Cine Capri
The Cine Capri was a movie theater located in Phoenix, Arizona, USA, which operated from 1964 to 1998.
The original Cine Capri Theatre was constructed at the corner of 24th Street and Camelback Roads in Phoenix, Arizona. It 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 that would complement potential neighborhood development and accommodate ever-changing film distribution and exhibition patterns.
The large, 16,500-square-foot (1,530 m2) facility featured striking 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-foot-long (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.
Patrons entered into a spacious two-level lobby with clean modern lines. From the center could be seen Camelback Mountain and its Praying Monk rock formation. An oval confection area was situated along the back wall with gold waterfall draperies duplicating the lavish auditorium décor.
The auditorium was enveloped in a lavish display of 4,000 yards (3,700 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.
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