More than 55 people responded to last week's question: Columbia is home to a couple of multiplex movie theaters, and a larger multiplex is being planned for The Mall. Do you think Columbia needs a smaller art house that shows independent and foreign films and documentaries?

I am pleading for an independent, small art theater. Every time I find a picture I want to see it's in Washington or downtown Baltimore or the other side of Baltimore at the Rotunda. Please, I've been writing letters and I remember it being promised by the Palace Theatre when it opened many years ago that there would be one, and it never happened.

Sharon Chaiklin, Columbia

I believe it would be great if we had an art house. These movies would be filled up, I think, with Columbia residents. I think it'd be great. It would keep us from having to go in to the Charles Theatre and we could keep the money in Columbia. I think it's a great idea -- I hope that they do it. A suggestion might be to redo the theater downtown -- the three theaters across from Bennigan's -- and maybe make that the art house. I think it would be fantastic.

Lana Fink, Columbia

Columbia would absolutely benefit from an art house for independent, foreign and documentary films. Part of the "theory" of Columbia is to promote diversity of thought, creativity and social intelligence. Having "South Park" showing at three Columbia theaters simultaneously is perhaps not the best way to achieve this.

Thomas Kight, Columbia

I think an art house would be better. Snowden Square and Columbia Palace Nine can probably handle most of the movie traffic for Columbia at the moment, but for those of us who want to see the films in a smaller release, we have to go to the Inner Circle in D.C. or the Charles in Baltimore. Or maybe a multiplex like the Charles where they show half art films and half wide-releases.

Christopher Bachmann, Columbia

A house for indies, foreign and documentary films is much needed in this area. Demographics should make such a venture profitable, as the Columbia Film Society can only begin to scratch the surface of what is available.

Jacqueline Babcock, Ellicott City

Does Columbia need it? Certainly. Do people want it? Save for the precious few, probably not. Those films rely on content and subtlety. Not exactly today's top priority. Build another multiplex. Show those wide-screen, digitized, Dolbyized masterpieces of sex and violence. County Fathers, sit back and count the money!

Louis J. Caronna, Baltimore

I certainly would like to see a movie house that shows just those kinds of films in Columbia. We really suffer by not having something like that around. For example, I think with "The Winslow Boy" recently we had to go down to Bethesda to see that. And I just think that there is a market for smaller film houses here in Columbia.

Tom Groome, Columbia

I would be very interested in seeing a smaller art house that shows independent and foreign films and documentaries. I think that Columbia is very much in need of it right now. We need to go to downtown Baltimore or downtown D.C.

Lenore Pell, Columbia

Yes, I absolutely feel very strongly that Columbia can use an art house. Anytime we want to see a foreign film or a film that doesn't get major distribution, we're traveling up the Beltway about a half an hour. I think we have the population in the Howard County area and surrounding areas to support this.

Nancy Macks, Ellicott City

I definitely think we need a movie theater that will give more documentaries and the arts and foreign films, which is something that I do at college.

Nanette Greenbaum, Columbia

Absolutely Columbia must have a smaller independent art house that'll show independent and foreign films and documentaries. I often frequented the Charles Theatre in Baltimore, the Play House, as well at the Rotunda and sometimes the Senator. And I have not had the opportunity to get to similar theaters, to Washington and Georgetown, as I used to do. But Columbia definitely could support such a theater.

Brenda Valentine Harris, Ellicott City

Yes, I do think that Columbia needs an art house that shows independent and foreign films and documentaries. Right now I drive to Washington and Baltimore to see them. And I'm also a member of the Columbia Film Society, and I certainly would support another movie theater.

Leonora Heys, Columbia

It is only logical that the General Cinema 3 in Town Center be transformed into an art theater. With 26 screens in town now between the three theaters, Columbia area theatergoers still are limited to only the blockbuster and mainstream movies. Too often, the available movies overlap at United Artists 14, Loews 9, and General Cinema 3 leaving Columbia area residents shut out from seeing more independent, art and foreign films without traveling and spending our time and money outside of Columbia.

Sue Plaut, Columbia

Please, please make it so. There are people who don't want to travel to D.C. or Baltimore to enjoy such fare as independent and foreign films. It would also be a wonderful addition to a community that boasts cultural diversity in all other ways except in cinema.

Leslie Kight, Columbia

I would like to suggest that this is a rhetorical question. The real question is whether Columbia will provide the necessary institutional supports to give such an endeavor the time and the chance to succeed.

Harris Chaiklin, Columbia

Yes, I absolutely think Columbia needs an art movie house with documentaries.

Judith Fischer, Columbia

I've lived in Howard County a lot of my life. I live in Baltimore City now but still spend a lot of time in Howard County. I go to the Rotunda, I go to the Charles and occasionally the Orpheum, and I've always missed the fact that there's not something in Howard County that shows good progressive films and I would definitely use it if it were there. I'm in Howard County a lot and, in fact, I'm considering moving back.

Bob Bolton, Baltimore

I would support an art house showing independent and foreign films. I remember from my college days at West Virginia University and then also in Washington state in Bellingham how much I enjoyed the small theaters with the independent and foreign films and it was like a social club. I would especially support it here in Columbia if it was held on Friday nights and had a social club-like atmosphere.

Cathy Klein, Oakland Mills

Yes, yes, YES!! We need to be able to view foreign & independent films and & documentaries right here in Columbia. The enormous popularity of the Columbia Film Society demonstrates this.

Roberta Rood, Ellicott City

Yes, we do need an arts film theater in Columbia. We also need downtown in Columbia a Main Street Blues, a Ramshead on Stage, a Riverside Cafe. Then downtown Columbia would come alive.

Brian England, Columbia

A theater which shows first-run independent and foreign films is my most cherished desire for Columbia. I would rather support a local enterprise than the Charles and the Rotunda, which presently claim a large chunk of my entertainment dollars. Surely our educated and sophisticated population would patronize such a cinema.

Susan Jacobson, Columbia

I think a town like Columbia would desperately need small independent and foreign films. And I'm sure that you would get a lot of people going. I think it's a wonderful idea.

Marion Solomon, Kings Contrivance

Yes, I definitely think Columbia needs an art film theater. So many of the good shows are at the Rotunda and we can't get there to see them, or at the Charles. Please do have an art film theater. I heartily want one.

Eugenia Somers, Columbia

Yes, I think Columbia needs a smaller art house. A lot of the people have said so who I've talked to recently about the new theater going in at The Mall. And I think there'd be a lot of support for such a thing. There is plenty to attract everyone in Columbia and it's the diversity of the place that makes it special. And before we have too much of the same, I think trying something different always seems to work in our town.

Lisa Griffin, Town Center

I would definitely like to see an independent, smaller arts cinema in Columbia. I feel there is a market for that here as evidenced by a foreign film subscription series at Howard Community College, which has been very popular over the years.

Jean Salkeld, Columbia

I would very much like to see a movie theater in Columbia that would include art films, foreign films and independent films. I currently have to go into D.C. and there's only one or two places in Baltimore, occasionally, that shows a foreign film. And, yes, I'd love to have that in the area.

Elaine Lawrence, Ellicott City

I believe that the addition of a centrally-located art house theater in Columbia is long overdue. It would be a great step toward developing some sort of intellectual character and cultural distinction for our community, which up to now the main attractions have been based on large corporate interests.

Douglas Holm, Columbia

Absolutely, we could do with a theater that shows independent films. We wouldn't have to leave town. I go up to Baltimore to the Rotunda and Charles and so on. It would be really nice to have something nearby. I think it's been needed for a long time. Right down in the Town Center area where there's a nice place to walk afterward would be perfect. It's been a dream of mine to open one for years, and I'd love to see it happen here.

Marijane Monck, Harper's Choice

For the past six years or so I have been a subscriber to the Columbia Film Society. While the foreign films shown are always high quality, I feel that the time has come for Columbia to have its own art theater. One of the General Cinema screens downtown would be the perfect location.

Hal Sommers, Columbia

There are enough moviegoers in the area who want to see independent, foreign and documentary films. With a total of 26 screens in the three Columbia theaters, why couldn't one of the existing screens be used to show such films?

Joyce and Tyson Archer, Columbia

I definitely think that Columbia needs a smaller art house that shows independent and foreign films and documentaries.

Brenda Skintges-Rodes, Columbia

I absolutely agree that we should definitely have a smaller movie theater that has art films and independently made films, something like the Rotunda, because it's awfully hard to go into Baltimore or down into D.C. So I am adamantly asking for an art movie house.

Deb Waldman, Columbia

I think there should be some sort of theater that provides foreign films but doesn't have to just do that.

Tim Beaty, Oakland Mills

This community is crying out for a theater which supports independent and foreign films. There is a definite void which needs to be filled to challenge all of us to look at life in new and provocative ways. A local alternative to the Charles or Rotunda would be warmly welcomed.

Kathy Harris, Columbia

Yes, I think we do need a smaller, more artsy type of theater. I get tired of going to Baltimore to the Charles to see things or going into D.C. So I think it would be great if we had something here.

Juanita Ellis, Columbia

Please consider having a smaller movie art house for Howard County that shows independent, foreign films and documentaries. We now drive regularly to the Rotunda and the Charles to see these movie offerings, and would love to have something here in Howard County.

Sherrill and Philip Frustace, Ellicott City

Pub Date: 8/19/99