Metro 4

Metro 4 is a movie theatre in Santa Barbara, California, United States, operated as part of the circuit of Metropolitan Theatres Corporation. Metropolitan Theatres is a Los Angeles-based, privately held exhibition company that has been owned by the Corwin family since 1923, when Joseph H. Corwin founded it with a single downtown Los Angeles venue, the Broadway. Over the following century the circuit grew into a regional exhibitor concentrated in California, with its largest area of concentration in Santa Barbara County, where it has operated since 1950. Metro 4 belongs to that Santa Barbara County cluster of historic properties and modern multiplexes. As a Metropolitan Theatres location, Metro 4 fits the company's model of combining historic cinema properties with state-of-the-art multiplexes. The circuit's portfolio has included 10 theatres, 52 screens and two IMAX auditoriums across California and Colorado, and it has pursued next-generation growth through new development, theatre acquisitions and theatre management services. The company has also maintained a distinctive Spanish-language film policy since the mid-1960s, when it was among the first U.S. exhibition circuits to program Spanish-subtitled American films and Spanish-language Mexican productions; it still operates a Spanish-language theatre in greater Los Angeles. Metro 4's identity is therefore tied to a family-run exhibitor rather than to a standalone chain. Bruce C. Corwin, the company's Chairman and CEO, led Metropolitan for 40 years until his death on November 4, 2021. His son David Corwin is President and represents the fourth generation of the Corwin family to run the business. The company remains privately held and continues to operate its California and Colorado cinemas, including the Santa Barbara-area sites such as Metro 4.

Metro 4 is a Santa Barbara, California movie theatre that operates within the circuit of Metropolitan Theatres Corporation, a Los Angeles-based exhibition company owned by the Corwin family since 1923. The parent company's history begins when Joseph H. Corwin moved to California from Sioux City, Iowa, and founded the company in 1923 with one theatre, the Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles. His sons, Lawrence and Sherrill, grew with the business, and by the late 1940s Metropolitan was the dominant motion picture exhibitor in downtown Los Angeles. Sherrill Corwin ultimately became chief executive of the growing circuit and fostered expansion into Palm Springs and Santa Barbara, California. Metropolitan's largest area of concentration became Santa Barbara County, where it has operated since 1950. Metro 4 belongs to that Santa Barbara County presence, which combines historic properties with state-of-the-art multiplexes. In the mid-1960s, Metropolitan was among the first exhibition circuits in the nation to venture into a Spanish-language film policy, both in subtitle form for American movies and in Spanish for Mexican-produced films; the company continues to operate a Spanish-language theatre in greater Los Angeles. In September 2003, the company formed Metro/Rocky Mountain Cinemas, which operate state-of-the-art cinemas in the Denver, Colorado DMA, specifically in Loveland, Colorado. Bruce C. Corwin, the company's Chairman and CEO, led Metropolitan for 40 years and passed away on November 4, 2021. His son, David Corwin, is Metropolitan's President and represents the fourth generation of the Corwin family to run the company. Metropolitan Theatres has described a portfolio of 10 theatres, 52 screens and two IMAX auditoriums in California and Colorado, and a next-generation growth plan built on new development, theatre acquisitions and theatre management services. Metro 4 remains part of that privately held, family-run circuit.

• 2021

  Chairman and CEO Bruce C. Corwin, who led the company for 40 years, passes away on November 4.

• 2003

  Metropolitan forms Metro/Rocky Mountain Cinemas, operating cinemas in the Denver, Colorado area including Loveland.

• 1950

  Metropolitan begins operating in Santa Barbara County, California, the area where Metro 4 is located.

• 1923

  Joseph H. Corwin founds Metropolitan Theatres Corporation with one theatre, the Broadway, in downtown Los Angeles.

A neighborhood cinema within a family-owned, Los Angeles-based exhibition circuit that mixes historic properties with modern multiplexes.

• Metro 4

1. 1Home — Metropolitanmetrotheatres.com
2. 2About Us — Metropolitanmetrotheatres.com
3. 3Metro 4 — Wikidatawikidata.org