Monday, March 16, 2009
A sad day
The Senator Theatre, one of only four movie theaters in Baltimore City and one of the great old fashioned movie houses, is closing. I have many fond childhood memories (as well as more recent memories) that involve going to see movies at the Senator - seeing 1939 movies there for the 50th anniversary of the theater, going to see all three Star Wars rereleases (including the wait on line each time to buy the tickets), and of course seeing all the Harry Potter movies there. People have said that they want to take it over, but it's unclear if that will happen. If and until that happens, though, the theater will be closed, and it is a loss to the world of cinema.
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Oh my god that's such a shame. I am really fond of these old art deco movie houses. The Senator is a gorgeous theater. It has an enormous auditorium and a really great big screen.
The best experience I had there was seeing Apocalypse Now Redux. The opening sequence, with the napalm destruction and The Doors' The End was so overwhelming in that huge theater.
Around Philly, there are a number of these old movie palaces that have survived by turning to the community for donations. For example, there are The Bryn Mawr Film Institute, the County Theater in Doylestown, and the Ambler Theater. It may take donations to support The Senator, because I just don't know that the free market economics of a movie theater work any longer. It's a shame.
I see from the article that Kiefaber's other theater, the Rotunda, is also going under. I saw Requiem for a Dream there. I'm a lot less fond of the Rotunda.
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