AMERICAN FORK — Nestled between Glen's Barber Shop and Copper Nickel Coins on American Fork's Main Street, Towne Cinemas is evidence of a time gone by.
Cracked sidewalks and crumbling curbs are indicators that the building has been around for awhile — since 1953, to be exact.
Step inside, however, and the 52 years since its opening vanish into the present.
Owners Phil and Jennifer Clegg — who purchased the theater in July 2003 — have made renovations to the aging theater's interior during the past two years. New counters and carpet in the lobby and new seats and carpet in each cinema have given the theater a new look.
Phil Clegg, who works at Utah Valley State College as the director of student leadership and activities, is no stranger to the Towne Cinemas complex. Prior to owning the theater, he used to rent space from it for his coin shop.
By virtue of his position at UVSC and the flap over filmmaker Michael Moore's visit to the Orem campus last October, Clegg is no stranger to controversy, either.
He doubts he'll encounter any in relation to the theater as the previous owners did. "We do not show edited movies," he said. "And we do not intend to, either."
It was during 1998 that people outside of Utah County became aware of the small theater. Then-owners John and Carol Allred drew the ire of Hollywood and the cheers of local residents when they screened an edited version of the Academy Award-winning "Titanic" to sold-out audiences.
As a result, Paramount Pictures — the studio behind the blockbuster —yanked the film, refused to do business with Towne Cinemas for three weeks, and threatened to blacklist the theater for tampering with its movie.
This all happened during the early days of the war between Hollywood and movie-editing companies — many of which are based in Utah. Instead of dying down, however, the war has intensified since then as several Hollywood studios have filed copyright infringement lawsuits against movie-editing companies.
While the ending of this drama has yet to be scripted, it is being played to a broader audience as national networks are taking notice. In January, a film crew was in Provo to interview the owners of FamilyFlix, a local movie-editing company, for an upcoming documentary to air on the American Movie Channel this spring.
Following the Towne Cinemas movie-editing uproar in late 1998, the Allreds announced they intended to sell the theater. It took almost five years, but they finally followed through and sold the theater to the Cleggs who are lifetime residents of American Fork. Although theater ownership changed hands, the goal of providing family-friendly movies at affordable prices remains intact.
Like the Allreds, the Cleggs' aim is to show movies that fall within the G, PG and PG-13 rating spectrum. During 2004, however, there was an exception to that rule when the theater showed Mel Gibson's R-rated "The Passion of the Christ."
In addition to its motion picture offerings, Towne Cinemas sells gift cards, family passes and discount cards. Occasional hypnosis shows and a summer matinee series are also a part of the theater's schedule of events.
Because of the renovations made to the Towne Cinemas, an old nickname for the theater — the "sticky shoe" — is, as they say in the movie business, gone with the wind.
E-mail: kmartinez@desnews.com