Cine Capri - Then and Now

Photo from modernphoenix.net

Seeing a movie on a large screen has been a great part of the 20th century American experience, and no auditorium was better than the original Cine Capri theater on 24th Street and Camelback.  Built in 1966, the Cine Capri was a product of Paramount architects working with Bill Homes and Ralph Haver to bring a state-of-the-art motion picture house to the Biltmore area.  Four thousand yards of antique gold fabric covering the walls and proscenium which opened to another title curtain.  Ten pre-cast concrete columns formed the portico, and imported hexagonal jade Italian tile covered the facade.  I stood for hours in a line that wrapped around the theater to 24th Street to watch Star Wars, which ran exclusively at the Cine Capri for over a year, a record.  As I sat in one of the 800 high-backed seats, I loved to watch the many curtains open, and the blaring "Da, da, da  daaaaaa, da . . . " is etched in my memory.   Despite over 250,000 signatures, the theater could not be saved from the wrecking ball.  So like the sinking of the Titanic, the last film to show there, the theater closed in 1998.  You can see a little museum in its honor at the new Harkins' Cine Capri on Scottsdale Road and the 101. The new Scottsdale building mimics the original columns, and has a beautiful major "Cine Capri" auditorium, but there ain't nothing like the real thing, baby.  Check out: Modern Phoenix to see other great Haver buildings, sadly many now demolished.