MY WIFE AND I WERE AT THE SECOND SHOWING OF JAWS ON FRIDAY NIGHT. MY WIFE WAS SO SCARED SHE DID NOT SLEEP AT ALL THAT NIGHT AND WAS A WRECK FOR A FEW DAYS..SHE SAID IT REALLY SHOOK HER UP...A VERY NICE THEATER AND REMEMBER SEEING " TORA , TORA , TORA " THE FIRST MOVIE THERE WITH THE BIG BASS SPEAKERS IN FRONT THAT REALLY SHOOK THE PLACE

The last movie I saw at the PARK Theater was "Raiders of the Lost Ark" back in 1981. I think the PARK closed a couple of years later. I remember it really looked tired. But it was still nicer than the old Memphian Theater in midtown.

I remember watching several movies here but The Empire Strikes Back premiere in 1980 was by far the most memorable. The place was so packed I had to sit in my dad's lap in the back row just to get in the theater. The other I recall:
Star Trek II: Wrath of Khan w/ the cub scouts

Married at 20 in 1971, I remember us going to see Deliverance in 1972, which had all our nails chewed off when we exited the theatre. I also remember discovering Richard Dreyfuss in 1974, in The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz, a spectacular display of acting by Dreyfuss. Speaking of spectacular acting, in 1974, we also saw, at the Park Theatre, The Execution of Private Slovik, the story of the first soldier executed for desertion since the Civil War, starring a young Martin Sheen. We followed his career, and met him in New York City once, when we commandeered a taxi from the left side, in the rain, while he commandeered the same taxi from the right. My wife sat in his lap, all the way to the Plaza.

In the early 1940s my family moved to Ellsworth Street near Park and Highland. At that time I believe Highland was the city limits - and it was certainly the dropping-off place. There was nothing but woods past Highland. Several years later, I'm guessing in 1946, my sister and I were so excited - a theater was being built on Park Ave ... the Park Theater! It was so close we could walk to the theater. Many of our friends rode their bikes and the theater provided bike racks.
I'm submitting a picture we took, apparently shortly after its completion, with the marquee showing "The Renegades" with Larry Parks and Evelyn Keyes which came out in 1946. We went many times and I definitely remember seeing "The Beast with 5 Fingers" starring the great but scary Peter Lorre which also was released in 1946.
The last show my husband and I saw there was in 1971. It was "The Last Picture Show" with Cybill Shepherd in her film debut.