Penn Theatre

I was releif projectionist at almost every new castle theater, including the penn from 1956 on (hilander,state,victor,supercastle drive in) my father was chief projectioist at the penn theater for almost 40 years retiring when it closed.I saw or ran almost every movie that played there. I don’t remember the tiffney chandelers but do remember the giant statue of william penn setting on top of rhe marque. The cinemascope screen was large but not wall to wall as exit doors to the left & right limited size. the giant panoramic screen was not so giant for the same reason.Penn, unlike the hilander, had 3 track stereo magnetic sound but never added surround speakers.the hilander has full stereo. leo mickey was an outstanding manager. The penn had one of the largest and most comfortable projection roome i ever saw. tooooo bad it had to be torn down. it could be a fine 4-plex today and a spark plug for downtown.

I think a reunion of sorts is long overdue for former theatre people in the W3estern PA area. Our numbers are dwindling.