Penn Hills Cinemas gearing up to celebrate 50 years since opening

A local movie theater is celebrating 50 years in the Penn Hills community this year.

Penn Hills Cinemas in the Penn Hills Shopping Center plans to look back at the last five decades of silver-screen history since the theater opened in 1966.

“We're doing a little bit here and there,” theater owner Paul Looker said. “We're still trying to find out as much as possible.”

Looker said he has been researching classic films that have graced the theater's screens since the mid-1960s by looking at old newspaper advertisements in the archives of the Penn Hills Library and posting them on social media.

Movies including “Planet of the Apes,” “West Side Story,” “The Graduate” and “Night of the Living Dead” played at the Penn Hills theater in their first runs.

Looker said the theater building has changed hands several times since it opened.

He said that despite perception that the theater often was closed, it was shuttered for fewer than six years of its 50-year history.

The theater is unique in that it's large enough to have multiple screens and shows contemporary movies but is locally owned.

Looker said that operating independently presents some challenges.

He said online ticket vendors often don't sell tickets to small movie theaters and there's rarely money in the budget to advertise.

“One of the greatest challenges is getting people to realize we're still here,” he said.

Looker said he's considering several events and specials for the actual anniversary in September.

For more information, visit facebook.com/PennHillsCinemas.

Kelsey Shea is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. She can be reached at 412-320-7845 or kshea@tribweb.com.