Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Saint Louis Theaters

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Posted by Jason R. Weinsteiger (Member # 456) on 06-24-2000, 10:59 PM:

i'll be in Saint Louis next month and was wondering if any of you guys is from the area, or is there any must-see theaters that i could visit while i'm there.

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"That's what life is - a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets." -Dante Hicks

Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 06-25-2000, 11:38 PM:

Visit the Esquire and Tivoli theatres first. Then if you have time, visit the Hi-Pointe and the Creve Coeur 12 (my theatre). The Esquire originally opened in 1939 and has been renovated several times (most recently in 1989) throughout its history. Its not in the greatest shape (it is, after all, run by AMC) but its still a cool place to see a movie in its main audtitorium. The Tivoli is much the same as the Esquire (an old theatre that has been renovated) though smaller - and it is run by Landmark so it has a little bit nicer atmosphere. The Hi-Pointe is a single-screen independant that has a lot of character and friendly service. The Creve Coeur 12 is a new AMC (sister theatre of a 16 down the street) and has the finest booth operation of any theatre in town - personally garunteed. (Though I cannot, of course, garuntee the sound EQ's, which leave something to be desired) If you visit that theatre, I would be more than happy to show you the booth. As for the rest of the teatres in town, they really are nothing special - the other company in town is known as Wherenberg theatres and they really suck. Post again if you make plans to visit any of these theatres.

Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 06-27-2000, 10:54 AM:

Nic,

Are you a projectionist or the booth manager at Creve Coeur 12? I run the BarryWoods 24 in Kansas City.

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Dave Cutler

"Do or do not, there is no try."

Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 06-28-2000, 09:55 PM:

Actually, I am just a projectionist but I have all the responsibilities that the booth manager would have such as making the schedule and overseeing training. We do not even have a dedicated facilities manager so I am pretty much on my own. Say hi to Derrick Nelson for me!

Posted by Dave Cutler (Member # 515) on 06-29-2000, 09:19 AM:

I will say hi to Derek for you, do you know Brad Lohrum. I think he may be working at the West Olive, but I am not sure.

Officially I am an Operations Coordinator, but I run the booth, so they call me a Booth Coordinator. It's just a title anyways. I handle schd, training, maintenance and repair, and don't have to listen/report to anyone except the GM and MD, I love ignoring op managers and getting away with it. Without a real AMC tech in town, my GM & MD love the fact that they have someone who cares that knows how to fix projectors & sound systems.

"I am just a projectionist," never say that. A projectionist is a wonderful thing to be. Any thing else is just a title.

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Dave Cutler

"Do or do not, there is no try."

Posted by Travis Cape (Member # 466) on 06-29-2000, 11:14 PM:

Jason, Feel free to drop by and see us at the Hi-Pointe. We are the oldest theatre left in town. Currently things are a little chaotic with our upcoming Dolby Digital installation. Nic is right, both the Creve Couer and West Olive have the finest projection in town. The Esquire is still my personal favorite but the quality usually is fairly bad. The main auditorium of the Tivoli is the most beautiful in town seating 451.

Posted by Jason R. Weinsteiger (Member # 456) on 06-29-2000, 11:52 PM:

thanks, guys. i'd like to see em all! but i'm only going to be there 4 days, plus i'll have no mode of transportation! Of course if anyone would like to volunteer to drive me around

i'm there for the Gateway Media Con to see those swell guys from Mystery Science Theater 3000, from July 14-17. Nic, i'll probably hit the Creve Coeur. they're having some sort of midnight show or something just for us, on the 14th i think. So BE THERE. and save me a ticket, there'll be 600 people at the con and you only have 200-some seats

jasoN

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"That's what life is - a series of down endings. All Jedi had was a bunch of muppets." -Dante Hicks

Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 06-30-2000, 06:32 PM:

I'll make an effort to be there, Jason! (BTW, the Esquire and Hi-Pointe are only a couple blocks from each other and the Tivoli is not very far off from them.)

Dave, I know (knew) Brad Lohrum very well, I worked with him at the West Olive for almost a year, though I haven't seen him recently. Yes, my position at Creve Coeur is much the same as yours, though I am not officially an OC (nor do I have any desire to be) I do not answer to anyone directly, save the SM and MD.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 06-30-2000, 11:26 PM:

Jason:

I haven't seen any of the theatres for real that were mentioned, but I have seen pictures of the Tivoli, and it looks real nice.

However, the theatre that you MUST see is the FOX. Even though it isn't a regular film house anymore, it is still the best theatre in town. A true movie palace. One of the finest remaining in the country. Once you see it, you'll cry thinking about going back to a megaplex (no matter how nice) to see a movie!

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 06-30-2000, 11:38 PM:

Jason:

I have not seen any of the theatres mentioned for real, but have seen pictures of the Tivoli, and it looks very nice.

However, the theatre that you MUST see is the Fox. Although it isn't a regular film house any longer, it is the BEST theatre in town. A true movie palace! Once you see it, you'll cry when you think about seeing movies in a megaplex (no matter how nice). It is one of the finest left in the nation.

If you don't plan on being in St. Louis again any time soon...DON'T miss the Fox on this trip. It will be the highlight of your trip.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 06-30-2000, 11:40 PM:

Jason:

I have not seen any of the theatres mentioned for real, but have seen pictures of the Tivoli, and it looks very nice.

If you don't plan on being in St. Louis again any time soon...DON'T miss the Fox on this trip. It will be the highlight of your trip.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 07-01-2000, 12:04 AM:

I apologize if I just posted the same message three times, but for some reason, none of them have shown up on my screen. However, I have been told by someone else (Jason) that they are there. Sorry about that folks!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-01-2000, 05:19 AM:

Please remember to never hit the submitton button more than once. Many browsers (like Internet Explorer) "cache" the page and make people think that their post did not go through. It always does, though.

What type of operating system are you using and browser? If you can't see the posts, I'd like to send your computer's information over to the programmers of this software so they can check it out and try to correct it for a future upgrade.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 07-01-2000, 03:21 PM:

Brad:

I'm on aol. This was my 14th post, and the first time that it didn't appear directly after hitting submit. I have that problem when I make my weekly updates to my website info as well. It has taken up to 10 hours for it to appear, yet if I e-mail a friend, they confirm that everything has been changed and looks correct on their screen.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 07-01-2000, 03:24 PM:

Brad:

Just for your info...the previous transmission at 3:21 went right through, and hopefully this one as well.

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 07-01-2000, 10:16 PM:

Richard,

Go to www.netscape.com and download their latest browser. You can then set it up under edit/advanced/cache to load up a fresh copy every visit to the page. AOL is a real problem for web based forums due to their cacheing. Netscape will solve that problem, but will slow you down a bit on non-forum web pages.

Posted by Nic Margherio (Member # 273) on 07-02-2000, 09:19 PM:

Another true "movie palace" not to miss is Powell Symphony Hall - right across the street form the Fox. Most people are unaware that it was originally a movie theatre and although it hasn't shown a film in almost forty years, it remains a spectacular reminder of how great old "movie palaces" were. Of course there are very few events there right now as the Symphony season doesn't start until October.

Posted by Richard C. Wolfe (Member # 431) on 07-02-2000, 10:30 PM:

Nic:

Your absolutely correct...the old St. Louis Theatre...now Powell Hall. Another great theatre. What ever happened to the Ambassador Theatre? Did they ever tear it down? That was another great one.

Posted by Travis Cape (Member # 466) on 07-03-2000, 05:10 PM:

Yes, Powell Hall was the St. Louis theatre. Right after they closed with "Sound of Music" the XL's were sent to my theatre to replace the supers. The Ambassador went down in 1995 I think. It went with a fight though. no one told the wrecking crew the beams were filled with cement. It was torn down for "green space" for the neighboring bank. I tried to go in to check out the leftovers, but the scary demolition crew chased me off. I had been told that the original booth had been left untouched after Cinerama was installed. Later it was upgraded to DP70's. I hope that info was wrong because they won't let me go fetch.