Penypak Theatre

Howard, the marquee that’s currently on the Holme Theatre is triangular — that is, it has two faces, both of which are at a slight angle to one another — and trust me, it is not the original marquee by any means. Meantime, even though I never got to experience the Holme when it still was open as a theater, that’s not to say I have no memories of it when it was a theater building. Having been renamed the Pennypack during its last years as a theater, I have good memories of when it was the Pennypack Theatre all boarded up, and by that point the triangular marquee was in place of the original rectangular one. My guess is they were attempting to make the theater look more modern among other things. I also remember the title that was on the marquee (perhaps missing a letter or two), it was “The White Sheep.” And that title remained there until the building was eventually reopened as other than a theater. Now interesting to note, right next door to the Holme Theatre building (where the lower half of the parking lot is today) had been Holme Drug Store, and looking at that one and only photo of when the Holme Theatre was in full swing (taken 1935 or so) it appears to me that when the Holme Theatre changed its name to Pennypack, the Holme Drug Store next door got the original Holme Theatre sign. Meantime, as for the Holme Theatre’s original marquee, going by that 1930s photo it looks like it doubled as an outdoor balcony of sorts. Hence explaining those doorway like formations in the original Art Deco upper part of the theater’s front exterior — which is still intact today (though the doorway formations have long been sealed up.)

When this theater was in its prime (when that 1930s photo was taken) Holmesburg had been involved in bootlegging activity during Prohibition. This I know, because my father grew up in a house somewhere along Frankford Avenue, and he remembered looking out the bedroom window late at night to hear muffled voices in an alleyway running behind the yards, and seeing shadowy figures and cars back there, and boxes of contraband being moved from one vehicle to another via flashlight. And then the cars would part their separate way. And just to show how little times have changed since then, back last October, when I attended the Holmesburg Civic Association meeting and it was the very first time I suggested the old Holme Theatre building be brought back as a neighbrhood movie theater again, the MAIN topic of that meeting that night was all the unsavory criminal activity (most of it illegal drug trafficking) going on in the historic old African American community that’s right behind the Holme Theatre building. The African Americans who live back there — and who are all very decent people, by the way — don’t want any part of that illegal drug scene but are forced to accept it anyway because they’re black in an area that when Rizzo came to power as Mayor in 1971 was mistakenly forced into becoming predominantly blue collar white and has been forced to be ever since. Today, however, it’s on its last leg with Councilwoman Joan Krajewski soon to be retiring, she being the last leftover up here from the Rizzo era. Which is why I’ve been saying all along that turning the old Holme Theatre building into a mini mall is a mistake. I was just trying to help the new owners from losing their shirts is all. At the same time, and this I didn’t know when I first came forth with the restoring it as a theater idea last autumn, it’s not quite time yet to make it a theater again. I was on the right track with that idea, but too much the early bird as it were. And as luck would have it I got the worm, to which I can only say “Yuck!!!”

Anyway, right now Holmesburg’s in that very in-between period, and I can’t invest, and I can’t sway other investors I’m teamed up with to invest, until the smoke finally clears on that. And the gambling that’s coming to Philadelphia is going to really muck things up both on my end and yours, Howard. Though on my end not quite as much as yours, since no slots parlors have been proposed for up here. But we do have this nuisance thing called the Independence Pointe development proposal (which isn’t far from the Holme Theatre building) to worry about. And that’s gotta be taken by the horns and steered the right way somehow. And it ain’t easy when those in charge of it, including U.S. Representative Allyson Schwartz, have I.Q.s something like -3. But she’ll be gone after next November, so I’m not too put off by that, just so long as we can keep the Independence Pointe proposal stalled till then. And so far so good on that.

Here are two interesting views from the Philadelphia Architects & Buildings site. The first is an architectural rendering. Note the different spelling. The second is a 1941 photo from the Irvin Glazer collection:
http://tinyurl.com/2ubcn5
http://tinyurl.com/33hksc

Yes, that’s so typical of how it is around there now. It’s the current state of the Philadelphia economy, what more can I say?

Compare this view to the photos of the facade in January 2006:
http://tinyurl.com/nywfjx

Warner-Equity Theatres launched the new Holme Theatre with sound pictures on October 11, 1929 with “On With the Show” supported by “Look Out Below.” The theatre was named after Thomas Holme and was in the Holemsburg neighborhood of Philly. The Holme closed after the January 8, 1942 showing of “Hold That Ghost” for a major $100,000 refresh. On March 17, 1942, it was relaunched as the Penypak Theatre with Kay Kyser in “The Playmates.”

The Penypak scuffled in the 1950s along with many neighborhood movie houses. In 1950, the independent operator, Melvin Fox, sued the eight major Hollywood distributors citing a cartel that didn’t allow it access to key first run films. That and similar suits at that time around the country led to the Paramount decree that would break up the cartel. The Penypak Theatre initially closed at the expiry of a leasing period on September 27, 1951 with “The Great Caruso.” The former Penypak became the short-lived Herby’s Auction House. A boy got his hand stuck in the Penypak popcorn machine during an auction requiring rescue by the fire department. The auction house closed early in 1954 with the building offered for sale.

The Penypak re-emerged on a grind policy by Mr. Fox on May 8, 1955 with “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea” and “Desiree.” The venue had a new 40' screen and widescreen projection to present CinemaScope titles. But the Penypak’s audience loss was not stemmed and it soon cased operations on October 30, 1955 with Anne Appleton in the exploitation film, “The Desperate Women,” supported by Richard Coogan in “Girl on the Run” ending the venue’s cinematic journey.

After being offered for sale without a buyer, the theatre was auctioned off on July 12, 1956 for $70,000. It resumed auction services for a short period. In 1959, it was a showplace with live plays by the Pinypak players. That only lasted three months closing just prior the theater’s 30th Anniversary. The building was again sold in 1962 for $52,500 to a furniture retailer beginning a long retail career.