re: Name your favorite movie theatre growing up

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I used to live across the street when I was a kid. We'd run across Florida Blvd to go there. Froststops was right by it as well..

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We lived down Cora on the other side of Goodwood, only reason we didn't walk there.

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Tinseltown in BR seemed larger than life.

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That is how I felt about the Saenger. It was carpeted and even though it was cavernous, it was very quiet. It also had tons of statues and busts throughout the place. The actual theater area was huge with thickly padded seats and like already mentioned, it had A/C and that was a blessing on those hot summer days.

The smaller theaters I went to back then consisted of the old Arabi Theater on St. Claude and Angela St. and the old NOLA Theater that was near Nichols High School in the Bywater area.

When I was a kid I could get into the Arabi theater for a quarter and they showed the typical "B Movies" on Friday and Saturday nights with the cartoons between the films. Concessions were not like they are today. I can remember buying a drink, box of popcorn and a candy bar and only costing around $.50. Of course, if you were a young teen with a part time job, you were only making $1.25 an hour minimum wage at the time.

The Arabi Theater had many different uses after it closed down with one being a furniture store. The NOLA had a bad roof collapse and shut down after that if I recall correctly.

General CInema

The one I'd like to be able to go back to, but can't right now, is The Ritz in downtown Natchez. We saw all of the Disney animated movies, stuff like Swiss Family Robinson, and any family movies, there is the 60's. Saw Gone With the Wind there too. It had an orchestra pit, and someone played a piano before The Lone Ranger, Flash Gordan or Tarzan, played before the movie. A diner, that was the site of Civil Rights protests, was across the street. One day we couldn't get to the theater because of a protest. When the new multiplex theater across from Jeff Davis Memorial Hospital opened up, we never went back downtown for a movie.



article about the building on the Natchez Historic Foundation website

I guess this is what it looks like now.

Dollar Cinema in Marrero - intersection of Lapalco and Barataria in the corner of that strip mall.

I had the high score on Pole Position. Fought an Asian kid there once.

That's all I got.

Avon Theater - West Memphis, Ark.
I saw many movies here in the 60’s.

They also had pro rasslin’ shows here. Fun fact: This was where Jerry Lawler had his first rasslin’ match.

eta: There is a Sonic Drive-in now at that location.

Broadmoor... we were poor. Maybe say 1-2 movies a year even then with it being only a $1.

The theatre that was in that same parking lot as the Palace in Houma. Forget the name. Had Fanta Rootbeer with this flaked ice. Was incredible for a kid whose mom didn’t allow soft drinks in the house. Remember seeing ROTJ there.

Belle Promenade before the last time they renovated. When Diamond Jim's was still there.

Lakeside I, II, III, and IV. It was kinda by where the Lowe's now is on Veterans Blvd.

Then Galleria opened and it was the shite.

Then The Palace in Elmwood opened.