The last operator of the Route 222 Drive In was Anstadt and Wolfe Theatres (Paul Angstadt and Richard C. Wolfe). Originally build by the Finch family on ground owned by that family.
The pictures of the tickets shown above are for the Majestic Theatre in Mt Penn and not the Majectic Theatre on Oley Street in downtown Reading. I am fairly certain the Majestic in downtown Reading was long gone before prices got to the amount shown on that ticket.
The Majestic in Mt Penn is often referred to as being in Reading but Mt Penn is a separate suburb several miles to the East of Reading proper.
The Cinema Treasures listing for the Majestic in Mt Penn (also known as Mount Penn) is found here:
The Seneca Theatre opened on Thursday August 27, 1942 with “Take A Letter Darling” starring Rosalind Russell and Fred McMurray. One of several opening articles with photo has been uploaded to the photo section.
At the time the Auditorium Theatre was built in 1928, Fleetwood Pennsylvania was the world renown home of the Fleetwood Metal Body Works which made automobile bodies for Cadillac – which is where the Cadillac Fleetwood designation comes from.
The Auditorium Theatre in the fire company builing was used for movies. The last theatre operator was Paul Angstadt – who still operates the Strand Theatre in Kutztown PA as of today.
Paul Anststadt’s operation of the Fleetwood Theatre was his first theatre venture. Paul later became the manager of the Fox Theatre in Reading PA and later still the mayor of the City of Reading PA. In between Paul was partners with Richard Wolfe (of Roxy Theatre Northampton fame) in Angstadt and Wolfe Theatres.
Sorry Marc. My bad. Memory fades as you get older.
NOLD was released on October 1, 1968 and not 1969 so there may have been playdates in summer of 1969. I saw it around Halloween (or shortly thereafter) in Reading PA in 1968 and not 1969.
I know NOLD sometime either in 1969 or 1970 on the bottom half of a double bill with Tod Browning’s Freaks. Then still later around 1972 (I think) as the bottom half of a double bill with ‘Slaves’ which was also released by Walter Reade’s Continential Films.
Mark C – you wont find any advertisements for Night of the Living Dead from the summer of 1969. NOLD was not released to theatres until October 1, 1969 with the premiere held in Pittsburg PA area where it was filmed.
The initial release of NOLD was very spotty due to its being handled by the Walter Reade Organizations’s Continental Films who really had no idea what they had on their hands nor what to do with it. Because I knew some people involved with the audio production on the film I went out of my way to see NOLD as soon as I could.
I first saw NOLD about two weeks before Halloween in October 1969 at the Embassy Theatre in downtown Reading PA on the bottom half of a double bill with ‘The Fiendish Ghouls’. Fiendish Ghouls was a re-cut and retitled version of the 1960 British film about grave robbers Burk and Hare called ‘Flesh and the Fiends’ and starred Peter Cushing.
Originally built as a single screen showplace by Schwartz Theaters of Dover Delaware in either the late 1960’s or the very early 1970’s. Later then carved up into three screens. I remember that when American Graffiti came out in the fall of 1973 it played at the Cinema Center for a very long time.
According to Rent Track (nightly film gross reporting site for commercial theatres) the West Shore has been listed as “Closed” since February 2015. From that time forward the West Shore appears to have been running DVDs from Redbox. Wonder if they paid the film companies for use of those DVDs.
This version of the Shillington Theatre was a nice second run neighborhood theatre for many years. However it was not until the late 1960’s that the
Shillington Theatre was able to run movies on Sundays due to the local municipality refusing to repeal and continuing to enforce Pennsylvania’s antiquated “blue laws” which forbade entertainment (and bars) being open on Sundays unless the local muncipality voted otherwise.
Around 1968 the Shillington theatre was switched to first run for a short time after most of the aging downtown Reading first run theatres were either closed or burned to the ground (urban renweal at its finest) Once the suburban mall theatres aroung Reading opened the Shillington reverted untimately reverted to second run.
Sometime in the 1970’s the Shillington was twinned with a wall up the middle.
In the late 1970’s through its closing in the late 1980’s the Shillington became a quasi- art house showing more popular art house product. If I recall “The Gods Must Be Crazy” played one screen of the Shillington for at least 6 months to the point where the print became almost destroyed and missing the last few minutes (but they continued to play it anyway).
The woman who was convicted in Jan 1973 of setting the fire that destroyed the vacant Strand Theatre in August 1972 killing two people has been granted a new trial on the basis of scientific advances in the detection of fire origins.
Note there is picture of the Strand as Photo #2 of the array in the attached article.
The Berwick Theatre is scheduled to be featured on an upcoming episode of the new Fox Business Network show “Strange Inheritances”. The episode is currently scheduled for Monday March 16, 2015 at 9:00PM ET.
Not exactly sure why they consider inheriting a movie theatre to be strange.
This was known for years as the Mt. Penn Drive In.
In 1968 the assistant manager was Richard Wolfe who runs the Cinema Treasures favorite Roxy Theatre in Northampton PA. I believe that Wolfe got some sort of recognition for his cutout Drive IN Marquee design for the Mt Penn Drive In for the movie “Where Were You When the Lights Went Out” with Doris Day.
I suspect the closing of the Penn Theatre had more to do with market manipulation than the cost of renovating for wide screen.
The deed to the Penn Theatre when it was sold specifically prohibits it from ever being used as movie theatre in the future. That sort of deed restriction was more common than one would imagine.
The last operator of the Skyview was Angstadt & Wolfe Theatres. (That Angstadt is former Reading Mayor Paul Angstadt who still operates the Strand in Kutztown PA and that Wolfe is Richard Wolfe who still operates the Cinema Treasturs Favorite Roxy Theatre in Northampton PA) I belive the Skyview closed in the late 70’s or very early 80’s.
The last operator of the Route 222 Drive In was Anstadt and Wolfe Theatres (Paul Angstadt and Richard C. Wolfe). Originally build by the Finch family on ground owned by that family.
The Photo above is for the community Easter Show in April 1944. That is why the fellow in the front row (who was a magician) is holding a rabbit.
Photo curtesy of Fleetwood historical society.
The pictures of the tickets shown above are for the Majestic Theatre in Mt Penn and not the Majectic Theatre on Oley Street in downtown Reading. I am fairly certain the Majestic in downtown Reading was long gone before prices got to the amount shown on that ticket.
The Majestic in Mt Penn is often referred to as being in Reading but Mt Penn is a separate suburb several miles to the East of Reading proper.
The Cinema Treasures listing for the Majestic in Mt Penn (also known as Mount Penn) is found here:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/30154
Under the proposed Justice Department Settlement Agreement AMC has been given the choice to divest the Rockaway 16 or the Digiplex Sparta 3.
The Settlement Agreement dated December 20, 2016 with all the divestiture options for the 15 locations (attached as Exhibit “A” thereto) is found at:
https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/3243358/AMC-Carmike-PFJ-2.pdf
The Seneca Theatre opened on Thursday August 27, 1942 with “Take A Letter Darling” starring Rosalind Russell and Fred McMurray. One of several opening articles with photo has been uploaded to the photo section.
October 1939 Fleetwood Auditorium Schedule currently for sale on Ebay:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1939-Fleetwood-Pennsylvania-Auditorium-Theatre-Schedule-Poster-WIZARD-of-OZ-Etc-/381832165406?hash=item58e6f8781e:g:HP8AAOSwH6lXQlJQ
At the time the Auditorium Theatre was built in 1928, Fleetwood Pennsylvania was the world renown home of the Fleetwood Metal Body Works which made automobile bodies for Cadillac – which is where the Cadillac Fleetwood designation comes from.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fleetwood_Metal_Body
The Auditorium Theatre in the fire company builing was used for movies. The last theatre operator was Paul Angstadt – who still operates the Strand Theatre in Kutztown PA as of today.
Paul Anststadt’s operation of the Fleetwood Theatre was his first theatre venture. Paul later became the manager of the Fox Theatre in Reading PA and later still the mayor of the City of Reading PA. In between Paul was partners with Richard Wolfe (of Roxy Theatre Northampton fame) in Angstadt and Wolfe Theatres.
Let’s see if I got this straight. Two separate premium 14 screen complexes located within three miles of one another both opening about the same time.
I am sure that having 15 screens including a 420 seat IMAX just nine miles up the road in Lititz PA does not help.
Another article – this time from dose.com:
https://dose.com/100-year-old-tango-theater-is-now-a-bookstore-and-its-spectacular-50c8b181b1df#.8dgnwn8e1
(Wish I knew how to hotlink on this site)
The new screen sure shrunk in size.
https://www.facebook.com/haarspadrivein/photos/pb.506999386030438.-2207520000.1469323457./1136323086431395/?type=3&theater
The old screen is already down.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqgxqeNyHpk
Sorry Marc. My bad. Memory fades as you get older.
NOLD was released on October 1, 1968 and not 1969 so there may have been playdates in summer of 1969. I saw it around Halloween (or shortly thereafter) in Reading PA in 1968 and not 1969.
I know NOLD sometime either in 1969 or 1970 on the bottom half of a double bill with Tod Browning’s Freaks. Then still later around 1972 (I think) as the bottom half of a double bill with ‘Slaves’ which was also released by Walter Reade’s Continential Films.
Mark C – you wont find any advertisements for Night of the Living Dead from the summer of 1969. NOLD was not released to theatres until October 1, 1969 with the premiere held in Pittsburg PA area where it was filmed.
The initial release of NOLD was very spotty due to its being handled by the Walter Reade Organizations’s Continental Films who really had no idea what they had on their hands nor what to do with it. Because I knew some people involved with the audio production on the film I went out of my way to see NOLD as soon as I could.
I first saw NOLD about two weeks before Halloween in October 1969 at the Embassy Theatre in downtown Reading PA on the bottom half of a double bill with ‘The Fiendish Ghouls’. Fiendish Ghouls was a re-cut and retitled version of the 1960 British film about grave robbers Burk and Hare called ‘Flesh and the Fiends’ and starred Peter Cushing.
Link to opening day article:
https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1955&dat=19550802&id=Nw0rAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v5oFAAAAIBAJ&pg=5906,347786&hl=en
Originally built as a single screen showplace by Schwartz Theaters of Dover Delaware in either the late 1960’s or the very early 1970’s. Later then carved up into three screens. I remember that when American Graffiti came out in the fall of 1973 it played at the Cinema Center for a very long time.
According to Rent Track (nightly film gross reporting site for commercial theatres) the West Shore has been listed as “Closed” since February 2015. From that time forward the West Shore appears to have been running DVDs from Redbox. Wonder if they paid the film companies for use of those DVDs.
This version of the Shillington Theatre was a nice second run neighborhood theatre for many years. However it was not until the late 1960’s that the Shillington Theatre was able to run movies on Sundays due to the local municipality refusing to repeal and continuing to enforce Pennsylvania’s antiquated “blue laws” which forbade entertainment (and bars) being open on Sundays unless the local muncipality voted otherwise.
Around 1968 the Shillington theatre was switched to first run for a short time after most of the aging downtown Reading first run theatres were either closed or burned to the ground (urban renweal at its finest) Once the suburban mall theatres aroung Reading opened the Shillington reverted untimately reverted to second run.
Sometime in the 1970’s the Shillington was twinned with a wall up the middle.
In the late 1970’s through its closing in the late 1980’s the Shillington became a quasi- art house showing more popular art house product. If I recall “The Gods Must Be Crazy” played one screen of the Shillington for at least 6 months to the point where the print became almost destroyed and missing the last few minutes (but they continued to play it anyway).
The woman who was convicted in Jan 1973 of setting the fire that destroyed the vacant Strand Theatre in August 1972 killing two people has been granted a new trial on the basis of scientific advances in the detection of fire origins.
Note there is picture of the Strand as Photo #2 of the array in the attached article.
http://www.pennlive.com/midstate/index.ssf/2015/04/letitia_smallwood_arson_convic_1.html
The Berwick Theatre is scheduled to be featured on an upcoming episode of the new Fox Business Network show “Strange Inheritances”. The episode is currently scheduled for Monday March 16, 2015 at 9:00PM ET.
Not exactly sure why they consider inheriting a movie theatre to be strange.
This was known for years as the Mt. Penn Drive In.
In 1968 the assistant manager was Richard Wolfe who runs the Cinema Treasures favorite Roxy Theatre in Northampton PA. I believe that Wolfe got some sort of recognition for his cutout Drive IN Marquee design for the Mt Penn Drive In for the movie “Where Were You When the Lights Went Out” with Doris Day.
I suspect the closing of the Penn Theatre had more to do with market manipulation than the cost of renovating for wide screen.
The deed to the Penn Theatre when it was sold specifically prohibits it from ever being used as movie theatre in the future. That sort of deed restriction was more common than one would imagine.
Mark this one closed.
Did not want to make the switch to digital.
The last operator of the Skyview was Angstadt & Wolfe Theatres. (That Angstadt is former Reading Mayor Paul Angstadt who still operates the Strand in Kutztown PA and that Wolfe is Richard Wolfe who still operates the Cinema Treasturs Favorite Roxy Theatre in Northampton PA) I belive the Skyview closed in the late 70’s or very early 80’s.