Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Cobb Theatres back and expanding

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Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-06-2003, 02:46 PM:

I saw in the Huntsville Times today that Cobb Theatres is building a new theatre in Tuscaloosa, AL. According to the article, it will be a 16-plex with stadium seating, curved screens, the latest in audio and video [???!!!] equipment, automated ticket machines, and large concession stands.

I wonder if Cobb is going to build this one in the style of their old theatres with screens that are 1.85:1-only or 2.00:1-only with no adjustable masking in many of the smaller auditoriums. Supposedly, Regal, in addition to finally fixing this problem in the old Cobb Theatre locations here in Huntsville, is fixing this problem in all of the theatres they acquired from Cobb. I'd hate to see Cobb come back and build a bunch more of these.

Is anyone familiar with any theatres that Cobb currently runs in Florida or Alabama, or at least familiar enough with the company nowadays to know if this will be the case? The company is headquarted out of Birmingham, AL, so I'm wondering if this is the same old Cobb, or basically a new company with the old name.

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 02-06-2003, 03:54 PM:

It is Bobby Cobb who has reentered the business and all of the new locations they have picked in Florida have been successful.
Richard Fowler
Kinoton America Inc.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-06-2003, 04:33 PM:

I helped open the Dolphin Mall 19 In South Miami. I believe it may be the 6th busy theatre in Florida (?) I respect Mr. Cobb very much and wish him all the luck in the world.

BTW - The theatres are designed by the same architect as before (Rodney Sartain) but you will notice that they resemble a lot of the newer Regals.

Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 02-06-2003, 07:27 PM:

Dennis,
Didn't Rodney Sartain work with Regal after the Cobb takeover? I know he designed the Palace.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-06-2003, 08:04 PM:

Makes sense doesn't it?

Posted by Jerry D. Cox (Member # 701) on 02-06-2003, 08:31 PM:

R.C. Cobb sold his theater's in Birmingham,Al. to Regal The day after the sale he had A hart attack an died.That was about ten yrs. ago,I work for him in 1956 in Oneonta,Al.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-06-2003, 09:32 PM:

quote:
I helped open the Dolphin Mall 19 In South Miami. I believe it may be the 6th busy theatre in Florida (?) I respect Mr. Cobb very much and wish him all the luck in the world.

So are all of the screens capable of showing flat and scope, or are these newer Cobb locations like the old ones, with many screens that are "one ratio only" and unadjustable? I'm hoping that all of the new ones are built properly.

Posted by Tom Wienholt (Member # 1510) on 02-07-2003, 12:11 AM:

Hi
I currently operate a 6 screen location in Bradenton, Florida that was owned by Cobb at one time and then by Regal. All six of the screens are a 1.85 to 1 flat aspect ratio. I still don't know why Cobb built the theatre this way. It makes absolutely no sense. Also, I have visited the Cobb Parkway 8 theatre in Sarasota, Florida several times. This is a discount theatre that surprisingly has screens able to accomodate scope and flat films. Way to go Cobb! [thumbsup]

Posted by Mike Williams (Member # 1140) on 02-07-2003, 06:41 AM:

The Regal takeover of cobb was in August of 97.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-07-2003, 09:41 AM:

quote:
I currently operate a 6 screen location in Bradenton, Florida that was owned by Cobb at one time and then by Regal. All six of the screens are a 1.85 to 1 flat aspect ratio.

Wow. At last in our theatres, 4/16 at H16 when built, and 4/12 at MS12 had adjustable masking, with all others 1.85:1. Cobb built the Cobb Cinema 8 in the old A&P grocery store with all screens except one at 2.00:1 fixed ratio. One screen had adjustable masking. Oh yeah, all these screens had exit signs shining on one side of them too! Ugh.

I'll bet the Cobb second run you mention with adjustable masking was built by someone else and taken over by Cobb.

The Regal takeover of Cobb was August 1, 1997.

Can anyone please verify whether Cobb is still building "one size only" unadjustable screens in their NEW theatres? That's the main piece of information in which I'm interested.

By the way, I have a 1954 Film Daily Year Book and Cobb is not listed as a theatre company in the back section. What year did Cobb Theatres begin to exist?

[ 02-07-2003, 02:28 PM: Message edited by: Evans A Criswell ]

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 02-07-2003, 10:46 PM:

Evans -

No the NEW theatres have the adjustable masking. As a matter of fact, if I recall - Auditorium #1 at the Dolphin Mall may be the largest screen in Miami (in scope). Freddie Dobbs did the install and Bobby spent the money to make it a NICE theatre.

If I recall (and this is going back a bit) Cobb Theatres goes back to the forties. For some reason the year 1946 sticks in my mind.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 02-07-2003, 11:25 PM:

It's good to hear that the new ones have the adjustable masking. You mentioned the largest screen having it, and hope you mean that even the smallest ones do too.

Earlier this afternoon, I heard that Cobb may be interested in "coming back to town" by either buying back some of the Regal theatres that they originally sold to Regal (like the Jasper Movies 4), or building new theatres. They're building a new one in Tuscaloosa. If they're coming back to Huntsville, I certainly hope they're past all their bad design decisions from the past, like building in an old grocery store or cutting costs by not providing for image ratio standards that have been with us for nearly 50 years.

When the Tuscaloosa location is done, I'll have to go check it out. I'd like to see a new Cobb theatre and check out the smaller auditoriums, but they're quite a distance from where I am. I think the closest Cobb is in Jasper, but it's an old one that I'm sure has some malformed screens [I may be wrong, since I've never gone in it].

Benjamin, maybe Film-Tech could use a photo session for one of the new Cobb locations. Show us a large auditorium and a small auditorium with the maskings set for scope. [Smile]

By the way, I have some more Film Daily Yearbooks coming from the 50s and 60s. They're a great reference.