The first moving pictures in Atlanta were shown at the Cotton States and International Exposition of Georgia, held in 1895 at Piedmont Park. A movie theater was constructed along an area called Midway Heights on 10th Street. The attraction was called “Living Pictures,” where the newly developed vitascope projector was demonstrated. It wasn’t very popular at the exposition so visitors were allowed to enter for free. People made use of the opportunity to step inside the small theater and rest for a few minutes. It may have been destined to close due to lack of attendance, but never had to because a fire destroyed the theater space. (“Atlanta and Environs Volume II”, by Franklin Garrett)
The first movie house opened in Atlanta in 1904. It was called The Star and was located at 36 Decatur Street. It was successful enough for a second movie house called The Eldorado to open soon after at 146 Marietta Street.
By 1907, fourteen theaters were listed in the Atlanta directory. They were known as “electric” theaters and were usually small store front buildings with chairs nailed together to form a row. The early films lasted about fifteen minutes.
The Montgomery Theatre at 87 Peachtree Street opened in August of 1911, advertising a small balcony for vocal performers, an organ and an orchestra. This was the beginning of longer films with an actual story line. The theatre was later known as Georgian, Odeon and Tudor Theatre.
Talking movies came to Atlanta in 1928 with The Jazz Singer showing at the Metropolitan Theatre. The Metropolitan first opened in 1911 and was located at the intersection of Luckie Street and Broad Street. By 1929, several talking movies were shown around Atlanta, including The Virginian, starring Gary Cooper at the Paramount Theatre. The Paramount, located at 169 Peachtree Street, originally opened as a live theatre in 1920 and was known as Howard Theatre.
Gone with the Wind premiered at Loews Grand Theatre in 1939 with much fanfare and stars of the film attending. The building was originally the home of DeGive’s Grand Opera House built in 1893. In 1972, a fire burned the Loews Grand Theatre.
Other theatres included the Rialto on Forsyth Street, Buckhead Theatre on Roswell Road, Temple Theatre in Grant Park and Center Theatre (later Central) on Whitehall Street. The old Rhodes Theatre was located on Peachtree Road next to Rhodes Hall.
It wasn’t necessary to go downtown in the 1930’s and 1940’s to see a movie. Theaters just outside of Atlanta included Brookhaven Theater opening in 1938, Avondale Theater in Avondale Estates opening in 1938 and Decatur Theater opening in 1940.
The movies we associate with Christmas now did not necessarily premiere or show during the holiday season. Meet Me in St. Louis played at Rhodes Theatre in 1945, Christmas in Connecticut played at the Buckhead, Temple and Center Theatres in 1945, Miracle on 34th Street was showing at the Brookhaven Theatre in 1947, and White Christmas was featured at the Fox Theatre in 1954.
Fred Donaldson, who was born at Donaldson-Bannister Farm in Dunwoody, grew up going to the movies in Brookhaven, Buckhead or downtown Atlanta. He and his friends would either catch a ride or walk to Brookhaven and then if they decided to head to Buckhead or to the Paramount or Fox Theatre downtown, they would catch the trolley from Brookhaven.
Joe Greear recalls that the first movie he saw was The Fly at Brookhaven Theatre. He describes the location. “Across Peachtree Street from the Building Supply and A & P was another cluster of businesses including a post office and a movie theater. The Brookhaven Theatre was where I saw my first scary movie-the original version of ‘The Fly’ starring Vincent Price. I was about six or seven and I remember being so scared that I couldn’t watch the end and left my seat to wait in the lobby for my brother to emerge. The Brookhaven Theatre was not an elaborate movie house like The Fox, and had only a few embellishments. Despite its simplicity it was a nice place to watch a movie and I always loved the smell of the popcorn in the lobby.” (From “Growing up on the Edges,” by Joe Greear, held in the archives of DeKalb History Center)
1965 Atlanta newspapers advertise the film The Sound of Music at Martin’s Cinerama at 583 Peachtree Street. This theater was built in 1927 and was originally a live playhouse called Erlanger Theatre. In the 1950’s it began showing movies and was called Tower Theatre, later becoming Martin’s Cinerama, Atlanta Theatre and then Columbia Theatre. It was demolished to make way for a parking lot in 1995.
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