|  IP: Logged

It seems to be the opinion of some at this site that most of the small town or neighborhood theatres that are left, and there aren't many, don't deserve to continue. I know virually every one of those theatres in my state, and most of them don't have stereo sound. Some are in remote communities that are far removed from competition and there closure would force the local people to drive extreme distances to see movies, or would discourage them from going to theatres at all and therefore create more video renters. Others sit beneath the shadows of numerous megaplexes in urban areas and struggle to survive having to wait until those plexes have rung every last dollar from the patrons willing to shell out up to $8.00 for a movie. 99% of the time these small town or neighborhood theatres are owned by people that operate them not for a living, but on the side either as a hobby, or to save a small communities only theatre, or just for the love of the business. They do something else full time for 40 hours a week to make a living, but dedicate themselves to making that theatre survive, often never putting a penny from it in there own pockets. Lets see you guys do that! With no extra money other then to pay the basic operational bills, there is nothing left for improvements to the building or it's equipment. Thus such niceties as stereo sound are out of the question. Many of these people keep there theatres cleaner, operate them more professionally, and care alot more about their patrons then any of the big plexes around them. Those old theatres often have superb acoustics which make mono sound sound better then stereo does in many of the new boxes. Of course no amount of good acoustaics can produce the special effects of surround, but it's not missing, it just comes from the front. Another factor to consider is that these old theatres are for the most part patronized by older film goers, not the kids, or the young yuppies that are more interested in peer preasure or status then quality or aesthetics. I know from my personal experience that many of my patrons complain about the loud and irratating sound that they get at the megaplex.

If these operators had the money, most would love to put in stereo sound as well as other improvements. But when you have to decide whether to fix the roof, replace the boiler, replace leaking plumbing or repair the seats, not to mention that if they somehow came into some money they would be required to come up to ADA standards before anything else, what are they to do? Your suggestion is... GIVE UP and JUST CLOSE. Aferall that would send more patrons to the megaplex to watch scratched prints in bland auditoriums after being herded by uncaring staff.

If I go into a place that is run down in several catagories (cleanliness, candy stand, projection) I don't care if it's the neighborhood theater run by someone who professes to love the business. It should close. Such a place lowers the public opinion of good theaters.

If a theater doesn't have digital or stereo, they may be open to some competition comming in a taking over their area. That's the chance they take.

I do agree with Evans (and others) the projecting 2:1 is unacceptable. It's not so bad running 1.85, but cuts off too much on scope - I'm not getting to see what I paid for; the movie.

 |  IP: Logged

quote:

---

[Front page of Entertainment section: At top of page are pictures of the fronts of the Martin, Carmike 10, and Center theatres. At the bottom middle is a large picture of the front of the Lyric Theatre. The article occupies most of the front page of that section]

[Headline: in large letters]

The big picture

Computer scientist tracks down Huntsville's movie memories and organizes them on a Web site

By CHRIS WELCH
Times Entertainment Writer
chrisw@htimes.com

If you're a long-time Huntsvillian, how about reliving your youth via the silver screen?

Some older residents might remember visits to the Grand Theatre on Jefferson Street in the early 1910s or 1920s or seeing Huntsville's first movie with sound - ''My Man'' - at the Lyric in 1929 at the Lyric Theatre on Washington Street.

Wonder how many saw ''Cross My Heart'' at the Center Theater, located on 2313 Triana Blvd., when it opened on Oct. 6, 1947?

How about the premiere of Huntsville's first drive-in? Were you there on June 16, 1949 when ''The Senator Was Indiscreet'' played at the opening of the Whitesburg Drive-In? It sat where the Publix shopping center and Ruby Tuesday's are currently located at the corner of Whitesburg Drive and Carl T. Jones and charged - get this - 40 cents for adults and 10 cents for children over 5. If you were a kid, you loved the merry-go-round and other playground equipment there.

Others might remember Huntsville's first ''twin theaters'' opening on Christmas Day of 1970 on University Drive - where Papa Lovetti's restaurant is now located - and watching ''Love Story'' or ''The Owl and the Pussycat'' in the ''Blue'' and ''Gold'' theaters.

Whether it was your first movie, your very first date, the days you used R.C. Cola bottlecaps for admission, or piling your buddies into the car and watching scary movies all night at Woody's Drive-In, there's something wonderfully nostalgic about trips to Huntsville's theaters. And thanks to Evans Criswell, a computer scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, you can revisit those memories via the Internet.

Criswell, who moved here from Cherokee County in 1988, actually started his Web site - www.hsvmovies.com - in 1998 as a way to rate the presentation quality of the movies he saw at Huntsville's theaters. He had attended a local theater and thought the presentation of the movie was less than desirable, so he decided to learn more about the technical side of projecting movies.

At the same time, he also researched the background of Huntsville's theaters, combing through years of The Huntsville Times in microfilm archives at the Huntsville Public Library. He learned much about the history of theaters, many of which have been gone from Huntsville's landscape for some time, and has put everything from old pictures to old advertisements for the theaters on his Web site.

''Out of curiosity, I just wanted to know a little about the history,'' Criswell said. ''When I investigated, it just turned out to be so easy.''

He learned:

The Grand Theatre existed by the early 1920s and could have been there as early as 1910, Criswell said. The Grand and the Lyric, purchased by Charles A. Crute and Acklin Ragland in 1912, were Huntsville's only the- aters for years.

The Lyric burned twice, in December of 1930 and again Jan. 8, 1982. The theater had closed on Dec. 31, 1978.

The Princess Theater existed by 1943 and closed in 1964. It was located at 202 W. Holmes Ave. and later the address changed to 209 Church St. and 210 Church St.

The Parkway Drive-In on North Memorial Parkway opened May 5, 1955 and was advertised as ''the world's largest screen and drive-in cafeteria'' with 660 car spaces. The screen was advertised as five stories high and the drive-in had a fireworks display on opening night.

The Whitesburg Drive-In closed in 1979. The screen was burned in 1980 because the owner preferred that to letting it fall apart over time.

The Tony Theater opened on Washington Street across from the Lyric on May 26, 1960, advertising that it had Alabama's largest indoor screen. It changed to the Martin in 1962 and went out of business in 1982. It is currently a nightclub.

The Alabama Theater at The Mall opened with ''My Fair Lady'' in 1966, giving free orchids to all the ladies attending. The theater's last day was in 1985 and in 1986 it became the ''Alabama Pitcher Show,'' where movies were shown and alcoholic beverages and food were sold. It closed for good in 1988 and was located where the Costco and Home Depot at The Fountain shopping center are now.

The Madison Theater opened in 1967 in the old Parkway Shopping Center, where the new Parkway Place is being built. It featured a 70-foot screen, and when it closed in 1986 Criswell says it was the ''death of the big screen'' in Huntsville.

While researching the theaters, Criswell also learned a great deal about Huntsville.

''I was glancing at the headlines and learned a lot about the history of Huntsville,'' said Criswell. ''I saw when the Russel Erskine Hotel opened, when the Parkway was built, the first use of radar detectors and when Highway 72 opened, things like that.''

His ultimate goal is to improve the quality of the presentation in local theaters, so he grades each movie he visits using a detailed formula and puts them on the Web site. Some of the screen problems would be noticeable to the average person, but he also admits ''some of the stuff bothers me more as a math and science person.''

The bottom line?

He's had fun putting the Web site together and it should stir a memory or two in many Huntsvillians.

---

 |  IP: Logged

It's so strange... last night on A&E (I think), there was a story about Huntsville and a murder that took place back in 1992. It was a two-hour show and a good deal of time was spend describing Huntsville and the atmosphere around here (mixture of high-tech and southern charm). The Mullins restaurant was mentioned. I eat there with a group of people from work quite frequently. The TV show said that it was the place where a lot of gossip and information was exchanged and that many politicians went there. It was the first I'd heard about that. I thought it was just a popular local restaurant with home-style cooking. Yesterday afternoon, I got a telephone call from a gentleman in his 60s that gave me some details about a few of the old theatres he remembered going to, and he said that a bunch of people were sitting around in Mullins talking about the article earlier that day. Many elderly people eat there, so they're the audience that would have been most interested in the article.

That article caused by Web site to get hit 292 times yesterday (main page count), on a Sunday! In the past, I don't think there have been many Fridays or Saturdays where the site got over 100 hits. I'll have to generate some stats on that to see if my suspicions are correct.

I thought the writer did a good job on the article. Everything printed in the article seemed correct and nothing I said in the interview or wrote on my WWW site was quoted out of context in any way.

------------------
Evans A Criswell
Huntsville-Decatur Movie Theatre Information Site