Over the years, our state’s made cameos in some Oscar-worthy films: Up in the Air, Meet Me in St. Louis, Gone Girl… (We’ll ignore that St. Louis doubled as a dystopian Big Apple in Escape From New York.) By and large, though, we’ve remained more spectator than starlet, particularly since former Gov. Jay Nixon shouted “Cut!” on funding the Missouri Film Commission five years ago.
Nonetheless, Cinema St. Louis continues to do its part, nobly highlighting local filmmakers and films during the Whitaker St. Louis International Film Festival, being held November 2–12 this year. The occasion made us wonder: Which movie house has been giving St. Louisans their movie fixes the longest?
There are several obvious candidates. The Fox started as a movie palace in 1929 but of course no longer shows films. The Tivoli, with its classic neon marquee, opened five years earlier but temporarily closed in the 1990s. Meanwhile, the Hi-Pointe Theatre (named because it sits atop one of the loftiest plots in the city) sold its first ticket in 1922—and hasn’t stopped since. That makes Hi-Pointe the oldest continuously running movie theater in town, according to Cinema St. Louis executive director Cliff Froehlich.
Hi-Pointe co-owner Diana Grayson enthusiastically agrees. Unlike other theaters erected in the early 1920s that hosted plays and vaudeville, the Hi-Pointe was always intended to show movies. Not long after Grayson’s father bought the place, in the 1970s, he changed the programming to feature more art and indie films, a move that proved ahead of its time—and filled a valuable niche as multiplexes squeezed out other neighborhood theaters.
Like any building approaching the century mark, the Hi-Pointe’s undergone rehabilitation at various points. Today, with its mosaic tile concession stand, “It’s Cool Inside” neon, and aquamarine seating, it retains a 1960s-style vibe. But don’t be fooled: Beneath the old-fashioned velvet curtains hangs a massive screen, and the auditorium is wired for Dolby Digital sound. And, as Grayson points out, the sprawling single-screen theater provides something you won’t find at the bustling multiplex: communion.
“There aren’t multiple audiences in our lobby, passing each other on the way to different movies,” she says. “We’re all here to see the same movie. Everyone is here for the same reason.”
