An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.
A boxoffice item of February, 1983, gave the seating capacity of the Forest Park Theatres 1-2-3 (apparently the name when it opened) as 1,800, with two auditoriums of 500 seats and one of 800. All three were equipped for 70mm projection.
Probably a 1946 opening for this house. Boxoffice of June 1 that year said in an item datelined Kinmundy, Ill., “H.S. Butler and H.S. Butler jr., who built the new Sando Theatre in Sandoval, have purchased a site for a new theatre in this town.”
The Merry Widow Theatre occupied four different locations over the years, according to an article in Boxoffice of August 7, 1943. The first was a 99-seat nickelodeon opened in 1906 by George and Harry Hayes. It was at the corner of Chouteau Avenue and Dillon Street (the exact location is from a later Boxoffice item.) The Hayeses later moved the theater to a 250-seat location down the block. At an unspecified date, a new operator, John P. Murphy, opened the third Merry Widow, now with 485 seats, at 1435 Chouteau Avenue.
Sam Komm opened the New Merry Widow Theatre on March 21, 1942, reported in Boxoffice of March 28 that year. He had taken over the third Merry Widow a few months earlier.
The name of the theater was the result of a contest held by George and Harry Hayes in 1906, and was the submission of nine-year-old Lester Bona, who went on to become a film distributor.
I’ve been unable to find anything in Boxoffice about the 1947 fire. It isn’t mentioned in this web log post about the Merry Widow, either.
According to a report in Boxoffice of July 23, 1938, the general contractor for the Massac Theatre, Ed Barenfanger of Salem, Illinois, expected that the theater could be opened by late August or early September. There is today a Barenfanger Construction Company operating in Vandalia, Illinois. I wonder if it could be the successor firm of Ed Barenfanger’s operation and, if so, they might have old records about the Massac project?
I’ve been unable to find any mention in Boxoffice of the name of the architect of the Massac, but this web log post by Michael R. Allen, about the Merry Widow Theatre in St. Louis, points out the similarity between that house and the Massac, pictured in this web log post about the latter theater by the same author. Could the 1938 Massac have been designed by St. Louis architect Jack Shawcross, who designed the New Merry Widow a few years later?
The Office for Metropolitan History’s building permits database lists a permit for a project at 2182-2186 Broadway issued in 1913. A two-story brick theatre and stores on a lot 55'x130' was designed by New Jersey architect Fred Robbin Jr., for an Eva J. Coe.
The New York City building permits database has a new building listed for this address in 1912. It was a “1-st[or]y theatre and moving picture show” designed by architect H.B. Herts for a Mr. William E. D. Stokes. The cost listed for the project was $35,000.
If the Carlton was this 1912 project, it would have been either Herts as the sole architect, or Herts with Herbert J. Krapp (though the database entry doesn’t list Krapp) as Herts and Hugh Tallant had dissolved their partnership by 1911, but Krapp, once an apprentice at their firm, continued to work with Herts until 1915.
I’ve been unable to find in the database any mention of a building designed by Raymond Irrera at this address. Perhaps he was responsible a remodeling job.
The web site Lost Cinemas of Greater Des Moines has a schematic drawing of the facade of the Hiland Theatre from the architects, Wetherell & Harrison, courtesy of the successor firm, Wetherell Ericsson Architecture.
There’s still a conflict between two different theaters of the same name on this page. The original Avalon Theatre, at 2965 East Ninth Street (“East” is part of the street name and should not be abbreviated— in fact the street actually runs north and south) has been demolished.
The current description in the intro (aside from the reference to closing date and demolition) pertains to the second Avalon Theatre, which was opened in 1946 at 2915 East Ninth Street, and converted into a union hall some time later. I’ve been unable to find a closing year for it. This building is still standing.
Either the second Avalon should get its own page, or this page should be given to the second Avalon, with 2915 East Ninth Street as the address, “Closed” for Status, and “Unknown” for Function. The information that the current building was a replacement for the earlier Avalon up the block, which has been demolished, could then be added to the description.
The Strand Theatre opened on December 4, 1916, and from then until 1987 was operated by members of the Mart family, pioneer Grinnell exhibitors, either on their own or in partnership with Central States Theatres. The current entrance to the Strand is in the building to the south of the main theater building.
Some time around 1970, George H. Mart had the Strand remodeled and renamed the Cinema. The facade of the building was then covered with a false front which has since been removed. I don’t know when the entrance was moved to the building next door where it is now located, or when the original facade of the main building was restored from its unfortunate skin condition of the 1970s.
Some of this information comes from a monograph about Grinnell’s theaters by John R. Kleinschmidt. It is available in PDF format here.
Boxoffice of May 29, 1948, said that the Park Theatre in Selma was being razed to make way for a new theater that would be Selma’s “A” house, so the Vincent Raney-designed Park Theatre that burned in 1984 was the second of the name at this location.
I’m not sure how old the first Park’s building was. On August 17, 1940, Boxoffice said that Sam Levin had opened his new house, the Park in Selma, on August 9. I’ve found no details about it, but I doubt an eight-year-old building would have been demolished for the 1948 rebuild, so the first Park must have been either an old theater renamed, or an existing old building converted into a theater.
Sam Levin had bought an interest in the Selma Theatre in 1937, and both that house and the original Park were taken over by the Blumenfeld circuit in 1941, as reported in the September 6 issue of Boxoffice that year. The new Park of 1948 was built for the Panero circuit.
I’m sure the old Avalon was demolished. The building on the corner of Ninth and Hull looks to be of about 1940s or 1950s vintage itself, and was apparently built as a store or small office building. It’s too small and low to have ever been a theater.
I’m unable to tell from the street view what is now in the new Avalon’s building, and I can’t find anything listed on the Internet for that address. It might have been vacant at the time Google’s truck went by.
Despite having the entrance walled in and one of those mini-mansards stuck on the front where the marquee would have been, it is still recognizable as a former theater and looks like it’s in fairly good condition. It just has that rather forlorn look that so much of Des Moines seems to have.
The May 29, 1948, issue of Boxoffice reported from Wickenburg that the Saguaro Theatre “…was opened here recently by Dwight ‘Red’ Harkins in association with the Nace interests of Phoenix.” The item said that Harkins had designed the theater himself.
The Jefferson Drive-In was designed by Jack Corgan. The architect’s rendering appeared in Boxoffice of December 2, 1950.
An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
The auditorium of the Odeon Ottawa was on the cover of Boxoffice, December 2, 1950.
A photo of the lobby of the Garmar was featured on the frontispiece of Boxoffice Magazine’s Modern Theatre section, December 2, 1950.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.
A boxoffice item of February, 1983, gave the seating capacity of the Forest Park Theatres 1-2-3 (apparently the name when it opened) as 1,800, with two auditoriums of 500 seats and one of 800. All three were equipped for 70mm projection.
The February 4, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the Carver Theatre in St. Louis was to be remodeled. The plans were by architect Jack Shawcross.
Probably a 1946 opening for this house. Boxoffice of June 1 that year said in an item datelined Kinmundy, Ill., “H.S. Butler and H.S. Butler jr., who built the new Sando Theatre in Sandoval, have purchased a site for a new theatre in this town.”
The Merry Widow Theatre occupied four different locations over the years, according to an article in Boxoffice of August 7, 1943. The first was a 99-seat nickelodeon opened in 1906 by George and Harry Hayes. It was at the corner of Chouteau Avenue and Dillon Street (the exact location is from a later Boxoffice item.) The Hayeses later moved the theater to a 250-seat location down the block. At an unspecified date, a new operator, John P. Murphy, opened the third Merry Widow, now with 485 seats, at 1435 Chouteau Avenue.
Sam Komm opened the New Merry Widow Theatre on March 21, 1942, reported in Boxoffice of March 28 that year. He had taken over the third Merry Widow a few months earlier.
The name of the theater was the result of a contest held by George and Harry Hayes in 1906, and was the submission of nine-year-old Lester Bona, who went on to become a film distributor.
I’ve been unable to find anything in Boxoffice about the 1947 fire. It isn’t mentioned in this web log post about the Merry Widow, either.
According to a report in Boxoffice of July 23, 1938, the general contractor for the Massac Theatre, Ed Barenfanger of Salem, Illinois, expected that the theater could be opened by late August or early September. There is today a Barenfanger Construction Company operating in Vandalia, Illinois. I wonder if it could be the successor firm of Ed Barenfanger’s operation and, if so, they might have old records about the Massac project?
I’ve been unable to find any mention in Boxoffice of the name of the architect of the Massac, but this web log post by Michael R. Allen, about the Merry Widow Theatre in St. Louis, points out the similarity between that house and the Massac, pictured in this web log post about the latter theater by the same author. Could the 1938 Massac have been designed by St. Louis architect Jack Shawcross, who designed the New Merry Widow a few years later?
Try Google Books&client=opera&pg=PA97#v=onepage&q=nassau&f=false). P.97.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s building permits database lists a permit for a project at 2182-2186 Broadway issued in 1913. A two-story brick theatre and stores on a lot 55'x130' was designed by New Jersey architect Fred Robbin Jr., for an Eva J. Coe.
The New York City building permits database has a new building listed for this address in 1912. It was a “1-st[or]y theatre and moving picture show” designed by architect H.B. Herts for a Mr. William E. D. Stokes. The cost listed for the project was $35,000.
If the Carlton was this 1912 project, it would have been either Herts as the sole architect, or Herts with Herbert J. Krapp (though the database entry doesn’t list Krapp) as Herts and Hugh Tallant had dissolved their partnership by 1911, but Krapp, once an apprentice at their firm, continued to work with Herts until 1915.
I’ve been unable to find in the database any mention of a building designed by Raymond Irrera at this address. Perhaps he was responsible a remodeling job.
The New York City building permits database has an entry for a 3-story theater at 11-13 W. 116th Street, built in 1910. The architect was S. S. Sugar.
The web site Lost Cinemas of Greater Des Moines has a schematic drawing of the facade of the Hiland Theatre from the architects, Wetherell & Harrison, courtesy of the successor firm, Wetherell Ericsson Architecture.
From the same web site, a color night shot of the Hiland’s marquee, dated 1954.
A post at the web site Lost Cinemas of Greater Des Moines has a night shot of the second Avalon’s marquee which can be dated to 1954. See it here.
There’s still a conflict between two different theaters of the same name on this page. The original Avalon Theatre, at 2965 East Ninth Street (“East” is part of the street name and should not be abbreviated— in fact the street actually runs north and south) has been demolished.
The current description in the intro (aside from the reference to closing date and demolition) pertains to the second Avalon Theatre, which was opened in 1946 at 2915 East Ninth Street, and converted into a union hall some time later. I’ve been unable to find a closing year for it. This building is still standing.
Either the second Avalon should get its own page, or this page should be given to the second Avalon, with 2915 East Ninth Street as the address, “Closed” for Status, and “Unknown” for Function. The information that the current building was a replacement for the earlier Avalon up the block, which has been demolished, could then be added to the description.
The Strand Theatre opened on December 4, 1916, and from then until 1987 was operated by members of the Mart family, pioneer Grinnell exhibitors, either on their own or in partnership with Central States Theatres. The current entrance to the Strand is in the building to the south of the main theater building.
Some time around 1970, George H. Mart had the Strand remodeled and renamed the Cinema. The facade of the building was then covered with a false front which has since been removed. I don’t know when the entrance was moved to the building next door where it is now located, or when the original facade of the main building was restored from its unfortunate skin condition of the 1970s.
Some of this information comes from a monograph about Grinnell’s theaters by John R. Kleinschmidt. It is available in PDF format here.
Boxoffice of May 29, 1948, said that the Park Theatre in Selma was being razed to make way for a new theater that would be Selma’s “A” house, so the Vincent Raney-designed Park Theatre that burned in 1984 was the second of the name at this location.
I’m not sure how old the first Park’s building was. On August 17, 1940, Boxoffice said that Sam Levin had opened his new house, the Park in Selma, on August 9. I’ve found no details about it, but I doubt an eight-year-old building would have been demolished for the 1948 rebuild, so the first Park must have been either an old theater renamed, or an existing old building converted into a theater.
Sam Levin had bought an interest in the Selma Theatre in 1937, and both that house and the original Park were taken over by the Blumenfeld circuit in 1941, as reported in the September 6 issue of Boxoffice that year. The new Park of 1948 was built for the Panero circuit.
Here is the April 2, 1949, Boxoffice article about the new Park, which includes Raney’s clever floor plan.
I’m sure the old Avalon was demolished. The building on the corner of Ninth and Hull looks to be of about 1940s or 1950s vintage itself, and was apparently built as a store or small office building. It’s too small and low to have ever been a theater.
I’m unable to tell from the street view what is now in the new Avalon’s building, and I can’t find anything listed on the Internet for that address. It might have been vacant at the time Google’s truck went by.
Despite having the entrance walled in and one of those mini-mansards stuck on the front where the marquee would have been, it is still recognizable as a former theater and looks like it’s in fairly good condition. It just has that rather forlorn look that so much of Des Moines seems to have.
Currently listed for lease on LoopNet, $2,000 a month.
The May 29, 1948, issue of Boxoffice reported from Wickenburg that the Saguaro Theatre “…was opened here recently by Dwight ‘Red’ Harkins in association with the Nace interests of Phoenix.” The item said that Harkins had designed the theater himself.