Blog 3882 – 07.09.2026

Going to the Movies Downtown 

The Chattanooga of my boyhood had four movie theaters down town. In order of price and prestige they were: The Dixie, the State, the Rogers, and the Tivoli. The Saturday matinee at the Dixie cost a dime for entrance, a dime for popcorn, and a nickel for a small drink. It is an amazing thought today to think one could go to the movies for a quarter. The movies were usually B movies or movies that had already played at the high priced theaters and the Dixie was the first of the four to close its doors. 

The State was a little more expensive and a lot nicer theater. It was there that I remember seeing Darby O’Gill and the Leprechauns with my mother and brother. We rode the bus to town as we did on many occasions. The Rogers  was third on the list and they had a summer movie program where kids could get in with an empty Lady MacBeth bean bag and were greeted out front of the theater by local TV cowboy Bob Brandy and is palomino horse Rebel. I recall seeing several Tarzan movies there, and more than a few Disney movies. Later when I was in high school it was Bond movies and Bonnie and Clyde.

The classiest downtown movie theater was the Tivoli. It was pricier for it was a true movie palace by comparison. I remember the red plush carpets and the high vaulted and ornate ceilings. When I was grown I recall attending a showing of an old black and white version of Mutiny on the Bounty with a young Clark Gable. He was my mother’s favorite actor and I took her to see him again. Before the show and during the intermission there were several songs played on large Hammond organ reminiscent of movie experiences when the Tivoli first opened in 1921. It was quite an experience, but then going to the movies downtown always was.

The first three theaters, the Dixie, the State and the Rogers were all located on Market Street within a couple of blocks of one another. The Tivoli was on Broad Street further downtown. It is the only one of the four that remains to this day.

Your friend and fellow traveler,

David James White