The Vogue didn’t open in 1948, that was only a remodel and redecoration, and “new management” (probably Henry Greene).
The building permit for a theatre here was issued in 1913. It closed in 1939 for a few weeks and at that time it had been called the New Lake (not to be confused with the Lake Theatre which was further east on Lake Street). When it reopened in July 1939 (“Stagecoach”) it was under a new name VOGUE. Then another remodel in 1948 but no name change. Building permits show there was some minor remodeling in 1954 and 1955 to the canopy, concession stand, front and lobby. It appears the Vogue closed in Nov. 1967.
It reopened as the STAGE 7 on May 22, 1968 with double bill of Cool Hand Luke and Tony Rome. It closed Feb 16, 1975 with A Minute To Pray A Second to Die plus Wattstax. Also frequently shown in the early 1970s were German language films. One of the perennial money makers here was “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” which brought in capacity crowds and was repeated many times. A new screen was installed for the 1968 reopening, and seats and projection equipment came from the El Lago Theatre which had closed in 1966.
The Vogue had an artesian well system. Seating capacity during the Stage 7 days was around 375. A restaurant next door, LaPizzeria, would bring in your food (you could order via an intercom). The Stage 7 owner also owned the restaurant. George Kennedy came to the theatre while shooting “Airport” in Mpls. He hadn’t seen “The Dirty Dozen” and came in and told the owner that he wanted to keep a low profile.
Also see American Theatre in Minneapolis, which was across the street from the New Lake/Vogue/Stage 7.
I cannot verify this theatre ever had the name Garrick; if it did, it was brief. In 1920 and 1925 the name was LaSalle, so there was no name change in 1930. Many silent theatres changed their names often, or the name while under construction gets into the city directory, and never gets changed for years – in the meantime the name might have been changed at the time the theatre opened. Names also changed with ownerships, fires and a new building or remodeling, etc. Many theatres changed names when sound came in.
The LaSalle Theatre closed in Dec. 1950. The recording studio building permit was pulled in Aug. 1955. This was also a Franklin Amusement Co. theatre (see Avalon, Lyndale) for its entire life; or at least certainly during the sound era. Franklin had it at the time of closing. They also had the Lyndale Theatre, which was in close proximity and that closed in ‘52.
The early name was ROSEBUD, believe it or not, long before Orson Welles came along. There was also a late 1920’s name, RENO, but this is unverified. Yes, there was a theatre on this site 1909-24 then the renovation in 1924 and then the art deco Crosier makeover in 1937 to a much larger theatre. The puppet company took it over in 1988. Porn lasted to 1985. The “Fine Arts” name was really just because the name Avalon fell off the marquee. It was always referred to as the “Avalon Fine Arts” in its porn days and advertised as such. The move to “Fine Arts” in 1955, starting with a run of Welles' “Othello” and migrating to an art/foreign policy which soon gave away to sex pictures and porn. Some of Russ Meyer’s early films were here, as well the usual nudist colony pictures, etc. “And God Created Woman” played at least 3 months in the summer of 1958 after the downtown run at the World. There would occasionally be a sex/horror type of film, for example Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace played as their Christmas attraction in 1965. “La Notte” played here too, and sometimes these “arty” films were double billed with a late-run Hollywood film, with the Hollywood film usually on the lower half of the bill. The theatre had an artesian well and a keystone problem that projectionists had to grapple with.
Also see this link for corrections that pertain to this entry too:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28319
The only Elite theatre in my research is what became the Metro Theatre.
There was no Elite Theatre anywhere in Mpls in the 1960s, or during the sound era.
The circuit name was Franklin Amusement Co. – not Franklin Theatres. W. R. Frank, Oscar Woempner and Val Nearpass were Franklin Amusement Co. Frank produced some feature films in the 1940s and early 50s. He died around 1960. Frank Jr. was the producer of the 1974 feature, “The Wrestler”.
This is in reference to this page and the /theaters/31180 link as well. To clear all this up, many pieces of misinformation need to be corrected, so here goes:
Elite Theatre was the early name of the Metro Theatre during the silent era, 2519 27th Av. S. The building still stands.
I don’t believe there was ever a theatre at 424 20th Av. N. That might not be a real address, either. Doesn’t sound right. I cannot link a theatre to that address in any of my notes.
The Lyndale theatre was at 2932-2934 Lyndale Av. S., near the intersection of Lyndale Av & Lake St. in south Minneapolis. It was always called the Lyndale. The building permit was issued in 1914 – I have seen it. It was a Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix house until they pulled out of it in 1930. After that, it was the W. R. Frank-Oscar Woempner-Val Nearpass circuit called Franklin Amusement Co. One of the managers of the theatre during the Publix days was Edward Heimberger who went to Hollywood to become Eddie Albert. The Lyndale Theatre closed in 1952. In early 1954 it became a grocery, and was a furniture store for about a decade, 1962-72, roughly. It was a bingo hall for the American Legion 1973-1990. After that, an antiques store. Was vacant on a drive-by in 2006. Don’t know what the status is now. Another piece of trivia is that there was a booth fire in the Lyndale in 1940.
Do not rely on Motion Picture Almanac, Film Daily Yearbook and Polk city directories for information. They are often more wrong than right. All they are good for is giving a theatre name and an address, then you have to check those out thoroughly from there. The seating capacities are wrong 98% of the time.
The Lyndale Theatre building is not large – even in the old days when seats were smaller and tighter – I doubt it was ever more than 500 seats and was probably closer to 400.
The Vogue didn’t open in 1948, that was only a remodel and redecoration, and “new management” (probably Henry Greene).
The building permit for a theatre here was issued in 1913. It closed in 1939 for a few weeks and at that time it had been called the New Lake (not to be confused with the Lake Theatre which was further east on Lake Street). When it reopened in July 1939 (“Stagecoach”) it was under a new name VOGUE. Then another remodel in 1948 but no name change. Building permits show there was some minor remodeling in 1954 and 1955 to the canopy, concession stand, front and lobby. It appears the Vogue closed in Nov. 1967.
It reopened as the STAGE 7 on May 22, 1968 with double bill of Cool Hand Luke and Tony Rome. It closed Feb 16, 1975 with A Minute To Pray A Second to Die plus Wattstax. Also frequently shown in the early 1970s were German language films. One of the perennial money makers here was “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” which brought in capacity crowds and was repeated many times. A new screen was installed for the 1968 reopening, and seats and projection equipment came from the El Lago Theatre which had closed in 1966. The Vogue had an artesian well system. Seating capacity during the Stage 7 days was around 375. A restaurant next door, LaPizzeria, would bring in your food (you could order via an intercom). The Stage 7 owner also owned the restaurant. George Kennedy came to the theatre while shooting “Airport” in Mpls. He hadn’t seen “The Dirty Dozen” and came in and told the owner that he wanted to keep a low profile.
Also see American Theatre in Minneapolis, which was across the street from the New Lake/Vogue/Stage 7.
Some information here needs to be corrected:
I cannot verify this theatre ever had the name Garrick; if it did, it was brief. In 1920 and 1925 the name was LaSalle, so there was no name change in 1930. Many silent theatres changed their names often, or the name while under construction gets into the city directory, and never gets changed for years – in the meantime the name might have been changed at the time the theatre opened. Names also changed with ownerships, fires and a new building or remodeling, etc. Many theatres changed names when sound came in.
The LaSalle Theatre closed in Dec. 1950. The recording studio building permit was pulled in Aug. 1955. This was also a Franklin Amusement Co. theatre (see Avalon, Lyndale) for its entire life; or at least certainly during the sound era. Franklin had it at the time of closing. They also had the Lyndale Theatre, which was in close proximity and that closed in ‘52.
The early name was ROSEBUD, believe it or not, long before Orson Welles came along. There was also a late 1920’s name, RENO, but this is unverified. Yes, there was a theatre on this site 1909-24 then the renovation in 1924 and then the art deco Crosier makeover in 1937 to a much larger theatre. The puppet company took it over in 1988. Porn lasted to 1985. The “Fine Arts” name was really just because the name Avalon fell off the marquee. It was always referred to as the “Avalon Fine Arts” in its porn days and advertised as such. The move to “Fine Arts” in 1955, starting with a run of Welles' “Othello” and migrating to an art/foreign policy which soon gave away to sex pictures and porn. Some of Russ Meyer’s early films were here, as well the usual nudist colony pictures, etc. “And God Created Woman” played at least 3 months in the summer of 1958 after the downtown run at the World. There would occasionally be a sex/horror type of film, for example Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace played as their Christmas attraction in 1965. “La Notte” played here too, and sometimes these “arty” films were double billed with a late-run Hollywood film, with the Hollywood film usually on the lower half of the bill. The theatre had an artesian well and a keystone problem that projectionists had to grapple with.
Also see this link for corrections that pertain to this entry too:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28319
The only Elite theatre in my research is what became the Metro Theatre.
There was no Elite Theatre anywhere in Mpls in the 1960s, or during the sound era.
The circuit name was Franklin Amusement Co. – not Franklin Theatres. W. R. Frank, Oscar Woempner and Val Nearpass were Franklin Amusement Co. Frank produced some feature films in the 1940s and early 50s. He died around 1960. Frank Jr. was the producer of the 1974 feature, “The Wrestler”.
This is in reference to this page and the /theaters/31180 link as well. To clear all this up, many pieces of misinformation need to be corrected, so here goes:
Elite Theatre was the early name of the Metro Theatre during the silent era, 2519 27th Av. S. The building still stands.
I don’t believe there was ever a theatre at 424 20th Av. N. That might not be a real address, either. Doesn’t sound right. I cannot link a theatre to that address in any of my notes.
The Lyndale theatre was at 2932-2934 Lyndale Av. S., near the intersection of Lyndale Av & Lake St. in south Minneapolis. It was always called the Lyndale. The building permit was issued in 1914 – I have seen it. It was a Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix house until they pulled out of it in 1930. After that, it was the W. R. Frank-Oscar Woempner-Val Nearpass circuit called Franklin Amusement Co. One of the managers of the theatre during the Publix days was Edward Heimberger who went to Hollywood to become Eddie Albert. The Lyndale Theatre closed in 1952. In early 1954 it became a grocery, and was a furniture store for about a decade, 1962-72, roughly. It was a bingo hall for the American Legion 1973-1990. After that, an antiques store. Was vacant on a drive-by in 2006. Don’t know what the status is now. Another piece of trivia is that there was a booth fire in the Lyndale in 1940.
Do not rely on Motion Picture Almanac, Film Daily Yearbook and Polk city directories for information. They are often more wrong than right. All they are good for is giving a theatre name and an address, then you have to check those out thoroughly from there. The seating capacities are wrong 98% of the time.
The Lyndale Theatre building is not large – even in the old days when seats were smaller and tighter – I doubt it was ever more than 500 seats and was probably closer to 400.