Dean Davis operated an Avenue Theatre in West Plains prior to 1950, when this house was built. The January 21, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine announced that construction bids had been taken for Dean Davis’s new theater at West Plains on the 17th of that month. The item didn’t give the name of the new house, but said that Davis was the operator of the Davis and Avenue theaters in West Plains. The new theater had been designed by Boller & Lusk of Kansas City.
The March 11, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that construction was proceeding and the new house would be open by June. It would be called the New Avenue Theatre and would have 500 seats (the January 11 issue had said 510 seats.) Equipment from the old Avenue Theatre would be moved to the new house. The item gave the location of the old Avenue Theatre as a leased building on the east side of Washington Avenue, and its seating capacity as 350. It said that Davis had operated this house for several years.
The name New Avenue Theatre must not have stuck for very long, as Boxoffice was back to calling it simply the Avenue Theatre within a couple of years. I don’t know what became of the old Avenue Theatre, but as Davis didn’t own the building it might have been reopened by another operator under another name.
There was new development in Smithers in 1938. The November 12 issue of Boxoffice said this: “The Black Diamond Theatre Company, Montgomery, W. Va., is opening a new home at Smithers, W. Va., November 9. The company operates ten theatres in West Virginia.”
This was apparently a new theater at that time. The August 6, 1938, issue of Boxoffice had run this item: “SMITHERS, W. VA.— A new theatre is being erected here by the Black Diamond Theatres, Inc., with headquarters at Montgomery. Gene Hensley and Archie Clemens, executives of the company which operates a half dozen theatres, state that the Smithers Theatre will have a seating capacity of 400 and that opening is scheduled for early October.”
The August 20 issue of Boxoffice also had a brief item saying that Black Diamond had a theater under construction at Smithers. This was probably not the Fountain Theatre, which is mentioned in 1931 issues of Movie Age. If there was a Smithers Theatre listed as early as 1930, it must have closed before this 1938 project was built.
I finally found the Soledad Theatre mentioned in Boxoffice. The October 5, 1946, issue said “The Soledad Theatre in Soledad burned to the ground recently. Owners are Gnesa and Franscioni.” The January 11 issue of Boxoffice ran an item saying that Edward Gnesa had been issued a permit to build a $35,000 theater at Soledad to replace one that had burned. No theater name was given.
Then there’s an item in the February 8, 1947, issue saying that A. Blanco, Ralph Martin and Frank Jaimes had bought a tract of land at Soledad from Ernest Gnesa and Edward Franscioni where they planned to erect a theater. This item said that the CPA permit had been granted and construction would start immediately. Again, no theater name was given.
Then there is an item in the June 28, 1947, issue saying that the Soledad Theatre had opened recently. It said that the house had 700 seats and that the owners were Blanco and Martin. This doesn’t match the description of the Rio in the item earlier that year, saying that it had 528 seats, was scheduled to open in May, and was owned by J.C. Friedrich.
The Rio and the second Soledad must have been different theaters that operated at the same time for a while. But while there are quite a few mentions of the Rio in subsequent issues of Boxoffice, I’ve found no more mentions of the Soledad after June 1947 until a passing mention of a Soledad Theatre at Soledad in the June 18, 1979, issue of Boxoffice. Puzzling. That’s a total of three mentions of the name in 33 years.
The Rio Theatre in Soledad was sold to Al Klokkevold, according to the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice, though the item doesn’t say who the sellers were. But then there’s the August 25, 1951, issue which says in its San Francisco news column that Joe Friedrich of the Plaza in Salinas and the Rio in Soledad was in town on business. He must have gotten the theater back, but then he apparently soon found another buyer. The March 23, 1957, Boxoffice said that Roy Martinez had then been operating the Rio Theatre for five years. Martinez was mentioned as the Rio’s operator as late as the June 1, 1970, issue.
Wherever the mysterious second Soledad Theatre was, I’m sure it wasn’t in the building on Kidder Street. That vertical sign space has just enough room for the name Rio. Soledad would never have fit.
I suppose there’s a possibility that Roy Martinez or some later operator got hold of the second Soledad and moved the Rio name there, which would account for the January 1970 Boxoffice claim that the Rio was on Front Street, but I still think a Boxoffice error is more a more likely explanation for that claim, even though such a move could explain the 1980 photo as well. And it wouldn’t explain the 1979 Boxoffice mention of the Soledad Theatre. We might have to wait for somebody familiar with Soledad to turn up here and solve the mystery.
From the current text of the intro above: “In 1996, the theater was purchased by a non-profit, which intends to restore the theater as a performing arts center for Toledo’s small downtown.” What, Toledo doesn’t have a theater of its own to renovate?
On the photos: 1960s shingled mansardish roof extension. Ugh. If they renovate I hope they peel that thing off.
Don Donohue frequently wrote pieces for Boxoffice Magazine’s “The Exhibitor Has His Say” feature in the 1950s. Here’s a sample- from the December 8, 1951, issue, his comment on the Universal-International release “You Never Can Tell” with Dick Powell: “This is a real turkey— my poorest Sun., Mon. in many a week. I went along with U-I on top terms because of a saturation booking, but never again. My fingers will burn for weeks.” And that was one of his less acerbic reviews. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to cross Don.
I’ve found no mention of any other theaters in Soledad either in Boxoffice or the California Index. One 1970 issue of Boxoffice placed the Rio on Front Street, but that must have been a mistake.
Rio was a pretty common theater name, so it will probably be hard to track down the actual location of the house in that 1980 photo.
The part of my comment above about the Novato Theatre Company having been located in the old Novato Theatre is wrong. The Novato Theatre was to be used by another local arts organization, but that deal fell through.
This house actually opened as a single-screen called the 20th Century West Theatre in 1965. Here’s copy and paste from my comment on the Tower Theatre page from May 21 (because I’m too lazy to rewrite it here):[quote]“The 20th Century West Theatre is mentioned in the April 26, 1965, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, which says that "The Greatest Story Ever Told” was the first movie shown at the recently opened house.
“Originally built for independent operators Mr. and Mrs. William Blair, the theater was bought in 1968 by the Sonoma Theatre Corporation, headed by George Mann, Robert L. Lippert, and Charles J. Maestri. Sonoma Theatre Corp. also bought a twin-screen house elsewhere in Santa Rosa from the Blairs at the same time.
“The July 22, 1974, issue of Boxoffice said that Sonoma Theatres would expand the 20th Century West by adding two 400-seat auditoriums adjacent to the original 800-seat house, with all three sharing a common entrance and lobby. The theater would be renamed the Coddingtown Cinemas.
“Mike Rivest’s list of Sonoma County theaters says that the house was expanded to four screens in the late 1980s, was last operated by the United Artists circuit, and was closed about 2000.:[/quote]
My guess would be that the four-plexing was accomplished by splitting the original 800-seat house, but never having been there I can’t say for sure.
I think this theater was actually located in Novato, California. It was in the Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center on Ignacio Boulevard. The Census Bureau classifies Ignacio under Class Code U6, which essentially boils down to meaning that their Zip Code is officially in Novato.
The Boxoffice Magazine item about the opening of the Ignacio Cinemas was datelined Novato, and gave the location of the new house as Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center. The April 21, 1969, issue of Boxoffice said that the target date for the opening of the 300-seat, single-screen theater was May 28.
Currently, the Novato Theatre Company, formerly located in the old Novato Theatre, is presenting its productions in the Pacheco Playhouse, which might occupy the premises of the former Ignacio Cinema, though I’m not at all certain it does. The playhouse is at the least located in the same shopping center the cinema was in, though.
This theater opened as the Hippodrome. The new theater was the subject of a brief article, with four photographs, in the October, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer, available to read or download at Google Books. The article begins on page 83.
The American Theatre in San Jose was mentioned in the August 17, 1929, issue of Movie Age. The earliest mention of the State Theatre in San Jose that I’ve found is in the July 23, 1938, issue of Boxoffice, in an item headlined “Good Business Follows Renovation at San Jose.” The item mentions that the house had previously been called the American, but doesn’t mention the earlier Hippodrome name.
The earliest mention I’ve found of the United Artists in San Jose is from the November 24, 1951, issue of Boxoffice, which names a number of movie stars scheduled to appear at a benefit premier to be held at what the item calls “..the new United Artists Theatre….”
A bit more detail of the early history of the house was revealed in an article in the February 3, 1945, issue of Boxoffice. This article said that the theater was built in 1918, and originally operated by the San Jose Hippodrome Company. Before 1925 it was acquired by the Liberty Amusement Company, which changed the name to American Theatre. It was then leased to National Theatres in 1925, the lease was sold to Redwood Theatres in 1933, then taken over by St. Claire Theatres in 1934. That must have been the company that did the 1938 renovation and renaming. Finally, in early 1945 the theater was sold to a group of San Francisco investors operating as San Jose State Theatre, Inc. (the subject of the Boxoffice article.)
There’s a misspelling in the architectural firm name at top. Harry L. Cunningham’s partner was named Matthew V. Politeo, not Polito as it currently says.
There’s a misspelling in the architectural firm name at top. Harry L. Cunningham’s partner was named Matthew V. Politeo, not Polito as it currently says.
The October, 1919, issue of Architect & Engineer published the death notice of architect Harry L. Cunningham of the firm of Cunningham & Politeo. It mentioned the T&D Theatre in Oakland as one of his designs.
Incidentally, Cinema Treasures currently misspells Matthew V. Politeo’s surname as Polito.
Don Meyers is correct about the address of the Figueroa Theatre. I’ve checked several old street directories and the address for the theater itself is always given as 4011 S. Figueroa Street. The Santa Barbara Avenue address must have been for the office section of the building above the shops.
I found additional Boxoffice references to the Gate Theatre, as well as a few non-Boxoffice mentions. The July 17, 1954, issue repeated that the Gate had been closed, and said that plans for its modernization had been discarded.
Then in the issue of December 4, 1961, there was an item saying that Diane Varsi, retired from her Hollywood film career, was making her theatrical debut and directing two short plays at the Sausalito Gate Theatre.
The Gate was apparently a playhouse for several years. I found a reference to the San Francisco Mime Troupe performing a Brecht play at the Gate in 1965, and one about actor George Ede playing Antonio in a production of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Gate in 1964.
Thinking about jerry kovar’s introductory paragraph, I suspect that the reason attraction board lettering on the Gate’s marquee said “Marin Theatre” when the signage said Gate in the 1955 photo is most likely that the Gate was closed and its attraction board was being used to advertise the Marin Theatre.
The October 24, 1953, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Gate Theatre had been closed by the Blumenfeld circuit. I found a 1945 Boxoffice item mentioning the Marin Theatre, and the Gate Theatre was also in operation at that time, so they were different theaters. Both houses were operated by Blumenfeld. It’s unlikely that Marin Theater is an actual aka for the Gate Theatre.
The December 24, 1955, issue of Boxoffice said that Fox West Coast was planning a $100,000 remodeling of the T&D which would make it one of the most luxurious theaters in the region, and that the Hi-Ho Theatre would be reconditioned and serve as the town’s theater until the remodeling was completed. But the planned renovation of the T&D was never carried out.
Instead, it looks like the T&D was shut down in 1957. The January 19 issue of Boxoffice that year said the Fox West Coast had applied for permits to demolish the auditorium of the T&D Theatre and convert its lobby into retail space.
The chain then renamed its Hi-Ho Theatre the Fox Theatre later that year. I’ve found no later mentions of the T&D in Boxoffice, but the former Hi-Ho continued operating as the Fox for many years.
Various issues of Boxoffice Magazine indicate that the Hi-Ho Theatre was built for Arthur M. Miller in 1941. It opened early in June that year. In 1942, Miller sold the house to Fox West Coast’s T&D Theatres affiliate.
The January 19, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Fox West Coast planned to close its T&D Theatre in Paso Robles. Their intention was to demolish the auditorium and convert the lobby to retail space. The Hi-Ho Theatre would be renovated to become the chain’s main house in Paso Robles. The December 7 issue of Boxoffice that same year said that the Hi-Ho Theatre had been renamed the Fox Theatre.
There are frequent mentions of Al Stanford in issues of Boxoffice from 1951 until 1973, most often in connection with the Oaks Drive-In (not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, by the way.) The Fox is also mentioned frequently, but I can’t find a single mention of the third Paso Robles hardtop, the Park Theatre. However, Paso Robles currently has a 9-screen multiplex at 1100 Pine Street downtown called the Park Cinemas 9. It’s not listed here yet either.
An Orland Theatre at Orland was offered for sale in the classified section of Movie Age, issue of September 14, 1929. The asking price for the business, including the building, was $10,000. It was the only theater in the town. The moderne facade must be the result of a remodeling, unless the theater moved to a new building at some time. I can’t find a date for either a remodeling or a move.
The Orland Theatre is mentioned again in various issues of Boxoffice from 1939 to 1972, with most mentions concentrated in the early to mid-1950s. It changed hands and was closed and reopened several times, and apparently was always under independent operation.
Orland is a market town of about 6000 located in one of California’s major olive growing regions. The nearest operating movie theaters to the town today are located in Chico, about twenty miles east.
The Pacific Coast Architecture Database (University of Washington) dates the Winema Cinema to 1919. An article about the theater appeared in the December, 1920, issue of Architectural Record. Additionally, an illustration and floor plan of the house were published in the June, 1925, issue of Architectural Forum.
The May 29, 1949, issue of Boxoffice magazine confirms that this theater was designed by William B. David, with William W. Wolf as listed architect. The item said that the same operators (the Menlo-Mayfield Theatres division of Westside Theatres) planned to build a similar theater by the same designer in Mountain View.
The Lake must have been the as-yet-nameless theater listed as being under construction at Barberton in the October 9, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. Owners were named as F.N. Gaethke and Harold Makinson (though Boxoffice misspelled his name as Makeson. Many other issues give the spelling Makison.)
Makinson was Barberton’s theater magnate in those days. The June 3, 1939, issue of Boxoffice said that H. Makinson owned the Lake, Park, and Lyric Theatres in Barberton. In 1940 he bought the town’s other house, the Pastime Theatre. The May 25 issue of Boxoffice that year noted that Makinson then owned and operated all the theaters in Barberton.
The October 11, 1947, issue of Boxoffice lists four Barberton Theatres and two in Canton, all operated by Makinson and Gaethke, involved in a lawsuit filed by several major movie distributors. The Barberton theaters listed were the Park, Lake, Lyric, and Pastime. By that time, the Pastime had already been closed and converted to retail space, according to the January 25 issue of Boxoffice that year. I’ve been unable to discover if the Lyric was still in operation at that time, but Boxoffice contains no later mentions of it that I can find.
After 1947 I find no mentions of Makinson or Gaethke in Boxoffice, but quite a few of Vincent Lauter, operator of the West Theatre and the Magic City Drive-In (opened 1950) who apparently became Barberton’s new theater magnate.
Incidentally, the Lake Cinemas' web site says the house closed in 1980, not in the 1950s as the introductory information currently on this page states.
Bway: The Pantages is operated by Nederlander Theatres, but I believe the building is still owned by the Forman family, owners of Pacific Theatres. This is Nederlander’s web page for the Pantages.
The Pantages received a thorough renovation in 2000, after which it reopened with Disney’s “The Lion King”, but as far as I know that’s the only Disney production the house has hosted.
Disney operates the El Capitan Theatre at the other end of Hollywood. I think that building is also owned by the Formans.
Dean Davis operated an Avenue Theatre in West Plains prior to 1950, when this house was built. The January 21, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine announced that construction bids had been taken for Dean Davis’s new theater at West Plains on the 17th of that month. The item didn’t give the name of the new house, but said that Davis was the operator of the Davis and Avenue theaters in West Plains. The new theater had been designed by Boller & Lusk of Kansas City.
The March 11, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that construction was proceeding and the new house would be open by June. It would be called the New Avenue Theatre and would have 500 seats (the January 11 issue had said 510 seats.) Equipment from the old Avenue Theatre would be moved to the new house. The item gave the location of the old Avenue Theatre as a leased building on the east side of Washington Avenue, and its seating capacity as 350. It said that Davis had operated this house for several years.
The name New Avenue Theatre must not have stuck for very long, as Boxoffice was back to calling it simply the Avenue Theatre within a couple of years. I don’t know what became of the old Avenue Theatre, but as Davis didn’t own the building it might have been reopened by another operator under another name.
There was new development in Smithers in 1938. The November 12 issue of Boxoffice said this: “The Black Diamond Theatre Company, Montgomery, W. Va., is opening a new home at Smithers, W. Va., November 9. The company operates ten theatres in West Virginia.”
This was apparently a new theater at that time. The August 6, 1938, issue of Boxoffice had run this item: “SMITHERS, W. VA.— A new theatre is being erected here by the Black Diamond Theatres, Inc., with headquarters at Montgomery. Gene Hensley and Archie Clemens, executives of the company which operates a half dozen theatres, state that the Smithers Theatre will have a seating capacity of 400 and that opening is scheduled for early October.”
The August 20 issue of Boxoffice also had a brief item saying that Black Diamond had a theater under construction at Smithers. This was probably not the Fountain Theatre, which is mentioned in 1931 issues of Movie Age. If there was a Smithers Theatre listed as early as 1930, it must have closed before this 1938 project was built.
Another long, tedious comment:
I finally found the Soledad Theatre mentioned in Boxoffice. The October 5, 1946, issue said “The Soledad Theatre in Soledad burned to the ground recently. Owners are Gnesa and Franscioni.” The January 11 issue of Boxoffice ran an item saying that Edward Gnesa had been issued a permit to build a $35,000 theater at Soledad to replace one that had burned. No theater name was given.
Then there’s an item in the February 8, 1947, issue saying that A. Blanco, Ralph Martin and Frank Jaimes had bought a tract of land at Soledad from Ernest Gnesa and Edward Franscioni where they planned to erect a theater. This item said that the CPA permit had been granted and construction would start immediately. Again, no theater name was given.
Then there is an item in the June 28, 1947, issue saying that the Soledad Theatre had opened recently. It said that the house had 700 seats and that the owners were Blanco and Martin. This doesn’t match the description of the Rio in the item earlier that year, saying that it had 528 seats, was scheduled to open in May, and was owned by J.C. Friedrich.
The Rio and the second Soledad must have been different theaters that operated at the same time for a while. But while there are quite a few mentions of the Rio in subsequent issues of Boxoffice, I’ve found no more mentions of the Soledad after June 1947 until a passing mention of a Soledad Theatre at Soledad in the June 18, 1979, issue of Boxoffice. Puzzling. That’s a total of three mentions of the name in 33 years.
The Rio Theatre in Soledad was sold to Al Klokkevold, according to the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice, though the item doesn’t say who the sellers were. But then there’s the August 25, 1951, issue which says in its San Francisco news column that Joe Friedrich of the Plaza in Salinas and the Rio in Soledad was in town on business. He must have gotten the theater back, but then he apparently soon found another buyer. The March 23, 1957, Boxoffice said that Roy Martinez had then been operating the Rio Theatre for five years. Martinez was mentioned as the Rio’s operator as late as the June 1, 1970, issue.
Wherever the mysterious second Soledad Theatre was, I’m sure it wasn’t in the building on Kidder Street. That vertical sign space has just enough room for the name Rio. Soledad would never have fit.
I suppose there’s a possibility that Roy Martinez or some later operator got hold of the second Soledad and moved the Rio name there, which would account for the January 1970 Boxoffice claim that the Rio was on Front Street, but I still think a Boxoffice error is more a more likely explanation for that claim, even though such a move could explain the 1980 photo as well. And it wouldn’t explain the 1979 Boxoffice mention of the Soledad Theatre. We might have to wait for somebody familiar with Soledad to turn up here and solve the mystery.
From the current text of the intro above: “In 1996, the theater was purchased by a non-profit, which intends to restore the theater as a performing arts center for Toledo’s small downtown.” What, Toledo doesn’t have a theater of its own to renovate?
On the photos: 1960s shingled mansardish roof extension. Ugh. If they renovate I hope they peel that thing off.
Don Donohue frequently wrote pieces for Boxoffice Magazine’s “The Exhibitor Has His Say” feature in the 1950s. Here’s a sample- from the December 8, 1951, issue, his comment on the Universal-International release “You Never Can Tell” with Dick Powell: “This is a real turkey— my poorest Sun., Mon. in many a week. I went along with U-I on top terms because of a saturation booking, but never again. My fingers will burn for weeks.” And that was one of his less acerbic reviews. I sure wouldn’t have wanted to cross Don.
I’ve found no mention of any other theaters in Soledad either in Boxoffice or the California Index. One 1970 issue of Boxoffice placed the Rio on Front Street, but that must have been a mistake.
Rio was a pretty common theater name, so it will probably be hard to track down the actual location of the house in that 1980 photo.
The part of my comment above about the Novato Theatre Company having been located in the old Novato Theatre is wrong. The Novato Theatre was to be used by another local arts organization, but that deal fell through.
This house actually opened as a single-screen called the 20th Century West Theatre in 1965. Here’s copy and paste from my comment on the Tower Theatre page from May 21 (because I’m too lazy to rewrite it here):[quote]“The 20th Century West Theatre is mentioned in the April 26, 1965, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, which says that "The Greatest Story Ever Told” was the first movie shown at the recently opened house.
“Originally built for independent operators Mr. and Mrs. William Blair, the theater was bought in 1968 by the Sonoma Theatre Corporation, headed by George Mann, Robert L. Lippert, and Charles J. Maestri. Sonoma Theatre Corp. also bought a twin-screen house elsewhere in Santa Rosa from the Blairs at the same time.
“The July 22, 1974, issue of Boxoffice said that Sonoma Theatres would expand the 20th Century West by adding two 400-seat auditoriums adjacent to the original 800-seat house, with all three sharing a common entrance and lobby. The theater would be renamed the Coddingtown Cinemas.
“Mike Rivest’s list of Sonoma County theaters says that the house was expanded to four screens in the late 1980s, was last operated by the United Artists circuit, and was closed about 2000.:[/quote]
My guess would be that the four-plexing was accomplished by splitting the original 800-seat house, but never having been there I can’t say for sure.
I think this theater was actually located in Novato, California. It was in the Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center on Ignacio Boulevard. The Census Bureau classifies Ignacio under Class Code U6, which essentially boils down to meaning that their Zip Code is officially in Novato.
The Boxoffice Magazine item about the opening of the Ignacio Cinemas was datelined Novato, and gave the location of the new house as Pacheco Plaza Shopping Center. The April 21, 1969, issue of Boxoffice said that the target date for the opening of the 300-seat, single-screen theater was May 28.
Currently, the Novato Theatre Company, formerly located in the old Novato Theatre, is presenting its productions in the Pacheco Playhouse, which might occupy the premises of the former Ignacio Cinema, though I’m not at all certain it does. The playhouse is at the least located in the same shopping center the cinema was in, though.
April 26, 1947, Boxoffice says “J.E. Friedrich, Rio Theatre, Soledad, expects to open the 528-seat stadium-type house around May 16.”
Cinema Tour has two photos.
This theater opened as the Hippodrome. The new theater was the subject of a brief article, with four photographs, in the October, 1919, issue of The Architect and Engineer, available to read or download at Google Books. The article begins on page 83.
The American Theatre in San Jose was mentioned in the August 17, 1929, issue of Movie Age. The earliest mention of the State Theatre in San Jose that I’ve found is in the July 23, 1938, issue of Boxoffice, in an item headlined “Good Business Follows Renovation at San Jose.” The item mentions that the house had previously been called the American, but doesn’t mention the earlier Hippodrome name.
The earliest mention I’ve found of the United Artists in San Jose is from the November 24, 1951, issue of Boxoffice, which names a number of movie stars scheduled to appear at a benefit premier to be held at what the item calls “..the new United Artists Theatre….”
A bit more detail of the early history of the house was revealed in an article in the February 3, 1945, issue of Boxoffice. This article said that the theater was built in 1918, and originally operated by the San Jose Hippodrome Company. Before 1925 it was acquired by the Liberty Amusement Company, which changed the name to American Theatre. It was then leased to National Theatres in 1925, the lease was sold to Redwood Theatres in 1933, then taken over by St. Claire Theatres in 1934. That must have been the company that did the 1938 renovation and renaming. Finally, in early 1945 the theater was sold to a group of San Francisco investors operating as San Jose State Theatre, Inc. (the subject of the Boxoffice article.)
There’s a misspelling in the architectural firm name at top. Harry L. Cunningham’s partner was named Matthew V. Politeo, not Polito as it currently says.
There’s a misspelling in the architectural firm name at top. Harry L. Cunningham’s partner was named Matthew V. Politeo, not Polito as it currently says.
The August, 1984, issue of Boxoffice Magazine says that the Exeter Theatre was designed by architect Clarence H. Blackall.
The October, 1919, issue of Architect & Engineer published the death notice of architect Harry L. Cunningham of the firm of Cunningham & Politeo. It mentioned the T&D Theatre in Oakland as one of his designs.
Incidentally, Cinema Treasures currently misspells Matthew V. Politeo’s surname as Polito.
Don Meyers is correct about the address of the Figueroa Theatre. I’ve checked several old street directories and the address for the theater itself is always given as 4011 S. Figueroa Street. The Santa Barbara Avenue address must have been for the office section of the building above the shops.
I found additional Boxoffice references to the Gate Theatre, as well as a few non-Boxoffice mentions. The July 17, 1954, issue repeated that the Gate had been closed, and said that plans for its modernization had been discarded.
Then in the issue of December 4, 1961, there was an item saying that Diane Varsi, retired from her Hollywood film career, was making her theatrical debut and directing two short plays at the Sausalito Gate Theatre.
The Gate was apparently a playhouse for several years. I found a reference to the San Francisco Mime Troupe performing a Brecht play at the Gate in 1965, and one about actor George Ede playing Antonio in a production of “The Merchant of Venice” at the Gate in 1964.
Thinking about jerry kovar’s introductory paragraph, I suspect that the reason attraction board lettering on the Gate’s marquee said “Marin Theatre” when the signage said Gate in the 1955 photo is most likely that the Gate was closed and its attraction board was being used to advertise the Marin Theatre.
The October 24, 1953, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Gate Theatre had been closed by the Blumenfeld circuit. I found a 1945 Boxoffice item mentioning the Marin Theatre, and the Gate Theatre was also in operation at that time, so they were different theaters. Both houses were operated by Blumenfeld. It’s unlikely that Marin Theater is an actual aka for the Gate Theatre.
The December 24, 1955, issue of Boxoffice said that Fox West Coast was planning a $100,000 remodeling of the T&D which would make it one of the most luxurious theaters in the region, and that the Hi-Ho Theatre would be reconditioned and serve as the town’s theater until the remodeling was completed. But the planned renovation of the T&D was never carried out.
Instead, it looks like the T&D was shut down in 1957. The January 19 issue of Boxoffice that year said the Fox West Coast had applied for permits to demolish the auditorium of the T&D Theatre and convert its lobby into retail space.
The chain then renamed its Hi-Ho Theatre the Fox Theatre later that year. I’ve found no later mentions of the T&D in Boxoffice, but the former Hi-Ho continued operating as the Fox for many years.
The second sentence in my comment above should say the Hi-Ho opened in late June, 1941.
Various issues of Boxoffice Magazine indicate that the Hi-Ho Theatre was built for Arthur M. Miller in 1941. It opened early in June that year. In 1942, Miller sold the house to Fox West Coast’s T&D Theatres affiliate.
The January 19, 1957, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that Fox West Coast planned to close its T&D Theatre in Paso Robles. Their intention was to demolish the auditorium and convert the lobby to retail space. The Hi-Ho Theatre would be renovated to become the chain’s main house in Paso Robles. The December 7 issue of Boxoffice that same year said that the Hi-Ho Theatre had been renamed the Fox Theatre.
There are frequent mentions of Al Stanford in issues of Boxoffice from 1951 until 1973, most often in connection with the Oaks Drive-In (not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, by the way.) The Fox is also mentioned frequently, but I can’t find a single mention of the third Paso Robles hardtop, the Park Theatre. However, Paso Robles currently has a 9-screen multiplex at 1100 Pine Street downtown called the Park Cinemas 9. It’s not listed here yet either.
An Orland Theatre at Orland was offered for sale in the classified section of Movie Age, issue of September 14, 1929. The asking price for the business, including the building, was $10,000. It was the only theater in the town. The moderne facade must be the result of a remodeling, unless the theater moved to a new building at some time. I can’t find a date for either a remodeling or a move.
The Orland Theatre is mentioned again in various issues of Boxoffice from 1939 to 1972, with most mentions concentrated in the early to mid-1950s. It changed hands and was closed and reopened several times, and apparently was always under independent operation.
Orland is a market town of about 6000 located in one of California’s major olive growing regions. The nearest operating movie theaters to the town today are located in Chico, about twenty miles east.
The Pacific Coast Architecture Database (University of Washington) dates the Winema Cinema to 1919. An article about the theater appeared in the December, 1920, issue of Architectural Record. Additionally, an illustration and floor plan of the house were published in the June, 1925, issue of Architectural Forum.
The May 29, 1949, issue of Boxoffice magazine confirms that this theater was designed by William B. David, with William W. Wolf as listed architect. The item said that the same operators (the Menlo-Mayfield Theatres division of Westside Theatres) planned to build a similar theater by the same designer in Mountain View.
The Lake must have been the as-yet-nameless theater listed as being under construction at Barberton in the October 9, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. Owners were named as F.N. Gaethke and Harold Makinson (though Boxoffice misspelled his name as Makeson. Many other issues give the spelling Makison.)
Makinson was Barberton’s theater magnate in those days. The June 3, 1939, issue of Boxoffice said that H. Makinson owned the Lake, Park, and Lyric Theatres in Barberton. In 1940 he bought the town’s other house, the Pastime Theatre. The May 25 issue of Boxoffice that year noted that Makinson then owned and operated all the theaters in Barberton.
The October 11, 1947, issue of Boxoffice lists four Barberton Theatres and two in Canton, all operated by Makinson and Gaethke, involved in a lawsuit filed by several major movie distributors. The Barberton theaters listed were the Park, Lake, Lyric, and Pastime. By that time, the Pastime had already been closed and converted to retail space, according to the January 25 issue of Boxoffice that year. I’ve been unable to discover if the Lyric was still in operation at that time, but Boxoffice contains no later mentions of it that I can find.
After 1947 I find no mentions of Makinson or Gaethke in Boxoffice, but quite a few of Vincent Lauter, operator of the West Theatre and the Magic City Drive-In (opened 1950) who apparently became Barberton’s new theater magnate.
Incidentally, the Lake Cinemas' web site says the house closed in 1980, not in the 1950s as the introductory information currently on this page states.
Bway: The Pantages is operated by Nederlander Theatres, but I believe the building is still owned by the Forman family, owners of Pacific Theatres. This is Nederlander’s web page for the Pantages.
The Pantages received a thorough renovation in 2000, after which it reopened with Disney’s “The Lion King”, but as far as I know that’s the only Disney production the house has hosted.
Disney operates the El Capitan Theatre at the other end of Hollywood. I think that building is also owned by the Formans.