The Movie Theatre, Salina, new twin mini operation, held its invitational preopening Tuesday night, June 29, for local dignitaries and others. The theatre is operated by Donald Porter, who also owns the Porter Hotel, Beloit. It is the first franchise theatre in this area to be set up by American Automated Theatres of Oklahoma. The Movie has 240 seats in each auditorium.
Yes this was a Jerry Lewis theatre. And it may have been the ONLY triplex Lewis theatre. They were all singles and twins; this is the first one I have found that was a triplex. An article from the Wichita Beacon of Oct. 1, 1971 says three Lewis theatres were about to open or be constructed: 1) a triplex in the Parklane Shopping Center “expected to open Nov. 1 [1971]”, “Lewis will probably attend the gala opening.” 2) a single screen of 350 seats “begins construction this week at Central and Tyler Road, across the street from Westlink Shopping Center.” 3) a single screen 200-seater “will begin operation Nov. 15 [1971] in the El Paso Shopping Center in Derby.”
There was also “The Movies!”. Quoting the article, “Manager David Heller plans to open ‘The Movies!’ the week of Oct. 17. The 200-seat twin theatres at West Elm Shopping Center are under the aegis of Mid States Theatres Inc. which holds the Kansas-Missouri franchise from American Automated Theatres Inc. of Oklahoma City, OK.” “The Movies!’ franchisors give their licensed exhibitors a 15 year right to use the name, with a two-year renewal option, and help in getting located, designing and constructing the theater. A material broker for the Oklahoma headquarters, Cooper Burks, commented, ‘with our turnkey package, the franchisee doesn’t have to know anything about the movie business. For his franchise fee he gets all projection booth equipment (installed), training and consultation in all aspects of theatre management, film bookings, complete manuals, all equipment for auditorium and lobby, and a standardized interior and exterior decor.”
Actor Dale Robertson was involved with the Oklahoma theatre franchisor, and there was a third company called United General Theatres in Los Angeles that had Glenn Ford, Agnes Moorhead and Debbie Reynolds involved. Ford is quoted in some news articles of this same period (circa 1971) – so their involvement may have been as investors or spokespersons. Were there any other theatre franchisors besides Network Cinema Corp./Jerry Lewis Cinemas, American Automated of Oklahoma City and United General Theatres?
A Boxoffice magazine article from 7-5-71 said a “Movies!” twin theatre had opened in Salina, KS. “it is the first franchise theatre in this area to be set up by American Automated Theatres of Oklahoma.” An article in Boxoffice about Dale Robertson joining the advisory board of this company was in the 8-7-72 issue. In that same issue was a full-page ad for United General Theatres.
The Wichita Beacon article of 10-1-71 quoted above said Jack Burns was the “area director” who purchased a territory from Network Cinema Corp., the franchisor of Jerry Lewis Cinemas. Burns’ company was called Movie Showcase, Inc., per the article. The article did not say how large the territory was, but they were typically an entire state or half a state, or a metro area, etc. Those franchisees bought the rights to build in that territory and could sub-franchise to others within that territory. These larger-scale buyers of territorial rights to the Jerry Lewis Cinemas franchise were called “Area Directors”.
Should also mention here that this was not the first run of “Harold and Maude” in Mpls.-St. Paul. The first run was at the Mpls. World Theatre in Dec. 1971. It had a few other runs before landing at the Westgate, which is where it finally began to click with audiences.
They told the newspapers they weren’t going to close it in August, but they closed it in September. The date was 9-13-77 and the last show was “The Late Show”. It opened 11-15-35 with “Lady Tubbs” starring Alice Brady, with a Hollywood Snapshots short, newsreel, musical short and cartoon “Make Believe Revue.” Admission was 25 cents; 20 cents for matinees. For most of the 1950s it was called “Westgate Academy Arts” and the theatre had a mailing list; theatre began to play art in 1951 and was criticized in the trade for getting art product on a 28-day clearance on a split week, and the other half of the week it was playing Hollywood product at its usual 56-day run. Dabbling in art continued for most of the 1950s, and when playing Hollywood films it was usually the higher brow pictures. (Another name used for a time was “Westgate Playhouse”) By the late 60’s it was playing mostly second runs but there was an emphasis on occasional eclectic programming, or moveovers of art house hits. Some repertory titles were shown in the theatre’s last decade but these were sprinkled here and there with no consistency. The “Harold and Maude” run was 3-22-72 to 5-30-74. A January 1974 newspaper article said that the film was about to break the 95-week record held by “The Sound of Music” at the Mann [Pantages] Theatre and that 160,000 tickets to “Harold and Maude” had been sold up to that time.
The Google photo does not look right to me. Unless there has been some recent changes in downtown Duluth, the site of the theatre was a parking ramp for decades called “the Garrick Ramp”. You couldn’t miss it. The Google photo does not look like a parking ramp to me. It was half way up the block, up the hill from Superior Street.
Closed 2-8-56 “The Spoilers” (the remake). I have 6-1-56 as the date of demolition. Don’t know my source on that. The closing date is confirmed by newspaper ads.
There was a closing in 1960, but researchers miss that it was reopened in July 1962 with “better seats, improved projection, wider screen.” Once in a while there would be a stage presentation such as “The King and I” (Aug ‘64). The final closing was Jan 11 1966: triple feature “The Sins of Rachel Cade”. “The Chapman Report”, “Girl of the Night”. Marie Dressler appeared at the theatre in Aug '31 promoting her film “Politics”. The theatre block was torn down for the KDAL-TV and radio building, which ironically was also recently demolished. There are at least two photos of the theatre front in the early 60s on the MN Digital web page cited in the previous comment.
The Lake Theatre was operated by the Blackmore Bros. (also ran the Granada and other early theatres) until it was sold in 1948 to John J. Rogus. In November 1949 the theatre was shut down for operating without a license. The crackdown came after complaints of showing “lewd and indecent pictures.” Manager Bert G. Langley and owner Ray Lumsden were arrested. The case didn’t stick, and in March 1950 Langley was awarded $1050 in damages for false arrest. The Duluth News Tribune defended the theatre operators and questioned the actions of the police. (Sources: Greater Amusements, 3-24-50; Variety 3-29-50; Motion Picture Herald 4-1-50). In July 1950 new ownership took over the theatre, renamed it the World. It had been closed a few months (since the November arrest?). The new operators were Minneapolis-based film bookers including Ralph Pielow and Abbott Swartz. It was put up for sale again in March 1955 (source: Greater Amusements advertisement 3-25-55). The ad said “For sale, lease and equipment: 300 seats, good downtown location. CinemaScope. Low Overhead. Plays first run, first run moveover and 2nd run. Has grossed as low as $400 per week and as high as almost $4,000 per week.” Late in ‘55 the theatre reopened with “new staggered seating” and got two first runs, “Tennessee’s Partner” and “The Big Knife”. There would be a few more first runs, some of which were British films and other foreign product like “Monika”, but the theatre’s final closing came in June 1956.
No Franklin was ever found by me. Might have been an early manager or lessee, but the property was owned by Hedenberg the whole time and probably until the 1970s sometime when it was eventually sold to the Duluth Clinic.
Sketchy life for this one. Plans to build began in 1931 with public hearings and petitions from neighboring property owners. Permits for plumbing and constructing the marquee were issued in Aug. 1932. Permit for minor alterations in lobby granted in 1942; theatre final closing was Oct. 1951. Permit to “construct 2nd floor in vacant theatre” for “retail store” was granted in Dec. 1959. It is presumed the theatre was vacant and intact 1951-1959. At some point during the theatre’s life there was a garage added. Documents always refer to a “garage” – perhaps it was storage space but a car could be parked in it? The builder, owner was Al Hedenberg Construction company with some partners. Other lessees seemed to be the operators. It had numerous operators and occasional closings and reopenings. the theatre had various names – it was “Esquire” in at least 1945, but it was not always known as that. It was more often called “Lakeside” or in the postwar years it was “Lakeside Art”. During the postwar years, there were a few operators that tried art-foreign films, which were somewhat hot at the time and could be more easily obtained. There probably wasn’t much of a market in Duluth for such fare so that is one of the presumed contributors to its demise. This theatre rarely advertised in the Duluth newspapers so information and ads for it are very hard to come by. There was a neighborhood paper that existed there but that was never consistent for long periods of time. The theatre is in an area of the city which to this day consider themselves apart from the city, which explains why the theatre did not advertise in the major Duluth newspapers. Various sources give the seating capacity as 300, 350, up to 400 or slightly more. A good guess would be for the most conservative number.
The theatre is still there but you can’t see it very well in this Google photo – it would be on the extreme left. A twin, nothing special. Go to this website http://superseventies.tripod.com/70s/id16.html and there are some photos of mostly 1970s era Duluth theatres. Kenwood twin opened 6-18-71 and closed 12-9-84. Main auditorium had a shorter than average throw, 2nd auditorium was a tiny shooting gallery. The theatre was built up against one end of the original 1950’s shopping center; it was new construction in 1971.
The Skyline Drive-In opened Sept. 11, 1948. The first attraction was a Columbia western, “Gunfighters” in Cinecolor. In these days drive-ins often showed only one feature. The next attraction was “April Showers”. The last season was 1986.
The Doric closed October 18, 1958. The last film was “Rock A Bye Baby” (source: newspaper ads and article about closing). It was vacant until 1974, when it was converted to office-business space (source: building permits). Opened Thanksgiving Day 1920 (source: Duluth Budgeteer, 10-16-58), which is corroborated by city inspectors permit dated Nov. 24 1920 giving the theatre the OK to operate beginning the next day, Nov. 25. The MN Digital Library also has 1960-61 photos of the theatre front which are passable but not great. Go to the links mentioned in the other comments and then search for more.
Construction started soon after the building permits were pulled in Sept. 1937. Do not go by “Motion Picture Almanac” and “Film Daily Yearbook” for these citations. Seating capacities are wrong 97% of the time and nailing down open/close dates by using those books is also very precarious. All they are good for is giving us a very ballpark idea of the existence of a theatre, and not much more than that. It’s a starting point for further research.
Nothing special about this one, it was called Mariner 4 since it’s in the Mariner Mall. Opened 4 years after the UA in a Duluth mall. Of the two, Mariner was superior – typical smaller plex of its day.
Opened Dec. 1980 by AMC as a 4 plex in a mall that is on life support. After Carmike, it was Cinema Entertainment, which sold a number of its theatres to Marcus. So Marcus is the 4th operator. The photo (not provided by me) must of one of the new three added-on screens. That is not one of the original 4 screens. There are no other theatres operating in Superior.
The Lyric’s function through most of its life was as a move-over house. Calling it “second run” is not the best terminology to use. It was a move-over house for the larger Minnesota Amusement/Paramount Theatres. The Lyric’s first runs in the 40s and 50s were often lower-studio/B type of pictures. Otherwise it was a move-over house for the Radio City, State, Century theatres. By the 1960s, the State and the Lyric were the only Paramount houses left in the downtown, so the Lyric started playing more first runs of major pictures then. The Radio City closed in 1958 and the Century in 1964. Paramount had given up most of its neighborhood theatres by the end of the 50s to early 60s. The Lyric closed in January 1971 with the first run of “Rio Lobo” which was a Christmas release.
It was called the “IDS Center Theatre” more often than anything else. It was in business 1972 to 1976. These are the correct dates.
Engler was the 2nd and last operator of the theatre. It was started by a partnership called Movieland, Inc. which ran the theatre for about 13 months. Engler took it over in December 1973 and got the first run of “The Laughing Policeman” (Fox) as its Christmas picture.
It was not a repertory theatre. There were a handful of showings, over its four-year life, where it played some W. C. Fields and Marx Brothers, but during that period many theatres would do that. There were some midnight shows promoted with radio stations however. There were a lot of “repeats” of pictures that were a few years old.
The IDS Theatre could never get any product. The operators were desperate to have anything on the screen. The other failing of the theatre is that the public could not find it. It was below street level – you had to take an escalator down. There was no marquee or signage on the street. You just had to know where it was. When the theatre closed, it was converted to conference and banquet rooms.
Capacity was 384 and ran hour reels.
Interesting that the seats from the IDS were put into St Anthony Main. That was Engler too, but there is a 9-year gap between the closing of the IDS in 1976 and opening of St Anthony Main 5 in 1985. Engler got out of that one after two years and UA Theatres took it over. The IDS seats were in storage for nine years?
The part about this theatre lasting to 1957 is erroneous. The only theatre that was ever on Central Ave., in Mpls., to the 1950s was the Arion Theatre. The “Central Ave Theatre” is not one I have even heard of. My guess is that this was another short-lived makeshift theatre that didn’t last into the sound era. There certainly was no theatre at this address in the sound era. Those Film Daily Yearbooks, Motion Picture Almanacs, etc. should all be burned in a bonfire. They are 98% worthless and should not be used as reference tools. I question whether a theatre ever existed at all at the address given at the top of the page…
Correct address for Arion Theatre was 2316 Central Ave., Mpls. Building permits show that a 48x108 building was built here in 1914. Liebenberg & Kaplan’s first theatre job was this one, a remodel in 1923. There was also a major remodel in 1953 while it was closed during the spring and summer, after Paramount dropped the theatre. It was picked up by the operator of the Hollywood Theatre and reopened in August 1953. Closed April 1958, was converted. 1959 city directory says occupant was “Roberts Co. Clothing Rental.” There were lawsuits about many of the North Mpls. theatres’ clearances during the 1930s and 40s. The Arion went to a 28 or 35 day clearance in 1950 but in 1952 was dropped back to double bills and late runs. To put it simplistically, the lawsuits stemmed from the Hollywood and Homewood theatres, among others, that complained they were not able to get the same run as the Paradise and Arion.
1915 construction; Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix. Paramount bought out F & R around 1930, then the local corporation was called Minnesota Amusement Co. For a brief time in 1946 they changed the name to Mindako Theatres but that didn’t take, and it reverted back to Minn. Amuse. Co.
The theatre was closed only 5 weeks in 1937 for the Liebenberg remodeling. The Rialto usually was on a 42-day or a 49-day run. The Uptown (also Paramount) was on a 28 day clearance and had that spot exclusively for decades. Paramount/Minnesota Amusement had the theatre until 1960 when it was sold to the Lyle Carisch circuit. Carisch sold in 1969 to Richard St. Marie, who owned the Gopher News distribution company. “I Am Curious Yellow” opened in Sept. 1969 and played over 8 months. The film distributor, Grove Press was impressed enough with the grosses to buy the theatre but “I Am Curious Blue” died at the boxoffice. Grove Press distributed documentaries and eclectic foreign and cult films from their offices in New York. A top officer in the company was quoted in the Mpls. Star newspaper that they found it tough going to operate a theatre in Minnesota from New York. In September 1970, Grove Press showed the last general audience films that would ever be shown at the Rialto. Local porn king Ferris Alexander purchased the theatre and reopened it in Feb. 1971. The theatre was twinned in 1975 and was demolished in 1991.
Don’t have the building permit on this one, however the wrecking permit was May 1977. The theatre closed in April 1977, showing porn at the time. There were 2 screens by then, but the 2nd screen was a storefront, the theatre was not twinned. Liebenberg may have done something in here but probably nothing major. There was a 1942 makeover but the theatre was closed only 10 days so I doubt it was structurally altered. Ads said new seats were put in. In 1955 the marquee had to be pared down as did the other Lake Street theatres when the street was widened. American Amusement, Publix, Minnesota Amusement was all Paramount. This was one of the theatres Paramount dumped after the decree, they gave it up in 1954 and sold it to Joseph Podoloff. The downtown Gopher and Aster theatres were also ones that they sold off because of the decree.
The American’s booth was in the corner, so there was a keystone problem.
Like the Vogue/Stage 7 did in the late 1960s, the American occasionally showed classics before it was fashionable. In 1966 and ‘67 there were showings of Marx Bros. and Bogart pix. At the Stage 7 in 1969 there were showings of W. C. Fields features.
The American closed in Nov. 1967 and beginning here things get a little sketchy. There was a “grand opening” of the New American Oct 18, 1968 with “The Sound of Music”. The last advertising in the Minneapolis papers was 12/5/69, “Romeo and Juliet”. Then apparently it was closed for six months. Who the operator was during 1968-69 is unknown. The next ads came June 25, 1970 with “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield”. This is when porn king Ferris Alexander took over the theatre – one of the next bookings was “Man and Wife” which set off some controversy in the city.
At this same time the Franklin and Empress theatres were being changed to porno by Alexander. In 1968-69, he had transitioned the Rialto Theatre on Lake Street too. The Aster and Avalon theatres were already into adult fare by that time. The city of Mpls. paid Alexander $325,000 for the American Theatre in 1977.
BOXOFFICE July 5, 1971
The Movie Theatre, Salina, new twin mini operation, held its invitational preopening Tuesday night, June 29, for local dignitaries and others. The theatre is operated by Donald Porter, who also owns the Porter Hotel, Beloit. It is the first franchise theatre in this area to be set up by American Automated Theatres of Oklahoma. The Movie has 240 seats in each auditorium.
Yes this was a Jerry Lewis theatre. And it may have been the ONLY triplex Lewis theatre. They were all singles and twins; this is the first one I have found that was a triplex. An article from the Wichita Beacon of Oct. 1, 1971 says three Lewis theatres were about to open or be constructed: 1) a triplex in the Parklane Shopping Center “expected to open Nov. 1 [1971]”, “Lewis will probably attend the gala opening.” 2) a single screen of 350 seats “begins construction this week at Central and Tyler Road, across the street from Westlink Shopping Center.” 3) a single screen 200-seater “will begin operation Nov. 15 [1971] in the El Paso Shopping Center in Derby.”
There was also “The Movies!”. Quoting the article, “Manager David Heller plans to open ‘The Movies!’ the week of Oct. 17. The 200-seat twin theatres at West Elm Shopping Center are under the aegis of Mid States Theatres Inc. which holds the Kansas-Missouri franchise from American Automated Theatres Inc. of Oklahoma City, OK.” “The Movies!’ franchisors give their licensed exhibitors a 15 year right to use the name, with a two-year renewal option, and help in getting located, designing and constructing the theater. A material broker for the Oklahoma headquarters, Cooper Burks, commented, ‘with our turnkey package, the franchisee doesn’t have to know anything about the movie business. For his franchise fee he gets all projection booth equipment (installed), training and consultation in all aspects of theatre management, film bookings, complete manuals, all equipment for auditorium and lobby, and a standardized interior and exterior decor.”
Actor Dale Robertson was involved with the Oklahoma theatre franchisor, and there was a third company called United General Theatres in Los Angeles that had Glenn Ford, Agnes Moorhead and Debbie Reynolds involved. Ford is quoted in some news articles of this same period (circa 1971) – so their involvement may have been as investors or spokespersons. Were there any other theatre franchisors besides Network Cinema Corp./Jerry Lewis Cinemas, American Automated of Oklahoma City and United General Theatres?
A Boxoffice magazine article from 7-5-71 said a “Movies!” twin theatre had opened in Salina, KS. “it is the first franchise theatre in this area to be set up by American Automated Theatres of Oklahoma.” An article in Boxoffice about Dale Robertson joining the advisory board of this company was in the 8-7-72 issue. In that same issue was a full-page ad for United General Theatres.
The Wichita Beacon article of 10-1-71 quoted above said Jack Burns was the “area director” who purchased a territory from Network Cinema Corp., the franchisor of Jerry Lewis Cinemas. Burns’ company was called Movie Showcase, Inc., per the article. The article did not say how large the territory was, but they were typically an entire state or half a state, or a metro area, etc. Those franchisees bought the rights to build in that territory and could sub-franchise to others within that territory. These larger-scale buyers of territorial rights to the Jerry Lewis Cinemas franchise were called “Area Directors”.
Should also mention here that this was not the first run of “Harold and Maude” in Mpls.-St. Paul. The first run was at the Mpls. World Theatre in Dec. 1971. It had a few other runs before landing at the Westgate, which is where it finally began to click with audiences.
They told the newspapers they weren’t going to close it in August, but they closed it in September. The date was 9-13-77 and the last show was “The Late Show”. It opened 11-15-35 with “Lady Tubbs” starring Alice Brady, with a Hollywood Snapshots short, newsreel, musical short and cartoon “Make Believe Revue.” Admission was 25 cents; 20 cents for matinees. For most of the 1950s it was called “Westgate Academy Arts” and the theatre had a mailing list; theatre began to play art in 1951 and was criticized in the trade for getting art product on a 28-day clearance on a split week, and the other half of the week it was playing Hollywood product at its usual 56-day run. Dabbling in art continued for most of the 1950s, and when playing Hollywood films it was usually the higher brow pictures. (Another name used for a time was “Westgate Playhouse”) By the late 60’s it was playing mostly second runs but there was an emphasis on occasional eclectic programming, or moveovers of art house hits. Some repertory titles were shown in the theatre’s last decade but these were sprinkled here and there with no consistency. The “Harold and Maude” run was 3-22-72 to 5-30-74. A January 1974 newspaper article said that the film was about to break the 95-week record held by “The Sound of Music” at the Mann [Pantages] Theatre and that 160,000 tickets to “Harold and Maude” had been sold up to that time.
The Google photo does not look right to me. Unless there has been some recent changes in downtown Duluth, the site of the theatre was a parking ramp for decades called “the Garrick Ramp”. You couldn’t miss it. The Google photo does not look like a parking ramp to me. It was half way up the block, up the hill from Superior Street.
Closed 2-8-56 “The Spoilers” (the remake). I have 6-1-56 as the date of demolition. Don’t know my source on that. The closing date is confirmed by newspaper ads.
There was a closing in 1960, but researchers miss that it was reopened in July 1962 with “better seats, improved projection, wider screen.” Once in a while there would be a stage presentation such as “The King and I” (Aug ‘64). The final closing was Jan 11 1966: triple feature “The Sins of Rachel Cade”. “The Chapman Report”, “Girl of the Night”. Marie Dressler appeared at the theatre in Aug '31 promoting her film “Politics”. The theatre block was torn down for the KDAL-TV and radio building, which ironically was also recently demolished. There are at least two photos of the theatre front in the early 60s on the MN Digital web page cited in the previous comment.
It closed in 1959. Last film was a moveover of “The Shaggy Dog”. Photos of the demolition can be found on the Duluth News Tribune"s “Attic” page
The Lake Theatre was operated by the Blackmore Bros. (also ran the Granada and other early theatres) until it was sold in 1948 to John J. Rogus. In November 1949 the theatre was shut down for operating without a license. The crackdown came after complaints of showing “lewd and indecent pictures.” Manager Bert G. Langley and owner Ray Lumsden were arrested. The case didn’t stick, and in March 1950 Langley was awarded $1050 in damages for false arrest. The Duluth News Tribune defended the theatre operators and questioned the actions of the police. (Sources: Greater Amusements, 3-24-50; Variety 3-29-50; Motion Picture Herald 4-1-50). In July 1950 new ownership took over the theatre, renamed it the World. It had been closed a few months (since the November arrest?). The new operators were Minneapolis-based film bookers including Ralph Pielow and Abbott Swartz. It was put up for sale again in March 1955 (source: Greater Amusements advertisement 3-25-55). The ad said “For sale, lease and equipment: 300 seats, good downtown location. CinemaScope. Low Overhead. Plays first run, first run moveover and 2nd run. Has grossed as low as $400 per week and as high as almost $4,000 per week.” Late in ‘55 the theatre reopened with “new staggered seating” and got two first runs, “Tennessee’s Partner” and “The Big Knife”. There would be a few more first runs, some of which were British films and other foreign product like “Monika”, but the theatre’s final closing came in June 1956.
No Franklin was ever found by me. Might have been an early manager or lessee, but the property was owned by Hedenberg the whole time and probably until the 1970s sometime when it was eventually sold to the Duluth Clinic.
Sketchy life for this one. Plans to build began in 1931 with public hearings and petitions from neighboring property owners. Permits for plumbing and constructing the marquee were issued in Aug. 1932. Permit for minor alterations in lobby granted in 1942; theatre final closing was Oct. 1951. Permit to “construct 2nd floor in vacant theatre” for “retail store” was granted in Dec. 1959. It is presumed the theatre was vacant and intact 1951-1959. At some point during the theatre’s life there was a garage added. Documents always refer to a “garage” – perhaps it was storage space but a car could be parked in it? The builder, owner was Al Hedenberg Construction company with some partners. Other lessees seemed to be the operators. It had numerous operators and occasional closings and reopenings. the theatre had various names – it was “Esquire” in at least 1945, but it was not always known as that. It was more often called “Lakeside” or in the postwar years it was “Lakeside Art”. During the postwar years, there were a few operators that tried art-foreign films, which were somewhat hot at the time and could be more easily obtained. There probably wasn’t much of a market in Duluth for such fare so that is one of the presumed contributors to its demise. This theatre rarely advertised in the Duluth newspapers so information and ads for it are very hard to come by. There was a neighborhood paper that existed there but that was never consistent for long periods of time. The theatre is in an area of the city which to this day consider themselves apart from the city, which explains why the theatre did not advertise in the major Duluth newspapers. Various sources give the seating capacity as 300, 350, up to 400 or slightly more. A good guess would be for the most conservative number.
The theatre is still there but you can’t see it very well in this Google photo – it would be on the extreme left. A twin, nothing special. Go to this website http://superseventies.tripod.com/70s/id16.html and there are some photos of mostly 1970s era Duluth theatres. Kenwood twin opened 6-18-71 and closed 12-9-84. Main auditorium had a shorter than average throw, 2nd auditorium was a tiny shooting gallery. The theatre was built up against one end of the original 1950’s shopping center; it was new construction in 1971.
The Skyline Drive-In opened Sept. 11, 1948. The first attraction was a Columbia western, “Gunfighters” in Cinecolor. In these days drive-ins often showed only one feature. The next attraction was “April Showers”. The last season was 1986.
The Doric closed October 18, 1958. The last film was “Rock A Bye Baby” (source: newspaper ads and article about closing). It was vacant until 1974, when it was converted to office-business space (source: building permits). Opened Thanksgiving Day 1920 (source: Duluth Budgeteer, 10-16-58), which is corroborated by city inspectors permit dated Nov. 24 1920 giving the theatre the OK to operate beginning the next day, Nov. 25. The MN Digital Library also has 1960-61 photos of the theatre front which are passable but not great. Go to the links mentioned in the other comments and then search for more.
Construction started soon after the building permits were pulled in Sept. 1937. Do not go by “Motion Picture Almanac” and “Film Daily Yearbook” for these citations. Seating capacities are wrong 97% of the time and nailing down open/close dates by using those books is also very precarious. All they are good for is giving us a very ballpark idea of the existence of a theatre, and not much more than that. It’s a starting point for further research.
Nothing special about this one, it was called Mariner 4 since it’s in the Mariner Mall. Opened 4 years after the UA in a Duluth mall. Of the two, Mariner was superior – typical smaller plex of its day.
Opened Dec. 1980 by AMC as a 4 plex in a mall that is on life support. After Carmike, it was Cinema Entertainment, which sold a number of its theatres to Marcus. So Marcus is the 4th operator. The photo (not provided by me) must of one of the new three added-on screens. That is not one of the original 4 screens. There are no other theatres operating in Superior.
Opened 1938, closed Dec. 1980. Was closed circa 1972-73, reopened. Demolished some years after closing.
The Lyric’s function through most of its life was as a move-over house. Calling it “second run” is not the best terminology to use. It was a move-over house for the larger Minnesota Amusement/Paramount Theatres. The Lyric’s first runs in the 40s and 50s were often lower-studio/B type of pictures. Otherwise it was a move-over house for the Radio City, State, Century theatres. By the 1960s, the State and the Lyric were the only Paramount houses left in the downtown, so the Lyric started playing more first runs of major pictures then. The Radio City closed in 1958 and the Century in 1964. Paramount had given up most of its neighborhood theatres by the end of the 50s to early 60s. The Lyric closed in January 1971 with the first run of “Rio Lobo” which was a Christmas release.
It was called the “IDS Center Theatre” more often than anything else. It was in business 1972 to 1976. These are the correct dates.
Engler was the 2nd and last operator of the theatre. It was started by a partnership called Movieland, Inc. which ran the theatre for about 13 months. Engler took it over in December 1973 and got the first run of “The Laughing Policeman” (Fox) as its Christmas picture.
It was not a repertory theatre. There were a handful of showings, over its four-year life, where it played some W. C. Fields and Marx Brothers, but during that period many theatres would do that. There were some midnight shows promoted with radio stations however. There were a lot of “repeats” of pictures that were a few years old.
The IDS Theatre could never get any product. The operators were desperate to have anything on the screen. The other failing of the theatre is that the public could not find it. It was below street level – you had to take an escalator down. There was no marquee or signage on the street. You just had to know where it was. When the theatre closed, it was converted to conference and banquet rooms.
Capacity was 384 and ran hour reels.
Interesting that the seats from the IDS were put into St Anthony Main. That was Engler too, but there is a 9-year gap between the closing of the IDS in 1976 and opening of St Anthony Main 5 in 1985. Engler got out of that one after two years and UA Theatres took it over. The IDS seats were in storage for nine years?
The part about this theatre lasting to 1957 is erroneous. The only theatre that was ever on Central Ave., in Mpls., to the 1950s was the Arion Theatre. The “Central Ave Theatre” is not one I have even heard of. My guess is that this was another short-lived makeshift theatre that didn’t last into the sound era. There certainly was no theatre at this address in the sound era. Those Film Daily Yearbooks, Motion Picture Almanacs, etc. should all be burned in a bonfire. They are 98% worthless and should not be used as reference tools. I question whether a theatre ever existed at all at the address given at the top of the page…
Correct address for Arion Theatre was 2316 Central Ave., Mpls. Building permits show that a 48x108 building was built here in 1914. Liebenberg & Kaplan’s first theatre job was this one, a remodel in 1923. There was also a major remodel in 1953 while it was closed during the spring and summer, after Paramount dropped the theatre. It was picked up by the operator of the Hollywood Theatre and reopened in August 1953. Closed April 1958, was converted. 1959 city directory says occupant was “Roberts Co. Clothing Rental.” There were lawsuits about many of the North Mpls. theatres’ clearances during the 1930s and 40s. The Arion went to a 28 or 35 day clearance in 1950 but in 1952 was dropped back to double bills and late runs. To put it simplistically, the lawsuits stemmed from the Hollywood and Homewood theatres, among others, that complained they were not able to get the same run as the Paradise and Arion.
1915 construction; Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix. Paramount bought out F & R around 1930, then the local corporation was called Minnesota Amusement Co. For a brief time in 1946 they changed the name to Mindako Theatres but that didn’t take, and it reverted back to Minn. Amuse. Co. The theatre was closed only 5 weeks in 1937 for the Liebenberg remodeling. The Rialto usually was on a 42-day or a 49-day run. The Uptown (also Paramount) was on a 28 day clearance and had that spot exclusively for decades. Paramount/Minnesota Amusement had the theatre until 1960 when it was sold to the Lyle Carisch circuit. Carisch sold in 1969 to Richard St. Marie, who owned the Gopher News distribution company. “I Am Curious Yellow” opened in Sept. 1969 and played over 8 months. The film distributor, Grove Press was impressed enough with the grosses to buy the theatre but “I Am Curious Blue” died at the boxoffice. Grove Press distributed documentaries and eclectic foreign and cult films from their offices in New York. A top officer in the company was quoted in the Mpls. Star newspaper that they found it tough going to operate a theatre in Minnesota from New York. In September 1970, Grove Press showed the last general audience films that would ever be shown at the Rialto. Local porn king Ferris Alexander purchased the theatre and reopened it in Feb. 1971. The theatre was twinned in 1975 and was demolished in 1991.
I have an address of 2533, not 2633.
Don’t have the building permit on this one, however the wrecking permit was May 1977. The theatre closed in April 1977, showing porn at the time. There were 2 screens by then, but the 2nd screen was a storefront, the theatre was not twinned. Liebenberg may have done something in here but probably nothing major. There was a 1942 makeover but the theatre was closed only 10 days so I doubt it was structurally altered. Ads said new seats were put in. In 1955 the marquee had to be pared down as did the other Lake Street theatres when the street was widened. American Amusement, Publix, Minnesota Amusement was all Paramount. This was one of the theatres Paramount dumped after the decree, they gave it up in 1954 and sold it to Joseph Podoloff. The downtown Gopher and Aster theatres were also ones that they sold off because of the decree.
The American’s booth was in the corner, so there was a keystone problem.
Like the Vogue/Stage 7 did in the late 1960s, the American occasionally showed classics before it was fashionable. In 1966 and ‘67 there were showings of Marx Bros. and Bogart pix. At the Stage 7 in 1969 there were showings of W. C. Fields features.
The American closed in Nov. 1967 and beginning here things get a little sketchy. There was a “grand opening” of the New American Oct 18, 1968 with “The Sound of Music”. The last advertising in the Minneapolis papers was 12/5/69, “Romeo and Juliet”. Then apparently it was closed for six months. Who the operator was during 1968-69 is unknown. The next ads came June 25, 1970 with “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield”. This is when porn king Ferris Alexander took over the theatre – one of the next bookings was “Man and Wife” which set off some controversy in the city.
At this same time the Franklin and Empress theatres were being changed to porno by Alexander. In 1968-69, he had transitioned the Rialto Theatre on Lake Street too. The Aster and Avalon theatres were already into adult fare by that time. The city of Mpls. paid Alexander $325,000 for the American Theatre in 1977.