takes to run one screen, a movie operator could run two or more screens. More screens usually means more concession sales, which is where the real profits for the operator is.

[northbeaumont]

I think it had to do more with profits, with the same staff it takes to run one screen, a movie operator could run two or more screens. More screens usually means more concession sales, which is where the real profits for the operator is.

Oh, yes, movie theatre's major profits do indeed come from concession sales. The movie theatre in Central Mall in Port Arthur has signs on every screen door that outside food and drinks are not allowed inside. But I haven't been to a movie theatre since 1998, and I don't plan to go to one in the near or distant future. There's no movie that I can't wait for to come out at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, or the public library.

[devonhart]

There's no movie that I can't wait for to come out at Blockbuster, Hollywood Video, or the public library.

I'm a netflix guy, but I still go a few times a year, Casino Royale for example or 300 at IMAX. Is it the expense or the experience (rude patrons etc.) that turns you off.

I get to go during the weekday afternoons, a couple bucks cheaper, rarely crowded.

[northbeaumont]

I'm a netflix guy, but I still go a few times a year, Casino Royale for example or 300 at IMAX. Is it the expense or the experience (rude patrons etc.) that turns you off.

I get to go during the weekday afternoons, a couple bucks cheaper, rarely crowded.

Yes, 25% of my reasons for not going to a movie theatre have to do with both the expense (the snacks, not the admission) and the experience of rude patrons. The other 75% is that I'm getting older and I'm starting to have physical problems. If I were to go to a movie theatre today, I would spend at least 1/3 of the movie in the restroom. If I'm going to pay big bucks to see a movie, I want to see ALL of it.

[isuredid]

[brucesw]

Great ads, isuredid. I noticed Will Horwitz' ad for his Homefolks Theaters - Uptown, Texas, Iris, Ritz. Several of the movies were released in 1942 according to IMDB so this must not be long after his death. Into the mid-40s the ads for his theaters carried the line 'A Will Horwitz Estate Theater.'

[brucesw]

Aha - I've wondered what this building was for several years now but couldn't find anything about it:

.

The State Theater - I thought isuredid's ad said 5013 but I guess that's a 9 - 5913 Washington, just east of the Circle.

And the Stude, 11th @ Stude according to the ad. I've noticed that for years whenever I went to Someburger.

[SirTonk]

Rice University tore down the Village theater about 15 years ago. (Rice owns virtually all the land in the Village). I salvaged the ticket boxes from the theater as they were demolishing it. It was never a very fancy theater but still a good place to see a flick.

As far as I know, Weingarten owns alot of the property in the Village (the Village Arcade specifically) and it was their choice to tear down the theatre. West U also supported tearing it down and the preservation groups weren't able to come up with enough cash to save it.

It's especially ironic since the people of West U would probably like to have the place back and have it all fancied-up.

I think it had to do more with profits, with the same staff it takes to run one screen, a movie operator could run two or more screens. More screens usually means more concession sales, which is where the real profits for the operator is.

I can tell you that the River Oaks was converted to at 3 screen, in '86, because it wasn't worth it to keep the balcony. The theatre rarely sold all 900 seats, if ever, and they could make a whole lot more with another two screens. As far as the big chains, once the magic of the old one screens died it was easier to just throw a few more in there and keep them simple.

And yeah, with first-run films, 90% of income is generated from concessions. About 95% of ticket sales go back to the distributor of the film.

Aha - I've wondered what this building was for several years now but couldn't find anything about it:

.

The State Theater - I thought isuredid's ad said 5013 but I guess that's a 9 - 5913 Washington, just east of the Circle.

And the Stude, 11th @ Stude according to the ad. I've noticed that for years whenever I went to Someburger.

The State turned into the Abyss in the 90's and shut down for fire code violations in like '98 I think.

And the Stude is a church now, according to the tax assessor's site. Like every other theatre inside the loop that is still standing...

Edited January 13, 2008 by SirTonk

[Dan the Man]

The Village Theater and adjacent buildings on the block were torn down to make way for the second phase of the Village Arcade, a Weingarten development. It's too bad that they didn't save the theater; it would have made an interesting shell space for a restaurant or "faux funky" clothing store like urban outfitters.

[foxmulder]

I went to Barnes and Nobiles yesterday and found a book called Cinema Houston! It has info on ALL houston Cinema's/Movie Houses EVEN Ashikaga's Santa Rosa, winkler drive in! It's a great book it was $50 though i found a few sites that have it. Most pictures and info is cited as "houston public library"

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Cinema_Houston-...l?isrc=b-search

[Sharpstown Bill]

That's pretty cool--does it include drive-ins or just indoor?

[foxmulder]

That's pretty cool--does it include drive-ins or just indoor?

Both The red bluff in, Epsom, and many more

[northbeaumont]

I went to Barnes and Nobiles yesterday and found a book called Cinema Houston! It has info on ALL houston Cinema's/Movie Houses EVEN Ashikaga's Santa Rosa, winkler drive in! It's a great book it was $50 though i found a few sites that have it. Most pictures and info is cited as "houston public library"

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Cinema_Houston-...l?isrc=b-search

Excellent find. I'll ask the librarian here if she'll order it. I would think that a lot of you on the forum will want to buy it.

[sevfiv]

Great web site too:

http://www.cinemahouston.info/

He was signing his books around town a few weeks ago.

[liammclaren]

I have that book, it's a good one

[Firebird65]

I went to Barnes and Nobiles yesterday and found a book called Cinema Houston! It has info on ALL houston Cinema's/Movie Houses EVEN Ashikaga's Santa Rosa, winkler drive in! It's a great book it was $50 though i found a few sites that have it. Most pictures and info is cited as "houston public library"

http://www.bestwebbuys.com/Cinema_Houston-...l?isrc=b-search

That is too cool. I've been looking for good, clear pictures of the Airline and I-45 drive-ins.

Thanks!!!

[Subdude]

Great book. Very impressive research.

[Vertigo58]

That is too cool. I've been looking for good, clear pictures of the Airline and I-45 drive-ins.

Thanks!!!

I can only imagine what it would have been like had they left the Eastwood Theater alone. It was almost a replica of The Tower and wasn't even that old. Would have been very iconic to the area. I know a lady who's son was an usher there shortly before it was snuffed out. Grrr... and was just a grassy field for decades. Real *sigh*

[telwink]

This book is excellent. I had the pleasure of meeting the author, David Welling, at his book signing back on Dec. 20th at Story Sloane's gallery. I highly recommend checking out a copy of this book, if you can get your hands on it, and I'm sure that some local places carry it - including, possibly, Story Sloane's gallery.

~ 320 pages, hard-bound

The Table of Contents goes something like this:

1 - Stage Origins

2 - The Nickelodeons

3 - Bigger and Better

4 - The Majestics

5 - The Main Three: The Metropolitan, the Kirby, and Loew's State

6 - The Later 1920s: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet!

7 - Will Horwitz, Philanthropist

8 - The Neighborhood Theatre, 1934-1949

9 - Hoblitzelle's Interstate

10 - Jim Crow and the Ethnic Theatre

11 - The Fifties: The Incredible 3-D Wide-Screen Technicolor Stereophonic-Sound Ballyhoo Parade

12 - The Drive-in: A View from the Car Seat

13 - The Sixties: The Times, They Are A-Changin'

14 - The X-Houses

15 - From Multicinema to Multiplex: Safety in Numbers

16 - Let Them Eat Candy: The Concession Stand

17 - Beyond the Fringe: Midnight Movies and the Alternative Cinema

18 - Rediscovery in the Age of the Megaplex

19 - Perspectives: An Afterword

I can guarantee it is the most comprehensive source for the subject, as David Welling put a tremendous amount of work into this project. Well worth hunting down a copy.

[sevfiv]

Story Sloane had a few copies left a few weeks ago...

I think Brazos Books carries it as well.

[mkultra25]

I think I mentioned this book in another thread recently. I have a reasonably substantial library of books related to theater history and motion picture technology, and this book is the last word on a subject that's not been well-documented in the past. Run, don't walk, to the bookstore and get it if you're even slightly interested in Houston's old theaters.

[marmer]

I got it for Christmas and it is an absolutely lovely book. There is no old theatre that I know of that is not comprehensively covered. I second the enthusiastic recommendations. I actually was going to create a thread about this, but it fits here:

In the book, in the section devoted to the Village Theatre (which was an early Mackie and Kamrath, I had forgotten ) there is this intriguing passage:

After a period of sitting dormant, the property was acquired by Rice University. Plans were drawn up for a major reconstruction of the central Village shopping district, which would have required the demolition of the Village Theatre and neighboring buildings. Several preservation groups expressed a desire to save the cinema. Their concerns were politely rebuked...

(Jerry) Bryant's strategy was to seek $250,000 in corporate funding for the restoration process. The renovated theatre would host theatrical and musical performances, movies, civic affairs, and gatherings of Rice students. Rice and Weingarten were not receptive. To complicate matters, a city moratorium on the destruction of historic structures had been enacted by Mayor Lanier's administration a few years earlier. The theatre qualified for that protection because the Texas Historical Commission had declared it eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places. Rice asked the state to remove the building from the list. That request was refused, so the university waited for the moratorium to run out. The moratorium expired on January 1, 1994. By January 15, the Village was gone.

--David Welling, "Cinema Houston," p. 167

Isn't that interesting? A city moratorium on the destruction of historic structures enacted by the Lanier administration? Rice University actively opposing preservation of an historic theatre?

Hmmm.

[sevfiv]

there is this intriguing passage:

...a city moratorium on the destruction of historic structures had been enacted by Mayor Lanier's administration a few years earlier...Rice asked the state to remove the building from the list.

Isn't that interesting? A city moratorium on the destruction of historic structures enacted by the Lanier administration? Rice University actively opposing preservation of an historic theatre?

Hmmm.

Oh my, how somewhat recent memory fades! There must have been a small rift in the time space continuum to some other world

[Native Montrosian]

I made my tiny statement by purchasing my copy at the Alabama Bookstop.

[northbeaumont]

This book is excellent. I had the pleasure of meeting the author, David Welling, at his book signing back on Dec. 20th at Story Sloane's gallery. I highly recommend checking out a copy of this book, if you can get your hands on it, and I'm sure that some local places carry it - including, possibly, Story Sloane's gallery.

~ 320 pages, hard-bound

The Table of Contents goes something like this:

1 - Stage Origins

2 - The Nickelodeons

3 - Bigger and Better

4 - The Majestics

5 - The Main Three: The Metropolitan, the Kirby, and Loew's State

6 - The Later 1920s: You Ain't Heard Nothing Yet!

7 - Will Horwitz, Philanthropist

8 - The Neighborhood Theatre, 1934-1949

9 - Hoblitzelle's Interstate

10 - Jim Crow and the Ethnic Theatre

11 - The Fifties: The Incredible 3-D Wide-Screen Technicolor Stereophonic-Sound Ballyhoo Parade

12 - The Drive-in: A View from the Car Seat

13 - The Sixties: The Times, They Are A-Changin'

14 - The X-Houses

15 - From Multicinema to Multiplex: Safety in Numbers

16 - Let Them Eat Candy: The Concession Stand

17 - Beyond the Fringe: Midnight Movies and the Alternative Cinema

18 - Rediscovery in the Age of the Megaplex

19 - Perspectives: An Afterword

I can guarantee it is the most comprehensive source for the subject, as David Welling put a tremendous amount of work into this project. Well worth hunting down a copy.

Can you scan and post things from it for us to see?

[ricco67]

that wouldn't be allowed, that could put Ed in some legal trouble. We're already cutting it close to posting portions of the Chron.com articles on here.

[northbeaumont]

that wouldn't be allowed, that could put Ed in some legal trouble. We're already cutting it close to posting portions of the Chron.com articles on here.

I didn't know the legal implications involved. On another thread, someone posted an item that I mentioned out of the Guiness Book of World Records about the Astroworld Hotel. That's why I thought that it might be OK.

Edited January 25, 2008 by northbeaumont

[Firebird65]

I didn't know the legal implications involved. On another thread, someone posted an item that I mentioned out of the Guiness Book of World Records about the Astroworld Hotel. That's why I thought that it might be OK.

I'm not sure why the Chronicle gets so upset when some of their stuff is used on these boards. It's not like we're not going to buy their paper. They put it on their own web site for anyone to see free anyway. And it's not like we're claiming the work as our own... everyone always says "This is from the Houston Chronicle." Clear attribution.

Now a book is different. I can see why the publisher of a book wouldn't want excerpts posted... cause then people might not buy the book. There's only one book. But the paper is different each and every day - by definition. So even if somone posted all of yesterday's Chronicle on this site, it wouldn't harm today's sales.