The February 13, 1942, issue of The Deming Headlight said that the El Rancho Theatre would open on February 18. The movie for the opening would be Skylark with Claudette Colbert.
The December 7, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had an item that was probably about the Victoria Theatre. It said that a four-story theater and hotel building, 57x160 feet, would be erected on Palos Verdes Street with the theater entrance through and existing building on Sixth Street. The theater would be leased to Ray Pierson and F. O. Adler, who owned the Sixth Street building.
Another item in the same issue of the magazine said that the architect for the project was L. A. Smith. The theater was to be 57x125 feet, and the building leading to Sixth Street was 25x75.
The only item I’ve found about this theater in the trade publications so far is this one from the December 6, 1930, issue of Exhibitors Herald-World:
“Carnival, Night Football Fails to Stop This Manager; He Has a Midnight Show
“When Taft, Cal., an oil town, celebrated its twentieth anniversary recently, so many evening attractions popped up that it appeared the town’s theatre was doomed to "slim pickings.” A tent show came in for the occasion, and a night football game was on the program.
“Did Manager James Gleason of the Fox Hippodrome call it Black Friday and quit? Nothing like that. He merely figured that the night would be young after the football game and the tent show.
“So he went ahead with plans for a midnight show. The city’s anniversary committee worked with him, sold tickets for the show, did extra advertising to plug the picture and supplied stage talent for a share of the receipts. The committee received a neat sum for its efforts. The theatre earned $70 more than its average evening receipts.”
As the article refers to the Fox as “the town’s theatre,” the other houses in Taft must all have closed by that time. I’ve found references to a Olympia Theatre, renamed Photoplay Theatre in 1914; a Star Theatre, renamed Optic Theatre in 1916; and a Rex Theatre, operating in 1917. Given the time spread, these might have all been the same theater operating under five different names.
I still haven’t been able to discover if the original Hippodrome Theatre, built in 1917-18, was entirely demolished to make way for the West Coast Hippodrome in 1925, or if part of the original structure was incorporated into the new house. However, this item from the November 16, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor is probably about the original Hippodrome:
“Taft—A permit has been issued for the erection of a moving picture theater on three lots on Center street, which have been leased for ten years by Turner & Dahnken of San Francisco. The building will be 78x118 ft., two stories in front, brick construction. An air cooling plant will be installed. The estimated cost of the building is $10,000.”
For those interested in construction, here is an interesting article about the reinforced concrete arch supporting the balcony (called the gallery in the article) of the Million Dollar Theatre, published in the September 14, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor:
“SEVERE TEST FOR REINFORCED CONCRETE STRUCTURE
“The reinforced concrete arch, and the reinforced concrete cantilever gallery which it carries, in the theater building at Third and Broadway, now being erected for the Stability Building Company, was given a severe test by the city building department, acting under instructions from the Board of Public Works, and the results show that the structure is without a flaw either from a theoretical or constructive standpoint. The structure, including the arch and gallery and side supports are monolithic and constitute what builders and technical men consider a bold piece of engineering. The idea of designing the structure in reinforced concrete was conceived by Albert C. Martin, the architect and engineer, when it was found that structural steel for the gallery as originally planned could not be obtained without unreasonable delay.
“The cantilever gallery is carried on an arch 10 ft. wide, with a clear span of 104 ft., so as to give an unobstructed view of the stage from all parts of the ground floor. A three-hinged arch was first considered, being the simplest and easiest type of construction, but it was found that the hinges alone would cost $15,000 and to eliminate this excessive item Mr. Martin decided upon a bow-spring arch with a segmental curve. The arch, which has a maximum rise of eleven feet, is tied at the haunches with steel rods aggregating 154 sq. inches in area, which are anchored at either end in steel plates with nuts and encased in concrete. Great care was taken also in designing the cantilever trusses for the gallery, plates and nuts being used at the juncture of various members. The gallery has a maximum overhang of about forty feet, the structure being evenly balanced upon the arch.
“Under the requirements of the city building ordinance the gallery was designed to carry a weight of 125 pounds per square foot and the test was made by placing upon it a load of double that amount, 250 pounds per square foot. A total of 1,400,000 pounds of cement in sacks, bricks and sand was placed on the gallery extending the entire length and covering that portion which is carried directly by the arch. A week was consumed in placing the great mass of material, all of which is to be used in the building, and the full load was allowed to remain for a period of about 48 hours.
“The greatest deflection in the arch under this tremendous strain was only one-quarter of an inch and the greatest deflection in the cantilever gallery was three-eighths of an inch. The greatest deflection at the haunches of the arch was one-eighth of an inch on each end, making a total spread of only one-fourth of an inch. Theoretically, the spread of the arch should have been greater as the 104 feet of steel, under a load of 16,000 lbs. per square inch, which it was figured to carry, would stretch five-eighths of an inch. With double the load figured the steel should, theoretically, have stretched twice five-eighths of an inch, or one and one quarter inches. The actual small deflection is explained on the theory that a part of the load which would have been borne directly by the arch is, in reality, taken up by the vertical arches on the exterior of the structure.
“The test, besides proving satisfactorily the calculations of the engineer, demonstrated the thorough character of the construction. Greatest care was exercised in pouring the concrete for the arch and gallery and it was permitted to stand for sixty days before being stripped of the forms. The. R. H. Arnold Company is the general contractor on the building.”
There was also a 900-seat Booth Theatre in Chattanooga, listed as closed in the FDYs from 1931 through 1933, and no longer listed after that. The Knoxville Booth (800 seats) was open through the whole decade.
Various construction trade journals from 1916 note a theater to be built at Antigo, Wisconsin, for Harvey Hansen. The architect for the project was Hans T. Liebert, then practicing in Wausau. Contracts for the project were let in July, 1916. Hansen had been operating another theater called the Palace in Antigo since at least 1913. I don’t know if the first Palace was closed when the new theater opened or if it continued to operate under another name.
Liebert designed another theater for Hansen in 1921. It was to have been located at the corner of 5th Avenue and Edison Street, but I’ve been unable to discover if this project was carried out.
deacon: Thanks for the clarification. The listings of the theaters in Lansing in The Film Daily Yearbook are a bit confusing. In the early 1950s, several issues list both a 324-seat Blackhawk Theatre and a 340-seat Lans Theatre, but Lansing seems too small to have supported two theaters at the same time, even in the early 1950s. I have suspected that the editors simply failed to keep their list up-to-date.
Perhaps you would like to comment on the Cinema Treasures pages for the Y-Knot Drive-In and the West Theatre in West Point. We know next to nothing about them so far.
A house called the West Theatre was operating in West Point at least into the 1970s. The West Theatre and the Y-Knot Drive-In were offered for sale by Johnson Theatres in classified ads appearing in Boxoffice in 1973. The July 8, 1974, issue said that both had been bought by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reese, who would begin operating them on June 2.
Here is an undated aerial photo showing the Y-Knot Drive-In, in its splendid isolation. Comparing the photo to a modern Google Maps satellite view, the theater had to have been on 17th Road (called Lincoln Street inside the town) probably some distance south of town. That’s the only place the oxbow lakes and marshes along the Elkhorn River are as close to the road as they are in the old photo.
Google has no street view up for this location, but a Bing Maps bird’s eye view shows a (rather narrow) theater-like entrance on the William Street side of the building. You can’t zoom in far enough to tell if a Bridge Street entrance has been sealed up or not, but if there was still a theater in the building the entrance would have to be on William Street. It’s possible that 47 Bridge Street was a side door leading to the manager’s office.
A 1914-1915 city directory lists five theaters at Olean, and this house is listed simply as Lang’s Theatre, at 128 W. State Street. A New Dreamland Theatre, not conducted my Mr. Lang, had opened at 164 N. Union Street. The other three were the earlier Gem at 245 N. Union, the Havens at 115 W. State, and the Grand at 257 N. Union.
The Dreamland Theatre is mentioned in the January 2, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Lang’s Dreamland, a moving picture
show of Olean, N. Y., is being improved. New chairs and decorations will be a feature. An up-to-date service is being engaged in Buffalo for this house.”
If the name had not been moved from another house, the Dreamland was already in operation by 1907, when it was mentioned in the November 16 issue of The Billboard. It was then presenting vaudeville. Lang’s Dreamland was advertising in the Olean Times-Herald at least as early as December, 1911.
All the period sources I’ve found say that Albert Willey was a real estate promoter and developer, and later a contractor, but not an architect. This brief biography published around 1918 is typical:
“Willey, Albert L.
Born in Freeville, Tompkins County, NY, Jan. 18, 1855, son of Samuel B. and Esther (Greenfield) Willey. He was educated in the public schools and academy of the town and opened a saw and grist mill. He did a thriving business and when the oportunity rose to dispose of the business he did so to his advantage. He purchased a farm in Cuba Lake, NY and later carried on the business of a meat market in Cortland, NY. He later returned to Freeville and became proprietor of a general store. In 1895 he came to Broome County and went into the real estate business with offices in Johnson City. He purchased two valuable tracts of land known as the Allen property and the Cook property and plotted them out into residential lots. He continued along this line, doing contracting along with his real estate business. He married in 1875, Helen E. Head of Lansing, Tompkins County, NY. They had children, Clarence A. Horace M. and Frederick R.“
It’s possible that the Willey Block was designed in-house by Willey’s firm, but I’ve been unable to discover the name of the actual architect. The decorative trim on the two lower floors looks as though it might have been ordered out of a catalog, though.
DavidZornig: If you’re referring to this photo that kencmcintyre linked to, it was probably taken in 1922, the year Clara Kimball Young appeared in The Worldly Madonna, so it would depict the Dome Theatre that burned with the rest of the pier in 1924. But you’re right, the old theater would not have been called the Fox Dome, as the West Coast Theatres circuit was not taken over by Fox until a few years after the new Dome Theatre was built.
The Globe Theatre on Woodland Avenue is briefly mentioned in this item from the September 9, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“New Company Buys Three Theaters.
“Cleveland, O.—The Freer Theater Company, just organized, has announced the purchase of three picture theaters here. The theaters are the Haltnorth, Globe and Fountain, all in the vicinity of Woodland avenue and E. 55th street. M. B. Horowitz and Louis Israel head the company.”
I’ve found no later references to a Freer Theater Company, but M. B. Horwitz (the correct spelling) and Mr. Israel remained in the exhibition business and were mentioned a number of times in the trade publications.
Mikeoaklandpark: This theater was called the Shore from 1947 to 1952, and had opened as the Embassy Theatre in 1911. It became the City Square Theatre in the 1920s, and was the Beach Theatre from 1952 until closing.
The November 11, 1926, issue of the Reading Times said that the Park Theatre would open that night. The opening feature was Her Big Night, starring Laura LaPlante, plus there were vaudeville acts, an organ recital, and the Park Orchestra.
The Gettysburg Times was probably using the word “recently” rather loosely. I’ve found references to the Strand Theatre dating back to 1919. The January 24 issue of The Film Daily noted that Carr & Schad had purchased a lot at Ninth and Spring Streets in Reading on which they expected to begin construction of a new theater by April 1. The earliest listings I’ve found for the Strand in the Reading newspaper appeared in late March, 1920, so the project might have suffered some delays, but the Strand was definitely open by 1920.
Reading’s original Bijou Theatre was destroyed by a fire in the spring of 1900. The opening of the new Bijou Theatre was reported in the January 8, 1901, issue of the Reading News-Times. The auditorium was on Cherry Street, and access from Penn Street was via a new lobby through an existing building called Keystone Hall
The February 10, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World published this item about the opening of the Olivet Theatre:
“Reading, Pa. — The Olivet, Reading’s newest picture theater, just completed at 647 Schuylkill Avenue, has opened. The house is very cozy, splendidly furnished, has ample exits, wide aisles, [unreadable] lighting arrangements, etc.”
The June 26, 1916, issue of the Reading Times rhapsodized about the pleasures awaiting the public at the opening that afternoon of the Arcadia Theatre:
“The Arcadia, Reading’s latest and largest photoplay theatre, is to be opened auspiciously Monday afternoon under the management of Carr & Schad, Inc., and an anxiously waiting public will marvel at the remarkable transformation of the well-known site, which is one of the best established theatrical spots in this community. So much has been said about the Arcadia, with its delicate decorations, designed by one of America’s leading theatrical artists, its lighting effects, the big screen in a setting planned and set by the head stage director of the Keith circuit, that words fail to do justice to the magnificent interior, and when the audiences are ushered into the Arcadia, they will almost think it impossible that such a decided change could be made in so short a period, the theatre being closed but seven weeks. The entrance at 734 and 736 Penn street is the only mark that will suggest or recall the days of the former theatre. Carr & Schad, Inc., pioneers in the local motion picture Industry, have always endeavored to give the public the best available service and the Arcadia is to present only a brilliant array of program features that will appeal to all classes of photoplay followers.”
There followed a very long, and equally effusive, preview of the Arcadia’s opening attractions, with much of it devoted to Bille Burke, star of the serial Gloria’s Romance, the first chapter of which was to be part of the program.
The June 11, 1921 issue of the Reading Times reported that the New York firm of E. C. Horne & Sons had been chosen to design the repairs and addition to the Rajah Temple which had been devastated by a fire the previous month.
An article in the September 9, 1937, issue of the Reading Times says that the old Bijou Theatre, a burlesque house at 734 Penn Street, was renamed the Palace in 1910. In 1916 it was taken over by Carr & Schad and completely remodeled, reopening on June 26 as the New Arcadia Theatre.
The Bijou was in operation prior to 1905, so even with Carr & Schad’s remodeling of 1916 the house was probably quite ready for replacement when it was demolished in 1928 to make way for the new Astor Theatre.
The February 13, 1942, issue of The Deming Headlight said that the El Rancho Theatre would open on February 18. The movie for the opening would be Skylark with Claudette Colbert.
The December 7, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had an item that was probably about the Victoria Theatre. It said that a four-story theater and hotel building, 57x160 feet, would be erected on Palos Verdes Street with the theater entrance through and existing building on Sixth Street. The theater would be leased to Ray Pierson and F. O. Adler, who owned the Sixth Street building.
Another item in the same issue of the magazine said that the architect for the project was L. A. Smith. The theater was to be 57x125 feet, and the building leading to Sixth Street was 25x75.
The only item I’ve found about this theater in the trade publications so far is this one from the December 6, 1930, issue of Exhibitors Herald-World:
As the article refers to the Fox as “the town’s theatre,” the other houses in Taft must all have closed by that time. I’ve found references to a Olympia Theatre, renamed Photoplay Theatre in 1914; a Star Theatre, renamed Optic Theatre in 1916; and a Rex Theatre, operating in 1917. Given the time spread, these might have all been the same theater operating under five different names.I still haven’t been able to discover if the original Hippodrome Theatre, built in 1917-18, was entirely demolished to make way for the West Coast Hippodrome in 1925, or if part of the original structure was incorporated into the new house. However, this item from the November 16, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor is probably about the original Hippodrome:
For those interested in construction, here is an interesting article about the reinforced concrete arch supporting the balcony (called the gallery in the article) of the Million Dollar Theatre, published in the September 14, 1917, issue of Southwest Builder and Contractor:
There was also a 900-seat Booth Theatre in Chattanooga, listed as closed in the FDYs from 1931 through 1933, and no longer listed after that. The Knoxville Booth (800 seats) was open through the whole decade.
Various construction trade journals from 1916 note a theater to be built at Antigo, Wisconsin, for Harvey Hansen. The architect for the project was Hans T. Liebert, then practicing in Wausau. Contracts for the project were let in July, 1916. Hansen had been operating another theater called the Palace in Antigo since at least 1913. I don’t know if the first Palace was closed when the new theater opened or if it continued to operate under another name.
Liebert designed another theater for Hansen in 1921. It was to have been located at the corner of 5th Avenue and Edison Street, but I’ve been unable to discover if this project was carried out.
deacon: Thanks for the clarification. The listings of the theaters in Lansing in The Film Daily Yearbook are a bit confusing. In the early 1950s, several issues list both a 324-seat Blackhawk Theatre and a 340-seat Lans Theatre, but Lansing seems too small to have supported two theaters at the same time, even in the early 1950s. I have suspected that the editors simply failed to keep their list up-to-date.
Perhaps you would like to comment on the Cinema Treasures pages for the Y-Knot Drive-In and the West Theatre in West Point. We know next to nothing about them so far.
A house called the West Theatre was operating in West Point at least into the 1970s. The West Theatre and the Y-Knot Drive-In were offered for sale by Johnson Theatres in classified ads appearing in Boxoffice in 1973. The July 8, 1974, issue said that both had been bought by Mr. and Mrs. Richard Reese, who would begin operating them on June 2.
Here is an undated aerial photo showing the Y-Knot Drive-In, in its splendid isolation. Comparing the photo to a modern Google Maps satellite view, the theater had to have been on 17th Road (called Lincoln Street inside the town) probably some distance south of town. That’s the only place the oxbow lakes and marshes along the Elkhorn River are as close to the road as they are in the old photo.
Google has no street view up for this location, but a Bing Maps bird’s eye view shows a (rather narrow) theater-like entrance on the William Street side of the building. You can’t zoom in far enough to tell if a Bridge Street entrance has been sealed up or not, but if there was still a theater in the building the entrance would have to be on William Street. It’s possible that 47 Bridge Street was a side door leading to the manager’s office.
A 1914-1915 city directory lists five theaters at Olean, and this house is listed simply as Lang’s Theatre, at 128 W. State Street. A New Dreamland Theatre, not conducted my Mr. Lang, had opened at 164 N. Union Street. The other three were the earlier Gem at 245 N. Union, the Havens at 115 W. State, and the Grand at 257 N. Union.
The Dreamland Theatre is mentioned in the January 2, 1915, issue of The Moving Picture World:
If the name had not been moved from another house, the Dreamland was already in operation by 1907, when it was mentioned in the November 16 issue of The Billboard. It was then presenting vaudeville. Lang’s Dreamland was advertising in the Olean Times-Herald at least as early as December, 1911.There was an earlier theater called the Gem in Olean. Its demise is noted in The Moving Picture World of August 4, 1917:
Other items in the same issue mention houses called the Olympic and the Grand then operating in Olean.All the period sources I’ve found say that Albert Willey was a real estate promoter and developer, and later a contractor, but not an architect. This brief biography published around 1918 is typical:
It’s possible that the Willey Block was designed in-house by Willey’s firm, but I’ve been unable to discover the name of the actual architect. The decorative trim on the two lower floors looks as though it might have been ordered out of a catalog, though.DavidZornig: If you’re referring to this photo that kencmcintyre linked to, it was probably taken in 1922, the year Clara Kimball Young appeared in The Worldly Madonna, so it would depict the Dome Theatre that burned with the rest of the pier in 1924. But you’re right, the old theater would not have been called the Fox Dome, as the West Coast Theatres circuit was not taken over by Fox until a few years after the new Dome Theatre was built.
The Globe Theatre on Woodland Avenue is briefly mentioned in this item from the September 9, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:
I’ve found no later references to a Freer Theater Company, but M. B. Horwitz (the correct spelling) and Mr. Israel remained in the exhibition business and were mentioned a number of times in the trade publications.Charles Phoenix wrote recently about his all-too-brief encounter with the Compton Drive-In.
Mikeoaklandpark: This theater was called the Shore from 1947 to 1952, and had opened as the Embassy Theatre in 1911. It became the City Square Theatre in the 1920s, and was the Beach Theatre from 1952 until closing.
The November 11, 1926, issue of the Reading Times said that the Park Theatre would open that night. The opening feature was Her Big Night, starring Laura LaPlante, plus there were vaudeville acts, an organ recital, and the Park Orchestra.
The Gettysburg Times was probably using the word “recently” rather loosely. I’ve found references to the Strand Theatre dating back to 1919. The January 24 issue of The Film Daily noted that Carr & Schad had purchased a lot at Ninth and Spring Streets in Reading on which they expected to begin construction of a new theater by April 1. The earliest listings I’ve found for the Strand in the Reading newspaper appeared in late March, 1920, so the project might have suffered some delays, but the Strand was definitely open by 1920.
Reading’s original Bijou Theatre was destroyed by a fire in the spring of 1900. The opening of the new Bijou Theatre was reported in the January 8, 1901, issue of the Reading News-Times. The auditorium was on Cherry Street, and access from Penn Street was via a new lobby through an existing building called Keystone Hall
The February 10, 1912, issue of The Moving Picture World published this item about the opening of the Olivet Theatre:
The June 26, 1916, issue of the Reading Times rhapsodized about the pleasures awaiting the public at the opening that afternoon of the Arcadia Theatre:
There followed a very long, and equally effusive, preview of the Arcadia’s opening attractions, with much of it devoted to Bille Burke, star of the serial Gloria’s Romance, the first chapter of which was to be part of the program.The June 11, 1921 issue of the Reading Times reported that the New York firm of E. C. Horne & Sons had been chosen to design the repairs and addition to the Rajah Temple which had been devastated by a fire the previous month.
An article in the September 9, 1937, issue of the Reading Times says that the old Bijou Theatre, a burlesque house at 734 Penn Street, was renamed the Palace in 1910. In 1916 it was taken over by Carr & Schad and completely remodeled, reopening on June 26 as the New Arcadia Theatre.
The Bijou was in operation prior to 1905, so even with Carr & Schad’s remodeling of 1916 the house was probably quite ready for replacement when it was demolished in 1928 to make way for the new Astor Theatre.