Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Theatres Without Popcorn??

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Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 01-31-2015, 09:35 PM:

On another Forum some guy posted that "There's nothing worse than sitting next to someone in a theatre eating popcorn. Two local cinemas don't sell popcorn because of the reason...."

I've been going to theatres for over 60 years and I've never been in one that didn't sell popcorn. Hell, even the Atlanta Fox sells popcorn!!!

Who knows of a theatre that doesn't sell popcorn? Locations.....please!!!

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 01-31-2015, 10:52 PM:

When the AFI was in the Kennedy Center they had a no food or drink policy. Since moving to the Silver, they have abandoned that policy and have a complete concessions stand.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 01-31-2015, 11:26 PM:

Years back, I remember reading a story (in Box Office magazine, perhaps?) about a guy who opened some sort of an arthouse theatre and wasn't going to sell popcorn. He got so many complaints on his opening night that he purchased and installed a popcorn machine the following day.

I can't remember any more details about it than that, though.

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 01-31-2015, 11:41 PM:

I believe in the silent days popcorn was not sold in the lobby at most theaters. Until the Lindsey theater in downtown Lubbock was knocked down in 1940 and rebuilt new it did not have a concession stand but there was a Karmelcorn (?) retailer who leased space near the front doors. People were allowed to bring in their goodies purchased there into the theater.
With the new build came a small (by our current standards) concession stand in the lobby.

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 02-01-2015, 12:18 AM:

This Movie Theater refused to sell POPCORN! [Eek!]

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 02-01-2015, 07:46 AM:

For what it's worth, the local art house theater doesn't allow concessions in their auditoriums, not even a bottle of water. They do have a bar though, selling a limited amount of edibles, but no popcorn.

Also, a Dutch cinema, CineMec, located in a town called Ede does play all the major releases, but also doesn't sell popcorn. They do allow concessions in their auditoriums though. They sell nuts, ice cream and different types of cakes and pies (which you're allowed to take with you), but no popcorn...

About 15 years back, a local Belgian cinema implemented the rather interesting concept of having a fully featured concession stand (selling popcorn, soda, the works), but you weren't allowed to take it into the auditorium. They also didn't really have something like a bar, lounge or other comfy place to hang out. So, I'm not sure what the deal was... You were supposed to consume your concessions before entering the auditorium or during the intermission I suppose. I guess they realized how stupid their policy actually was and hence it was normalized a few years afterward.

Personally, I find those bags of potato chips, candy and all other kinds of prepackaged fried goods to be much more annoying than a bucket of popcorn. Some cinemas therefore have adopted the policy of putting those kind of products into popcorn containers, which I personally do applaud.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 02-01-2015, 08:17 AM:

I cannot imagine a commercial theatre not selling popcorn. There is just too much money to be made there. Agreed that foods that are noisy to eat or which come in noisy packaging (potato chipas, etc.) are annoying, whereas popcorn in buckets (as opposed to bags, which make noise) does not really disturb most patrons. Candy in boxes is usually not too bad, either. I have heard stories of people having pizzas delivered to their seats in commercial theatres, but have not actually seen this. No doubt, the smell would annoy some patrons.

That said, most places that are not actually movie theatres but which show movies (museum theatres, colleges, etc.) do not sell concessions and many/most have a "no food or drinks" policy in their auditoria. In the Boston area, the Harvard Film Archive, the MFA, the ICA, and other such venues are food-and-drink free.

I know of one live (stage) theatre that occasionally shows movies that only sells soda and bottled water in "small" sizes. As it was explained to me, the purpose of this was to try to minimize disruption from patrons' getting up to use the bathrooms during the event. Does it work? I have no idea.

I have always sort of wondered about Imax and Omnimax theatres (the real ones) that sell food. The institutional ones generally do not, and I always assumed that this was out of fear of people throwing up in the theatre due to motion sickness. Is this the real reason and, if so, is it a real problem?

Personally, I like popcorn and will often buy it at movies if the product is good and not ridiculously overpriced. I have not attended any of the "dinner and a movie" type of venues, and am not sure how I would feel about eating an entire meal at a movie theatre (except maybe at a drive-in).

Posted by John Eickhof (Member # 323) on 02-01-2015, 12:13 PM:

Pre WW2 movie houses for the most part did not sell any concessions I have seen dozens of pre 1946 theatres that originally had no concession stands and had later custom built, modified or added concessions. My theatre was built during WW2 and opened in 1945 and did not have a concession stand, it was in 1949-1950 when they cut out the wall between the two auditorium entry doors and bumped a small area into the auditorium for concessions. (removing part of the back row of seats) The owner purchased a new all stainless steel Viking popcorn machine for $1750.00! And it was shipped to the theatre by railway express for a shipping cost of $46! ( I have the original receipts) I still have the popper and it works very well! My concessions stand had a very small candy display case in the front counter and a counter top three head drink machine. It was very similar and about a little smaller than Mike's at the Roxy in Forsyth MT. It also had a vent in the ceiling that allowed the popcorn exhaust to flow into the theatre! When I owned the Colfax Theatre in California (built 1939) It had no concessions stand but had the popper right in the entry hall right behind the box office and the owner had a fan that pulled the exhaust into the ceiling where it would flow out slits cut in the upper balcony risers to bolster sales!

Posted by James Westbrook (Member # 3690) on 02-01-2015, 01:04 PM:

This was the concession stand of the Lindsey, until another remodel in the late 60s where the box office was moved inside. The Lindsey at the time was Lubbock's premiere first-run theater and seated 1800. The stand looks so tiny, but the operational money was still being earned in ticket sales at the time and the concession was the revenue that ensured the owners vacation cruises and new cars and similar.
It seems unbelievable now but when I started working for UA in 1979, we had a cigarette machine in the lobby.

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 02-01-2015, 07:17 PM:

Wow!! Is that a gumball machine on the right side of the Manley Popper? I've never seen a theatre offer gum as a concession item.

Posted by Martin McCaffery (Member # 37) on 02-01-2015, 08:39 PM:

My theater was built in 1941 with no concession stand either. Even worse, it has a round lobby. It's had may concessions stands over the years and none of them ever looked like they belonged in the round lobby. We are now raising the money to redo the lobby and move the concessions stand under the balcony. We don't need the seats and we will insulate properly to keep the noise out of the theater. And the smoke.

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 02-01-2015, 09:17 PM:

I have a gumball machine in my lobby. No gum, though. It contains jawbreakers.

I've occasionally seen people stand there with a whole roll of quarters and keep cranking that machine for five or ten minutes to get bags and pockets full of jawbreakers.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 02-01-2015, 09:58 PM:

My theatre was built in 1930 and didn't start to sell popcorn until 1940. Even then, they didn't sell drinks or candy -- just popcorn, and the machine was located in the outer foyer because the lobby was too small.

In 1953 they took out 2 rows of seats and built the proper concession stand, but it was ridiculously small. In the early 1980s, we removed a couple more rows of seats and made both the concession selling space (behind the counter) and the lobby area larger.

There are times we could still use more lobby space, but if we made the lobby any bigger the concession stand would have to poke out from under the balcony which would ruin the looks of the auditorium. (I'm all about sales but I also like aesthetics!)

Posted by Aaron Garman (Member # 1653) on 02-01-2015, 11:15 PM:

When I attended the opening of the IU Cinema, there was no food or drink allowed in save for water. Not sure if that has changed, so maybe Manny can confirm.

When I was at DeBartolo, the Browning Cinema was the only venue we did allow food and drink in. Although, per the request of Met Opera patrons, we did not allow popcorn inside the house for those broadcasts.

AJG

Posted by Frank Cox (Member # 6258) on 02-01-2015, 11:29 PM:

When I first created my theatre, I purchased a building that had previously been a paint and wallpaper store, then rebuilt the inside to be a theatre using long stage rafters to create the slope on the auditorium floor and whatnot. The place was just one big empty room when I bought it.

I quickly discovered that my lobby was way too small, but there was no way to do anything about it. I had people literally standing outside on the street waiting to get in almost every night, which is not much of a problem in the summer (except for the mosquitoes) but becomes an issue when it's -40 outside.

A couple of years after I set up shop, the city seized the dilapidated building beside me for unpaid taxes and proceeded to tear it down. As soon as that happened, I hot-footed it down to city hall and said, "I want to build a lobby, can I purchase that lot?"

And by later that summer, I finally had a lobby that was bigger than a shoebox. Most of what used to be my lobby is now a closet where I keep the spare Pepsi tanks and the mop, which gives you and idea of how small it actually was.

Posted by Marcel Birgelen (Member # 6801) on 02-02-2015, 04:30 AM:

quote: Scott Norwood
I have always sort of wondered about Imax and Omnimax theatres (the real ones) that sell food. The institutional ones generally do not, and I always assumed that this was out of fear of people throwing up in the theatre due to motion sickness. Is this the real reason and, if so, is it a real problem?

Most REAL IMAX theaters that show feature length films I know off, do sell concessions. In Europe, the only one that's still operating and comes to mind is the BFI IMAX in London and they do sell concessions (including popcorn). As for the Metreon and Lincoln Square IMAX, last time I visited, they offered the full range of concessions. It's not really a comfortable situation though, you end up cramming your stuff between your legs or holding it the entire show.

I've never watched a feature-length movie in OMNIMAX, besides some rides and attractions using OMNIMAX as means of presentation, I've only seen a handful of documentaries in The Hackworth Dome in San Jose (now also showing a limited amount of feature films), the Discovery IMAX convertible dome in Berlin (now sadly gone) and the Omniversum in The Hague. The only one selling a limited amount of concessions when I last visited was the Omniversum. They're selling bottled drinks and a handful of snacks. You're not really supposed to eat and drink in the auditorium though, but it's seemingly tolerated.

I guess none of those original IMAX and OMNIMAX theaters was ever built with the idea of eating and drinking during the show. Most of those shows were obviously also sufficiently short.

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 02-05-2015, 08:27 PM:

Taking this thread one step further. For the past month I've been doing some popping test with our 1950 Manley popper. I've been playing with my recipe and I'm ready to make a BOLD statement but don't forget I'm talking about a cast aluminum kettle....not a stainless version.
Ok...drum roll.....It's my opinion that popcorn taste better using 100% LouAna non hydrogenated (white) coconut oil instead of the traditional yellow coconut oil. I am, however still using yellow salt.
Like AMC says....there is a difference.
Let the haters chime in!!

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 02-06-2015, 12:13 PM:

Iam still a fan of of the yellow coconut oil but i used to really like the yellow peanut oil but that seems to be unavailable now

Posted by Michael Putlack (Member # 6523) on 02-15-2015, 04:03 AM:

I just moved to Auckland, NZ two weeks ago and two of the four cinemas I've been to have no corn!

Academy Cinemas - No Corn [Frown]

Matakana Cinema - No Corn [Frown]

Event Cinemas - Yeah Corn!
Rialto Cinemas - Yeah Corn!

I agree popcorn is an essential, but maybe kiwi's just don't have a taste for it?

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 02-16-2015, 11:49 AM:

When I first started at the performing arts center, they, like most arts centers, were too foo-foo to sell anything as pedestrian as popcorn. Management of these places usually see themselves as more refined and sophisticated than the lowly movie theatre which caters to the unwashed masses. When I started the cinema arm at the center, I insisted we had to install a popcorn machine and sell popcorn. There was immediate and significent pushback against it, using the pretext that such food stuffs would ruin the interior of the theatre. My retort was, so, "you mean all the thousands of cinemas across the country have figured out how to clean their auditoriums, but we can't?" We sold popcorn. When the formal cinema series was shut down after two decades, the popcorn popper was immediately removed and the concessions that they sell -- candy, drinks, potato chips (?) now must be eaten in the lobby at a multitude of mini-tables that line the walls. Seems they rather opt for pretentious foo-foo perception over concession profits, specifically popcorn profits, substantial as they are. Oh well. We are not running movies regularly, so what do I care.