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Remember When, Chattanooga? Did you see a movie at Eastgate Theatre?

Chattanooga News-Free Press archive photo / This 1965 photo shows workers putting the finishing touches on the then-new Eastgate Theatre. A sell-out crowd of 800 showed up for the grand opening in September 1965 to watch the film "Shenandoah" with James Stewart. Chattanooga News-Free Press archive photo / This 1965 photo shows workers putting the finishing touches on the then-new Eastgate Theatre. A sell-out crowd of 800 showed up for the grand opening in September 1965 to watch the film "Shenandoah" with James Stewart.

By Mark Kennedy June 20, 2025 3 min read

A line of moviegoers stretched for a distance of three blocks Sept. 16, 1965, anticipating the grand opening of the new 800-seat Eastgate Theatre.

The first film to play at the opulent movie house was “Shenandoah,” a Civil War-themed movie starting James Stewart. Seventeen-year-old actor Phillip Alford of Birmingham played Stewart’s son in the movie and was one of the guests of honor at the grand opening.

“The new Eastgate Theatre is beautiful and wonderfully comfortable,” gushed a Chattanooga News-Free Press reporter in an article published a day after the opening.

Meanwhile, a Chattanooga Times reporter wrote: “A movie theater opening reminiscent of Hollywood’s heyday — a big crowd, searchlights, local dignitaries and a film star — marked the ribbon-cutting ceremonies at Eastgate Theatre on Thursday night.”