Comments from Joe Vogel

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about UA Marketplace 6 on Oct 12, 2010 at 4:05 pm

The architect of the Marketplace 6 was Daniel T. Uesugi, of San Francisco-based Uesugi Associates. The firm designed several projects for the United Artists circuit.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about UA Westwood on Oct 12, 2010 at 3:47 pm

This building originally housed an automobile dealership. The conversion into a theater was designed by San Francisco architect Daniel T. Uesugi, Uesugi & Associates. It was one of a number of projects Uesugi designed for the United Artists circuit.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about UA 150 on Oct 12, 2010 at 3:36 pm

The design of this theater is credited to architect Vincent G. Raney in his listing in an edition of the AIA’s American Archtiects Directory.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Civic Theater on Oct 10, 2010 at 1:50 am

A history of Fort Wayne published in 1917 says that the Majestic Theatre opened on October 24, 1904. The postcard Don Lewis linked to above also shows the Airdome theater that was tucked into the “L” of the Majestic’s auditorium and entrance buildings.

The facade of the Majestic had been altered by the time this photo was made, perhaps in the 1920s.

The Allen County Public Library also has this interior shot from 1906.

Here is an aerial view of downtown Fort Wayne about 1950, showing the Majestic building at left. The caption identifies it as the Civic Theatre, but Civic was an aka for the Palace Theatre, so the caption is probably in error, unless both the Palace and the Majestic used the name Civic at different times. They probably meant to write Capitol Theatre, though.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Wayne Theatre on Oct 10, 2010 at 1:45 am

The Lyric was built in 1908, according to a history of Fort Wayne published in 1917. Originally a vaudeville house, it had been converted to a movie theater by the time the book was written.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about King Theatre on Oct 8, 2010 at 1:58 am

The Historic Hawaii Foundation has this information on their web page about the local newspaper, the Honolulu Advertiser:

“Although not its first home, the Advertiser was located in the W.W. Dimond building on King Street, between Fort and Bethel Streets, until 1913. (W.W. Dimond & Co. sold home furnishings. In 1936, the King Theatre was built on the site, now a multi-story parking garage).”
A 1916 magazine ad for W.W. Dimond Co. gives its address as 53-65 S. King Street, so the address of the King Theatre must have been somewhere in that range (it probably didn’t occupy the entire footprint of the former furniture store buildings.)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Filmarte Theatre on Oct 6, 2010 at 5:56 pm

That’s a grim replacement for the pleasant building that housed the Filmarte. The new building is probably bad for the mental health of people who have to look at it every day.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Smodcastle on Oct 5, 2010 at 6:14 pm

The theater’s name comes from the SModcast, a weekly podcast by Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier. They replaced the p in podcast with the initials of their surnames and came up with SModcast, and thus SModcastle.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Isis Theater on Oct 4, 2010 at 7:30 am

Here are two photos of the Isis from a 1913 issue of the trade Journal The Moving Picture World. The pictures are rather small, but the interior photo gives an idea of just how big this theater really was. For such an early movie house the place was vast.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Kentucky Theatre on Oct 4, 2010 at 7:01 am

The September 25, 1901, issue of the Paducah sun said that the Kentucky Theatre had been designed by Paducah architect William Brainerd.

An article in the March 9, 1904, issue of the Paducah Sun said that Brainerd had just returned from Henderson, Kentucky, where James English (manager of the Kentucky) was contemplating building a new theater. I’ve been unable to determine of this project was ever carried out.

The July 9, 1904, edition of the Sun said that William Brainerd had been hired to design a new opera house at Owensboro, Kentucky, and that it would be “…a similar plan to the ‘Kentucky’ of this city….” So far I’ve been unable to discover if this theater was built either. If the Owensboro and/or Henderson projects were carried out, they are either not listed at Cinema Treasures or are missing their aka’s.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Rex Theater on Oct 4, 2010 at 6:26 am

Here is a small photo of the Rex in 1913, from the trade journal The Moving Picture World.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Broadway Theater on Oct 4, 2010 at 4:48 am

The original East Broadway Theatre opened as a movie house in April, 1908, and originally seated 300. It was the third movie theater in Louisville. According to an article about the house in the July 5, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World, the house was rebuilt twice over the next few years, expanding its seating capacity first to 500 and then to 700. During its five years of operation, the theater had not missed a single performance despite the alterations to the building, and despite a fire that had destroyed the stage area.

At the time the article was published, architects Joseph & Joseph were working on the plans for another major remodeling which would more than double the size of the theater. The operators had acquired an additional 15 feet of frontage to expand the existing 30-foot wide building.

This is where it gets a bit tricky. I’ve been unable to find any articles explaining the delay in the project, or why the Broadway as completed in 1915 was considerably smaller than the project as planned in 1913. I’m not even sure the new theater was at exactly the same location as the original, which the magazine gave only as Shelby Street and Broadway (the theater today is much closer to Logan Street, at the other end of the block.) Is the existing Broadway Theatre an entirely new building, or is it the final remodeling of the original East Broadway Theatre? We won’t know until additional information surfaces.

In the meantime, here’s a small photo of the original East Broadway, ca.1913. It looks nothing like its successor.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Scoop Theatre on Oct 4, 2010 at 3:30 am

Trade journal The Moving Picture World for August 2, 1913, had this to say about the conversion of the Walnut Theatre into a movie house:

“The Walnut Theater, Louisville, will shortly open as a moving picture theater, according to a recent announcement. The Gus Sun Theatrical Company, of Cincinnati, is the power behind the project, it is said. Twenty-five and fifty cents will be the fees, and the way In which this announcement is received by the Louisville public will be watched with a good deal of interest by exhibitors and others interested in the business. It is the plan of the Sun people to show only high class feature films, running from five to seven reels in length. This also is an Innovation in Louisville. Whether the public prefers the lengthy subjects to the short single reels has been a subject of discussion among exhibitors for some time, and the reception accorded the Walnut policy will be noted carefully. Women as ushers, cashiers, ticket-takers and other employees will be a feature, and about the only man around the theater will be the manager. The attaches will be attired in natty uniforms.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about State Theater of Havre de Grace on Oct 4, 2010 at 3:08 am

A book called “Maryland’s Motion Picture Theaters”, by Robert K. Headley, says that the first Willou Theatre opened in a former harness shop in 1908, and that the Bijou was also in operation by that year. The 1918 opening date Jack Coursey mentions for the New Willou must be when the theater was renamed. Headley says that the State was opened by Durkee Enterprises in September, 1927.

Headley also says that the City Opera House, on Union Avenue, had exhibited movies by 1908; became a full time movie theater in 1917; burned and was rebuilt in 1921, and ran movies as late as 1929, when it was leased by Durkee.

Possibly, Durkee leased the rival house in order to shut it down and thus eliminate their State Theatre’s competition.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Wildey Theatre on Oct 3, 2010 at 2:15 am

The original architect of the Wildey Theatre was George H. Kennerly. Four years after the Wildey was built, Kennerly formed a partnership with architect Oliver W. Stiegemeyer. The firm of Kennerly & Stiegemeyer operated from 1913 to 1931 and designed several theaters.

The recent renovation of the Wildey was handled by the St. Louis architectural firm Trivers Associates, in association with the local firm of Henderson Associates Architects.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Granite City Cinema on Oct 3, 2010 at 2:11 am

Trivers Associates, architects for this project, also handled the restoration of the Moolah Temple Cinema in St. Louis, and (in association with the local firm Henderson Architects) the renovation of the Wildey Theatre at Edwardsville, Illinois.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Colonial Theatre on Oct 3, 2010 at 2:04 am

For what it’s worth, I’ve found a single source indicating that the architect of the Colonial Theatre was George N. Page, then working in Clarence Blackall’s office. In 1902, Page moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where he opened the firm of Blackall & Page. Partner Blackall remained in Boston. The firm was listed in Cleveland directories as late as 1913, according to this web page from Cleveland’s Landmark Commission.

The source that attributes the design of the Colonial to Page is the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder, in an article in the issue of September, 1911. Here is a quote:[quote]“The firm of George M. Page and J. W. C. Corbusier was formed in November, 1908, as the outgrowth of the firm of Blackall & Page.

“Both these gentlemen had their early training in the Mechanics' Institute at Rochester. N. Y., Mr. Page beginning his architectural work in Buffalo and going from there to New York City and thence to Boston where he became identified with that greatest of theater
experts, C. H. Blackall. While there he designed the famous Colonial Theater of Boston. He then came to Cleveland where his work has since become so well known.”[/quote]Given the fact that there is only this source for the attribution of the Colonial to Page, I’d be reluctant to remove the design from Blackall’s credits, but considering how busy Blackall’s firm probably was at the time, and the fact that he was willing to open a Cleveland office with Page in charge as his partner, only two years after the Colonial was built, it does seem plausible that Blackall could have let Page handle this important commission.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Nuluna Theatre on Oct 3, 2010 at 1:49 am

I wonder if the Nuluna Theatre was a replacement for, or a remodeling of, the Luna Theatre, two photos of which appeared in the January, 1912, issue of the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder?

The issue featured a portfolio of the works of Sharon architect E.E. Clepper, and in addition to the Luna photos there were photos of two other Sharon theaters he had designed. There was one photo of the Alpha Theatre, a house that featured Keith vaudeville, and two photos of the Thomas Theatre, one exterior shot and two interior views.

At this time, neither the Alpha nor the Thomas is listed on Cinema Treasures. The trade journal article has no information about any of the three theaters.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Loew's Theatre on Oct 2, 2010 at 3:32 am

Here’s an item from the trade journal The Ohio Architect, Engineer and Builder, issue of February 6, 1917. Datelined Dayton, it probably refers to this theater:

“Architects Shenk and Williams are preparing plans for a theater to occupy the site of the old Baptist church on Main St. to be built for both pictures and drama, the cost of which will be $250,000. It will have a seating capacity of 2500 and will be built for the Dayton Theater Building Co., just organized by F. H. Rike, Charles W. Dale and others. Contracts will be awarded about the 15th of March.”
Taking more than a year to get a theater built in this period would have been unusual, except in 1917-1918, when the entry of the United States into the WWI led to some disruptions in both the labor market and the supply of building materials, especially in the industrial areas of the northeast.

Schenck & Williams (Harry I. Schenck and Harry J. Williams) was one of Dayton’s leading architectural firms during the 1910s and 1920s. I haven’t found any other theaters attributed to them, but they designed many other major projects.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Orpheum Theatre on Oct 2, 2010 at 1:45 am

In 1891, the B. F. Sturtevant Co., makers of heating and ventilation systems, put out a book displaying drawings of many of the buildings in which their equipment had been installed. One of these was the Ogden Opera House. The brief text accompanying the drawing gives the name of the architect of the opera house, S.G. Whitaker.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Orpheum Theatre on Oct 2, 2010 at 1:09 am

After the Orpheum became part of a vaudeville circuit in 1909, though it might have presented full stage shows occasionally, this would probably have been done infrequently and only for short runs— a week, or even just three or four days. The way vaudeville circuits were set up, with most of the circuit’s acts booked for 42 straight weeks of traveling from town to town, there wasn’t much flexibility in the schedules of the theaters.

Traveling road productions of popular plays and musicals might have been presented at Ogden’s Orpheum, if the town had available no other large theater capable of hosting them, but the house most likely ran combination shows of vaudeville and movies most of the year.

By the mid-1910s virtually all vaudeville theaters outside the major cities had become combination houses, offering continuous shows with four to six live acts and a feature film. Once in a while a major all-vaudeville show with ten or more acts might be presented in smaller cities, but those were special occasions. In a market the size of Ogden it would have been primarily combination shows year-round for most of the period during which the Orpheum was part of a circuit.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Lyceum Theatre on Sep 29, 2010 at 4:56 am

I’m not sure how long Loew’s operated this theater, but it became a Loew’s house in 1917. A brief item in an issue of The Moving Picture World that year said that Loew’s had opened the Lyceum in Memphis as a vaudeville and picture house, pending construction of the projected new Loew’s house in that city. I’ve been unable to find any later mentions of the Lyceum in connection with Loew’s. The circuit might have dropped the Lyceum when the Palace and State were opened.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Liberty Theatre on Sep 29, 2010 at 3:35 am

The book Zanesville has a photo of the Liberty Theatre, and the caption gives the address as 13-15 S. Fifth Street, and the opening date as October 13, 1927.

The Liberty was a very handsome building, with a facade that featured ornate detailing in what must have been terra cotta (the style is not Art Deco, by the way, but more an eclectic Renaissance Revival with strong elements of the Rococo.) It’s possible that the terra cotta was actually made in Zanesville, as fired clay was for many years the city’s leading industry.

The Liberty was not as wide as the Quimby Theatre across the street, but probably had a frontage of at least 60 feet, and it was tall, with the cornice at least 40 feet above the street. It was an imposing structure. If the interior was anywhere near as good as the facade, it must have been splendid.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Variety Theatre on Sep 28, 2010 at 4:32 pm

I found another photo in the Zanesville book which shows N. Fifth Street in the 1930s, and the Opera House building has a vertical sign that says Imperial, so that name belonged to this house by then. It’s possible that it became the Imperial as soon as the Liberty name was moved in 1927.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Variety Theatre on Sep 28, 2010 at 2:52 pm

This theater might have had one or more other names between the time it was the Liberty and when it became the Imperial. Zanesville had an Imperial Theatre located on Main Street operating as early as 1916 and still open in 1927 when the Liberty name was moved. The Name Imperial continued appearing in local newspaper ads into the 1930s, but I’ve found no address for it prior to 1948, when it was located in the former Opera House. The year this theater became the Imperial remains a mystery.

Google Books has a preview of the Arcadia Publishing Company’s Images of America series book Zanesville, which features photos of this theater as the Schultz Opera House, the Imperial, and the Variety.