The original theatre, before it was twinned, was a nice place to see a movie. The screen was very large (I don’t recall if it had movable
masking or not)and a good 60 feet in width. I also remember there being “surround” type speakers mounted on the walls of the auditorium
which leads me to believe that there was multi-track stereo and 70mm
capability (if anyone can confirm this, please feel free to comment).
When the Tilton was twinned, it was a typical “dark ages of twinning"
wall down the middle job, basically destroying a nice example of a
large, modern for its time, suburban movie house. The present Tilton
9 is a mixed bag. The original auditorium remains in its' narrow twinned state with the addition of digital sound (shrill and crackly w/ less than steller projection the last time I was there)the newer
stadium auditoriums are decent with good sound, projection, and acceptable size screens for their moderate size; as far as the remaining small auditoriums go, other than barely acceptable digital sound, the less said the better. I find it amazing that this place continually is awarded best theatre in the area by the AC Press. The Regal Hamilton Stadium 14 is pretty much a nice modern megaplex with
excellent sound, big screens in all the audtoriums, etc. Also, if anyone has been to the Town 16 at the Shore Mall since it was refurbished after a fire, I’d love to know if the place has gotten any better (it had become a real dump while run by Hoyt’s).
rooms
My frame of reference with the theatres in Atlantic City only goes back as far as the early to mid 60’s but as I can remember the following theatres besides the Virginia had roadshow or reserved seat engagements at one time or another. The Hollywood – “The Sand Pebbles”, “Dr. Doolittle”, and “Star”. The Center – “The Blue Max”.
To my recollection, none of these films were presented in 70mm.
(The only one’s that were actually shot in 70mm were “Dr. Doolittle"
and "Star”, “The Blue Max” and “The Sand Pebbles” were anamorphic scope blown up to 70mm for some venues). “Patton” played at the
Shore Theatre at regular admission prices (scope print, not D-150)
and “2001: A Space Odyssey” played at the Apollo at “popular admission price” (I’m also suspecting a scope reduction also). I have no recollection of Todd-AO 70 or Cinerama presentations, although I have heard that the Warner Theatre (which had been closed before I had the opportunity to see a film there)showed “Windjammer” in the three projector Cine Miracle process, but without stereo sound.
I remember seeing two films at the Virginia, “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad
World” and “Krakatoa East of Java”. I could not have been more than
6 yrs old when I saw “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” so I don’t recall much of what the theatre was like at the time (early 60’s).
I do recall when I saw “Krakatowa East of Java” that the theatre was in pretty shabby condition by then. The stereo sound was impressive,
but the screen (which had an odd curve in the middle)and auditorium
were a bit smaller than I would have expected for a roadshow house. I
always have wondered why The Roxy,the other big boardwalk house operated by George Hamid (he also ran the Virginia) was not set up
for 70mm / stereopohnic roadshows instead. The Roxy was a much larger theatre with a balcony, huge Cinemascope screen, mezzanine
and all the trappings of a classic movie palace.
The Charles was a nice modern theatre that specialized in foreign and
art films. They also showed high profile mainstream films such as The
Godfather. Toward the end of it’s existance the Charles showed mainly
first run Hollywood films. The one thing, if my memory serves me right (I was just a teenager when I saw films there)that I didn’t care for was the theatre’s practice of showing all films at the
aspect ratio of 2:1 regardless of how they were filmed (I do not recall ever seeing the screen masked for different formats). Unfortunately I understand this was a common practice at many AC theatres at that time. If anyone has any more info on the subject of screen masking for proper aspect ratio or the lack of at the Charles or other Atlantic City theatres I’d like to know more.
I attended movies at the Center Theater many times during the 60’s and 70’s. During that time the theater, along with the Hollywood, Shore,Virginia and Roxy were operated by George Hamid, Jr. (who also owned Steel Pier). The theater was not the ornate movie palace the larger neighboring Hollywood was, but still a great place to see a movie in its heyday. The Center’s auditorium was very wide and had no balcony. The theater’s prominant and best feature was it’s huge curved screen. I believe the theater was equipped for 70mm (especially with that big screen) but I don’t recall any 70mm
presentations there from the mid 60’s – late 70’s. I did see the Blue Max at the Center as a roadshow engagement, but it was 35mm Cinemascope. Interestingly, the only theater I recall as having 70mm
presentations during that era was the Virginia located on the Boardwalk which did not have that impressive a screen sizewise and was in fairly funky condition for a roadshow house even in the 60’s.
If anyone out there has any info on 70mm presentation in Atlantic City at theaters other than the Virginia I’d love to hear about it.
I think I can clear this up. Based on the address, Arkansas Ave and
the Boardwalk, and the pictures and info about this theater on www.philadelphiabuildings.org the theater known as the “Embassy” which was built in the 1920’s is actually or later became the famous Warner Theater. The Embassy located at Atlantic and New York Ave was most likely constructed after WWII. I hope this helps.
I grew up in AC in the 60’s and 70’s and remember all the theaters
pretty well. The only Embassy in my lifetime was the one located at the corner of Atlantic Ave and New York Ave. The theater was pretty unique. The front of the theater was an old converted bank building
with Roman columns (hence it looked like an “Embassy”)which housed an outside box office, lobby, consession area, and rest rooms.
The theater auditorium was a separate structure which was added on to the original bank building. The auditorium had no balcony and was
fairly wide with a large flat almost wall to wall Cinemascope screen. For most of its' lifetime the Embassy was a classy first run house, showing mainly Paramount and MGM films. I don’t recall any roadshows and I don’t think the theater had 70mm capability. Some of the films I saw there were PT 109, Secret of Santa Victoria, Villa Rides, Once Upon A Time In The West, Ice Station Zebra (35mm Scope),
and Where Eagles Dare. It was a nice place to see a film – spacious feeling, unique look, good size screen. In the mid to late 70’s the theater started going downhill and ended up showing mainly kung fu and blaxploitation double bills until it was closed and demolished around 1980 along with all the other palaces in AC.
The original theatre, before it was twinned, was a nice place to see a movie. The screen was very large (I don’t recall if it had movable
masking or not)and a good 60 feet in width. I also remember there being “surround” type speakers mounted on the walls of the auditorium
which leads me to believe that there was multi-track stereo and 70mm
capability (if anyone can confirm this, please feel free to comment).
When the Tilton was twinned, it was a typical “dark ages of twinning"
wall down the middle job, basically destroying a nice example of a
large, modern for its time, suburban movie house. The present Tilton
9 is a mixed bag. The original auditorium remains in its' narrow twinned state with the addition of digital sound (shrill and crackly w/ less than steller projection the last time I was there)the newer
stadium auditoriums are decent with good sound, projection, and acceptable size screens for their moderate size; as far as the remaining small auditoriums go, other than barely acceptable digital sound, the less said the better. I find it amazing that this place continually is awarded best theatre in the area by the AC Press. The Regal Hamilton Stadium 14 is pretty much a nice modern megaplex with
excellent sound, big screens in all the audtoriums, etc. Also, if anyone has been to the Town 16 at the Shore Mall since it was refurbished after a fire, I’d love to know if the place has gotten any better (it had become a real dump while run by Hoyt’s).
rooms
My frame of reference with the theatres in Atlantic City only goes back as far as the early to mid 60’s but as I can remember the following theatres besides the Virginia had roadshow or reserved seat engagements at one time or another. The Hollywood – “The Sand Pebbles”, “Dr. Doolittle”, and “Star”. The Center – “The Blue Max”.
To my recollection, none of these films were presented in 70mm.
(The only one’s that were actually shot in 70mm were “Dr. Doolittle"
and "Star”, “The Blue Max” and “The Sand Pebbles” were anamorphic scope blown up to 70mm for some venues). “Patton” played at the
Shore Theatre at regular admission prices (scope print, not D-150)
and “2001: A Space Odyssey” played at the Apollo at “popular admission price” (I’m also suspecting a scope reduction also). I have no recollection of Todd-AO 70 or Cinerama presentations, although I have heard that the Warner Theatre (which had been closed before I had the opportunity to see a film there)showed “Windjammer” in the three projector Cine Miracle process, but without stereo sound.
I remember seeing two films at the Virginia, “It’s A Mad Mad Mad Mad
World” and “Krakatoa East of Java”. I could not have been more than
6 yrs old when I saw “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” so I don’t recall much of what the theatre was like at the time (early 60’s).
I do recall when I saw “Krakatowa East of Java” that the theatre was in pretty shabby condition by then. The stereo sound was impressive,
but the screen (which had an odd curve in the middle)and auditorium
were a bit smaller than I would have expected for a roadshow house. I
always have wondered why The Roxy,the other big boardwalk house operated by George Hamid (he also ran the Virginia) was not set up
for 70mm / stereopohnic roadshows instead. The Roxy was a much larger theatre with a balcony, huge Cinemascope screen, mezzanine
and all the trappings of a classic movie palace.
The Charles was a nice modern theatre that specialized in foreign and
art films. They also showed high profile mainstream films such as The
Godfather. Toward the end of it’s existance the Charles showed mainly
first run Hollywood films. The one thing, if my memory serves me right (I was just a teenager when I saw films there)that I didn’t care for was the theatre’s practice of showing all films at the
aspect ratio of 2:1 regardless of how they were filmed (I do not recall ever seeing the screen masked for different formats). Unfortunately I understand this was a common practice at many AC theatres at that time. If anyone has any more info on the subject of screen masking for proper aspect ratio or the lack of at the Charles or other Atlantic City theatres I’d like to know more.
I attended movies at the Center Theater many times during the 60’s and 70’s. During that time the theater, along with the Hollywood, Shore,Virginia and Roxy were operated by George Hamid, Jr. (who also owned Steel Pier). The theater was not the ornate movie palace the larger neighboring Hollywood was, but still a great place to see a movie in its heyday. The Center’s auditorium was very wide and had no balcony. The theater’s prominant and best feature was it’s huge curved screen. I believe the theater was equipped for 70mm (especially with that big screen) but I don’t recall any 70mm
presentations there from the mid 60’s – late 70’s. I did see the Blue Max at the Center as a roadshow engagement, but it was 35mm Cinemascope. Interestingly, the only theater I recall as having 70mm
presentations during that era was the Virginia located on the Boardwalk which did not have that impressive a screen sizewise and was in fairly funky condition for a roadshow house even in the 60’s.
If anyone out there has any info on 70mm presentation in Atlantic City at theaters other than the Virginia I’d love to hear about it.
I think I can clear this up. Based on the address, Arkansas Ave and
the Boardwalk, and the pictures and info about this theater on www.philadelphiabuildings.org the theater known as the “Embassy” which was built in the 1920’s is actually or later became the famous Warner Theater. The Embassy located at Atlantic and New York Ave was most likely constructed after WWII. I hope this helps.
I grew up in AC in the 60’s and 70’s and remember all the theaters
pretty well. The only Embassy in my lifetime was the one located at the corner of Atlantic Ave and New York Ave. The theater was pretty unique. The front of the theater was an old converted bank building
with Roman columns (hence it looked like an “Embassy”)which housed an outside box office, lobby, consession area, and rest rooms.
The theater auditorium was a separate structure which was added on to the original bank building. The auditorium had no balcony and was
fairly wide with a large flat almost wall to wall Cinemascope screen. For most of its' lifetime the Embassy was a classy first run house, showing mainly Paramount and MGM films. I don’t recall any roadshows and I don’t think the theater had 70mm capability. Some of the films I saw there were PT 109, Secret of Santa Victoria, Villa Rides, Once Upon A Time In The West, Ice Station Zebra (35mm Scope),
and Where Eagles Dare. It was a nice place to see a film – spacious feeling, unique look, good size screen. In the mid to late 70’s the theater started going downhill and ended up showing mainly kung fu and blaxploitation double bills until it was closed and demolished around 1980 along with all the other palaces in AC.