Cine Capri
Encyclopedia
The Cine Capri is a theater located in Phoenix, Arizona
.
The Cine Capri began in 1964 when the Federal District Court of New York approved Arizona Paramount Theatre’s application to construct and operate a new motion picture theater at the Barrows Plaza at 24th Street and Camelback. Such approval was required for theaters owned by major motion picture studios due to anti-trust laws.
Shortly after being approved the Cine Capri came to life when George M. Aurelius, vice-president and general manager of Arizona Paramount Corporation and Henry George Greene, A.I.A., N.C.A.R.B., consulting architect to ABC Theaters, teamed with W.E. “Bill” Homes, Jr. president of Homes & Son Construction Company, Inc. and Ralph Haver, president of Haver, Nunn & Jensen, architects for Barrows Plaza. Rounding out the group was Spero Kontos of the Los Angeles based John Filbert Company. Their goal was to design, build and outfit a unique, state-of-the-art motion picture facility the would complement potential neighborhood development and accommodate ever-changing film distribution and exhibition patterns.
The large, 16500 square feet (1,532.9 m²) facility featured strikingly beautiful dual colonnades flanking both sides of the theater; ten pre-cast white, columns weighing seven tons each. They were supported with overhangs with copper fascias cured to achieve an antique green patina. The patio off the east lobby provided a shelter for waiting patrons and intermission breaks, while the larger western portico served as the main entrance. The entire lower building façade was overlaid with imported hexagonal jade Italian tile. In the center was a multi-paneled, 24 feet (7.3 m), custom antique stained glass window which served as a focal point, day and night, from inside and out. Low profile desert landscaping surrounded the Cine Capri, featuring assorted palm trees, and Russian Olive and Italian Cyprus trees punctuating the perimeter.
Upon entering the theater patrons found themselves in a spacious two-level lobby with clean modern lines. From the center could be seen Camelback Mountain and its Praying Monk rock formation. A generous oval confection area was situated in the front of the auditorium back wall with working gold waterfall draperies duplicating the lavish auditorium décor.
The auditorium was enveloped in a lavish display of 4000 yards (3,657.6 m) of lustrous antique gold fabric covering the proscenium and walls from carpet to ceiling. The electrically synchronized gold front cascade drape moved on cue vertically at different speeds to reveal the title curtain behind, which opened horizontally to expose the film on a giant curved screen which extended out to the fifth row of seats. The action of the drapes typically evoked spontaneous applause from audiences.
With the Cine Capri continental seating was introduced to the community. This was a sloping floor plan in which the rows of seats flowed from side aisle to side aisle; eliminating the center aisle. The eight hundred high-back, maroon rocking chairs were designed for comfort and perfect vision from every seat. In later years however this floor plan had to be changed to conform to changes in the fire codes.
The Cine Capri was also the first multipurpose theater in the southwest specifically designed to project all film aspect ratios of the time, including Cinemascope, Vista-Vision, and Cinerama from its 70/35 mm projectors and stereophonic sound system, offering everything optically and visually available from around the world for superb tonal quality and visual pleasure.
Several years later the Arizona Paramount Corporation and ABC Paramount theaters disposed of their theater holdings and withdrew from the community. In 1988 the theatre was renovated and re-opened by its new operator Harkins Theatres, the largest privately owned movie theatre chain in North America
.
The Cine Capri opened with the Charlton Heston
film The Agony and the Ecstasy
.
The morning of March 31, 1966, Charlton Heston
, star of The Agony and the Ecstasy
, hosted a youth drama clinic in the theater auditorium for several dozen high school and college students. This was followed by an afternoon “show & tell” reception for distinguished guests to personally meet Mr. Heston. Attendees included community leaders, city and state officials, the press, radio and television personnel, studio and distribution executives as well as neighborhood merchants. Also there were the architects, contractors, members of the trade and craft suppliers, the Phoenix Art Council and the Mid Town Rotary Club, the sponsors of the evening charity program.
Well before curtain time the premiere attendees and fans who had gathered outside the theater were entertained by the Scottsdale High School Marching Band. The outside festivities concluded with the arrival of Charlton Heston in an open convertible. He was then escorted through the crowd to the entrance where he officially launched the theater with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Once inside the patrons filed into the auditorium for the inaugural program. Mr. Heston addressed the audience, suggesting they were most fortunate to have, “this new, outstanding prototype of the motion picture theater of tomorrow,” for them to enjoy.
The lights dimmed, the front drapes rose, and the opening credits fell on the title curtain. Thus a world-class theater was born as the Cine Capri officially came to life and began its honorable and distinguished third-of-a-century run of great storytelling and dream spinning for all to enjoy.
Other notable runs at the Cine Capri include Star Wars
in 1977. The Cine Capri held one of the highest grosses for the 1977 George Lucas
film and played the film for over a year – the longest run in the United States
. David Dozoretz, who later worked directly with George Lucas on the Star Wars prequels, saw the film at Cine Capri while his sister Mindy worked at the theater. Famed snowboard artist Joe Sorren, painted an audience viewing a film, titled after the theater.
In 1997, a year-long battle began between Harkins Theatres
and the property owner over the decision to demolish the Cine Capri in favor of a high-rise office building. Despite over 260,000 petition signatures and efforts of the Save the Cine Capri Committee, the preservation effort failed. On January 5, 1998 at 2:12am, the curtain lowered on the original Cine Capri and its appropriate final film, Titanic
. Six weeks later, the out-dated theatre was demolished.
In 2003 the Cine Capri was rebuilt as part of the Scottsdale 101 theatre complex in Phoenix, Arizona
. With a 568 seat auditorium and a 40,000 watt / 150 speaker Digital sound system, the Scottsdale Cine Capri became the largest regular movie theater screen in Arizona at over 70 feet (21.3 m) wide by 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The only other screens larger in Arizona are the IMAX
screens which standard are 72.5'W x 52.8'H (22 m x 16m) and sometimes larger. The Scottsdale 101 location is also home to the Cine Capri museum which showcases memorabilia and photos from the original Cine Capri. The Cine Capri auditorium concept has also been re-incarnated at the company's newest locations, The Bricktown 16, the Southlake Towne Square 14, and the Northfield 18 at Northfield Stapleton in Denver, Colorado
.
Due to the success of the Cine Capri in Scottsdale, a second Arizona Cine Capri was built in Tempe, Arizona
at the new Tempe Marketplace shopping center, along with 15 other movie screens. It is located on the Southwest corner of Loop 101 and Loop 202 Red Mountain
, with over 650,000 vehicles passing every day. The new stadium-style theatre has the same size screen - over 70'W x 30'H and has 604 seats instead of 568. The new theater pre-opened on June 28, 2007 with the running of the original 1977 Star Wars
, a Dan Harkins favorite. The Grand Opening was on June 29, 2007 and the opening film was Live Free or Die Hard
, the fourth installment in the Die Hard
Series starring Bruce Willis
.
Harkins also operates a Cine Capri at its Oklahoma City Bricktown 16 theatre complex which opened in 2005. The theater, the largest in Oklahoma, houses a 70 feet (21.3 m) wide screen, 588 seats, 144 speakers and 40,000 watts of power and pure digital sound.
Two more Cine Capris recently opened at the Northfield 18 theaters in Denver, Colorado and at the Southlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas.
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
.
History
For 32 years the original Cine Capri Theatre stood at the corner of 24th Street and Camelback Roads in Phoenix, Arizona.The Cine Capri began in 1964 when the Federal District Court of New York approved Arizona Paramount Theatre’s application to construct and operate a new motion picture theater at the Barrows Plaza at 24th Street and Camelback. Such approval was required for theaters owned by major motion picture studios due to anti-trust laws.
Shortly after being approved the Cine Capri came to life when George M. Aurelius, vice-president and general manager of Arizona Paramount Corporation and Henry George Greene, A.I.A., N.C.A.R.B., consulting architect to ABC Theaters, teamed with W.E. “Bill” Homes, Jr. president of Homes & Son Construction Company, Inc. and Ralph Haver, president of Haver, Nunn & Jensen, architects for Barrows Plaza. Rounding out the group was Spero Kontos of the Los Angeles based John Filbert Company. Their goal was to design, build and outfit a unique, state-of-the-art motion picture facility the would complement potential neighborhood development and accommodate ever-changing film distribution and exhibition patterns.
The large, 16500 square feet (1,532.9 m²) facility featured strikingly beautiful dual colonnades flanking both sides of the theater; ten pre-cast white, columns weighing seven tons each. They were supported with overhangs with copper fascias cured to achieve an antique green patina. The patio off the east lobby provided a shelter for waiting patrons and intermission breaks, while the larger western portico served as the main entrance. The entire lower building façade was overlaid with imported hexagonal jade Italian tile. In the center was a multi-paneled, 24 feet (7.3 m), custom antique stained glass window which served as a focal point, day and night, from inside and out. Low profile desert landscaping surrounded the Cine Capri, featuring assorted palm trees, and Russian Olive and Italian Cyprus trees punctuating the perimeter.
Upon entering the theater patrons found themselves in a spacious two-level lobby with clean modern lines. From the center could be seen Camelback Mountain and its Praying Monk rock formation. A generous oval confection area was situated in the front of the auditorium back wall with working gold waterfall draperies duplicating the lavish auditorium décor.
The auditorium was enveloped in a lavish display of 4000 yards (3,657.6 m) of lustrous antique gold fabric covering the proscenium and walls from carpet to ceiling. The electrically synchronized gold front cascade drape moved on cue vertically at different speeds to reveal the title curtain behind, which opened horizontally to expose the film on a giant curved screen which extended out to the fifth row of seats. The action of the drapes typically evoked spontaneous applause from audiences.
With the Cine Capri continental seating was introduced to the community. This was a sloping floor plan in which the rows of seats flowed from side aisle to side aisle; eliminating the center aisle. The eight hundred high-back, maroon rocking chairs were designed for comfort and perfect vision from every seat. In later years however this floor plan had to be changed to conform to changes in the fire codes.
The Cine Capri was also the first multipurpose theater in the southwest specifically designed to project all film aspect ratios of the time, including Cinemascope, Vista-Vision, and Cinerama from its 70/35 mm projectors and stereophonic sound system, offering everything optically and visually available from around the world for superb tonal quality and visual pleasure.
Several years later the Arizona Paramount Corporation and ABC Paramount theaters disposed of their theater holdings and withdrew from the community. In 1988 the theatre was renovated and re-opened by its new operator Harkins Theatres, the largest privately owned movie theatre chain in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
The Cine Capri opened with the Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
film The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)
The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1965 film directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The film was partly based on Irving Stone's biographical novel of the same name. This film deals with the conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II...
.
The morning of March 31, 1966, Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston was an American actor of film, theatre and television. Heston is known for heroic roles in films such as The Ten Commandments, Ben-Hur for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor, El Cid, and Planet of the Apes...
, star of The Agony and the Ecstasy
The Agony and the Ecstasy (film)
The Agony and the Ecstasy is a 1965 film directed by Carol Reed, starring Charlton Heston as Michelangelo and Rex Harrison as Pope Julius II. The film was partly based on Irving Stone's biographical novel of the same name. This film deals with the conflicts of Michelangelo and Pope Julius II...
, hosted a youth drama clinic in the theater auditorium for several dozen high school and college students. This was followed by an afternoon “show & tell” reception for distinguished guests to personally meet Mr. Heston. Attendees included community leaders, city and state officials, the press, radio and television personnel, studio and distribution executives as well as neighborhood merchants. Also there were the architects, contractors, members of the trade and craft suppliers, the Phoenix Art Council and the Mid Town Rotary Club, the sponsors of the evening charity program.
Well before curtain time the premiere attendees and fans who had gathered outside the theater were entertained by the Scottsdale High School Marching Band. The outside festivities concluded with the arrival of Charlton Heston in an open convertible. He was then escorted through the crowd to the entrance where he officially launched the theater with a ribbon cutting ceremony.
Once inside the patrons filed into the auditorium for the inaugural program. Mr. Heston addressed the audience, suggesting they were most fortunate to have, “this new, outstanding prototype of the motion picture theater of tomorrow,” for them to enjoy.
The lights dimmed, the front drapes rose, and the opening credits fell on the title curtain. Thus a world-class theater was born as the Cine Capri officially came to life and began its honorable and distinguished third-of-a-century run of great storytelling and dream spinning for all to enjoy.
Other notable runs at the Cine Capri include Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
in 1977. The Cine Capri held one of the highest grosses for the 1977 George Lucas
George Lucas
George Walton Lucas, Jr. is an American film producer, screenwriter, and director, and entrepreneur. He is the founder, chairman and chief executive of Lucasfilm. He is best known as the creator of the space opera franchise Star Wars and the archaeologist-adventurer character Indiana Jones...
film and played the film for over a year – the longest run in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. David Dozoretz, who later worked directly with George Lucas on the Star Wars prequels, saw the film at Cine Capri while his sister Mindy worked at the theater. Famed snowboard artist Joe Sorren, painted an audience viewing a film, titled after the theater.
In 1997, a year-long battle began between Harkins Theatres
Harkins Theatres
Harkins Theatres is a movie theater chain with locations throughout the Southwestern United States. Harkins Theatres is privately owned and operated by its parent company, Harkins Enterprises, LLC...
and the property owner over the decision to demolish the Cine Capri in favor of a high-rise office building. Despite over 260,000 petition signatures and efforts of the Save the Cine Capri Committee, the preservation effort failed. On January 5, 1998 at 2:12am, the curtain lowered on the original Cine Capri and its appropriate final film, Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...
. Six weeks later, the out-dated theatre was demolished.
In 2003 the Cine Capri was rebuilt as part of the Scottsdale 101 theatre complex in Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
. With a 568 seat auditorium and a 40,000 watt / 150 speaker Digital sound system, the Scottsdale Cine Capri became the largest regular movie theater screen in Arizona at over 70 feet (21.3 m) wide by 30 feet (9.1 m) high. The only other screens larger in Arizona are the IMAX
IMAX
IMAX is a motion picture film format and a set of proprietary cinema projection standards created by the Canadian company IMAX Corporation. IMAX has the capacity to record and display images of far greater size and resolution than conventional film systems...
screens which standard are 72.5'W x 52.8'H (22 m x 16m) and sometimes larger. The Scottsdale 101 location is also home to the Cine Capri museum which showcases memorabilia and photos from the original Cine Capri. The Cine Capri auditorium concept has also been re-incarnated at the company's newest locations, The Bricktown 16, the Southlake Towne Square 14, and the Northfield 18 at Northfield Stapleton in Denver, Colorado
Denver, Colorado
The City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
.
Due to the success of the Cine Capri in Scottsdale, a second Arizona Cine Capri was built in Tempe, Arizona
Tempe, Arizona
Tempe is a city in Maricopa County, Arizona, USA, with the Census Bureau reporting a 2010 population of 161,719. The city is named after the Vale of Tempe in Greece. Tempe is located in the East Valley section of metropolitan Phoenix; it is bordered by Phoenix and Guadalupe on the west, Scottsdale...
at the new Tempe Marketplace shopping center, along with 15 other movie screens. It is located on the Southwest corner of Loop 101 and Loop 202 Red Mountain
Arizona State Route 202
State Route 202, or Loop 202, is the beltway encompassing the eastern Phoenix, Arizona, United States Metropolitan area. It navigates and surrounds the cities of Tempe, Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert, making it very vital to the area freeway system...
, with over 650,000 vehicles passing every day. The new stadium-style theatre has the same size screen - over 70'W x 30'H and has 604 seats instead of 568. The new theater pre-opened on June 28, 2007 with the running of the original 1977 Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
, a Dan Harkins favorite. The Grand Opening was on June 29, 2007 and the opening film was Live Free or Die Hard
Live Free or Die Hard
Live Free or Die Hard , is a 2007 American action film, and the fourth installment in the Die Hard series. The film was directed by Len Wiseman and stars Bruce Willis as John McClane. The name was adapted from the state motto of New Hampshire, "Live Free or Die"...
, the fourth installment in the Die Hard
Die Hard
Die Hard is a 1988 American action film and the first in the Die Hard film series. The film was directed by John McTiernan and written by Jeb Stuart and Steven E. de Souza. It is based on a 1979 novel by Roderick Thorp titled Nothing Lasts Forever, itself a sequel to the book The Detective, which...
Series starring Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
.
Harkins also operates a Cine Capri at its Oklahoma City Bricktown 16 theatre complex which opened in 2005. The theater, the largest in Oklahoma, houses a 70 feet (21.3 m) wide screen, 588 seats, 144 speakers and 40,000 watts of power and pure digital sound.
Two more Cine Capris recently opened at the Northfield 18 theaters in Denver, Colorado and at the Southlake Town Square in Southlake, Texas.