General Cinema Corp. was a family-controlled drive-in theater
chain in the early 1950s.
GCC expanded to indoor theatres (such as the Village Theatre
at Admiral and Garnett) by the 1960s, and acquired other drive-ins,
such as the Admiral Twin.
The GCC "Coming Attractions" and "Feature Presentation"
trailers, with their jazzy, disjointed theme, were a distinctive and memorable
part of the movie experience.
(from Guestbook 84, 7/20/2001) The webmaster said:
I was just listening to Henry Mancini's 1962
"Combo!"
CD, and his use of harpsichord (played by Johnny "Star Wars" Williams) reminded
me of the animated "Coming Attractions" and "Feature Presentation" trailers
used by General Cinema Corporation in the 60s and 70s.
Jeff Stuckey sent a link to the 80s GCC Candy Band "Feature
Presentation" trailer. Sounds like the Brian Setzer Orchestra:
G-GP-R-X: What do the ratings
mean? From the 1960s:
"Our Feature Presentation" from
the 1970s:
Below: "It's Intermission Time!"
from the 1950s:
Vintage B & W intermission trailer:
Intermission countdown:
Compilation of drive-in intermission films mostly from the
1950s and 1960s. Stay off Daylight Savings Time!
(This item featured on
Boing
Boing, 10/29/2006)
The Admiral Twin Drive-In was once
a GCC theater, as was the Village Theatre at Admiral and Garnett, where both
contributor Jeff Stuckey and I grew up. I rode my bike down the slope of
the Village's foundation while it was being built as a single screen theatre;
Jeff rode his to see movies long after I had moved away. The theatre closed
before he was old enough to land a job there. Our biking, separated
over time, bracketed its existence.
(2/5/2006: The building became a Corvette showroom and is now for sale
again.
5/4/2006: The interior has been gutted. The "VILLAGE" lettering is now gone.)
Photos of East Tulsa's Village Theatre by Jeff Stuckey
In the later 60s, there was a Saturday morning summer series of movies
at the Village and other cooperating Tulsa theatres. It cost a dime with
newspaper coupon. Kid-oriented movies were the fare, e.g., Tony Curtis'
"40
Pounds of Trouble", plus old serials, such as Buster Crabbe's
"Pirates of the High
Seas".
The owner of the Village was Alex Blue, one of
the original owners of the Admiral Twin.
Marjorie Snyder of Family Theatres and Mr & Mrs. Alex Blue
preview the KOTV 1968 Color Season at Tulsa Country Club. (From
"6 Photo News", 9/17/1968, courtesy of Chris Sloan)
(via email, 6/17/2002) Tina Ervin-Platt said:
Yes, the drive-in was owned by GCC for about twenty or so years - my husband
(general manager at Eastland) and I met there in 1983 as GCC employees. So,
the GCC wav on your site was a treat for us!
GCC wooden nickel courtesy of
Bob Ritter, owner of Tulsa's
unique Hubcap Kingdom.
Bob tried to buy the 51
Drive-In a few years
ago, but it was sold,
and then torn down
to build apartments.
Too bad; if Bob had
gotten it, it would likely
be a going concern today.
