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I I I I I I I I I I T
Ellis Cinema
Couldn't Survive on
"Lefont Leftovers"
Just five years ago, at a ceremony honoring
George Ellis, Glen Sirkis and Jill Kim
memorialized the deceased "father of art films
in Atlanta" by naming the theatre he was
scheduled to manage the George Ellis
Cinema.
In renovating the old Euclid Theater in
Little Five Points, Glen and Jill retained Ellis'
mission as carefully as they restored the
building's art deco exterior. Unfortunately, on
Monday, August 8, the revered movie
presenter’s belief that audiences deserve the
choice of alternative and ait films was
thwarted by the same industry he spent a
lifetime promoting.
I Roads. Now the Lefont chain approaches five
times that number, according to Glenn. "We
could not survive on Lefont leftovers. There
were no more films to play; there was nothing
left for us."
"We had some glorious, grand runs,"
Glenn recalls. "Like the successful week-long
showing of 'Good Morning, Babylon' last
September." However, near capacity
atlendence receipts still could not net a profit
after the exorbitant fees the Ellis had to pay
for the film's use, he admits. "It wasn't a
matter of not being able to make a decent
living, we couldn't even pay the power bill. It
was absolutely devastating."
Ellis, following his hunch that movie goers
might want something a little different and
challenging, opened his first "specialty film"
theater in the early '60s, the Festival Cinema
on Spring Street downtown. A quarter of a
century later, he was planning to continue
following his hunch on Euclid Avenue,
despite the failure of similar film houses such
as the Rhodes in Midtown.
IJI.J
;
JOttM
set
Reminiscent of the small fanner's plight,
this independent family-operated single
screen movie house was squeezed out by the
evolution of multi-screen chains. Big-time
film distributors no longer find dealing with
small-house showmen profitable.
"Our decision to throw in the sponge was
inevitable," Glenn reveals, the result of today's
movie marketing trend toward multi-roomed
shopping mall theaters owned by regional and
national conglomerates. "We simply became
a ploy for distributors to use in negotiating
with the chains. Then, we got to
choose...from what they didn't want"
"They really left us no choice," declares
Glenn. "The distributors would not make
their movies available to our theater. Of
course, we could still get any film we wanted
that bombed in New York.
"During the past four years, practically all
the art films that played the Lefont Tara were
ones we wanted," Glenn continues. "Like the
old Talking Heads movie, 'Stop Making
Sense'. We asked for it at first offering, but it
still played at the Tara instead."
When the Ellis Cinema opened in 1984,
there were about half a dozen screens owned
by local presenter George Lefont, including
the Tara at Lavista and Cheshire Bridge
Ellis' hunch was right Right up until it
closed earlier this month, the theatre had
extremely favorable community and local
business support The audience appreciated
his penchant for creative and alternative film
features. Obviously, the industry didn't
"It is frustrating," Glenn concludes, as he
prepares to return to his former profession in
the computer business. Meanwhile, the Ellis
Cinema stands deserted.
It is frustrating.
- John Blizzard
The Little 5 Points Section
covers the news, events and
people of this community, gay
or straight-always different,
always special.
Charles Haver. L.M.T.
Therapeutic Massage
LITTLE FIVE POINTS
(404) 524-8221
By appointment only
..something for everyone!
1148 Euclid Ave
Atlanta, Ga.
CHARS bookmore
WMoreland Avenue NE
Atlanta,Ga. 30307 524-0304
New Releases
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Bean Trees-Barbara Kingsolver ($16.95). A
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484 D. Moreland Ave
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