Ambassador Theatre

115 Fayetteville Street,
Raleigh, NC 27601

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: North Carolina Theatres, Paramount Pictures Inc.

Architects: Erle G. Stillwell

Styles: Streamline Moderne

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News About This Theater

Ambassador Theatre

Built on the site of the Grand Theatre which was destroyed by fire on January 4, 1928. The 1,700-seat Ambassador Theatre was the foremost movie theatre in Raleigh for decades. It opened on February 21, 1938 with Bob Burns in “Radio City Revels”. It was operated by Paramount Pictures Inc. through their subsidiary H.F. Kincey.

The Ambassador Theatre showcased the films of M~G~M, Warner Bros, 20th Century Fox, etc. At least one premiere took place there – Gary Cooper in “Bright Leaf” in 1950.

It was demolished in March 1989 when Fayetteville Street was turned into a mall.

Contributed by Edward Wright

Recent comments (view all 61 comments)

skeeter81
skeeter81 on June 30, 2014 at 2:01 pm

I forgot to mention that I saw “A Clockwork Orange” at the Ambassador with my boyfriend (now husband). I had forgotten it was an “X.”

raysson
raysson on June 30, 2014 at 6:00 pm

The reserved seat engagement of Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” played here in 70mm in 1968.

Not to mention first-run exclusives like “The Exorcist”,“Billy Jack”,“Planet of the Apes”,and the 1976 remake of “King Kong”(the Ambassador’s BIG Christmas Attraction!)not to mention the first-run exclusive of “The Wiz” played here too with Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

raysson
raysson on June 5, 2015 at 1:14 pm

THE SOUND OF MUSIC-The Reserved Seat Engagements

http://www.digitalbits.com/columns/history-legacy—showmanship/sound-of-money-celebrating-sound-of-music-50th-anniv

raysson
raysson on March 18, 2016 at 12:18 pm

skeeter81:
The Ambassador Theatre also showed the “X” rated feature BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS first-run in 1970 as a late show.

fatherbates
fatherbates on July 8, 2018 at 7:42 am

BEFORE IT CLOSED, IT USE TO HAVE THE MAD MAD MAD MAD MONSTER LATE SHOW ON SAT NIGHTS TILL 2 AM!

CJ1949
CJ1949 on December 5, 2020 at 11:05 am

Re: The Ten Commandments. This played very late in many areas of the country because exhibitors refused to pay the high rental terms. If small towns played it at all, it was rarely within the first year of release. The same can be said for another Paramount release of the time, “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Many small towns never played these pictures. Paramount also held these back deliberately from the smaller towns, and was judicious about awarding these pictures to only circuits that were willing to meet the rental terms. This was also the era of “pre-release” engagements where only the larger cities would get the picture for a limited time, and then the distributor would put it on the shelf for a few months before wider distribution - resulting in many theatres being starved for product.

MSC77
MSC77 on October 24, 2022 at 6:35 pm

A chronology of Raleigh’s 70mm presentation history has recently been published. The Ambassador is mentioned numerous times.

DavidZornig
DavidZornig on February 16, 2023 at 9:05 pm

1968 photo in Facebook link below. Ambassador marquee on the left, mounted flush to the building.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=610881587709478&set=pb.100063629260284.-2207520000.&type=3

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