When I was a kid, our cuty had three downtown movie theatres; the Chief, the Ute, and the Peak. The Peak is still there not much changed. I think. It may be closed, but it is still there. I know for a while they showed old movies and foreign films.

The Ute and all the stores around it was torn down to make room for the Anschutz Building. Never been in the Anschutz building.

The Chief was a real theatre before it became a movie theatre. Had a balcony, and under the stage a maze of passage ways and trap doors for all kinds of magical surprize entrances. A former mayor owned the Out West building next to it, and had them torn down for urban renewal. Then he condemned the Chief as unsafe and ordered it torn down. Demolition crews had one hell of a hard time tearing it donw, it was so well engineered and built. The ex mayor wanted that property too, to sell for the urban renewal. When his wife was discovered dead in the trunk of his car, that ended his financial crime spree.

We had three drive in theatres. The Sky Vue, Eighth Street, and another- I forget the name. They're all gone now.

We went to the Chief for Saturday matinees. $0.25
Those were the many sci fi movies of the day. Robinson Crusoe in Mars, Attack of the 50 foot Woman, It Came from Outer Space. Big blockbusters premiered there. The Sound of Music, Planet of the Apes, Lawrence of Arabia, How the West was Won, 2001 A Space Odyssey, Mary Poppins.

Cooper moved in with their 70mm format. Then came Cinerama. They're gone too.

That was a fair time.

I have not been to a movie in a theatre since Star Wars I Phantom Menace. The mini and megaplexes charge you a small fortune to sit in absolute filth.