If you haven’t lived in the Phoenix area longer than 10 years, you probably don’t know much about the history of the Cine Capri movie theatre. The original Cine Capri movie theatre was architected by Ralph Haver, a particularly famous Phoenix area architect known for the Haver Houses near 16th Street and Bethony Home Road. He also architected a small subdivision near Oak Street and Scottsdale Road, which became the first historic neighborhood of Scottsdale, along with a number of other famous buildings. For more about Ralph Haver, look here.
The famous architect aside, the original Cine Capri opened in 1966 and for many years boasted the largest movie screen in Arizona. It measured 58 feet wide and had seating for 800. In 1988, the Harkins family purchased the Cine Capri and renovated the movie theatre. It was during this time that I became introduced to the Cine Capri and would make a point to see the most important films of the year there. I particularly remember a midnight showing of the director’s cut of Bladerunner.
In 1998, the Cine Capri would go dark forever, as the owner of the property (not the Harkins family), in a very unpopular decision, chose to tear down the theatre and build the high rise office space that we see today on the southwest corner of Camelback and 24th Street. For many movie goers, and lovers of the Cine Capri, this was a sad day.
The Harkins family knew what the theatre meant to the community, and in 2003 opened the new Cine Capri as part of the Scottsdale 101 theatre complex. The new Cine Capri has a larger screen than the original, but has 568 stadium style seats. The sound system is second to none and retains a curtain that opens before every showing. A reminder of the original architecture is seen on the side of the theatre in the form of the 4 columns that anchor a covered area, often used by people waiting in line for bigger premieres.
The success of the Cine Capri at Scottsdale 101 has prompted the Harkins family to take the name elsewhere, and is now used at theatre locations in Tempe, Dallas, Denver, and Oklahoma City.
So why this trip down theatre memory lane? Because Thanksgiving is tomorrow and if there’s 2 things I remember about Thanksgiving as a kid, it was a HUGE dinner at 1pm, followed by a trip to the movies. My extended family often had 100 people or more for dinner, and 10 or 20 of us kids would invariably be taken to the movies while the adults played cards and/or sat around chatting in the afternoon. One or two probably even watched football. Anyway, it’s just a suggestion if you are wondering what to do with the kids on Thanksgiving day. That is, up until 6pm when ASU kicks off against USC for the biggest game in school history in a decade. Go Devils!
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I lived in Phoenix from 1956 to 1968 and thus had the honor of attending the premier showing of “The Agony and the Ecstasy” at the brand new Cine Capri.
I lived in Hawaii from 1972 to 1993 while completing my naval career and then relocated to Phoenix in ‘93. The controversy raged during the 4 years I was back in Phoenix regarding the future disposition of the 24th Street location of the theater, but I moved in 1997 and thus lost track of the ultimate decision for the theater.
Though I’m saddened to learn that the theater was actually torn down finally, at least it’s still alive in memory for those of us who were there for the opening performance.
Still have the original newspaper ads from 1967 plus several of the newspaper articles of the controversy in 1996/97.
Relieved, finally, to learn of the final disposition of the theater.
David- Thanks for stopping by and sharing your memories. I’m a tad younger than you, but quite the movie buff, and while I didn’t attend many films at the original Cine Capri, it was certainly a favored place for those special films that simply deserve or even demand a special screen.