Xtassy Theatre
5231 Frankford Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19124
4 people favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Stanley-Warner Theatres, Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: William Harold Lee
Functions: Retail
Styles: French Renaissance
Previous Names: Forum Theatre, Ellis Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Forum Theatre opened June 25, 1928 for motion pictures and stage shows. The marquee was decorated with neon glass tubes in orange and blue. The theatre was 92' x 319' and all seating was on the main floor. It had a Kilgen 3 manual 9 ranks organ which had its console on an elevator, a large orchestra pit and a fully equipped stage. In the 1940’s, the Forum Theatre is listed as being operated by Stanley-Warner.
By 1957 it had been re-named Ellis Theatre and was operated by the A.M. Ellis Theaters Co. chain. By the 1970’s it was showing X-rated movies as the Xtassy Theatre, closing in the late-1970’s to be subsequently demolished. The façade and foyer were saved and are in use as a liquor store.
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Recent comments (view all 22 comments)
Here is another view of the facade:
http://tinyurl.com/yct8rhn
“Glamor Treatment for Neighborhood House"
Article with photos in Boxoffice magazine, April 7, 1956:
View link
Gerald – the link doesn’t work.
Eric,
That’s because Boxoffice magazine has just completely screwed up its website and most of its back issues are no longer available. Sad. The link worked up to a few days ago.
damn! I am looking for pics of the Ellis Theatre inside and out to put on facebook. I have one from 1956 but thats it.
Gerald – I guess we can forget this link. It still doesn’t work and it doesn’t look like Boxoffice nagazine is going to fix it. That’s too bad but thank’s anyway!
The link is working again — thanks!
June 24th, 1928 grand opening ad as a live theatre in the photo section.
Closed by July 14th, 1974
Xtasy theatre closing Mon, Jul 15, 1974 – Page 9 · The Philadelphia Inquirer (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com
Reopened as the Ellis theatre on June 30th, 1955. Another ad posted.