The White House Theater is likely the most famous one to recently close. Does anyone know if the equipment was saved out of it for future museum display purposes, or to use in a future theater? Seeing that entire east wing disappear was very sad...
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Last edited by Mark Gulbrandsen; 10-27-2025, 03:52 PM. -
I looked around for more into on the theater equipment and came across statements like this:
I read that the white house projectionist kept detailed records of films shown and who attended. These logs can be found online.According to Home Theater, the room uses Snell speakers, but apart from a (supposedly) 3D projector all of the other equipment is a state secret.Comment
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It would be interesting to read/know who held the position of White House Projectionist over the years. Add that to the list of positions this Admin eliminated. :-(Comment
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Full article and logs at: https://paleofuture.com/blog/2023/3/...he-white-houseI’ve written a new article over at Forbes about the movies President John F. Kennedy watched while in office. That article includes a big list at the end that shows every movie Kennedy watched, including films he saw at movie theaters outside the White House. But I wanted to publish the Paul Fischer logs for President Kennedy’s time in office here so that people could do more research for themselves on things like who President Kennedy was watching those movies with.
Fischer started as the White House’s dedicated projectionist when President Dwight Eisenhower was elected in 1953 and retired under President Ronald Reagan in the 1980s. All the while, Fischer was keeping a journal of every movie he was screening for the presidents, which I was able to get copies of some years back.
My source for Fischer’s logs swore me to secrecy, and I’m not entirely sure why. These logs aren’t in a presidential library somewhere and I have no idea where the originals might be. While I’m not supposed to say where I got the logs, I can share them, as I’m doing now, and hope to do more of in the near future as I continue to research this topic.
The logs are below but please keep in mind that Fischer may have introduced mistakes, whether it’s the titles of the films, the names of people who used the screening room, or particular dates. For example, the last page appears to show President Kennedy attending a birthday party screening of movies for his son, John Jr, on November 29, 1963. But Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas on November 22, 1963, seven days earlier.
Is this a conspiracy theory? Probably not. Fischer probably just marked the book out of habit, or maybe he sometimes marked his log book as a plan and those plans fell through in this case. I wish I could ask Fischer myself but he died in 2007, his wife died in 2013 and his son died in 2011. So honestly, I’m not sure who to ask. Either way, it’s an interesting artifact and I hope it allows someone with an interest in Kennedy to finally answer some question they’ve always had.
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Ed, That's a really long list!!Comment
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I wonder if that position still existed? I'd be more willing to bet they folded that job into some other job when the digital era came into being.White House Projectionist over the years. Add that to the list of positions this Admin eliminated. :-(Comment
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finally got details. The entire theater was flooded. The ceiling was ruined bc of the flooding from above. Seats were destroyed. Audio system was ruined, so probably the screen too.
The booth seems to have been reached in time and mostly saved.
Supposedly everything has been repaired and covered by insurance.Comment
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The Bellevue Theater in Montclair, New Jersey has reopened under the auspices of the non-profit Montclair Film Organization. The theater opened in 1922 and operated under various owners before being cut up into a triple and eventually a four-plex. The last for-profit owner, the former Bow Tie Cinemas, closed it in 2017. MFO has returned it to a triple by removing the wall in the main auditorium, overall it's a nice refurbishment. Montclair is a very upscale and film conscious community with a well-regarded film festival, and I hope they make a go of it.Comment
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The Apple Cinemas - Providence Place IMAX opened to the public Saturday, November 1, 2025. It was formerly known as the Providence Place Cinemas 16 & IMAX and operated by National Amusements and closed October 26, 2025.
National Amusements announced in October that the Showcase Cinema de Lux Patriot Place in Foxboro, Massachusetts will be closing its doors in "early 2026."Comment
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The Vali Twin Cinema in Powell, WY is closed "temporarily" but has been down for 3 months. They want to reopen for the holidays but are blaming the lack of good movies for a 75% decrease in their business since 2019.
I think there are other factors; that theater is like a lot of older ones. In need of major upgrades, but don't have the revenue to support them. Of course the people commenting on the news article have the same old respponses: Going to movies is too expensive (even though it's still cheaper than any other form of out-of-the-house entertainment, with the possible exception of high school sports).
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That's the point: out-of-the-house entertainment has become too expensive for all but the wealthiest households to do regularly. When the World Series was going on last week, I heard it reported on the radio that seats at a regular game at Dodger Stadium start in the ballpark (sorry, pun irresistible) of $900. When Taylor Swift did her last tour, average ticket prices were apparently in the mid four figures. Agreed that going to the movies is a bargain compared to that, but it is still perceived as being uncompetitive compared to seeing movies at home. I can't give you figures to back this claim up, but my feeling is that this headwind fundamentally wasn't there when home video competed with cinema in the pre-streaming era (early 1980s to mid '00s, approx.): theater tickets were significantly cheaper in real terms, and combined movie theater/restaurants were not a thing.Originally posted by Mike Blakesley
Returning to the topic, The New Port theater in Newport, Beach, CA has closed; it is claimed, for refurbishment, but there are increasing doubts as to whether it will reopen. The closure was several months ago, and no reopening date (even rough/estimated) is given on their website, which hasn't been updated in months.Comment
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That's the problem the industry has: It's NOT expensive compared to other things but people THINK it is. Perception. Although I agree that concession prices are too high in chain theaters.That's the point: out-of-the-house entertainment has become too expensive for all but the wealthiest households to do regularly.
I also think if a lot of people would watch their credit card bills and "unsubscribe" to things they barely or never use, and stop "impulse buying" things on Amazon etc., they might save enough a month to go to a movie here and there.Comment
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I just read an article the other day which stated that since programs from Apple and Microsoft and Google defaults to saving your files on their servers instead of locally, a lot of people pay a monthly subscription fee to those outfits for cloud storage.
Sheesh. I don't consider that a file is "mine" unless it's on my own computer in a location where it's under my control and I can modify it back it up and do what I choose with it without having to say Mother May I.
Maybe it's just me....Comment
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Streaming a the movie is like seeing it in a theater: You pay to see it once, and you don't own it.
Illegally capturing streamed content is the main source of pirated content. As soon as a movie leaves the theaters, it is permanently out there for the downloaders.Comment
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