What opened with such fanfare and was labeled throughout its glory days ended unceremoniously on November 28, 1978 with the Charlotte Observer proclaiming the Carolina Theatre’s closing the end of “51 Gaudy Years.”

The final showing at the Carolina Theatre was The Fist, a Bruce Lee action movie.  Like other downtown businesses and entertainment venues, the theater fell victim to social forces of the 1960s and 1970s, particularly suburban development and the decline of the inner city.  

Sources:
Thomas W. Hanchett, Sorting Out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975.
“After 51 Gaudy Years, Carolina Theatre Closes,” Charlotte Observer, November 28, 1978.