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| The original Cine Capri movie theater at 2323 E Camelback Rd. Photo by: Harkins Theatres |
Early Movie Theaters
A few movie houses existed in Phoenix as early as the 1900s, showing short films and cartoons. Costing a nickel for admission, these “nickelodeons” were often set up in converted storefronts. Comfort of the patrons was not a priority. The feature-length films we know today became the standard between approximately 1910 and 1915. The addition of sound in 1927 (bonus points if you can name the first “talkie”) was a catalyst that made movie theaters grow in popularity.
Early movie theaters were simple structures that were not fancy or ornate. A typical theater was a box-like building located on a Main Street or busy downtown area. Inside, there was a single screen and seating for a few hundred people. According to the National Association of Theater Owners, the average cost of a movie ticket in 1948 was just 36 cents.
A few examples of these early theater buildings still exist today, including:
- Paramount Theatre, Peoria, AZ (built 1920)
- College Theatre, Tempe, AZ (built 1940)
- Avon Theatre, Avondale, AZ (built 1946)
- Saguaro Theater, Wickenburg, AZ (built 1948)
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| Avon Theatre (1946) Avondale, AZ | Paramount Theatre (1920) Peoria, AZ |
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| College Theatre (1940) Tempe, AZ | Saguaro Theater (1948) Wickenburg, AZ |
| Photos by: North Phoenix Blog | |
The Age of the Multiplex
A Kansas City theater operator named Stan Durwood realized that he could double the revenue of a single theater by adding a second screen and still operate with the same size staff. In 1962, he opened the first two-screen theater called the Parkway Twin. This was more than just a savvy business idea – it was the birth of the “multiplex” theater that is still in use today.It didn’t take long for Durwood’s multiplex idea to spread. A Canadian company called Taylor Twentieth Century Theaters opened a tri-plex theater in Burnaby, British Columbia in 1965. Not to be outdone, AMC Theaters opened a four-screen theater in Kansas City called Metro Plaza in 1966, and a six-screen theater followed in 1969. The movie theater concept had evolved into a new format with multiple theaters and screens under one roof.
The Cine Capri in Phoenix
While theater operators around the country began scaling up and adding more screens in the 1960s, a completely different idea was taking shape in Phoenix. Rather than build a multiplex theater, the Arizona Paramount Company began construction of a new single-screen theater in 1964. This theater would become the Cine Capri. It was located on the southwest corner of 24th Street and Camelback Road next to the Barrow’s Furniture showroom.
The Arizona Paramount Company hired prominent Phoenix architect Ralph Haver and his firm Haver, Nunn, and Nelson to design the new theater. While Haver was most known for his affordable, single-family homes, he also worked on schools, churches, banks, and other civic and commercial buildings. Homes and Son were chosen as the General Contractor for the project.
Please visit https://cinecapri.com/in-the-beginning/ to see photos of the theater's construction.
Haver's design was for a grand theater, built with the finest quality materials. The 16,500 sq. ft. facility had an entrance that was flanked by a curved portico featuring unique Y-shaped concrete support columns. A 24 foot stained glass panel filled the lobby area with natural light. According to a history page on Harkins Theaters website, the Cine Capri theater featured lavish decor with imported Italian tile in the lobby and plush couches in the "Powder Room."
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| The original Cine Capri movie theater at 2323 E Camelback Rd. Photo by: Harkins Theatres |
The theater was equipped with the best in projection and sound technology for its time. It was the first 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. The theater was decorated with antique gold fabric curtains that would retract to reveal the giant screen as the film began.
View more photos of the original Cine Capri at ModernPhoenix.net: https://modernphoenix.net/haver/cinecapri.htm
A Very Grand Opening
The opening film was "The Agony and the Ecstacy" starring Charlton Heston and Rex Harrison. The highlight of the opening was an appearance by the film's star, Charlton Heston himself, on Friday, April 1st, at 8:00 P.M. By all accounts, the new theater was a grand success.
To the right is a newspaper clipping from March 29th, 1966 advertising the Cine Capri's gala opening. Source: Newspapers.com
Operational History
Within a year of opening, the Arizona Paramount company sold the theater to Arizona ABC. They would operate the theater from 1967 to 1974. The theater would change hands again in 1974. This time the Cine Capri was owned and operated by Plitt Intermountain until 1987.
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| Aerial photo of the Cine Capri theater in 1969 Image: Maricopa GIS |
When Star Wars opened in May 1977, the theater's business boomed. The film was so enormously popular with audiences, a line would form around the theater of patrons waiting to see the movie. The Cine Capri played Star Wars for more than a year. This run became the longest run of the Star Wars movie in the United States.
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| 1977 Newspaper ad for Star Wars at the Cine Capri Source: newspapers.com |
In 1987 the theater was sold to CineMark, who operated it for just a year before selling it to local theater operator Harkins Theaters in 1988.
End of an Era
The Cine Capri became part of the Harkins theater chain in 1988. Harkins would operate the theater for the next 10 years, but problems soon arose for the theater. While Harkins owned the building, they did not own the land - which had become increasingly valuable.
According to Harkins Theaters, a year-long battle began in 1997 between the theater company and the landowner. The landowner wanted to demolish the theater and replace it with a high-rise office building. A committee called "Save the Cine Capri" was formed and collected more than 260,000 petition signatures from people who wanted to see the beloved theater saved. Sadly, the property owner had no interest in preserving this piece of Phoenix history.
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| Cine Capri Theater in the late 1990s. Photo by: George E. Smith, from the Vintage Phoenix group on Facebook |
The final movie shown was James Cameron's Titanic on January 5, 1998. At 2:12 AM, the gold curtains were lowered for the last time. Six weeks later, the theater was demolished - reduced to a pile of rubble.
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| Souvenir tickets from the final showings of Titanic at the Cine Capri theater. Photo by: Nanette Adams-Escajeda on Facebook. |
Please visit the website https://cinecapri.com/the-curtain-falls to see photos of the Cine Capri's demolition.
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| Aerial photos of the Cine Capri location in 1991 and 2001 Source: Maricopa GIS |
Though the theater was gone, its legacy was not forgotten. Gayle Martin, the daughter of W.E. "Bill" Homes, Jr., created a detailed model of the Cine Capri theater, which her father's contracting company had built. I saw the model on display at the Arizona Historical Society Museum in Tempe, AZ in 2017.
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| Photos by: North Phoenix Blog | |
The New Cine Capri
In November of 2002, Harkins Theatres announced that they would begin construction of a new multiplex theater called Cine Capri. It would be located in North Scottsdale at the Loop 101 Freeway and Scottsdale Road.
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| The new Cine Capri at Harkins Scottsdale 101 opened in 2003. Photo by: Harkins Theatres |
The new Cine Capri held its grand opening on Friday, June 27, 2003. The new theater was built at a cost of $17 million, according to an industry publication by QSC Audio.
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| Souvenir ticket from the Grand Opening of the new Cine Capri at Harkins Scottsdale 101 on June 27, 2003. Photo by: Deganlink on reddit |
The Harkins Scottsdale 101 Cine Capri features a massive 70 foot by 30 foot screen, with seating for 568 guests. It even has gold waterfall curtains like the original theater did.
Harkins paid tribute to the old theater by including a few of the signature support columns at the new location. A display in the lobby has memorabilia from the original Cine Capri.
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| These columns pay homage to the original Cine Capri theater. Photo by: North Phoenix Blog |
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| Entrance to the new 568-seat Cine Capri at Scottsdale 101 Photo by: North Phoenix Blog |
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| Gold waterfall curtains at the new Cine Capri Photo by: North Phoenix Blog |
Present Day
Harkins continues to operate the new Cine Capri theater in Scottsdale at the time of this writing. In 2018, the Harkins chain announced a $150 million upgrade to its theaters. This included new Harkins Ultimate Lounger (TM) seating, reserved seating, and an updated lobby. The Scottsdale 101 location was upgraded to the latest Dolby ATMOS sound and a Laser Projection system.
In fact, Harkins now uses the "Cine Capri" branding at 3 other locations:
- Tempe Marketplace in Tempe, AZ
- Bricktown 16 in Oklahoma City, OK
- Northfield 18 in Denver, CO
Final Thoughts
Buildings are more than just structures where we live, work, play, worship and shop. The experiences and emotions that we attach to these places are etched in our memories. They become part of our stories as individuals.While the Cine Capri was a movie theater that operated for 32 years, it was about more than movies for many Phoenix residents. It was a place for first dates, big-screen thrills, celebrations, and great times with friends and family.
I am glad that the Harkins company decided to continue the legacy of the Cine Capri with the new location. While it may not have the splendor or the memories of the original theater, the new Cine Capri is a fitting tribute to one of Arizona’s greatest movie theaters. It shows that the Harkins company genuinely cares about the community and what this once-great theater meant to the people who went there.
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