I grew up in Seattle – which is a beautiful city full of nice people…and yes, it rains a lot, but that’s not the point here:
Behold Seattle’s Northgate Theater!
First of all, thanks to Susan and the terrific “Seattle Vintage” FB page, where people share great photos of Seattle from a long time ago!
When I was growing up in Seattle’s north end, there was a single screen movie theater attached to the Northgate mall. The Northgate Theater was my home away from home…
The Northgate Theater showed first run films for years, until a renovation of the mall spelled the end of this great movie theater…
One reason I love the internet is that you can find stuff you think is long lost…for example, here is one of the many ads for the theater:
Our Moviegoing Life!
We’ve all had great times at the movies. Here is a wonderful, well behaved youngster enjoying a film…
And then…there was US at the Northgate Theater:
Midnight Madness!
Yes, I went to many movies at the Northgate theater, but it was always chaos when my friends and I headed there for one of their wild midnight movie marathons:
These vintage newspaper ad always promised lots of bloody fun…but rally, the theater was just turning over its auditorium to a lot of young, drunk kids…who would pay to see ANYTHING at that hour of the night…and how do I know? I was there almost every week!
This is an homage to those great nights, when we took over the theater and embraced our youth!
All day long, the theater showed some of the biggest hits of the day, like this one:
“Love means never having to say you’re sorry…”
And then at midnight, we’d take over to see movies that were made to appeal to teenage boys! I mean, look at the ad for this film that offers a funny take on the “Love Story” ad – because it was a decidedly NON-Love Story!
“Love means never having to say you’re ugly.”
The Abominable Dr. Phibes!
Look at these various ads:
And It’s Rated GP!
OK, these campy ads are for the classic horror film starring Vincent Price called “The Abominable Dr. Phibes”…here is the trailer:
Doctors are being murdered in a bizarre manner: bats, bees, killer frog masks, etc., which represent the nine Biblical plagues.
The crimes are orchestrated by a demented organ player with the help of his mute assistant. The detective is stumped until he finds that all of the doctors being killed assisted a Dr. Vesalius on an unsuccessful operation involving the wife of Dr. Phibes, but he couldn’t be the culprit, could he? He was killed in a car crash upon learning of his wife’s death…
This is a camp classic! Vincent Price chews up the scenery, while veteran Actor Joseph Cotton no doubt wishes he could hide on this movie poster!
Great Trivia Thanks To IMDB!
Joseph Cotten would grumble on the set that he had to remember and deliver lines, while Vincent Price’s were all to be post-dubbed. Price responded, “Yes, but I still know them, Joe.” In fact, Price was well-known in Hollywood for his ability to memorize all of the characters’ lines in a given production, not just his own.
At the end of the day, “The Abominable Dr. Phibes” was a big hit and ushered in many more Vincent Price films, like “Dr. Phibes Rises Again” and “Theater Of Blood!”
I paid tribute to this classic Actor – who just so happened to be a food and wine lover as well!
I cooked a dish from one of his many cookbooks and watched this great horror gem as part of my “dinner and a movie” series! See it here:
And if you really want to enjoy Vincent Price, how about listening to him sing?
Oh yes, it is as magical and you would hope…see the clip from a fun monster movie here:
If you want to know more about Vincent Price’s life, and you should because it is fascinating, here is how to do it:
His daughter wrote a compelling and insightful biography of her father that is loving but candid – click here to see more about it:
By the way, I remember seeing this film at the Northgate, as a “sneak peek” shown after the regular feature “The Long Riders” – we stayed not sure what to expect:
And we just got the funniest movie of all time!
Now, you can re-live the story of how “Airplane!” came to be and it’s just as hilarious as the movie!
Yes, I have the official memoir by the filmmakers, and it’s packed with hilarious stories and tons of celebrities sharing thier love for the film – read all about it here:
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Categories: 70's Cinema, Books / Media, Cult Movies, Film Fight Club, Great Films, Grindhouse, Halloween, Horror films, Memoirs, Movies, Pop Culture, Revenge Movies, Talent/Celebrities
johnrieber 
Great memories for you, John!
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Great times there – Mad Dog and firecrackers!
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If we had iPhones then – oh the pictures we could share!
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Why are teenagers always drawn to the morbid? I am a fan of horror myself, but still…
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It’s a great question! It’s still the case as they new horror franchises always target young people – and usually star them as well! I guess it’s the new shock and surprise of a young mind, still not jaded by seeing too much bad stuff!
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That’s a great answer. As an educational psychologist, I can appreciate it. Thank you, John.
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It’s only a theory but if I think back to the “thrills” I experienced seeing scary movies, much of it was due to being exposed to films that surprised, scared and impacted me emotionally! Thanks for your comment!
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My pleasure, John.
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You post reminds me of some of Stephen King’s scenes in movie houses in gowns. IT was one such book.
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They had a baby crying room there? Hilarious! Who takes a baby that small to a cinema?
I saw Dr Phibes at a cinema in London, but it was a normal time evening showing, and we were very well behaved. 🙂
Best wishes, Pete.
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love these and it is so fun to think back upon our moviegoing days from our youth. both good and bad, it was one of our favorite social activities
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Indeed – like going to the mall, which was an exciting new idea – to put all the stores, restaurants and theaters inside one large building – talk about a pressure cooker of fun!
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what could go wrong ?)
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Looks an ancient old site 1978. Thanks for sharing this idea. Anita
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Thank you for the comment!
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I saw “Airplane” at Northgate Theater late 70’s. The irreverence was stunning and funny. LLoyd Bridges,Robert Stack and Leslie Nielsen were used to perfection.
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I did as well and you are absolutely right! I just posted a look at a new book by the creators of Airplane and it is filled with great stories about those actors and more!
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I didn’t see where I could have left my name. Joe Trautmann on FB. Great info and pictures,I lived 5 blocks from theater from 1952 to 1968 and most movies I saw were at Northgate. p.s. I was born in 1950.
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