Newsreel Theatre

Cincinnati, OH

1301 Western Avenue

, Cincinnati, OH 45203 United States

(map)

Status:	Open
Screens:	Single Screen
Style:	Art Deco

Function:	Movies (Independent), Museum
Seats:	100
Chain:	Unknown

Architect:	Alfred Fellheimer, Stuart Wagner
Firm:	Unknown

With Alfred Fellheimer and Stuart Wagner as architects, the tiny Newsreel Theatre was part of one of the last of the great American railroad stations, the Cincinnati Union Terminal, an Art Deco masterpiece which opened in March, 1933, and remained in service for only 39 years.

The Newsreel opened and closed simultaneously. Its plush, over-sized seats provided travelers with a comfortable way to spend time waiting between trains by watching an hour's program of newsreels and short subjects. The terminal stills stands, converted into the Cincinnati Museum Center.

Contributed by Warren G. Harris

YOUR COMMENTS

The theatre is restored and part of the Museum Center at Union Station in Cincinnati. Last time I was there they showed old newsreels and the occasional historic presentation about the train station. BTW, for architecture fans, the Rookwood Tea room (the theatre's counterpart on the other side of the massive rotunda and lobby)is also intact. Only the concourse of the train station is gone (but the giant mosaics live on at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky airport.

posted by tiny on May 23, 2004 at 5:49pm

Some other newsreel and short subject cinemas located in train stations:

Grand Central Theatre, New York
South Station Theatre, Boston
Victoria Station News Theatre, London

posted by Ron Newman on May 19, 2005 at 8:23pm

The 100-seat Newsreel Theatre is operational as of this posting date. The Museum Center (formerly Union Terminal) shows informational videos about the offerings of the Center. In March 2005, Cincinnati World Cinema presented the PaddleFest Film Festival, 18 short films shown in three sessions, depicting white-water and travel kayaking. The event was held in conjunction with a Paddling and environmental exposition; the screenings were sold out.

Prior to that screening, Cincinnati World Cinema presented a Latino film festival back in '02, in conjunction with the Latin-American Culture Fest.

"Film" presentation is tenuous at best, as all they have is an old LCD projector with a failing bulb.

posted by MTS on Mar 27, 2006 at 8:41pm

Here are a few pictures of the terminal in the 30s. I didn't find any shots of the actual theater:
http://tinyurl.com/m28hu
http://tinyurl.com/l8quq

posted by ken mc on Sep 29, 2006 at 1:37pm

A recent photo can be seen here.

posted by Lost Memory on Jun 29, 2008 at 6:25pm

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