Upon demolition the 35MM projectors from the State Theatre were donated to St. Bonaventure University where they were installed in the then new Reily Center and used for campus weekly free movie Sunday night showings for many years.
According to published reports it appears that the 1911 incarnation of the Andrews Theatre was destroyed in the July 1923 fire which swept through much of downtown Salamanca:
In the 1960’s and ‘70s the Allegany Drive In was operated by Nino Bordinaro who at that time also operated the Palace and Olean Theatres in downtown Olean, the Limestone Drive-In in Limestone and in 1972 built the Portville Drive In on the east side of Olean. According to rumors the Portville Drive In was supposedly to be the replacement for the Allegany Drive In. However the Allegany Drive In continued in operation until 1995.
The Castle Cinema was intended to provide guests in the 180 room ballroom/resort with movies in the days before in-room entertainment.
The Castle Restaurant and Motel were demolished in the fall of 2005 to make way for a mixed used development that never occurred. The site is just west of the shopping center where the Walmart and Carmike cinemas are currently located. Castle Drive is the only remaining vestage of this once sprawling complex.
I guess those recent upgrades don’t come cheap. It is now $17.75 (not including any online purchase surcharges)for a general admission ticket in the evenings for a non 3D show.
The Andrews Theatre sat on the southeast bank of the Allegheny River. A photo postcard with the Andrews Theatre in the lower right corner has been uploaded. I believe the Andrews closed in the mid 1950’s after the Schine’s opened the more modern Eberson designed Seneca Theatre a couple of blocks up the street. The Seneca was on the same side of the street.
The Andrews Theatre continued to sit vacant until it was demolished in the mid 1960’s as part of the widening of the Allegheny River basin in conjunction with the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Warren County Pennsylvania.
The Kinzua Dam project was supposed to alleviate the repeated flooding of the Allegheny River in Salamanca and other river communities. However just a few years later on June 25 1972 flooding from the Alleghney River caused by Hurricane Agnes took out the Seneca Theatre up the street.
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.
Upon demolition the 35MM projectors from the State Theatre were donated to St. Bonaventure University where they were installed in the then new Reily Center and used for campus weekly free movie Sunday night showings for many years.
According to published reports it appears that the 1911 incarnation of the Andrews Theatre was destroyed in the July 1923 fire which swept through much of downtown Salamanca:
http://www.gendisasters.com/new-york/13758/salamanca-ny-business-district-fire-july-1923
It would thus appear that the 1930 Rigamount design was a replacement for the Andrews Theatre that was destroyed in 1923.
In the 1960’s and ‘70s the Allegany Drive In was operated by Nino Bordinaro who at that time also operated the Palace and Olean Theatres in downtown Olean, the Limestone Drive-In in Limestone and in 1972 built the Portville Drive In on the east side of Olean. According to rumors the Portville Drive In was supposedly to be the replacement for the Allegany Drive In. However the Allegany Drive In continued in operation until 1995.
The Castle Cinema was intended to provide guests in the 180 room ballroom/resort with movies in the days before in-room entertainment.
The Castle Restaurant and Motel were demolished in the fall of 2005 to make way for a mixed used development that never occurred. The site is just west of the shopping center where the Walmart and Carmike cinemas are currently located. Castle Drive is the only remaining vestage of this once sprawling complex.
I guess those recent upgrades don’t come cheap. It is now $17.75 (not including any online purchase surcharges)for a general admission ticket in the evenings for a non 3D show.
The Andrews Theatre sat on the southeast bank of the Allegheny River. A photo postcard with the Andrews Theatre in the lower right corner has been uploaded. I believe the Andrews closed in the mid 1950’s after the Schine’s opened the more modern Eberson designed Seneca Theatre a couple of blocks up the street. The Seneca was on the same side of the street.
The Andrews Theatre continued to sit vacant until it was demolished in the mid 1960’s as part of the widening of the Allegheny River basin in conjunction with the construction of the Kinzua Dam in Warren County Pennsylvania.
The Kinzua Dam project was supposed to alleviate the repeated flooding of the Allegheny River in Salamanca and other river communities. However just a few years later on June 25 1972 flooding from the Alleghney River caused by Hurricane Agnes took out the Seneca Theatre up the street.
Re-opened a couple of years ago under the Flagship Theatres banner. The complex was reconfigured from 12 screens down to an 8 screen recline-o-plex.
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.