Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

4th row center: The 'movie hole'

The Parkway was the first movie theatre ever placed in my managerial care. It was a 700-seat single screen situated at the bustling intersection of Clark & Diversey on Chicago's near North side. Before Landmark took over the lease in 1979, The Parkway was a grindhouse in the truest sense of the term, churning out one picture after another, separated only by trailers.

Landmark put a few bucks into sprucing up the place, but even on opening day the Parkway was never more that a mundanely efficient neighborhood theatre. At least it had a balcony.

The manager's office was located at the right rear of the theatre; it shared a wall with the back row of seats. Not only was I able to look through the door to my right -- and watch my zoned-out staff dirtying the ashtrays instead of cleaning them -- located at eye-level just above the desk was my portal of ecstasy.

The 'movie hole,' as it lovingly came to be referred to by the staff, was a foot-wide hinged-peephole that opened to reveal a near-unobstructed view of the screen. (The edge of the balcony shaved a little off the top of flat presentations, but since the head-masking dropped for widescreen, the 'Scope looked great!)

The revival house changed double-bills daily. It would be impossible to tally the number of Paris Inn egg rolls -- the restaurant was located two doors north -- I devoured after closing. With my feet propped on the desk, I would lick the sticky duck sauce from off my fingers, crack open the 'hole,' and enjoy 35mm copies of everything from The Red Shoes (a blue-track Technicolor print, no less) and Advise and Consent to Emmanuel in Paris and a savaged print of Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run that had been run through more dirty gates than John Wayne's horse. Passing through an array of misfiled aperture plates and worn sprocket-teeth had taken its toll. By the time the print played the Parkway, 10 of the film's 85 minutes had been eaten away.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/18/47737/

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

Temperature inversions bring smoggy weather, "ankle biters" still biting

Near-new moon will lead to a dark Halloween

The Parkway was the first movie theatre ever placed in my managerial care. It was a 700-seat single screen situated at the bustling intersection of Clark & Diversey on Chicago's near North side. Before Landmark took over the lease in 1979, The Parkway was a grindhouse in the truest sense of the term, churning out one picture after another, separated only by trailers.

Landmark put a few bucks into sprucing up the place, but even on opening day the Parkway was never more that a mundanely efficient neighborhood theatre. At least it had a balcony.

The manager's office was located at the right rear of the theatre; it shared a wall with the back row of seats. Not only was I able to look through the door to my right -- and watch my zoned-out staff dirtying the ashtrays instead of cleaning them -- located at eye-level just above the desk was my portal of ecstasy.

The 'movie hole,' as it lovingly came to be referred to by the staff, was a foot-wide hinged-peephole that opened to reveal a near-unobstructed view of the screen. (The edge of the balcony shaved a little off the top of flat presentations, but since the head-masking dropped for widescreen, the 'Scope looked great!)

The revival house changed double-bills daily. It would be impossible to tally the number of Paris Inn egg rolls -- the restaurant was located two doors north -- I devoured after closing. With my feet propped on the desk, I would lick the sticky duck sauce from off my fingers, crack open the 'hole,' and enjoy 35mm copies of everything from The Red Shoes (a blue-track Technicolor print, no less) and Advise and Consent to Emmanuel in Paris and a savaged print of Woody Allen's Take the Money and Run that had been run through more dirty gates than John Wayne's horse. Passing through an array of misfiled aperture plates and worn sprocket-teeth had taken its toll. By the time the print played the Parkway, 10 of the film's 85 minutes had been eaten away.

http://sandiegoreader.com/users/photos/2013/jun/18/47737/

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Take your best girl to dinner and Bad Kung-Fu Lee

Next Article

4th row center: The Corvette Summer rain check

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader