Court of Miracle(s)

40 years ago today, The Miracle Theater opened it's doors to the public. The above picture appeared in the June 22 1967 edition of the Smyrna Herald. I remember the opening fairly well (to have been only five), especially since up the that point in time there had been only two other single-screen theaters in Smyrna --one at Cobb Center Mall and the other at Belmont Hills Shopping Center.
The first thing I actually saw there was a Saturday matinee of a really awful foreign version of Rumpelstiltskin of all things... but over the years I saw TONS of first run features in that place.
I can remember it being packed in the early '70s. I think all 800 seats were filled when I saw The Posideon Adventure with my entire family when it premiered in 1972. I even remember standing in a long line for over an hour to see a Saturday night double-feature of Superdad (with Bob Crane) and Son of Flubber. (Like I said --it was a small town.)

Raymond Stewart of the Cinema Treasures' site had this to offer on the Miracle's heyday:
The Miracle was a gold mine for Eastern Federal at one time, prior to Akers Mill opening and the expansion of Cobb Center from 2 to 4 screens. At that point there were only 5 indoor screens in Smyrna, so everyone did pretty well, and the drive-in was no competition as they screened strictly drive-in fare. I worked as a relief manager there for a week before it went to being a dollar house, but after the twinning (in 79 as best I can recall) and spent the majority of my time handling money. On Friday/Saturday/Sunday it was packed every show.

When Cobb Center went to 6 screens, GCC's Akers Mill and Plitt's Promenade opened business was pulled to these newer screens and the Miracle (and Cobb Cinema) became dollar house.

I still saw plenty of movies there even after "the twinning" including stuff like Brainstorm,
Rumble Fish, and *gulp* even Smokey and the Bandit 3 (on a dare).
I saw Night of the Living Dead there too for the first time --at the only Midnight Movie I ever went to at that locale. In the mid-80s I moved across town and found some new places to "viddy the Cini" and sometime during that time the Miracle closed down.

From the Cinema Treasures site, "Nancy Drew" offers this on the Miracle's closing:

The last movie that played at the Miracle was "My Little Pony," which dates the closing to around 1986. I don't know what was on the other screen, but the "My Little Pony" poser stayed up for years. I remember seeing MLP there, and the theatre closed a few days later.

If one of the last movies was MLP, the other must've been Funny Farm with Chevy Chase, since the wrinkled, crumpled, faded poster hung in the outdoor display box for a LONG time after the theater actually closed. Chevy was already depicted with an egg on his head, but someone matched it with a lugie and a soft drink.
In my opinion he's never looked better.
What happened to the Miracle next? Cinema Treasures' site "Nancy Drew" also offers this:

There was a fire in 1990, but it wasn't severe and the Miracle stood for at least a few more years. When it was torn down no one exactly knew why, because it's not like the rest of the shopping center was in better shape and it still stands. Nothing has been built in its place, and you can still see the slope of the auditorium floor.

Indeed. All that's left now is the sloping footprint where the theater used to stand. I walked up that slope hundreds of times in the near darkness. Visible across the parking lot, and up against South Cobb Drive is the New Deliverance Church, which I also saw tons of movies in (including The Exorcist when it was first re-released in 1975) during the years it was known as "Cobb Cinema. (Quite ironically Deliverance actually DID play there during the major Atlanta ice storm of 1972)

Today also would've been my dad's 83 birthday (He passed in '04). As I write this, I realize I'm older than he was the day that the Miracle opened. I'm trying to wrap my head around that fact today, too.

Thanks to this post go out to The Cinema Treasures site, T. Aguirre, Raymond Stewart and Nancy Drew!

Unlikely Double-Features

Wow! I didn't think it had been THAT long since my last post... but seven weeks? Sheesh!

True, a lot has happened in the interim, but most of it work related and not much of it worth blogging about when you get right down to it. The main source of the delay was big feature I was working on about Horror Hosts that involved some rare clips I had put up on YouTube, but the folks that represent Vampira's interests (and a certain 4th place network) got me the ol' YouBoot. Right after that, mysteriously my pictures wouldn't seem to load up on blogger either.
Arrr. I was scuttled.

However, I knew I'd get back to it eventually, so despite my hectic schedule, I managed the time to scan or otherwise acquire another 250 or so images in preparation for LOTS of future posts.

But this is one I've been thinking about for awhile... something different to pass the summer TV re-run season...
It's a list of Double-Feature Movies that aren't sequels, have enough in common that if you watch them back to back you get an enhanced perception (or at least more out) of both. Sound like fun? Okay, Let's go.

DOUBLE FEATURES

PLATOON / APOCALYPSE NOW
That guy Sheen? Hell of a soldier. He sure aged a lot in 2 years of duty though. (Or watch them in reverse order and Platoon becomes a sort of "Willard Begins".)


ENTER THE DRAGON / KENTUCKY FRIED MOVIE
Okay. Obvious. Makes "A Fistful of Yen" way funnier though. Also, it also makes Enter The Dragon funnier if you reverse the order.


BOYS IN COMPANY C / FULL METAL JACKET
R. Lee Ermey chews the scenery as pretty much the same drill sargeant character almost a decade apart. (He did it again in The Frighteners too --as a ghost!)


THE HOWLING / THE TERMINATOR
Speaking of same characters...
God love Dick Miller. He plays the virtually the same guy dealin' rare books & silver bullets in The Howling, then deals guns and ammo to Arnie in T1. Almost the same dialog even.


WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM /
FEAR & LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS
Run Bill Murray and Johnny Depp through the Fly Chamber and you might get HST. Or more likely Dale Gribble. Both Bill and Johnny play Thompson-like characters but neither really had Hunter's stature or presence.













SID and NANCY / D.O.A. (1978)
Both provide insight into early days of punk and the Sex Pistols. See the actor portrayals, then see the real thing... (and where ol' Alex Cox fudged some facts a bit). Note: Yeah, I can't find a pic of the D.O.A. dvd cover yet... even though it comes out next month!






BORN INNOCENT / RUBY (1977)
Janit Baldwin must've really hated Linda Blair...She somehow manages to screw her in both these flicks...and poor Linda ain't even in Ruby! (only Alan Smithee pic in the lot, btw).

CRUMB / TREASURE ISLAND (1950)
The Crumb brothers' psyches and their fascination for Disney's Treasure Island when it aired on TV drive this duo. Crumb's brother's recollections about TV and Bobby Discroll are made even creepier in the new tech color transfer of the Disney Treasure Island DVD. Jeez, how much rouge IS that kid wearing?


KING KONG (1976) / THE BIG LEBOWSKI
Jeff Bridges sports the same hair in both. Has the same sort of Bad luck. It's pretty conceivable that "The Dude" could be the same guy who'd been mixin' it up with Dwan and Kong. John Goodman is sorta gorilla-sized, besides.

THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN / WESTWORLD
Yul Brynner plays a gunslinger in one and a robot of the same gunslinger in another.
(I always thought Westworld would've been way better if they'd just owned it and referred to the Gunslinger as "the Yul Brynner robot" the whole time--sure woulda made the ending funnier.

200 MOTELS / DIRTY DUCK
I expected to see a loose version of Bobby London's "Dirty Duck" when I first saw this flick, but no. It doesn't actually say so, but it's a whole movie that's based on the trippy animated segment from Zappa's only feature film (not counting "Head").


GHIDRAH / YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE
Both movies were made at about the same time, and the Japanese parts of the Bond movie were made at Toho with their FX crew --and a lot of the same cast as Ghidrah! (There's the James Bond-Godzilla connection --for those of you keeping score.)


THE LAST MAN ON EARTH / THE OMEGA MAN
Watch both Vincent Price and Charlton Heston chew scenery as basically the same character. (Except tragic Vinnie curls up in a ball while Chuck blasts away with a machine gun and gets him some nookie.)

DRACULA / BLACULA
What? -- I can't believe you haven't thought of this one already. More interesting than funny. (that's true of the first half, at least...)


A NIGHT TO REMEMBER / TITANIC
Once again, factual characters in the first film are fictionalized --and trivalized-- in the second.

DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL /
EARTH VS. THE FLYING SAUCERS
Washington under Saucer siege in both...And the villain in the first film is the hero in the second!

BURNT OFFERINGS / THE SHINING (1980)
Love the Shining, but without Burnt Offerings I wonder if it would even exist.I'd hazard to guess who's the crazier of the two dads, (Ollie or Jack) but I know who would've won in a drinking contest.


MOMMY DEAREST / MILDRED PIERCE
Joan, Joan, Joan. We see through your act now. It was all a lie.





APOCALYPSE NOW / PORKLIPS NOW
I know Apocalypse Now is already on this list...But here's another way to go, and the jokes are still pretty fresh. (It's a back-up feature on the Star-Wars takeoff DVD Hardware Wars.)


YOUNG FRANKENSTEIN / SON OF FRANKENSTEIN
Again, the best way to get all the jokes. I love "Son", but just try not to laugh --this way they're BOTH a riot! Basil Rathbone could've taught a class in overacting --or opened a school!


MEAN STREETS (1974) / HEY GOOD LOOKIN' (made mostly in 1975)
Wha??... How this happen? ...Sorcese to Bakshi with a surprising amount of same cast and tone. Sorta. Richard Romanus and David Proval are featured in both.


COFFY / JACKIE BROWN
What it's all about. Get the Skinny on Pam G before she meets Sam L. Only thing about this pairing is it makes Jackie B seem slow by comparison... And I love Jackie B.


IT CONQUERED THE WORLD / ZONTAR
How do you make a faster, cheaper movie than AIP? Hire Larry Buchanan. A super-cheapie color remake by Azealea productions.


THEM / MATINEE
What if William Castle had made "Them?" You'd get Mant is what! Made 35 years apart William Schallert plays a doctor in both. John Goodman plays Castle in spirit at least.

JAWS / GRIZZLY
It's the same damn movie with a bear! ...Well, It's pretty damn close.


The OMEN 3 / JURASSIC PARK
The Anti-Christ (Sam Neil) turned archeologist doesn't care much for kids, so for kicks he controls some Dinosaurs' minds to terrorize a few. --just like he done with those dogs!

BONUS: TRIPLE FEATURES!
I tried separating these last movies but they're just better in triplicate.


THE INNOCENTS / THE OTHERS / TURN OF THE SCREW
All based on Henry James' "The Turn of the Screw". Interesting directions taken... and all sorta different. (Funny the weakest is the one that actually used the book title.)








BRIDE OF THE MONSTER /
ED WOOD /
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE
Only for the brave at heart... but for lovers of bad Cinema you definitely get more of an idea of what was genuine Ed Wood, and what parts of the middle flick came straight from Tim Burton's imagination. Reveals a lot actually.

There's tons more crazy possibilities I know... but If you wind up test-driving any of these combos I'd love to hear from you, especially if it's new territory. Thanks and more next week!