Starlight Theatre Corporation of Hartford, Kentucky was an original lessee of the Lincoln Mall which was drawn up in 1969. Woolworth’s big box store, Woolco, was the primary anchor tenant with Winn-Dixie opening a grocery store there. By the time the theatre opened, Malco Theatre Circuit was the operator opening November 25, 1970 with “Monte Walsh” and “Patton.“ The auditoriums were identical with 224 seats or 448 in total.
Towne Square Mall brought a far superior center and Lincoln Mall was all but done in by the departure of Woolco in 1984. The Mall theatre soldiered on as a lightly trafficked sub-run, discount house for 13 more years. Winn-Dixie left in 1989. But Malco just kept the Mall Twin going all the way to closure January 30, 1997 with “Daylight” and “Romeo & Juliet.”
The Lincoln Mall filled in with a church and Goodwill Store as it turned non-profit and empty. The theater was given a festive storefront which stayed frozen in place even after the closing of the Lincoln Mall.
This opened as the Towne Cinema on January 15, 1970 with “The Sundance Kid” on a 20-year leasing agreement. It was a single screen venue with 351 seats at launch. It was twinned in 1976 becoming the Towne Cinema I & II.
The venue received new operators and a new 25-year leasing agreement in 1990. It closed for a refresh in December of 1993. It reopened as the Cinema III in 1994. On July 29, 2005, it became Cinema 4. It closed at the end of lease on February 1, 2015 with “American Sniper,” “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Paddington,” “Annie” and “Night at the Museum 3.”
Selba Amusement built the Selba Theatre with 600,000 bricks in 1921 and it opened February 21, 1922. Paul and Aubrey Whitmer opened the Acirema Sweet Shop in the Selba serving as its de facto concession stand. The Selba transitioned to sound to remain viable.
Crescent Amusement took on the venue in 1937 giving it a streamline moderne makeover and changing its name to the State Theatre. It was converted to widescreen to present CinemaScope titles in the 1950s. It celebrated its 42d birthday on February 21, 1964. But its last day of operation was just three days later on February 24, 1964 with Jerry Lewis in “Who’s Minding the Store?” Early on February 25th, it was obliterated in a spectacular and explosive fire that took the neighboring JC Penney store. Everybody seemed to mind.
A Wilmer Blincoe - operator of the Parkway Drive-In in Owensboro - launched Muhlenberg County’s first ozoner in the Twilite (not Twilight) Drive-In with space for 200 cars and a 50' wide screen. The venue opened on September 23, 1952. Blincoe’s first drive-in was in Troy, Indiana where folks came in Model A Fords, horse and wagons, and on foot.
Blincoe sold the ozoner to Darrell Mosley of Calhoun in 1971. The new operator switched to “R” rated films - both adult comedies and New Hollywood fare ranging from “Taxi Driver” to “Revenge of the Cheerleaders.” The last advertised show was November 28, 1976 with “Gumball Rally” and “Take a Hard Ride.” It may well have had two seasons of showtimes without advertising.
The Benton Theatre closed on April 6, 1964 with “Kings of the Sun.” An article that same year discussed its conversion to office space. It was opened by Chickasaw Amusement Company on December 9, 1939 on a 25-year leasing agreement. The town had a previous Benton Theatre which was operated by W.P. Williams as early as 1933.
Russell & Estella McClanahan and Max Goldberg launched the New Irvine Theatre on March 29, 1939 with “Tailspin Tommy.” The McClanahans would take over the Estill Theatre at a commissioner’s auction late in 1951 renaming it as the Mack Theatre. They would in 1955 operating three theaters. The Irvine operated year-round, the Mack Drive-In in the summer months, and the Mack when the Drive-In was closed. The venue was still advertising as the New Irvine Theatre in 1992.
It looks like the theatre building was at 108 E. Main Street. The theatre was redesigned to be part of the neighboring First & Peoples Bank in 1961. Both buildings were reportedly demolished in 2007/8 to make way for a new judicial court building.
Local film pioneer, Rowland Clark (sometimes spelled as “Roland"), opened the Alamo Picture Theatre in 1910 to show silent movies. He opened this, the first of three Arista Theaters, on March 19, 1914 in the Hundley Building, formerly a retail store. E.C. Ceoppock of Campbellsville created the 250-seat auditorium.
Clark discontinued the Alamo Alamo Picture Theater – also on Main Street - that same year. A fire in June of 1914 threatened the operation. The second fire saw the end of the Arista and Hundley Building on December 4, 1914.
The second Arista was located in the same address and could be found in the Clark Building on Main Street launching February 5, 1915. It has its own entry as Arista Theatre #2. Arista “#2” closed after 20 years there and a New Arista Theatre opened on Spalding. The New Arista also has its own entry.
This opened with 550 seats in the Vincennes Plaza next to a W.T. Grant discount store. It closed on September 19, 2002 with “Serving Sara” and “Swimfan.”
Renovating and restoring - uncovered / retaining original stage and original Beaux Arts look (though leveled main floor) in conversion from a multiplex to an event space.
The August 24, 1950 grand opening ad in photos with “A Ticket to Tomahawk.” J.A. Ball then added the Bel-Vista Drive-In Indoor Theatre on December 19, 1953 so that year-round operations could be achieved. Turkeys were provided as an inventive to come to the new indoor theater.
The name is Bel-Vista (with a hyphen) for the particular.
This was opened as a franchise of National Mini-Theatres, Inc. with twin 325 seat auditoriums for a total count of 650. The Triangle Mall held its grand opening on November 16, 1972 with the theater just missing that date by a month. It was called the Triangle Twin Cinema at launch with “Fiddler on the Roof” and “What Up, Doc” on December 22, 1972.
Final day as the Regal Cinnebarre Movieland 7 was May 11, 2025. Regal’s lease expired and had been unwilling to convert the venue to modern recliner seating due to the impending lease expiry. Regal left the Salem Center just over a month following Macy’s departure as an anchor tenant in March of 2025. The Cinnebarre was taken over by the Center to be operated independently along with a pledge to renovate the aged theater for its relaunch later in 2025.
The Vineyard Twin Cinema was built by two “lucky” United General Theatres franchisees Herb Bilton and Al Cooper. But during that build-out, United General Theatres was uncovered as using fraudulent business practices leading it into bankruptcy in April of 1973. The competing Network General Cinema, the parent of Jerry Lewis Cinemas -a similar scheme, had filed bankruptcy just one month earlier.
The two identical, automated auditoriums seated 250 patrons each opened on July 3, 1974 launch of the Vineyard Twin with “The Three Musketeers” and “What’s Up, Doc?” That ad is in photos. The jail terms for United General’s executives including Joseph Kosseff were handed out the next year.
Edwards Theatres acquired the venue downgrading it to discount, sub-run status. It closed on April 12, 1999 at the end of a 25-year leasing agreement with “Stepmom” and “Office Space” splitting one screen and “Prince of Egypt” and “Varsity Blues” splitting the other.
Architect of the original triplex - Jeff Pilling of St. Cloud. The theater transitioned to a dollar house which was closed on April 26, 2001 as the Parkwood ramped up from a 10-screen house to an 18-screen megaplex.
The 491-seat New James Theatre opened on March 18, 1938 with “High, Wide and Handsome” by James E. Falls. Falls had gotten into the theater business when out of work as a young man taking on the Unique Theatre in Walton. Falls would also operate the New Kentucky Theater in Dry Ridge, as well as theaters in Williamstown and Berry. The venue was built as a streamline moderne movie house replacing the Unique and it retained that look through closure by the same family 35 years later.
The James did get new ownership briefly in the 1960s though closing in 1963. The venue reopened twice; the first time was in 1965 operating into the early 1970s on weekends only closing in 1971. It then reopened in 1974 by the - then - late Mr. Falls' widow, Alva Falls, who had handled the booking of the theater back in the 1950s. The James Theatre closed on Oct. 6, 1974 with “Devil’s Angels.” The Walton I.G.A. grocery store moved into the space in 1975. It has since been demolished.
Closed November 4, 1955 with “99 River Street” and “Dragon’s Gold.” It was converted to an auction house.
908 W. 8th Street
Starlight Theatre Corporation of Hartford, Kentucky was an original lessee of the Lincoln Mall which was drawn up in 1969. Woolworth’s big box store, Woolco, was the primary anchor tenant with Winn-Dixie opening a grocery store there. By the time the theatre opened, Malco Theatre Circuit was the operator opening November 25, 1970 with “Monte Walsh” and “Patton.“ The auditoriums were identical with 224 seats or 448 in total.
Towne Square Mall brought a far superior center and Lincoln Mall was all but done in by the departure of Woolco in 1984. The Mall theatre soldiered on as a lightly trafficked sub-run, discount house for 13 more years. Winn-Dixie left in 1989. But Malco just kept the Mall Twin going all the way to closure January 30, 1997 with “Daylight” and “Romeo & Juliet.”
The Lincoln Mall filled in with a church and Goodwill Store as it turned non-profit and empty. The theater was given a festive storefront which stayed frozen in place even after the closing of the Lincoln Mall.
This opened as the Towne Cinema on January 15, 1970 with “The Sundance Kid” on a 20-year leasing agreement. It was a single screen venue with 351 seats at launch. It was twinned in 1976 becoming the Towne Cinema I & II.
The venue received new operators and a new 25-year leasing agreement in 1990. It closed for a refresh in December of 1993. It reopened as the Cinema III in 1994. On July 29, 2005, it became Cinema 4. It closed at the end of lease on February 1, 2015 with “American Sniper,” “Penguins of Madagascar,” “Paddington,” “Annie” and “Night at the Museum 3.”
Selba Amusement built the Selba Theatre with 600,000 bricks in 1921 and it opened February 21, 1922. Paul and Aubrey Whitmer opened the Acirema Sweet Shop in the Selba serving as its de facto concession stand. The Selba transitioned to sound to remain viable.
Crescent Amusement took on the venue in 1937 giving it a streamline moderne makeover and changing its name to the State Theatre. It was converted to widescreen to present CinemaScope titles in the 1950s. It celebrated its 42d birthday on February 21, 1964. But its last day of operation was just three days later on February 24, 1964 with Jerry Lewis in “Who’s Minding the Store?” Early on February 25th, it was obliterated in a spectacular and explosive fire that took the neighboring JC Penney store. Everybody seemed to mind.
A Wilmer Blincoe - operator of the Parkway Drive-In in Owensboro - launched Muhlenberg County’s first ozoner in the Twilite (not Twilight) Drive-In with space for 200 cars and a 50' wide screen. The venue opened on September 23, 1952. Blincoe’s first drive-in was in Troy, Indiana where folks came in Model A Fords, horse and wagons, and on foot.
Blincoe sold the ozoner to Darrell Mosley of Calhoun in 1971. The new operator switched to “R” rated films - both adult comedies and New Hollywood fare ranging from “Taxi Driver” to “Revenge of the Cheerleaders.” The last advertised show was November 28, 1976 with “Gumball Rally” and “Take a Hard Ride.” It may well have had two seasons of showtimes without advertising.
The Benton Theatre closed on April 6, 1964 with “Kings of the Sun.” An article that same year discussed its conversion to office space. It was opened by Chickasaw Amusement Company on December 9, 1939 on a 25-year leasing agreement. The town had a previous Benton Theatre which was operated by W.P. Williams as early as 1933.
Russell & Estella McClanahan and Max Goldberg launched the New Irvine Theatre on March 29, 1939 with “Tailspin Tommy.” The McClanahans would take over the Estill Theatre at a commissioner’s auction late in 1951 renaming it as the Mack Theatre. They would in 1955 operating three theaters. The Irvine operated year-round, the Mack Drive-In in the summer months, and the Mack when the Drive-In was closed. The venue was still advertising as the New Irvine Theatre in 1992.
The Memory Lane Drive-In has found new operators and is hoping to relaunch on Memorial Day weekend, 2025.
It looks like the theatre building was at 108 E. Main Street. The theatre was redesigned to be part of the neighboring First & Peoples Bank in 1961. Both buildings were reportedly demolished in 2007/8 to make way for a new judicial court building.
Local film pioneer, Rowland Clark (sometimes spelled as “Roland"), opened the Alamo Picture Theatre in 1910 to show silent movies. He opened this, the first of three Arista Theaters, on March 19, 1914 in the Hundley Building, formerly a retail store. E.C. Ceoppock of Campbellsville created the 250-seat auditorium.
Clark discontinued the Alamo Alamo Picture Theater – also on Main Street - that same year. A fire in June of 1914 threatened the operation. The second fire saw the end of the Arista and Hundley Building on December 4, 1914.
The second Arista was located in the same address and could be found in the Clark Building on Main Street launching February 5, 1915. It has its own entry as Arista Theatre #2. Arista “#2” closed after 20 years there and a New Arista Theatre opened on Spalding. The New Arista also has its own entry.
This opened with 550 seats in the Vincennes Plaza next to a W.T. Grant discount store. It closed on September 19, 2002 with “Serving Sara” and “Swimfan.”
Renovating and restoring - uncovered / retaining original stage and original Beaux Arts look (though leveled main floor) in conversion from a multiplex to an event space.
And indoor theater - in 1953
The August 24, 1950 grand opening ad in photos with “A Ticket to Tomahawk.” J.A. Ball then added the Bel-Vista Drive-In Indoor Theatre on December 19, 1953 so that year-round operations could be achieved. Turkeys were provided as an inventive to come to the new indoor theater.
The name is Bel-Vista (with a hyphen) for the particular.
Closed January 16, 2020 at the expiry of a 25-year leasing agreement.
This was opened as a franchise of National Mini-Theatres, Inc. with twin 325 seat auditoriums for a total count of 650. The Triangle Mall held its grand opening on November 16, 1972 with the theater just missing that date by a month. It was called the Triangle Twin Cinema at launch with “Fiddler on the Roof” and “What Up, Doc” on December 22, 1972.
Opened by Mini-Theatres, Inc. was this twin 400-seat auditorium venue with a total of 800 seats.
Opened as a franchise of National Mini-Theatres, Inc. with a seating count of 325 in each auditorium for a total count of 650 seats.
Twin 238 auditoriums for a total count of 576
Demolished August 2023.
Final day as the Regal Cinnebarre Movieland 7 was May 11, 2025. Regal’s lease expired and had been unwilling to convert the venue to modern recliner seating due to the impending lease expiry. Regal left the Salem Center just over a month following Macy’s departure as an anchor tenant in March of 2025. The Cinnebarre was taken over by the Center to be operated independently along with a pledge to renovate the aged theater for its relaunch later in 2025.
The Vineyard Twin Cinema was built by two “lucky” United General Theatres franchisees Herb Bilton and Al Cooper. But during that build-out, United General Theatres was uncovered as using fraudulent business practices leading it into bankruptcy in April of 1973. The competing Network General Cinema, the parent of Jerry Lewis Cinemas -a similar scheme, had filed bankruptcy just one month earlier.
The two identical, automated auditoriums seated 250 patrons each opened on July 3, 1974 launch of the Vineyard Twin with “The Three Musketeers” and “What’s Up, Doc?” That ad is in photos. The jail terms for United General’s executives including Joseph Kosseff were handed out the next year.
Edwards Theatres acquired the venue downgrading it to discount, sub-run status. It closed on April 12, 1999 at the end of a 25-year leasing agreement with “Stepmom” and “Office Space” splitting one screen and “Prince of Egypt” and “Varsity Blues” splitting the other.
Announced a closing date of June 1, 2025.
Architect of the original triplex - Jeff Pilling of St. Cloud. The theater transitioned to a dollar house which was closed on April 26, 2001 as the Parkwood ramped up from a 10-screen house to an 18-screen megaplex.
The 491-seat New James Theatre opened on March 18, 1938 with “High, Wide and Handsome” by James E. Falls. Falls had gotten into the theater business when out of work as a young man taking on the Unique Theatre in Walton. Falls would also operate the New Kentucky Theater in Dry Ridge, as well as theaters in Williamstown and Berry. The venue was built as a streamline moderne movie house replacing the Unique and it retained that look through closure by the same family 35 years later.
The James did get new ownership briefly in the 1960s though closing in 1963. The venue reopened twice; the first time was in 1965 operating into the early 1970s on weekends only closing in 1971. It then reopened in 1974 by the - then - late Mr. Falls' widow, Alva Falls, who had handled the booking of the theater back in the 1950s. The James Theatre closed on Oct. 6, 1974 with “Devil’s Angels.” The Walton I.G.A. grocery store moved into the space in 1975. It has since been demolished.