Interesting. I first saw RAINTREE at Loew’s Regent in Harrisburg in 1957 while I was still in high school. I loved the film, well, really loved John Green’s score at any rate, and would have seen it again in Philly while I was in college, probably the early ‘60s.
Thanks. I did see a photo of the Boyd and there seemed to be a theater called the Aldine down the street from it. That’s where I remember the Viking was.
I also remember sneaking in from West Chester U one evening to see a re-issue of RAINTREE COUNTY at the Viking. It seemed like a new theater then and had a good wide screen. Apparently it was a competent renovation.
There was also a sort of grubby, 42nd St.-type theater on Market St. that showed second run double bills? I forget the name of that. I think I saw THE PUMPKIN EATER and other foreign films there.
I grew up on Liberty St. a block down from the Penway. (On the block opposite Lincoln Elementary where I went to school). I have one photo of the Penway, a snapshot that my dad took when my mother and I were standing in line. I was about six or seven years old at the time. It’s not really sharp but it is the only Penway photo I’ve ever seen.
I also have a more professional photo of the Rio.
I’d like to add the Penway and other Harrisburg neighborhood theaters to this site. I’m assuming they are not listed as yet. At least I’ve not been able to find them.
I’ve read a lot of your posts and was hoping you might respond to one of mine. The Senate was one of my favorite theaters and I was really interested in your comments, particularly about the pool hall. (I had no idea). It’s so difficult (and rare) to find reliable information about these theaters and I appreciate your postings very much.
This is a great site! I discovered it over the holidays but it took awhile for me to get registered.
I loved this theater. It was almost exactly like some of the neighborhood theaters I used to attend when I was a kid in Harrisburg. I lived through the razing of the vintage theaters on the second block of N. Queen St. in Lancaster but it still broke my heart when the Main went.
I do remember that towards the end the roof was leaking and certain sections of seats were roped off lest the ceiling fell on someone!
I remember seeing Disney’s “Song of the South” at the Main, during what was probably its last re-issue prior to its being withdrawn from circulation.
The guys who ran the Marietta Theatre some years ago also ran a recording studio. I recorded a score for a short film by New York animator Michael Sporn in the Marietta. My original music won an award for “Best Animated Score” in the ASIFA-East FIlm Festival in New York that year. (I’ll have to check on the date, circa 1965-70).
Does anyone know the current status of this theater?
I remember when the Uptown opened it was an impressive state-of-the-art theater for Harrisburg. There was an “isolation booth” for crying babies at the back of the theater.
In the ‘50s I also seem to remember them showing foreign and off-beat films.
There were other uptown theaters in Harrisburg that I recall. The Broad (near the Broad St. market and shopping district and not quite reputable), the Rialto, and the National. None of these are mentioned here in Cinema Treasures.
I had a buddy on West End Avenue at 97th and it was great to be able to walk down to see a film (or films) at the old Thalia and to eat Chinese on Broadway before or afterwards. It was a sweet theater and a great period. (The Beatles had just released Magical Mystery Tour).
There is an Edward Hopper painting of an usherette leaning against the wall of a dimly lit theater that always reminds me of the Thalia.
A few years ago you could still make out the name of Esther Williams in those black plastic letters on the marquee of the Rialto. I have a photo somewhere.
I really got to know the Boyd when I was college at West Chester, but when I was younger my parents had taken me into Philly to see “Seven Wonders of the World” in Cinerama. I remember looking over the edge of the balcony because the sound was so realistic I thought there was an orchestra down there. I also remember seeing MGM’s “Ben-Hur” and “Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” (in 3-panel Cinerama).
When I was in college I saw Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” there. It was in some odd European wide-screen process but still very impressive on the Boyd’s still wide screen.
veyoung mentions a planned reopening. Is the Boyd building still even there?
I also remember the Viking, a little ways down Chestnet St. from the Boyd. I remember sneaking in from West Chester one evening to see a re-issue of “Raintree County” there.
There was also a small theater about a block over from Chestnut (as I recall). It used to show double features of second-run foreign (and probably other) films, sort of like some of the theaters on old 42nd St. in NYC. I don’t remember the name of it it but I went there a lot after college.
This is a great photo before the decline of the old Colonial. Very nice to see it that way again.
I have some photos taken after the Colonial collapsed. I also have a photo, circa 1910, of the original building, the Lochiel Hotel at 3rd & Market before the Colonial was added to it. The building was pretty much restored to its original state after the collapse.
I remember seeing “The Day the Earth Stood Still” at the Colonial.
BTW It was the Penway, a neighborhood theater on State St. (17th & State?) I grew up about a block away from it on Liberty St.
Downtown there was also Loew’s Regent, the MGM flagship theater, on Market St. across from the railroad station. And the Rio on Walnut St. across from Capitol Park. All the vintage Harrisburg theaters now long gone.
I’m now also living in California.
I went to college in West Chester and seem to remember the Warner having a kind of art deco Egyptian motif. It was very impressive, at any rate. Movies were getting more permissive and much steamier when I was in college and I saw A Summer Place and Splendor in the Grass at the Warner. Both were the talk of the campus for days afterwards.
Didn’t the Warner Theater on High St. have an Egyptian motif? I went to college in West Chester. I remember the Harrison being nondescript and on the way out even then, circa 1965. I remember seeing A SUMMER PLACE at the Warner.
Does anyone remember a theater in West Chester, PA., that had an Egyptian theme? (This in the same general area as the Grand here under discussion though in Chester County). I went there when I was in college and seem to recall it was rather grand. There were two theaters in West Chester, again as I recall, the second – the Harrison? – was fairly nondescript.
Senate Theater, Electric Eye Door, photo by Ross Care.
This original photo is from my blog, and was taken sometime before the Senate Theater was torn down.
My blog, Rossano 70, is mostly about film and film music but includes some photos of vintage theaters. Please feel free to surf it and to add comments. (Hope this link works). Thanks.
I lived in Harrisburg and my parents took me to Lancaster to see WINDJAMMER at the King Theater. It probably had the largest screen in Lancaster until it was twined.
Actually there was a new theater, the Eric? – in the new Lancaster Square on the second block of N. Queen St. It probably had the largest new screen in the city until it too was split in half and it was like watching a movie in a long shoe box.
Before the split I saw DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER on the huge Eric Panavision screen about six times.
The King outlasted most of the old theaters in Lancaster, most of which were razed in the “redevelopment” of the ‘60s, after which the Eric rose out of the ashes.
The Eric Pacific 3 was on the third block of N. Queen St. in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The second block of N. Queen St. included four classic movie houses, some of which had histories as legitimate and vaudeville theaters. (None of them seem to be included among the Cinema Treasures listings).
The entire second block (including the huge old Brunswick Hotel) was torn down sometime in the 1960s. The Pacific 3 aka (as I recall) the Pacific East, replaced the vintage theaters which had been so cruelly and foolishly destroyed. As the photo (link) shows there was no real style to the new theater though the interior had that scarlet red flocked wallpaper that made it seem you were walking into a Chinese bordello. (This was a generic look which could be found in theaters of the same period almost anywhere, including the east side of New York City).
During the Three Mile Island nuclear accident the Pacific East showed, very ironically, THE CHINA SYNDROME!
The classic Disney features (initially released by RKO, then Buena Vista) were always screened first-run at the Senate. It also showed Universal International and I saw pictures like CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in 3-D there. And a re-issue of KING KONG which was a big event for kids in the ‘50s.
When CinemaScope premiered HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE and other Fox films were shown though the Senate screen was really not big enough to contain an impressively huge 'Scope image. (Only the State in Harrisburg could do that).
The Senate was the last downtown movie house standing and it broke my heart when it was razed. It was a great little theater and I loved it.
I have a photo of the electric eye door which I will try to post if I am able.
Interesting. I first saw RAINTREE at Loew’s Regent in Harrisburg in 1957 while I was still in high school. I loved the film, well, really loved John Green’s score at any rate, and would have seen it again in Philly while I was in college, probably the early ‘60s.
Thanks. I did see a photo of the Boyd and there seemed to be a theater called the Aldine down the street from it. That’s where I remember the Viking was.
I also remember sneaking in from West Chester U one evening to see a re-issue of RAINTREE COUNTY at the Viking. It seemed like a new theater then and had a good wide screen. Apparently it was a competent renovation.
There was also a sort of grubby, 42nd St.-type theater on Market St. that showed second run double bills? I forget the name of that. I think I saw THE PUMPKIN EATER and other foreign films there.
I grew up on Liberty St. a block down from the Penway. (On the block opposite Lincoln Elementary where I went to school). I have one photo of the Penway, a snapshot that my dad took when my mother and I were standing in line. I was about six or seven years old at the time. It’s not really sharp but it is the only Penway photo I’ve ever seen.
I also have a more professional photo of the Rio.
I’d like to add the Penway and other Harrisburg neighborhood theaters to this site. I’m assuming they are not listed as yet. At least I’ve not been able to find them.
I’ve read a lot of your posts and was hoping you might respond to one of mine. The Senate was one of my favorite theaters and I was really interested in your comments, particularly about the pool hall. (I had no idea). It’s so difficult (and rare) to find reliable information about these theaters and I appreciate your postings very much.
This is a great site! I discovered it over the holidays but it took awhile for me to get registered.
Also: does anyone remember the Viking up the street from the Boyd?
Was there a Sam Goody’s record store across from or near the Goldman?
PS: The photos posted by LostMemory are great. Thanks.
I loved this theater. It was almost exactly like some of the neighborhood theaters I used to attend when I was a kid in Harrisburg. I lived through the razing of the vintage theaters on the second block of N. Queen St. in Lancaster but it still broke my heart when the Main went.
I do remember that towards the end the roof was leaking and certain sections of seats were roped off lest the ceiling fell on someone!
I remember seeing Disney’s “Song of the South” at the Main, during what was probably its last re-issue prior to its being withdrawn from circulation.
The guys who ran the Marietta Theatre some years ago also ran a recording studio. I recorded a score for a short film by New York animator Michael Sporn in the Marietta. My original music won an award for “Best Animated Score” in the ASIFA-East FIlm Festival in New York that year. (I’ll have to check on the date, circa 1965-70).
Does anyone know the current status of this theater?
Was the Steelton theater the Elton? (Or something like that?)
I remember when the Uptown opened it was an impressive state-of-the-art theater for Harrisburg. There was an “isolation booth” for crying babies at the back of the theater.
In the ‘50s I also seem to remember them showing foreign and off-beat films.
There were other uptown theaters in Harrisburg that I recall. The Broad (near the Broad St. market and shopping district and not quite reputable), the Rialto, and the National. None of these are mentioned here in Cinema Treasures.
I had a buddy on West End Avenue at 97th and it was great to be able to walk down to see a film (or films) at the old Thalia and to eat Chinese on Broadway before or afterwards. It was a sweet theater and a great period. (The Beatles had just released Magical Mystery Tour).
There is an Edward Hopper painting of an usherette leaning against the wall of a dimly lit theater that always reminds me of the Thalia.
A few years ago you could still make out the name of Esther Williams in those black plastic letters on the marquee of the Rialto. I have a photo somewhere.
I really got to know the Boyd when I was college at West Chester, but when I was younger my parents had taken me into Philly to see “Seven Wonders of the World” in Cinerama. I remember looking over the edge of the balcony because the sound was so realistic I thought there was an orchestra down there. I also remember seeing MGM’s “Ben-Hur” and “Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm” (in 3-panel Cinerama).
When I was in college I saw Fellini’s “La Dolce Vita” there. It was in some odd European wide-screen process but still very impressive on the Boyd’s still wide screen.
veyoung mentions a planned reopening. Is the Boyd building still even there?
I also remember the Viking, a little ways down Chestnet St. from the Boyd. I remember sneaking in from West Chester one evening to see a re-issue of “Raintree County” there.
There was also a small theater about a block over from Chestnut (as I recall). It used to show double features of second-run foreign (and probably other) films, sort of like some of the theaters on old 42nd St. in NYC. I don’t remember the name of it it but I went there a lot after college.
This is a great photo before the decline of the old Colonial. Very nice to see it that way again.
I have some photos taken after the Colonial collapsed. I also have a photo, circa 1910, of the original building, the Lochiel Hotel at 3rd & Market before the Colonial was added to it. The building was pretty much restored to its original state after the collapse.
I remember seeing “The Day the Earth Stood Still” at the Colonial.
BTW It was the Penway, a neighborhood theater on State St. (17th & State?) I grew up about a block away from it on Liberty St.
Downtown there was also Loew’s Regent, the MGM flagship theater, on Market St. across from the railroad station. And the Rio on Walnut St. across from Capitol Park. All the vintage Harrisburg theaters now long gone.
I’m now also living in California.
I went to college in West Chester and seem to remember the Warner having a kind of art deco Egyptian motif. It was very impressive, at any rate. Movies were getting more permissive and much steamier when I was in college and I saw A Summer Place and Splendor in the Grass at the Warner. Both were the talk of the campus for days afterwards.
Didn’t the Warner Theater on High St. have an Egyptian motif? I went to college in West Chester. I remember the Harrison being nondescript and on the way out even then, circa 1965. I remember seeing A SUMMER PLACE at the Warner.
Does anyone remember a theater in West Chester, PA., that had an Egyptian theme? (This in the same general area as the Grand here under discussion though in Chester County). I went there when I was in college and seem to recall it was rather grand. There were two theaters in West Chester, again as I recall, the second – the Harrison? – was fairly nondescript.
Senate Theater, Electric Eye Door, photo by Ross Care.
This original photo is from my blog, and was taken sometime before the Senate Theater was torn down.
My blog, Rossano 70, is mostly about film and film music but includes some photos of vintage theaters. Please feel free to surf it and to add comments. (Hope this link works). Thanks.
View link
I lived in Harrisburg and my parents took me to Lancaster to see WINDJAMMER at the King Theater. It probably had the largest screen in Lancaster until it was twined.
Actually there was a new theater, the Eric? – in the new Lancaster Square on the second block of N. Queen St. It probably had the largest new screen in the city until it too was split in half and it was like watching a movie in a long shoe box.
Before the split I saw DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER on the huge Eric Panavision screen about six times.
The King outlasted most of the old theaters in Lancaster, most of which were razed in the “redevelopment” of the ‘60s, after which the Eric rose out of the ashes.
The Eric Pacific 3 was on the third block of N. Queen St. in downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The second block of N. Queen St. included four classic movie houses, some of which had histories as legitimate and vaudeville theaters. (None of them seem to be included among the Cinema Treasures listings).
The entire second block (including the huge old Brunswick Hotel) was torn down sometime in the 1960s. The Pacific 3 aka (as I recall) the Pacific East, replaced the vintage theaters which had been so cruelly and foolishly destroyed. As the photo (link) shows there was no real style to the new theater though the interior had that scarlet red flocked wallpaper that made it seem you were walking into a Chinese bordello. (This was a generic look which could be found in theaters of the same period almost anywhere, including the east side of New York City).
During the Three Mile Island nuclear accident the Pacific East showed, very ironically, THE CHINA SYNDROME!
The classic Disney features (initially released by RKO, then Buena Vista) were always screened first-run at the Senate. It also showed Universal International and I saw pictures like CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON and IT CAME FROM OUTER SPACE in 3-D there. And a re-issue of KING KONG which was a big event for kids in the ‘50s.
When CinemaScope premiered HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE and other Fox films were shown though the Senate screen was really not big enough to contain an impressively huge 'Scope image. (Only the State in Harrisburg could do that).
The Senate was the last downtown movie house standing and it broke my heart when it was razed. It was a great little theater and I loved it.
I have a photo of the electric eye door which I will try to post if I am able.