Stanley Warner Theatres 174th theater was the $500,000 Telephone Road Twin Drive-In north of Pearland. A champagne opening night benefit for the Boys Harbor of Houston featured Miss Texas Beauty Judi Lackey and music from Uni labels' The Fever Tree (who had a top 100 charted hit the next year) and Billy Gibbon’s The Moving Sidewalks who had the hit “99th Floor” before Gibbons moved on to form ZZ Top.
Opening shows were a triple feature of “For a Few Dollars More,” “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming” and “The Fortune Cookie” on Screen One and “The War Wagon,” “Texas Across the River,” and “Shenahoah” on Screen Two.
This was purportedly Debbie Reynolds' own United General automated theatre. Reynolds, Glenn Ford, and Agnes Moorehead were the primary actors who lent their names to the fledgling franchised theater gambit in the early 1970s. This theater launched on February 16, 1972 with “Tora, Tora, Tora.” But then the theatre had its Grand Opening celebration two weeks later on March 4th with “The RA Expeditions” and said to be under the operation of franchisee, Bill Webb. It helped kept costs low by using 16mm film projectors.
The theater was the sixth for the circuit and the first of 20 in the Valley for United General which actually appears to have opened just three of the locations before disgruntled investors filed lawsuits finally helping end the operation. Reports said that they had 200 franchisees signed on. The Central Plaza Shopping Centre housed theatre appears to have gone out of business in February 20, 1973. It looks to have been used by the Camarillo Community Campus of Moorpark College for educational purposes soon thereafter.
This mini-theatre was built in the 1970s for Alan Bryant as a franchisee of United General automated theatres circuit in the 1958/9-built North Hills Shopping Center. It opened November 15, 1972 with “Gone With the Wind.” Debbie Reynolds, Glenn Ford and Agnes Moorehead were the primary actors who lent their names to the fledgling franchised theater gambit in the early 1970s. It was the second of 20 United General locations planned to open in the Valley. But things went south quickly for the theater circuit on is way to bankruptcy. The Bryant Theatre and another United General franchisee launched the Northridge Peppertree 3 location in 1973. But neither United General’s moniker nor logo made either of these or the Camarillo locations. This was likely because United General was sinking rapidly and never hit its projections on openings.
The little cinema closed in January of 1974. It re-emerged as the Cinema of North Hills in May of 1974 and under the same operation of the United General-franchised Peppertree 3 Cinemas. Both locations outlasted their original and defunct cinema circuit. This theatre closed on September 6, 1979 with “Hooper” and “Sunburn.”
The Peppertree 3 Cinema was built for Herb Finkelstein and Fred Kane as an automated mini-theatre franchised with United General Theatres Circuit. United General was a fledgling competitor to the Jerry Lewis Cinema Circuit and others which promised one-button automagic theater operation to operators who may have had no knowledge of running a theater or any other business. It was backed in name by Glenn Ford, Agnes Moorehead and Debbie Reynolds. This was the first of twenty supposedly being built in the Valley and opened July 3, 1973. However, there is little evidence that there were more than five such properties under consideration. The entire chain was gone by 1975.
Opened on December 27, 1974 as the Marco Island Cinema 1 & 2 with the ribbon cut by Frank Mackle, Jr. of the family that developed Marco Island, Florida, with assistance from Miss Marco Island. The films were “The Longest Yard” and “Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.”
When the Valley Circle Cinema became the Valley Circle 1 & 2 Cinema on March 29, 1974, the operators called Dr. Bombay. Ribbon cutting prior to the first shows were performed “In Person! (by) Bernard Fox, Dr. Bombay of "Bewitched.”
The Northside Cinema Twin I & II launched with a benefit show on September 19, 1974 and with a grand opening for Gulf States Circuit on September 20, 1974. The opening films were a double feature of Walt Disney’s “The Castaway Cowboy” and “The Absent-Minded Professor” and in Cinema II with was Clint Eastwood in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.” The theatre had lipstick red draperies, seats and floors.
Gulf States Theatres opened the Twin Cinema on March 27, 1974 with Greenville Mayor Charles Sively on hand and the films, Walt Disney’s “The Castaway Cowboy” with Cinema I and its 314 seats and “The Sting” on Cinema II with its 238 seats.
Two investors started a cinema that likely was a Jerry Lewis Cinema franchise at one point in development. The 350-seat theater launched July 11, 1973 with “Paper Moon.” It was then shut down by the city. It had a relaunch with “Paper Moon” again. The theater owners eventually sold the property to more experienced operators.
Cinemark began showing X-Rated films on February 15, 1979 which wasn’t well received. It closed with X-rated films on March 31, 1979. It was reopened by Texas National Theaters Circuit on April 1, 1979 with the Spanish language films starring Cantinflas, “El Extra” and “Bajo el Imperio del Hampa.” In April of 1991, it became a live venue under the same name. On November 5, 1993, it became Stage West continuing as a live venue.
On April 8, 2005, it became the Frog Theatre as a live venue, second run movie house, and alcohol-free coffee shop showing the film, “Napoleon Dynamite.” It closed in May 2005 and was torn down in August of 2006. Because it was the TCU Theatre neighbor to Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1946 to 1993 (47 years) and was the Frog Theatre for one month, I would make a suggestion that the theater really should be the TCU Theatre (aka T.C.U. Theatre, Stage West Theatre, and Frog Theatre)
The R & X Mini-Cinema launched with R and X rated films in 1973. It was rebranded later that year as the Atlantic Mini Cinema celebrating its re-grand opening with a double-feature of Charlotte’s Web" and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The mini cinema was a sub-run, discount 99 cent and 49 cent (kids) that stumbled out of the gate.
On September 14, 1973 it became The Backdoor Cinema with double-features of X-Rated films. It switched back to the Atlantic Mini-Cinema with live shows added to the X-rated film content. On January 14, 1974, its policy changed under the name of the Atlantic Mini-Cinema Theatre Club. Under new operators, it rebranded as the Front Door Adult Theatre featuring three hours of adult film content. The theatre found its audience and became a mainstay.
This was an automated twin screen seating 700 that in formative stages was to be a Jerry Lewis Cinema. But plans changed and the Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 launched April 22, 1973 with “Soylent Green” featured in Plaza Cinema 1 and “Cabaret” featured in Plaza Cinema 2. Lewis had left the theater circuit by the time the Plaza launched and Network Cinema had disconnected its phones. The Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 appears to have ceased operations on July 27, 1978
The Salem Plaza Twin Cinema was built for franchisees of the United General Theatres Circuit of Los Angeles. The mini-theaters were built with two identical auditoriums seating 200 each. The circuit advertised their automatic, family-friendly theaters using the likenesses of stars including Debbie Reynolds, Glenn Ford, and Agnes Morehead. They were situated within 1972’s new-build Salem Plaza with W.T. Grant’s as the anchor. The theatre didn’t launch until April 11, 1973 with “Funny Girl” and “Avanti.” The theater was still operating into the 2020s.
This entry buried the lede. The Summit Theatre went out of business in greater style than almost any other theater in film exhibition history rebranding as the Summit / Pandora Theatre for one week in late June of 1977. It brought back “2001: A Space Odyssey” which had run at the Pandora eight years previously. The cinema lovingly presented it with the “ultimate light show” in its “original Cinerama” roadshow concept. This is right up there with the Fox Theatre’s Grand Closing in San Francisco. And the Pandora Theatre nameplate lived on moving the Summit’s Arabic films to Taylor’s failed Jerry Lewis Cinema in 1978.
The Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema launched on March 24, 1972 in the Russell Plaza with “Welcome Home, Soldier Boys.” Peter Cerrone was the first-time operator of a one-button, automagically operating movie theater. And 15 people came to the opening of the theater. When the film’s follow-up, “A Man for All Seasons” played, Cerrone said that his weeknight attendance added up to one patron.
Typical of many operations, what seemed like a $20,000 investment automatically operated became a $60,000 investment and – added to that – was a cost of a union projectionist and a dozen other employees. Like each of the franchises, Cerrone got the bronze plaque with the caricature of Jerry Lewis on it. But when the cinema failed to attract an audience out of the gate, he hung his plaque upside-down in the concession stand area in a showing of derision. The theatre failed along with two other Jerry Lewis Cinemas in the market. Then Jerry Lewis left the company and its parent, Network Cinema Corp. The whole concept was dead in 1973.
The Jerry Lewis signage was removed in the Russell Plaza and the theater renamed under new operators as the West Peabody Twin Cinema on October 5, 1972. The West Peabody Twin closed in April of 1977. When the new King’s Discount Store opened in the Plaza, the plaza became known as the King’s Plaza. New operators took on the theater renaming it the King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2. It relaunched on July 21, 1978 as a discount, sub-run house with “Star Wars” on Screen #1 and Screen #2 was closed for repairs.
The King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 closed on January 19, 1984 with “The Big Chill” and “All the Right Moves.”
The Moeser Lane Shopping Center was announced in the Fall of 1970 which would be anchored by Value Giant Discount.Department Store and Safeway launching in 1971. The theater was at the intersection of Moeser Lane and San Pablo Avenue. The Safeway’s future neighbor would be the first of what the company reported as twenty JLC locations in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
The only Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema launched ever in Alameda County opened August 2, 1972 with “Hannie Caulder” and “Possession of Joe Delaney” in Cinema #1 and “Fuzz” with “The Anderson Tapes" in Cinema #2. On September 13, 1972 it became the El Cerrito Cinema I & II. It went out of business on April 3, 1973 and the Lewis Circuit folded.
The theatre made a spectacular return on August 27, 1975 as the Moeser Lane Cinema I & II named for the shopping center that housed it with Rudy Ray Moore appearing in person to promote “Dolemite” which was supported by “TNT Jackson.” In Cinema II was “Escape to Witch Mountain” and “Son of Flubber.” The theatre closed September 30, 1976.
The theatre came back again with a $185,000 makeover by Associated Theaters Inc. which added Dolby Stereo and larger screens. Now called the El Cerrito Cinemas, it relaunched with “Excalibur” and “Alice in Wonderland” on June 26, 1981. But the investment didn’t pay out with the theatre going out of business within one year June 19, 1982 with a double-feature of “Death Trap” and “Wrong is Right” on Cinema I and “Some Kind of Hero” and “Fighting Back” on Cinema II. Sadly, after four operators, the El Cerrito Cinemas did not come fighting back again. It was chopped up into two retail operations – one of which was a laundromat.
The El Cerrito Jerry Lews Twin Cinema launched August 2, 1972 with “Hannie Coulter” and “Possession of Joe Delaney” in Cinema #1 and “Fuzz” with “The Anderson Tapes in Cinema #2.
On June 18, 1973, it relaunched as the Carmel Center Cinemas I & II. It closed March 7, 1995 as the Carmel Center Cinemas I & II. That’s likely when UA then Resort Theatres came in to change it to the Crossroads Cinema.
The Family Twin Cinema I & II launched on a 20-year lease with “1776” on Cinema I with “Snowball Express” and “The African Lion” on Cinema II. The theatre had two identical 240-seat auditoriums which featured automated equipment and promised family fare. American Family Theatres Circuit took on the operation in 1991 taking it to end of lease.
Family then spent $2 million converting the theatre to a six-plex called the Sterling Cinemas. It re-launched the venue with a benefit screening of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” on November 16, 1994 followed by a full slate of films at the grand opening to the public the two days later.
At the half-way point of the its second 30-year lease, Regency Theatres bought out the Sterling Cinemas location in November of 2009 giving it another modern refresh. It was still operating into the 2020s
Stanley Warner Theatres 174th theater was the $500,000 Telephone Road Twin Drive-In north of Pearland. A champagne opening night benefit for the Boys Harbor of Houston featured Miss Texas Beauty Judi Lackey and music from Uni labels' The Fever Tree (who had a top 100 charted hit the next year) and Billy Gibbon’s The Moving Sidewalks who had the hit “99th Floor” before Gibbons moved on to form ZZ Top.
Opening shows were a triple feature of “For a Few Dollars More,” “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming” and “The Fortune Cookie” on Screen One and “The War Wagon,” “Texas Across the River,” and “Shenahoah” on Screen Two.
This was purportedly Debbie Reynolds' own United General automated theatre. Reynolds, Glenn Ford, and Agnes Moorehead were the primary actors who lent their names to the fledgling franchised theater gambit in the early 1970s. This theater launched on February 16, 1972 with “Tora, Tora, Tora.” But then the theatre had its Grand Opening celebration two weeks later on March 4th with “The RA Expeditions” and said to be under the operation of franchisee, Bill Webb. It helped kept costs low by using 16mm film projectors.
The theater was the sixth for the circuit and the first of 20 in the Valley for United General which actually appears to have opened just three of the locations before disgruntled investors filed lawsuits finally helping end the operation. Reports said that they had 200 franchisees signed on. The Central Plaza Shopping Centre housed theatre appears to have gone out of business in February 20, 1973. It looks to have been used by the Camarillo Community Campus of Moorpark College for educational purposes soon thereafter.
This mini-theatre was built in the 1970s for Alan Bryant as a franchisee of United General automated theatres circuit in the 1958/9-built North Hills Shopping Center. It opened November 15, 1972 with “Gone With the Wind.” Debbie Reynolds, Glenn Ford and Agnes Moorehead were the primary actors who lent their names to the fledgling franchised theater gambit in the early 1970s. It was the second of 20 United General locations planned to open in the Valley. But things went south quickly for the theater circuit on is way to bankruptcy. The Bryant Theatre and another United General franchisee launched the Northridge Peppertree 3 location in 1973. But neither United General’s moniker nor logo made either of these or the Camarillo locations. This was likely because United General was sinking rapidly and never hit its projections on openings.
The little cinema closed in January of 1974. It re-emerged as the Cinema of North Hills in May of 1974 and under the same operation of the United General-franchised Peppertree 3 Cinemas. Both locations outlasted their original and defunct cinema circuit. This theatre closed on September 6, 1979 with “Hooper” and “Sunburn.”
The Peppertree 3 Cinema was built for Herb Finkelstein and Fred Kane as an automated mini-theatre franchised with United General Theatres Circuit. United General was a fledgling competitor to the Jerry Lewis Cinema Circuit and others which promised one-button automagic theater operation to operators who may have had no knowledge of running a theater or any other business. It was backed in name by Glenn Ford, Agnes Moorehead and Debbie Reynolds. This was the first of twenty supposedly being built in the Valley and opened July 3, 1973. However, there is little evidence that there were more than five such properties under consideration. The entire chain was gone by 1975.
The Vitagraph version of “Black Beauty” produced by Albert E. Smith and starring his wife, Jean Paige, launched the Plaza Theatre on August 1, 1921.
The Newton Cinema launched June 7, 1974 with “Papillion.” It appears to have closed late in 1989.
Opened on December 27, 1974 as the Marco Island Cinema 1 & 2 with the ribbon cut by Frank Mackle, Jr. of the family that developed Marco Island, Florida, with assistance from Miss Marco Island. The films were “The Longest Yard” and “Lt. Robin Crusoe, U.S.N.”
When the Valley Circle Cinema became the Valley Circle 1 & 2 Cinema on March 29, 1974, the operators called Dr. Bombay. Ribbon cutting prior to the first shows were performed “In Person! (by) Bernard Fox, Dr. Bombay of "Bewitched.”
The Northside Cinema Twin I & II launched with a benefit show on September 19, 1974 and with a grand opening for Gulf States Circuit on September 20, 1974. The opening films were a double feature of Walt Disney’s “The Castaway Cowboy” and “The Absent-Minded Professor” and in Cinema II with was Clint Eastwood in “Thunderbolt and Lightfoot.” The theatre had lipstick red draperies, seats and floors.
Gulf States Theatres opened the Twin Cinema on March 27, 1974 with Greenville Mayor Charles Sively on hand and the films, Walt Disney’s “The Castaway Cowboy” with Cinema I and its 314 seats and “The Sting” on Cinema II with its 238 seats.
Launched as Havre Cinema I & II, the theater opened with Paul Newman and Robert Redford in “The Sting” on the 300-seat Cinema I and “Cry of the Wild”
Two investors started a cinema that likely was a Jerry Lewis Cinema franchise at one point in development. The 350-seat theater launched July 11, 1973 with “Paper Moon.” It was then shut down by the city. It had a relaunch with “Paper Moon” again. The theater owners eventually sold the property to more experienced operators.
Address: 537 West Commerce Street
Kneer and Hamm architectural firm
William Kneer architect
Cinemark began showing X-Rated films on February 15, 1979 which wasn’t well received. It closed with X-rated films on March 31, 1979. It was reopened by Texas National Theaters Circuit on April 1, 1979 with the Spanish language films starring Cantinflas, “El Extra” and “Bajo el Imperio del Hampa.” In April of 1991, it became a live venue under the same name. On November 5, 1993, it became Stage West continuing as a live venue.
On April 8, 2005, it became the Frog Theatre as a live venue, second run movie house, and alcohol-free coffee shop showing the film, “Napoleon Dynamite.” It closed in May 2005 and was torn down in August of 2006. Because it was the TCU Theatre neighbor to Texas Christian University (TCU) from 1946 to 1993 (47 years) and was the Frog Theatre for one month, I would make a suggestion that the theater really should be the TCU Theatre (aka T.C.U. Theatre, Stage West Theatre, and Frog Theatre)
The R & X Mini-Cinema launched with R and X rated films in 1973. It was rebranded later that year as the Atlantic Mini Cinema celebrating its re-grand opening with a double-feature of Charlotte’s Web" and “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.” The mini cinema was a sub-run, discount 99 cent and 49 cent (kids) that stumbled out of the gate.
On September 14, 1973 it became The Backdoor Cinema with double-features of X-Rated films. It switched back to the Atlantic Mini-Cinema with live shows added to the X-rated film content. On January 14, 1974, its policy changed under the name of the Atlantic Mini-Cinema Theatre Club. Under new operators, it rebranded as the Front Door Adult Theatre featuring three hours of adult film content. The theatre found its audience and became a mainstay.
The Westwood Twin launched on March 30, 1973 with “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” and “Cross and the Switchblade.”
This was an automated twin screen seating 700 that in formative stages was to be a Jerry Lewis Cinema. But plans changed and the Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 launched April 22, 1973 with “Soylent Green” featured in Plaza Cinema 1 and “Cabaret” featured in Plaza Cinema 2. Lewis had left the theater circuit by the time the Plaza launched and Network Cinema had disconnected its phones. The Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 appears to have ceased operations on July 27, 1978
The Salem Plaza Twin Cinema was built for franchisees of the United General Theatres Circuit of Los Angeles. The mini-theaters were built with two identical auditoriums seating 200 each. The circuit advertised their automatic, family-friendly theaters using the likenesses of stars including Debbie Reynolds, Glenn Ford, and Agnes Morehead. They were situated within 1972’s new-build Salem Plaza with W.T. Grant’s as the anchor. The theatre didn’t launch until April 11, 1973 with “Funny Girl” and “Avanti.” The theater was still operating into the 2020s.
Previous Name: McMillan Cinema I & II (not McMilland – sorry)
Also: It might have helped to add “in 1993” or…
“In a $7 million refresh in 1993,”
to the Mall’s conversion.
This entry buried the lede. The Summit Theatre went out of business in greater style than almost any other theater in film exhibition history rebranding as the Summit / Pandora Theatre for one week in late June of 1977. It brought back “2001: A Space Odyssey” which had run at the Pandora eight years previously. The cinema lovingly presented it with the “ultimate light show” in its “original Cinerama” roadshow concept. This is right up there with the Fox Theatre’s Grand Closing in San Francisco. And the Pandora Theatre nameplate lived on moving the Summit’s Arabic films to Taylor’s failed Jerry Lewis Cinema in 1978.
The Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema launched on March 24, 1972 in the Russell Plaza with “Welcome Home, Soldier Boys.” Peter Cerrone was the first-time operator of a one-button, automagically operating movie theater. And 15 people came to the opening of the theater. When the film’s follow-up, “A Man for All Seasons” played, Cerrone said that his weeknight attendance added up to one patron.
Typical of many operations, what seemed like a $20,000 investment automatically operated became a $60,000 investment and – added to that – was a cost of a union projectionist and a dozen other employees. Like each of the franchises, Cerrone got the bronze plaque with the caricature of Jerry Lewis on it. But when the cinema failed to attract an audience out of the gate, he hung his plaque upside-down in the concession stand area in a showing of derision. The theatre failed along with two other Jerry Lewis Cinemas in the market. Then Jerry Lewis left the company and its parent, Network Cinema Corp. The whole concept was dead in 1973.
The Jerry Lewis signage was removed in the Russell Plaza and the theater renamed under new operators as the West Peabody Twin Cinema on October 5, 1972. The West Peabody Twin closed in April of 1977. When the new King’s Discount Store opened in the Plaza, the plaza became known as the King’s Plaza. New operators took on the theater renaming it the King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2. It relaunched on July 21, 1978 as a discount, sub-run house with “Star Wars” on Screen #1 and Screen #2 was closed for repairs.
The King’s Plaza Cinema 1 & 2 closed on January 19, 1984 with “The Big Chill” and “All the Right Moves.”
The Moeser Lane Shopping Center was announced in the Fall of 1970 which would be anchored by Value Giant Discount.Department Store and Safeway launching in 1971. The theater was at the intersection of Moeser Lane and San Pablo Avenue. The Safeway’s future neighbor would be the first of what the company reported as twenty JLC locations in Alameda and Contra Costa counties.
The only Jerry Lewis Twin Cinema launched ever in Alameda County opened August 2, 1972 with “Hannie Caulder” and “Possession of Joe Delaney” in Cinema #1 and “Fuzz” with “The Anderson Tapes" in Cinema #2. On September 13, 1972 it became the El Cerrito Cinema I & II. It went out of business on April 3, 1973 and the Lewis Circuit folded.
The theatre made a spectacular return on August 27, 1975 as the Moeser Lane Cinema I & II named for the shopping center that housed it with Rudy Ray Moore appearing in person to promote “Dolemite” which was supported by “TNT Jackson.” In Cinema II was “Escape to Witch Mountain” and “Son of Flubber.” The theatre closed September 30, 1976.
The theatre came back again with a $185,000 makeover by Associated Theaters Inc. which added Dolby Stereo and larger screens. Now called the El Cerrito Cinemas, it relaunched with “Excalibur” and “Alice in Wonderland” on June 26, 1981. But the investment didn’t pay out with the theatre going out of business within one year June 19, 1982 with a double-feature of “Death Trap” and “Wrong is Right” on Cinema I and “Some Kind of Hero” and “Fighting Back” on Cinema II. Sadly, after four operators, the El Cerrito Cinemas did not come fighting back again. It was chopped up into two retail operations – one of which was a laundromat.
The El Cerrito Jerry Lews Twin Cinema launched August 2, 1972 with “Hannie Coulter” and “Possession of Joe Delaney” in Cinema #1 and “Fuzz” with “The Anderson Tapes in Cinema #2.
On June 18, 1973, it relaunched as the Carmel Center Cinemas I & II. It closed March 7, 1995 as the Carmel Center Cinemas I & II. That’s likely when UA then Resort Theatres came in to change it to the Crossroads Cinema.
The Family Twin Cinema I & II launched on a 20-year lease with “1776” on Cinema I with “Snowball Express” and “The African Lion” on Cinema II. The theatre had two identical 240-seat auditoriums which featured automated equipment and promised family fare. American Family Theatres Circuit took on the operation in 1991 taking it to end of lease.
Family then spent $2 million converting the theatre to a six-plex called the Sterling Cinemas. It re-launched the venue with a benefit screening of “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert” on November 16, 1994 followed by a full slate of films at the grand opening to the public the two days later.
At the half-way point of the its second 30-year lease, Regency Theatres bought out the Sterling Cinemas location in November of 2009 giving it another modern refresh. It was still operating into the 2020s