If you enjoy a good movie in comfortable surroundings, you need to thank Rowland Chappell Cobb, Jr., the founder of Cobb Theatres, which set the industry standards for movie exhibitions in the South and across much of the nation.
Cobb, better known as “R.C.” to his friends, followed the philosophy that “a leader never stops looking ahead.” When Cobb Theatres was sold in 1997 to Regal Cinemas, Cobb owned 643 screens and had plans to add up to 200 more screens within the following two years.
Cobb was born in Vernon, Alabama in 1921, the son of Rowland Chappell Cobb and Lucille Richards Cobb. It was only fitting that he should become a force in the movie theatre business. In fact, his first job, at age 11 in 1932, was sweeping up popcorn boxes and candy wrappers in one of his grandfather’s theatres in Fayette. As Cobb grew older, he learned how to do everything involved in the upkeep of a theatre, including taking tickets, selling popcorn, and operating the projector.
But it was operating the special effects that Cobb liked the best. To add realism to silent movies, theatre operators often played sound effects on an organ. When a dog ran across the screen, Cobb pushed a button to make the sound of a barking dog. If a telephone was supposed to ring on-screen, Cobb pushed the telephone “button.”
As he grew up, Cobb had aspirations of becoming a lawyer and left Fayette for The University of Alabama. He didn’t become a lawyer, but he did receive a history degree from the University in 1942. That same year, he entered the Navy, and his movie theatre life was put on pause. As a lieutenant junior grade, he became involved with theatres of a different kind: theatres of war. He was the commander of an ILS, an infantry landing ship, in the European Theatre. His ship unloaded infantrymen onto the beaches at Salerno, Anzio, Elba, and Southern France during the Mediterranean invasions.
After the war, Cobb returned to Fayette with an honorable discharge and some ideas about the movie theatre business. He started in his hometown of Fayette, where his mother had purchased two theatres from her father in 1936. Cobb went to work for his mother in 1946 and later bought the two theatres. His new company became R.C. Cobb, Inc.
Cobb attributed much of his business acumen to his mother, who also influenced his choice of career and his outlook on his chosen profession. Cobb often said that his mother impressed upon him that movies had been declared obsolete or dead several times but always came back stronger than ever because of technological advances and new generations of stars.
From 1948 to 1965, Cobb built or purchased 19 theatres, both drive-in and indoor, in small Alabama towns. He built in the smaller towns, he said, because that was what he knew best. But after managing the smaller town theatres for a while, Cobb felt something was changing in America. He drove all over the Southeast, talking to his managers, checking the books, and examining other details. Cobb then realized people were moving to larger towns and cities and becoming more and more interested in entertainment. And while the new phenomenon, television, threatened to take the movie industry’s number one spot in entertainment, Cobb pressed on. He told The Birmingham News in 1991 “television was a great boom to our business. It produced young actors and actresses as finished products when they get to the movies.”
Because of his attention to detail, his charm, and his wit, Cobb convinced lenders that an expanding movie business would pay off. With the go-ahead from the banks, Cobb embarked on an expansion project across the Southeast.
In the early 1960s, Cobb began building theatres in Atlanta, Birmingham, Tuscaloosa, and Huntsville. He expanded and bought the theatre interests of N.H. Waters and RM. Kennedy in Birmingham, a total of 11 locations. R.C. Cobb, Inc. now operated some 27 theatres.
In 1971 the corporation built the first four-screen theatre in the U.S. In 1978, it opened the largest eight-screen facility in the nation. A decade ago, Cobb built the Sawgrass 18, which became the largest theatre east of the Rocky Mountains. And six years ago, the Hollywood 20 in Naples, Florida, became the largest theatre in Florida.
Cobb Theatres showed significant revenue growth over the past decade, climbing from $38.8 million in revenue in 1989 to $119.1 million in 1996. In 1996 alone, Cobb customers consumed 1.3 million pounds of popcorn, 5.6 million gallons of soft drinks, and 2.4 million candy items. When he turned 53, Cobb decided it was time to retire. He and his wife, Sonja, moved to Naples, Florida for several years. While living in Naples, he realized the growth happening in Florida and began expanding Cobb Theatres throughout the state. So back into the movie business he went, along with two of his four children. Robert Martin Cobb served as the corporation’s president and Jefferson Richards Cobb was executive vice president and secretary/ treasurer. He also has two daughters, Martha Cobb Keith, and Lucille Cobb McVay.
Cobb remained chairman of the board.
In 1997, when Cobb Theatres was sold, it was the largest theatre company in the state of Florida with more than 500 screens, and the 10th largest theatre company in the United States with a total of 643 screens throughout the Southeast.
While movie theatres were the heart of his businesses, Cobb also once owned a lumber mill and an auto dealership.
He made time to attend to civic charitable endeavors. He was a member of the board of stewards at Canterbury Methodist Church and Fayette Methodist Church. In Fayette, he was a member of the Rotary Club, the Exchange Club, and chairman of the Industrial Board. As chairman, he was instrumental in bringing several manufacturing plants to the city. In recognition, he was named Man of the Year in 1952. He also served on the Alabama Film Commission and was a past president of the National Association of Theatre Owners.
He has been a benefactor to the Fayette Boy Scouts, the Alabama Eye Foundation, and the Jimmy Hale Mission. He has used his theatres to collect tons of canned goods annually for distribution to the Red Cross and United Way. In 1996, the annual Thanksgiving Food Drive topped out at more than 27 tons of canned food. His theatres have exhibited a strong tradition of community partnership, hosting community events, providing free tickets to special needs groups, and offering special days at the movies for individual groups.
Cobb Theatres has always been committed to the principles of sound management, quality facilities, and customer satisfaction. When the theatres were purchased, the new owners said they were in “no hurry to immediately change the names.” Nor should they be. The Cobb name has always represented the kind of value and performance that has kept American business vital.
