Cinema South
3300 S. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19145
3300 S. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19145
1 person
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Stadium Theatre
Nearby Theaters
Located on South Broad Street, the 750-seat Stadium Theatre opened on June 28, 1967 with David Niven in “Casino Royal”. It was equipped with second-hand seats which came from the Metropolitan Opera House in New York which was in the process of being demolished. It was twinned and renamed Cinema South. It was closed on January 1, 1981 with George Burns in “Oh, God! Book II” and Burt Reynolds in “Smokey and the Bandit II”.
It was demolished for retail space.
Contributed by
Chuck
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
I remember seeing this theater while leaving the stadium-it was still full-sized and showing films for $1, and it definitely said “70mm” on the marquee. I think the film was “Superman” at the time and wondered why the place was never advertised.
They did show Superman in 70mm for a $1.00. If you look on the posting for the Virginia Theater in Atlantic City, Hamid would bring the 70mm equipment from the Virginia to use in the Stadium during the winter months.
That’s very interesting because I recall another theater showing Superman in 70mm for $1 at the same time; Parkwood Theater in the Parkwood Manor Shopping Center (Far Northeast, Phila, Pa.). However, the Parkwood’s newspaper ad made reference to its 70mm presentation (i.e. in the ad itself), and the Stadium’s ad made no reference to it (at least to my recollection). The Parkwood’s marquee also said 70mm. I viewed the film at the Fox in center city in four (4) track Dolby Stereo, presumably in 35mm (film was shot in 35mm Panavision). The Parkwood and Stadium’s showings were probably anamorphic “blow-ups streched to fit 70mm projection.
This opened on June 28th, 1967. Its grand opening ad in the photo section.
mh052 said, “The Stadium Theater was located just across the street from another George A. Hamid enterprise; namely, Aquarama, Theater of the Sea (Philly’s own big-time aquarium showplace), right on South Btroad St.” Someone please explain how both the Stadium Theatre and Aquarama, if they were physically across the street from each other shared the same building address, namely 3300 South Broad Street, during the same time period.
Where, exactly, was the location? 3300 South Broad was Aquarama also. It seems to me this building was at a corner as seen in the photo but at what cross street on the southbound side of Broad? Hartranft or Curtin?
The Cinema South last operated as a twin. It most likely closed around New Year’s Day 1981 with “Oh God! Book II” in Screen 1 and “Smokey And The Bandit 2”.
Opened with “Casino Royale”.
Grand opening ad posted
Hamid closed all his theaters to work in the Casino.