Paramount Theatre
827 S. White Station Road,
Memphis,
TN
38138
827 S. White Station Road,
Memphis,
TN
38138
5 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 36 comments
Given the exterior marquee, the interior color scheme, the movie playing in the photo above and owned by Plitt: THIS is the sister theater to Century Plaza Los Angeles, Northpoint San Francisco and Plaza Daly City in California! I bet it was dark and cavernous lots of gold and purple. Played Fofire and The Last Temptation of Christ towards the end! They all played these films. đź¤đź¤
and taken over by Malco theatres in 1985.
Taken over by Rand Theatres along with the Park in 1981
First Vistarama screen in the USA was installed on July 25th, 1968, in time for “2001: a space odyssey”. one was installed for Expo 67 in Montreal. Article posted.
The Paramount opened on November 19th, 1964 with “send me no flowers”. Grand opening ad posted.
KStar, it was a Plitt theater, yes.
So it never made it to being a Plitt theater?
In what year did Malco take over ownership of this theater?
@staylor066 I saw POPEYE too but I cannot remember the theater, I was all of like 4 or 5.
I was saying that I had the wrong theater, in regards to the “Empire” release. I realize that they are two different theaters.
JAlex: I think the comments were just making reference to this Park Theatre on Park Avenue. The Paramount was always called the Paramount.
A few of the comments refer to this theatre as the Park. When did the name change occur?
I saw the 1980 Popeye movie starring Robin Williams at this theater when I was 6. I also saw Empire Strikes Back at Park, had to sit in my Dad’s lap near the back row because no seats were available at the night viewing we went to. We must’ve went opening night.
Yes, Empire was at the Park. The first run of Star Wars was at the Paramount, but the theater had been split into by that time. The line was stretched to the back of the building by the time I arrived. They’d not expected crowds of that sort. There wasn’t enough time for people to buy popcorn going in; consession workers were carrying boxes of popcorn up and down the aisle.
Actually, it was most likely The Park where I saw “Empire.” They had the exclusive 70mm showing there, and I saw it on opening day, first morning show, with FIVE people!! (Guess not a huge “Star Wars” base in Memphis…)
In 1965 it was known as a hard tiucket run. Tickets were printed on a light cardboard for each seat for each performance. You could buy your tickets in advance or at the box office for each performance. The box office had a print of the theatre seating and you could select yours seats if they were available. They also had mail orders for reserved seats at that time. You could choose your seats and give alternate locations. There were mail order forms, sometimes in the newspapers or you could pick them up at the theatre box office.
How, starting in 1965, did a 79 week reserved-seat run work? How were seats reserved?
It was 50 years ago today that “The Sound of Music” premiered at the Paramount. With a reserved-seat run of 79 weeks, it’s almost certainly the long-run record holder for this venue. (Anyone know of something that ran longer?)
IMDb says January 1979, was the release date.
Does anyone remember seeing the movie “The Late Great Planet Earth” at the Paramount? I saw it but can’t remember when it was actually shown there. Thank you for any help in this matter.
Like most Memphians in the 60s, this was where we saw “The Sound of Music.” “Ice Station Zebra” played there a long time also. Two buddies and I snuck out of Central High to go to the first showing of “The Exorcist.” David forged a note from his mom about a doctor’s appointment. He then ran to a pay phone by the Methodist Hospital. Bruce and I then went separately to the principle’s office and told them we were sick. We called the payphone and David passed himself off as our mothers to the lady in the office. We caught a bus out east and got into the first showing. My last memory of the Paramount was seeing the lousy Led Zeppelin concert movie “The Song Remains the Same.” There was a Shoney’s next to the theater I remember seeing a group of old diners looking on in horror at all of us “long haired hippies” lined up to see the movie.
I saw “The Empire Strikes Back” at the Park Theatre during it’s original run. It was in 70 MM and the film kept breaking. I was given a pass to return…management attributed the breakage to a mis-aligned film gate.
I spoke with my friend who attended “The Empire Strikes Back” premiere back in May of 1980, at the Paramount, and he agrees that it was a single screen at that time. Also, there WAS some 60s uniqueness to its design, and it had a great sign.
Another PARAMOUNT check out the PARAMOUNT Nashville, Tennessee on C.T.
According to Boxoffice Magazine, November 30, 1964, the opening of the Paramount in Eastgate Shopping Center had taken place on November 19. The new ABC-Paramount showplace began as single-screener with 858 seats in its gold-draped, curtain wall auditorium. Like most ABC theaters of the period, it was designed by architect Henry G. Greene, who attended the opening.