Below written by Ralph W. Daniel

REQUIEM FOR CINERAMA IN ATLANTA

One of the wonders of Cinerama was watching those curtains opening, and opening, and opening to reveal the true size of the screen at last. This thrill was totally missing from Martin's GEORGIA CINERAMA Theatre in suburban Atlanta. It had no curtains, probably the only Cinerama Theatre to have been designed that way. Instead, the screen was always exposed, a precursor to today's multiplexes.

Atlanta had three Cinerama theatres over the years. The process opened at the ROXY Theatre with "This Is Cinerama" in 1956. This was a temporary setup, and was removed in 1962 when "Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" opened at the MARTIN CINERAMA, which had full permanent three-strip capability built-in.

The GEORGIA opened on April 14, 1965 with "The Greatest Story Ever Told". From that point on, all Cinerama features went to the GEORGIA except for "2001: A Space Oddysey", which appeared at the downtown MARTIN CINERAMA. Since Cinerama had adopted single-lens 70mm by then, the GEORGIA never had three-strip capability.

The GEORGIA was a first-class theatre. The lobby had two fountains, but they were so noisy they had to be turned off during the movie. It was part of a complex which had a cafeteria with matching architecture. On my trips from Panama City, Florida to my home town of Greensboro, NC, Atlanta was a convenient half-way stop where I could catch a Cinerama movie and have a meal also. After I moved to the Atlanta area in 1966, one of the showings was "Oklahoma", advertised as being in 70mm, but not in Todd-AO. It probably was a Todd-AO print, though, with the projectors adjusted for 30 fps. Contractual complications probably prevented them from using the Todd-AO trademark.

One disadvantage of having no curtain was that the screen was left exposed at all times and subject to damage. Somehow, the strips near the right edge became misaligned. A fellow viewer told me he thought it was paint peeling, and when a kid got close to examine it, a voice came booming out, "Don't touch the screen, kid!". Obviously the projectionist was watching what was happening before the movie started. Although the misalignment was obvious when there was no picture being projected, it was not so obvious during the movies.

Atlanta was one of only a few cities that had two Cinerama theatres, so you would think that all Cinerama movies would play there. Not so. "Custer of the West" did not appear in Atlanta, mostly because of the decision by Cinerama Inc. to limit its Cinerama engagements. "Khartoum" did not play in Cinerama, apparently due to a decision by Martin Theatres, which operated both venues.

When Cinerama ceased to exist as a format, the Georgia Cinerama was twinned in 1976, and the name was changed to the Georgia Twin. The seating was not rearranged to accomodate the positions of the two flat screens, which resulted in a weird viewing angle. For a short period of time it became a single screen again, and ultimately it became the Metropolitan Community Church. In 1991, a McDonald's restaurant was built on the parking lot in front of the building. In 2018, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta made a very good offer to the church and bought the building to become part of their expanding medical campus. As CHA built more buildings, the former theatre became a construction office. The McDonald's restaurant remains, as they had bought that property and apparently did not wish to sell to CHA.

In December 2019, with no fanfare, the theatre building was demolished, with only the lobby floor and its outline of the state of Georgia remaining to witness that a theatre was ever there. The downtown Roxy, where Cinerama debuted in Atlanta, was demolished to allow the 73-floor Westin hotel to be built. The Martin Cinerama became, what else, a parking lot for the adjacent North Avenue Presbyterian church. And now, there are no remaining signs that Cinerama ever had a presence in Atlanta.

List of Cinerama films that played at the theatre from Cinema Treasures

THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD
Premiere: April 14, 1965
Duration: 15 weeks
THE HALLELUJAH TRAIL
Premiere: July 29, 1965
Duration: 9 weeks
MEDITERRANEAN HOLIDAY
Premiere: October 1, 1965
Duration: 5 weeks
BATTLE OF THE BULGE
Premiere: December 22, 1965
Duration: 14 weeks
RUSSIAN ADVENTURE
Premiere: April 1, 1966
Duration: 6 weeks
GRAND PRIX
Premiere: February 1, 1967
Duration: 23 weeks
ICE STATION ZEBRA
Premiere: November 14, 1968
Duration: 12 weeks
KRAKATOA, EAST OF JAVA
Premiere: July 18, 1969
Duration: 6 weeks

04/01/65

04/14/65

07/29/65

10/01/65

11/01/65

11/02/65

11/25/65

12/22/65

04/01/66

05/12/66

06/29/66

09/23/66

10/26/66

11/25/66

02/01/67

07/12/67

10/11/67

01/03/68

02/23/68

03/15/68

06/11/68

11/14/68

11/22/68

02/05/69

02/06/69

05/04/69

05/23/69

07/03/69

07/18/69

08/28/69

03/04/70

10/01/70

10/02/70

12/25/70

04/02/71

08/14/74

06/20/75

01/21/76

05/28/76

The picture below is from 1997. A McDonald's restaurant now takes up what was the parking lot of the Martin Cinerama theatre. You can see the roof of the former theatre in the background.

Demolished