Regal Culpeper 4 closed along with all of the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It remained closed for most of the remainder of the year, opening in September of 2020 before shutting down again on October 4, 2020. The city terminated its lease with Regal on February 13, 2021 making the closure permanent.
Frels Theatre Circuit launched the Cinema IV on July 6, 1984 as an outparcel building adjacent to the Victoria Mall in Texas. Architect of the $1.35 million project was Brookbank, Murphy and Shields of Columbus, Georgia. Theatre sizes were 306, 224, 196, 182 for a total of 908 seats. Five years later, Cinemark USA bought out Frels Theatre on July 22, 1989 and the Cinema IV was now a Cinemark property. Signs were put up saying Cinemark would expand the property to the Cinema VI – a project that did not occur.
When Cinemark launched its new 12-screen theatre behind Victoria Mall, it downgraded the Cinema IV to discount, sub-run status on May 11, 2001. That lasted until January 12, 2003 when Cinemark closed the property. It was soon demolished to make way for a Home Depot.
The YMCA was dedicated here in 1887 and left in May of 1908 at the end of a 20-year leasing period. The YMCA was taken on for entertainment on its main floor with The Annex Theater launching December 17, 1908. The upper floor was taken on by Will E. Deacon who launched the Hippodrome with a grand opening on March 11, 1909. Though there were many earlier examples of two stages under one roof especially in Opera Houses across the country, the two operations would become one when the Annex became the Auditorium (Theater). The operation operated briefly as the Hippodrome-Auditorium which was a rare, single-operator twin-screen operation.
The flood of 1913 closed the theatre for a short period but it was refreshed and in 1914 another refresh led to a name change. The Hippodrome nameplate was getting dated and the theatre was refreshed simply as the Auditorium Theatre under the Montgomery Circuit late in the year. Montgomery left the market and then went out of business with the lease reverting to the Rauh Borthers. That led to a new owner who had a lawsuit with the Rauhs that then led to it having a short stint as a burlesque house in 1914 by Gill Burrows of the Lyceum. The theater was refreshed as the New Auditorium getting another opening on October 2, 1915 with Clara Kimball Young in “Trilby.” You could pay 15 cents to get a feature film and shorts with a live orchestra on the main floor or you could pay “popular pricing” for 10 cents and just got live piano accompaniment.
The theatre was receiving yet another refresh in 1917 with a new Kimball organ. Fire on November 11, 1917 destroyed the facility and some pointed to the Kimball organ wiring as the reason for the blaze. Within days, plans were drawn for a new “single screen” Auditorium Theatre that would get the main and upper floors of the building. Based on the ending of the theatre, it must have been pretty heavily reinforced. The New Auditorium Theatre launched on October 25, 1919 with William Farnum in “The Wolves of the Night” and D. Ahern at the Kimball Organ.
New operator Ascher’s rebranded it as Ascher’s New Auditorium Theater on June 16, 1920 with Will Rogers in “Jes' Call Me Jim.” Ascher’s brought in none other than Samuel “Roxy” Rothaphel to oversee the high profile relaunch. On August 26, 1921, Ascher’s bolted from the venue. The venue reopened under new management September 24, 1921 under the name of the Auditorium Theatre.
The Miami Amusement Circuit - again under the Rauh Brothers - took on the venue for the third time on December 8, 1922 renaming it as the State Theater with Charles Ray in “A Tailor-Made Man" supported by Buster Keaton in “The Boat.” On September 19, 1923, the Rauhs transferred the theatre to B.F. Keith and the RKO Circuit on the first of two 20-year leasing agreements.
On September 30, 1923, after RKO refreshed the theater, it renamed the venue as the RKO State Theatre with Mary Philbin in “Merry Go Round.” The circuit added sound to keep the venue relevant. RKO dropped the facility at end of lease on October 28, 1964 rather unceremoniously with “Hercules in the Haunted World” and “Castle of Blood.” John Holokan and John C. Keyes of H&K Enterprises Circuit took on the theatre on October 29, 1964 with a double feature of “A Hard Day’s Night” and “For Those Who Think Young.” But sadly they soon found what RKO already knew, nobody was coming to the State for movies any longer. They closed after less than three months of operation ending the cinematic journey of the theater on January 18, 1965 with a double feature of Jerry Lewis in “The Nutty Professor” and Dale Robertson in “Law of the Lawless.”
The theatre had one more chance when it became home to the Dayton Community Theatre on a 5-year subleasing agreement in the Summer of 1965 launching with live stage plays. It opened with its original H&K State Theatre signage. The City of Dayton intervened and ordered the theater and upper level hotel, the New Auditorium Theatre, to cease operations in Summer of 1968 following the play, “Calamity Jane,” in the name of urban renewal. The hotel was closed but the theatre got a reprieve until 1970 when the agreement’s sublease reached expiry.
The King Wrecking Company came in to start demolition in April of 1970 while the theatrical group was still performing “Stop the World” - the theater’s swan song. The performers obviously wished they could say, “Stop the world, I want to get off (or out)” though they continued their performances despite the odd circumstances. And it was said that many performers took home souvenirs as the theatre’s deconstruction led to some interesting trinkets. The King Wrecking Co’s demolition took well over a year to complete due to the facility’s well-built construction. A salvage sale was held in summer of 1971.
Frank T. Montgomery opened here as Montgomery’s Majestic Theater on March 4, 1912 with the Edison film, “Children Who Labor” and other selected shorts accompanied by an orchestra. Montgomery operated theatres in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. Montgomery left the Dayton location in 1915 with the Majestic going to William Rudolph. He departed in 1916 and new operator H.H. Bradbury took on the venue. The Majestic was next sold to two new operators who closed the venue for a refresh and name change at the end of August 1919.
Manager John Seifert of the Ideal decided to remove the Majestic’s “dated” Egyptian theme - of course, it was dated on purpose - which was “painted over” on the theater’s exterior and interior. The old Rialto at Richard and St. Paul closed. The New Rialto Theatre launched on October 4, 1919 with J. Warren Kerrigan in “A White Man’s Chance” and supported by “Dangerous Dan McGraw.” The Rialto later converted to sound to stay relevant.
The Rialto Theatre closed in February of 1955 and it looked like for the final time. It was operating as a sub-run double feature house but when the Columbia Theatre a block a way announced its closure in May of 1955 followed by demolition, the Rialto was reopened. As the city’s longest running movie theater built for film, the news was received well. The Rialto continued with a double feature grind policy all the way to October 1967.
Under a new operator, it had a brief run beginning in December of 1967 as the Rialto Adult Theatre. But the City of Dayton wasn’t thrilled with its operation and it was closed on May 26, 1968. The city closed down the Rialto as part of urban renewal; it was razed six months later.
The Columbia Theatre was built in 1913 launching December 6, 1913 with Helen Gardner as “The Princess of Bagdad” with music from the Wurlitzer Motion Picture Orchestra organ. It was just a block away from the Rialto Theatre which had opened in 1912. The Columbia was the deluxe first-run house at the time. Both theaters converted to sound to stay relevant.
The Columbia outlasted the neighboring Rialto Theatre which closed in February of 1955 and it looked like for the final time. But when the Columbia announced its closure in May of 1955 followed by demolition for a parking lot, the Rialto was reopened and it would well outlive the superior Columbia surviving more than 12 years.
Grand Opening of the Salem Theatre on February 16, 1928 with Bebe Daniels in “She’s a Sheik” with Johanna Grosse at the mighty Wurlitzer organ supported by a Pathé newsreel. H&K Cinema Enterprises took on the venue in January of 1964. It dropped it a year later and the venue continued independently until December 19, 1965 closing with José Ferrer in “Ship of Fools.”
Gebhart’s Opera House launched as a replacement to the burned Turner Opera House on March 12, 1877. In 1889, the theatre received a major refresh and renamed the Park Theatre. It’s where many Daytonians saw their first moving picture. The Park seemed dated and was closed in December of 1906. New operators Hurtig and Seamon Circuit gave the building a shocking $170,000 makeover kicking out the tenants to create a more spectacular venue. The Lyric launched September 2, 1907, as noted, with live vaudeville.
The Lyric added motion pictures to have shows featuring both live and filmed content. It converted to sound to stay current. The Lyric closed as a movie plus vaudeville venue on May 28, 1933. Homer V. Guy of the Columbia Theatre took on the location changing it to full time, sub-run double feature discount house called the Mayfair Theatre in June of 1933.
The Mayfair made a major change beginning on Spetember 9, 1939 when the Hirst Burlesque Circuit brought full-time burlesque to the stage in Dayton for the first time since 1934. Hirst had operations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Detroit. It was said to be the last true burly circuit sending out full-fledged 16-female performer shows.
The building was purchased in 1944 and received a new 25-year lease. The burly shows would be augmented by adult films as the porno chic era became fashionable. The Mayfair ended operation on December 1, 1968 with Cindy Embers in “The Case of the Stripping Wives” and Morganna live on stage. What a farewell show in Dayton. In January of 1969, the “Mayfair Lady” (actual name, Goddess of Liberty) - the 12' high, 500 pound 90-year old zinc statue that had been atop of the structure since the opera house unveiled her on July 4, 1879 - was removed and - despite the theater’s fire in January of 1969, hail, floods, high winds - was in excellent condition on her way to the Dayton Art Institute. That is, minus the wreath held in her left hand that went missing some 87 years earlier.
The RKO Colonial Theatre closed on January 30, 1965 with a double feature of “Walls of Hell” and “Blood Creature.” A salvage sale was held which included the stone goddesses at just $200 per goddess. A bargain.
The Royal 5¢ Theater opened on May 3, 1911. It became the Royal Feature Theater so that it could charge a dime at prime times. It closed February 24, 1923 and had an equipment sale the next day. It was converted to a retail store.
In its final year of operation, the Palace was busy with simulcast boxing, movies and live stage presentations including concerts that included acts such as Kiss, Queen and Barry Manilow. The theater went out in style with a vaudeville burlesque show on September 28, 1975. A salvage sale accompanied its demolition in October and November of 1975.
The Marro Theatre was at this address as a small theater. But when Ed Banker took on the venue in 1912, he decided to build an all new theater which opened as the Mirror Theatre in 1913. The Mirror closed as a silent house on January 27, 1929 with “Oh, Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight?” likely at end of lease. It appears to have been converted to a supermarket.
The “new” Grand Theatre launched here on November 26, 1906. The Grand under new operators became the Jewel Theater on November 26, 1908. Ben Wheeler took on the Jewel which was destroyed by a fire as a result of the flood making March 20, 1913 its last day of operation.
The Miller’s Grove Drive-In opened June 11, 1949 with a soft launch showing Ann Sothern and Jack Carson in “April Showers” and supported by a cartoon, newsreel and the short, “So You Want to Hold Your Wife” starring George O'Hanlon. The ozoner then went with its big splash in a full-fledged Grand Opening with Humphrey Bogart in “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” on June 24, 1949 where you could go for a swim and then enjoy a movie on the 56' x 56' screen.
22-year old Theodore C. Chifos launched the Apollo Theatre on February 28, 1914 with the film, “The Conspiracy” starring John Emerson. Its motto was “Pleasing pictures properly presented.” The Apollo converted to Western Electric sound on April 19, 1931 along with the Columbia Theatre. The Apollo closed likely due to its owner Henry Burkhardt’s passing on December 19, 1935 with, “We’re in the Money.” Herbert Byrd relaunched there as the Little Playhouse opening it as a 356-seat art house on January 11, 1936 with Douglas Fairbanks in “Mimi.” It was also going to have live plays in the mix. The Little Playhouse then closed with “Dodge City” on June 9, 1940. A salvage sale by the Cleveland Wrecking Company starting three days later.
Became the Regal Theatre on December 30, 1940 with a formal Grand Opening launch by operator Floyd Williamson in January of 1941. Went out of business in 1966.
(Typo by the trade press of the day. Eagle eye’s will spot the “Majestic Theatre” sign just beyond the Montgomery’s banner on the pole at right. The Dayton was elsewhere in downtown.)
The Corazon Cinema & Cafe closed temporarily on March 20, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened May 22, 2020. Unfortunately, the venue was closed permanently on January 28, 2021.
The Palace opened Christmas Day with a live stage show plus a film, “Alias the Deacon,” on Christmas Day 1927. It converted to sound to stay relevant and added live events to become the leading entertainment venue for African American audiences ahead of the Classic Theatre. The Palace completed its film run at the end of its thirty-year lease on December 19, 1957 with “The Scarlet Hour” and “Goodbye, My Lady.” In the 1960s, it held sporadic screenings and speeches until being sold in 1965 to convert the upper floors to apartments and create a live music venue space that failed to open. It did relaunch as a live sports venue for boxing in 1967.
In 1973, William “Wally” Ahmed Sababu took on the venue for religious services under the moniker of the Ghetto Palace. The venue’s “Palace” moniker had been usurped by the former Loew’s Theatre turned concert hall called the Palace Theatre in downtown Dayton. (That is where Queen and Kiss played rock concerts… not here.) A fire in early August of 1975 ended the Ghetto Palace’s run there and it moved two times thereafter. Many efforts were made to save the legendary African American theater which was vacant from 1975 to 2002. Despite its historical designation, the Palace was razed in 2002 just as its contemporary, the Classic Theatre, had been in 1991 ending Dayton’s vibrant legacy of African American cinema and live entertainment venues.
When Albertson’s grocery chain closed the majority of its locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, it was theater-goers who benefited as two closed Albertson’s were transformed into cinemas. The Studio Movie Grill: Royal in Dallas was the first and this location, the Venetian Movie Bar & Grill, was the second. The quirky theatre was a nice rebirth of movie going in Carrollton which once had multiple, multi-screen operations but had been left theatre-less for ten years since 2002.
The Venetian launched on September 4, 2012 and it initally drew on weekends but aged quickly with theatre chairs not up to the task. Further, off-putting elements including not having features on the phone, a subpar location sandwiched within a nondescript shopping strip, and a website that was often down would quickly catch-up to the indy theater. It closed for a brief period.
Ciné America came in to operate the theatre to prevent a death spiral. A changed menu with higher prices rankled what was left of its core patrons. C-A was likely considering transforming it to a Hispanic-based operation as it operated the theatre in Fort Worth’s La Gran Plaza. The circuit gave independent films and four-wallers a shot in the Venetian’s final days giving DFW-area exclusive presentations of a handful of features. But on May 8, 2016 – shy of its fourth anniversary – the theatre was mercifully closed.
But a new operator was identified hoping to reverse the fortunes. Andrew Thomas' second location of a Wellborne Spotlight Cinema and Grill (Alvin, TX being the other) came in to operate as of the July 4th weekend, 2016 with a soft launch of repertory/recent films and its full launch with new films on July 8, 2016. After trying Groupon incentives to get more foot traffic, the location closed after four months.
In April of 2017, it reopened as a Bollywood venue known as the Venetian Cinemas with occasional American movie hits. Final operators, the Fun Movie Grill added the Carrollton location to its Richardson and shared-lease location with Regal Cinemas in Irving. It relaunched as the Fun Movie Grill Carrollton on September 19, 2018 with a launch party. Fun would then take over the entire Macarthur Marketplace when Regal left in May/June of 2019.
The Fun locations all closed after screenings on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with many other theaters. Fun Carrollton was one of the first four hardtop theatres to relaunch in the DFW area on May 15, 2020 along with its Fun Macarthur Marketplace Irving, iPic Fairview and America Cinemas in Fort Worth. The Fun Carrollton closed again October 31, 2020 temporarily but then was announced as a permanent closure in January of 2021. With five operators in less than ten years of business, the location did not appear to be a fun venture.
Regal Culpeper 4 closed along with all of the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It remained closed for most of the remainder of the year, opening in September of 2020 before shutting down again on October 4, 2020. The city terminated its lease with Regal on February 13, 2021 making the closure permanent.
Frels Theatre Circuit launched the Cinema IV on July 6, 1984 as an outparcel building adjacent to the Victoria Mall in Texas. Architect of the $1.35 million project was Brookbank, Murphy and Shields of Columbus, Georgia. Theatre sizes were 306, 224, 196, 182 for a total of 908 seats. Five years later, Cinemark USA bought out Frels Theatre on July 22, 1989 and the Cinema IV was now a Cinemark property. Signs were put up saying Cinemark would expand the property to the Cinema VI – a project that did not occur.
When Cinemark launched its new 12-screen theatre behind Victoria Mall, it downgraded the Cinema IV to discount, sub-run status on May 11, 2001. That lasted until January 12, 2003 when Cinemark closed the property. It was soon demolished to make way for a Home Depot.
The YMCA was dedicated here in 1887 and left in May of 1908 at the end of a 20-year leasing period. The YMCA was taken on for entertainment on its main floor with The Annex Theater launching December 17, 1908. The upper floor was taken on by Will E. Deacon who launched the Hippodrome with a grand opening on March 11, 1909. Though there were many earlier examples of two stages under one roof especially in Opera Houses across the country, the two operations would become one when the Annex became the Auditorium (Theater). The operation operated briefly as the Hippodrome-Auditorium which was a rare, single-operator twin-screen operation.
The flood of 1913 closed the theatre for a short period but it was refreshed and in 1914 another refresh led to a name change. The Hippodrome nameplate was getting dated and the theatre was refreshed simply as the Auditorium Theatre under the Montgomery Circuit late in the year. Montgomery left the market and then went out of business with the lease reverting to the Rauh Borthers. That led to a new owner who had a lawsuit with the Rauhs that then led to it having a short stint as a burlesque house in 1914 by Gill Burrows of the Lyceum. The theater was refreshed as the New Auditorium getting another opening on October 2, 1915 with Clara Kimball Young in “Trilby.” You could pay 15 cents to get a feature film and shorts with a live orchestra on the main floor or you could pay “popular pricing” for 10 cents and just got live piano accompaniment.
The theatre was receiving yet another refresh in 1917 with a new Kimball organ. Fire on November 11, 1917 destroyed the facility and some pointed to the Kimball organ wiring as the reason for the blaze. Within days, plans were drawn for a new “single screen” Auditorium Theatre that would get the main and upper floors of the building. Based on the ending of the theatre, it must have been pretty heavily reinforced. The New Auditorium Theatre launched on October 25, 1919 with William Farnum in “The Wolves of the Night” and D. Ahern at the Kimball Organ.
New operator Ascher’s rebranded it as Ascher’s New Auditorium Theater on June 16, 1920 with Will Rogers in “Jes' Call Me Jim.” Ascher’s brought in none other than Samuel “Roxy” Rothaphel to oversee the high profile relaunch. On August 26, 1921, Ascher’s bolted from the venue. The venue reopened under new management September 24, 1921 under the name of the Auditorium Theatre.
The Miami Amusement Circuit - again under the Rauh Brothers - took on the venue for the third time on December 8, 1922 renaming it as the State Theater with Charles Ray in “A Tailor-Made Man" supported by Buster Keaton in “The Boat.” On September 19, 1923, the Rauhs transferred the theatre to B.F. Keith and the RKO Circuit on the first of two 20-year leasing agreements.
On September 30, 1923, after RKO refreshed the theater, it renamed the venue as the RKO State Theatre with Mary Philbin in “Merry Go Round.” The circuit added sound to keep the venue relevant. RKO dropped the facility at end of lease on October 28, 1964 rather unceremoniously with “Hercules in the Haunted World” and “Castle of Blood.” John Holokan and John C. Keyes of H&K Enterprises Circuit took on the theatre on October 29, 1964 with a double feature of “A Hard Day’s Night” and “For Those Who Think Young.” But sadly they soon found what RKO already knew, nobody was coming to the State for movies any longer. They closed after less than three months of operation ending the cinematic journey of the theater on January 18, 1965 with a double feature of Jerry Lewis in “The Nutty Professor” and Dale Robertson in “Law of the Lawless.”
The theatre had one more chance when it became home to the Dayton Community Theatre on a 5-year subleasing agreement in the Summer of 1965 launching with live stage plays. It opened with its original H&K State Theatre signage. The City of Dayton intervened and ordered the theater and upper level hotel, the New Auditorium Theatre, to cease operations in Summer of 1968 following the play, “Calamity Jane,” in the name of urban renewal. The hotel was closed but the theatre got a reprieve until 1970 when the agreement’s sublease reached expiry.
The King Wrecking Company came in to start demolition in April of 1970 while the theatrical group was still performing “Stop the World” - the theater’s swan song. The performers obviously wished they could say, “Stop the world, I want to get off (or out)” though they continued their performances despite the odd circumstances. And it was said that many performers took home souvenirs as the theatre’s deconstruction led to some interesting trinkets. The King Wrecking Co’s demolition took well over a year to complete due to the facility’s well-built construction. A salvage sale was held in summer of 1971.
Wife’s name was Bessie Potterf (1867-1933) with Sherman (1866-1931).
Technically, this is the Loew’s State Theatre - a repeat entry.
March 11, 1909
Just days after the big fire, a new architect and then a new contractor are brought in to rebuild the Auditorium former Hippodrome former YMCA
Frank T. Montgomery opened here as Montgomery’s Majestic Theater on March 4, 1912 with the Edison film, “Children Who Labor” and other selected shorts accompanied by an orchestra. Montgomery operated theatres in Georgia, South Carolina, and Florida. Montgomery left the Dayton location in 1915 with the Majestic going to William Rudolph. He departed in 1916 and new operator H.H. Bradbury took on the venue. The Majestic was next sold to two new operators who closed the venue for a refresh and name change at the end of August 1919.
Manager John Seifert of the Ideal decided to remove the Majestic’s “dated” Egyptian theme - of course, it was dated on purpose - which was “painted over” on the theater’s exterior and interior. The old Rialto at Richard and St. Paul closed. The New Rialto Theatre launched on October 4, 1919 with J. Warren Kerrigan in “A White Man’s Chance” and supported by “Dangerous Dan McGraw.” The Rialto later converted to sound to stay relevant.
The Rialto Theatre closed in February of 1955 and it looked like for the final time. It was operating as a sub-run double feature house but when the Columbia Theatre a block a way announced its closure in May of 1955 followed by demolition, the Rialto was reopened. As the city’s longest running movie theater built for film, the news was received well. The Rialto continued with a double feature grind policy all the way to October 1967.
Under a new operator, it had a brief run beginning in December of 1967 as the Rialto Adult Theatre. But the City of Dayton wasn’t thrilled with its operation and it was closed on May 26, 1968. The city closed down the Rialto as part of urban renewal; it was razed six months later.
The Columbia Theatre was built in 1913 launching December 6, 1913 with Helen Gardner as “The Princess of Bagdad” with music from the Wurlitzer Motion Picture Orchestra organ. It was just a block away from the Rialto Theatre which had opened in 1912. The Columbia was the deluxe first-run house at the time. Both theaters converted to sound to stay relevant.
The Columbia outlasted the neighboring Rialto Theatre which closed in February of 1955 and it looked like for the final time. But when the Columbia announced its closure in May of 1955 followed by demolition for a parking lot, the Rialto was reopened and it would well outlive the superior Columbia surviving more than 12 years.
Grand Opening of the Salem Theatre on February 16, 1928 with Bebe Daniels in “She’s a Sheik” with Johanna Grosse at the mighty Wurlitzer organ supported by a Pathé newsreel. H&K Cinema Enterprises took on the venue in January of 1964. It dropped it a year later and the venue continued independently until December 19, 1965 closing with José Ferrer in “Ship of Fools.”
The Orpheum launched June 24, 1913 with “The Rajahs” and “A Living Tomb.”
Gebhart’s Opera House launched as a replacement to the burned Turner Opera House on March 12, 1877. In 1889, the theatre received a major refresh and renamed the Park Theatre. It’s where many Daytonians saw their first moving picture. The Park seemed dated and was closed in December of 1906. New operators Hurtig and Seamon Circuit gave the building a shocking $170,000 makeover kicking out the tenants to create a more spectacular venue. The Lyric launched September 2, 1907, as noted, with live vaudeville.
The Lyric added motion pictures to have shows featuring both live and filmed content. It converted to sound to stay current. The Lyric closed as a movie plus vaudeville venue on May 28, 1933. Homer V. Guy of the Columbia Theatre took on the location changing it to full time, sub-run double feature discount house called the Mayfair Theatre in June of 1933.
The Mayfair made a major change beginning on Spetember 9, 1939 when the Hirst Burlesque Circuit brought full-time burlesque to the stage in Dayton for the first time since 1934. Hirst had operations in New York, Boston, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Pittsburgh and Detroit. It was said to be the last true burly circuit sending out full-fledged 16-female performer shows.
The building was purchased in 1944 and received a new 25-year lease. The burly shows would be augmented by adult films as the porno chic era became fashionable. The Mayfair ended operation on December 1, 1968 with Cindy Embers in “The Case of the Stripping Wives” and Morganna live on stage. What a farewell show in Dayton. In January of 1969, the “Mayfair Lady” (actual name, Goddess of Liberty) - the 12' high, 500 pound 90-year old zinc statue that had been atop of the structure since the opera house unveiled her on July 4, 1879 - was removed and - despite the theater’s fire in January of 1969, hail, floods, high winds - was in excellent condition on her way to the Dayton Art Institute. That is, minus the wreath held in her left hand that went missing some 87 years earlier.
The RKO Colonial Theatre closed on January 30, 1965 with a double feature of “Walls of Hell” and “Blood Creature.” A salvage sale was held which included the stone goddesses at just $200 per goddess. A bargain.
The Royal 5¢ Theater opened on May 3, 1911. It became the Royal Feature Theater so that it could charge a dime at prime times. It closed February 24, 1923 and had an equipment sale the next day. It was converted to a retail store.
In its final year of operation, the Palace was busy with simulcast boxing, movies and live stage presentations including concerts that included acts such as Kiss, Queen and Barry Manilow. The theater went out in style with a vaudeville burlesque show on September 28, 1975. A salvage sale accompanied its demolition in October and November of 1975.
J.D Hill closed the Ideal on August 18, 1945 with a double feature that included a western - something it had done for Hill’s 13 years of programming.
The Marro Theatre was at this address as a small theater. But when Ed Banker took on the venue in 1912, he decided to build an all new theater which opened as the Mirror Theatre in 1913. The Mirror closed as a silent house on January 27, 1929 with “Oh, Where is My Wandering Boy Tonight?” likely at end of lease. It appears to have been converted to a supermarket.
The “new” Grand Theatre launched here on November 26, 1906. The Grand under new operators became the Jewel Theater on November 26, 1908. Ben Wheeler took on the Jewel which was destroyed by a fire as a result of the flood making March 20, 1913 its last day of operation.
The Miller’s Grove Drive-In opened June 11, 1949 with a soft launch showing Ann Sothern and Jack Carson in “April Showers” and supported by a cartoon, newsreel and the short, “So You Want to Hold Your Wife” starring George O'Hanlon. The ozoner then went with its big splash in a full-fledged Grand Opening with Humphrey Bogart in “The Treasure of Sierra Madre” on June 24, 1949 where you could go for a swim and then enjoy a movie on the 56' x 56' screen.
22-year old Theodore C. Chifos launched the Apollo Theatre on February 28, 1914 with the film, “The Conspiracy” starring John Emerson. Its motto was “Pleasing pictures properly presented.” The Apollo converted to Western Electric sound on April 19, 1931 along with the Columbia Theatre. The Apollo closed likely due to its owner Henry Burkhardt’s passing on December 19, 1935 with, “We’re in the Money.” Herbert Byrd relaunched there as the Little Playhouse opening it as a 356-seat art house on January 11, 1936 with Douglas Fairbanks in “Mimi.” It was also going to have live plays in the mix. The Little Playhouse then closed with “Dodge City” on June 9, 1940. A salvage sale by the Cleveland Wrecking Company starting three days later.
Became the Regal Theatre on December 30, 1940 with a formal Grand Opening launch by operator Floyd Williamson in January of 1941. Went out of business in 1966.
(Typo by the trade press of the day. Eagle eye’s will spot the “Majestic Theatre” sign just beyond the Montgomery’s banner on the pole at right. The Dayton was elsewhere in downtown.)
The Corazon Cinema & Cafe closed temporarily on March 20, 2020 for the COVID-19 pandemic. It reopened May 22, 2020. Unfortunately, the venue was closed permanently on January 28, 2021.
The Palace opened Christmas Day with a live stage show plus a film, “Alias the Deacon,” on Christmas Day 1927. It converted to sound to stay relevant and added live events to become the leading entertainment venue for African American audiences ahead of the Classic Theatre. The Palace completed its film run at the end of its thirty-year lease on December 19, 1957 with “The Scarlet Hour” and “Goodbye, My Lady.” In the 1960s, it held sporadic screenings and speeches until being sold in 1965 to convert the upper floors to apartments and create a live music venue space that failed to open. It did relaunch as a live sports venue for boxing in 1967.
In 1973, William “Wally” Ahmed Sababu took on the venue for religious services under the moniker of the Ghetto Palace. The venue’s “Palace” moniker had been usurped by the former Loew’s Theatre turned concert hall called the Palace Theatre in downtown Dayton. (That is where Queen and Kiss played rock concerts… not here.) A fire in early August of 1975 ended the Ghetto Palace’s run there and it moved two times thereafter. Many efforts were made to save the legendary African American theater which was vacant from 1975 to 2002. Despite its historical designation, the Palace was razed in 2002 just as its contemporary, the Classic Theatre, had been in 1991 ending Dayton’s vibrant legacy of African American cinema and live entertainment venues.
When Albertson’s grocery chain closed the majority of its locations in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, it was theater-goers who benefited as two closed Albertson’s were transformed into cinemas. The Studio Movie Grill: Royal in Dallas was the first and this location, the Venetian Movie Bar & Grill, was the second. The quirky theatre was a nice rebirth of movie going in Carrollton which once had multiple, multi-screen operations but had been left theatre-less for ten years since 2002.
The Venetian launched on September 4, 2012 and it initally drew on weekends but aged quickly with theatre chairs not up to the task. Further, off-putting elements including not having features on the phone, a subpar location sandwiched within a nondescript shopping strip, and a website that was often down would quickly catch-up to the indy theater. It closed for a brief period.
Ciné America came in to operate the theatre to prevent a death spiral. A changed menu with higher prices rankled what was left of its core patrons. C-A was likely considering transforming it to a Hispanic-based operation as it operated the theatre in Fort Worth’s La Gran Plaza. The circuit gave independent films and four-wallers a shot in the Venetian’s final days giving DFW-area exclusive presentations of a handful of features. But on May 8, 2016 – shy of its fourth anniversary – the theatre was mercifully closed.
But a new operator was identified hoping to reverse the fortunes. Andrew Thomas' second location of a Wellborne Spotlight Cinema and Grill (Alvin, TX being the other) came in to operate as of the July 4th weekend, 2016 with a soft launch of repertory/recent films and its full launch with new films on July 8, 2016. After trying Groupon incentives to get more foot traffic, the location closed after four months.
In April of 2017, it reopened as a Bollywood venue known as the Venetian Cinemas with occasional American movie hits. Final operators, the Fun Movie Grill added the Carrollton location to its Richardson and shared-lease location with Regal Cinemas in Irving. It relaunched as the Fun Movie Grill Carrollton on September 19, 2018 with a launch party. Fun would then take over the entire Macarthur Marketplace when Regal left in May/June of 2019.
The Fun locations all closed after screenings on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic along with many other theaters. Fun Carrollton was one of the first four hardtop theatres to relaunch in the DFW area on May 15, 2020 along with its Fun Macarthur Marketplace Irving, iPic Fairview and America Cinemas in Fort Worth. The Fun Carrollton closed again October 31, 2020 temporarily but then was announced as a permanent closure in January of 2021. With five operators in less than ten years of business, the location did not appear to be a fun venture.