Midway Theatre

I show that the Midway closed in 1979. I guess seating differed from source to source but the Glazer book listed the seating at 2,371.

I was the Manager of this theatre when it closed in 1977 - Demolished probably in 1979. Our final "Double-Feature" was The Deep / Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger.
The owner had spent a good deal of money upgrading the interior and had all of the seats removed/replaced and re-spaced (reducing the seating capacity to the 2371) in anticipation of signing a contract with Electric Factory concerts to present live concert shows there.
Things were progressing smoothly until a local activist group "KAN" (Kensington Action Now) threated protests and legal action if the Theatre presented rock shows. Their ridiculous argument was that the concerts would "bring drugs" into what was at the time a notoriously drug-infested area! Rather than proceed, the owner secretly sold the property and it was demolished and turned into a (now closed, I understand) Pearl Vision center and a Burger King, with a lot of unoccupied "dead" space surrounding. We closed the theatre without notice or fanfare: one day we were just "gone." Too bad "KAN" was so shortsighted (and blind to their surroundings). The theatre's owner had every intention of restoring that theatre (which had an enormous stage, complete with a huge light board, trap doors, an orchestra pit and 3 stories of dressing rooms with giant lightbulb-ringed mirrors, makeup tables and showers on every floor...leftovers from its' vaudeville/big band-show days) which probably would have had a positive effect on the neighborhood. Hope they enjoyed that Pearl Vision center while it lasted.

The Film Daily Yearbook of 1945 shows seating for 2780 at the Midway.

I'm positive it closed to the public in 1977: I still have the theatre's "grosses" book from that year! Also, right after it closed, the owner transferred me immediately to another of his theatres, the Arcadia (also now closed) to work with the first-run feature "The Goodbye Girl," which was also a 1977 film.
As far as the seating: there was a 400+ seat balcony that was closed to the public (to save on cleaning costs - it was perfectly safe & sound), which may account for seating differences. When the seats were re-spaced -and capacity reduced- in early '75 (before I worked there: I was at another of the owner's theatres when this work was done -- The Merben, which was demolished, too), they were issued a new maximum-capacity sign from the city inspection board with the "2300" number on it and I assume the new sign reflected the new capacity. As a footnote, I also worked at the Midway as an Usher/Doorman/and emergency assistant Mgr in the late 60's - early 70's. It was owned by RKO Stanley-Warner at that time but I don't remember what the earlier (posted) seating-capacity sign read. I have some photos of the theatre being demolished & some earlier pics, too. I'll post one in the "photo" section when I have time to dig them out. I worked at at least a dozen theatres in Philly around this time (The Boyd, Stanley, Palace and more) but the Midway - even in near-ruins - was always my favorite.

From my understanding, the Midway Theatre building was owned by Sam Shapiro (who also owned the Uptown Theatre building, and the Sameric Theatres chain), but the theatre, and the Uptown Theatre, was leased to Stanley Warner, later RKO Stanley Warner.

The site where the Midway stood has been vacated by Burger King (later a Blockbuster Video store) and Pearle Vision.

Although my employer, the last owner of the Midway, never told me directly, it was my understanding that Sam Shapiro relinquished ownership to several theatres as part of an alimony agreement. His ex-wife then transferred ownership (or management) of the theatres to their son, Ben, who ran them under seperate corporate names/companies, for tax purposes. The theatres and their (final) corporate owners were The Midway / Keystone State Theatre Company , The Merben (named after Shapiro brothers Merton and Ben) / Merben Theatre Company and the Arcadia /Arcadia Theatre Company. The Devon theatre may also have been involved in this: I just can't remember. As a further complication, until the mid-70's, the Merben was partly owned by Sam Shapiro and the Fox Corporation in a deal that also involved the Mayfair Theatre, which was located in the immediate proximity of the Merben and Devon. Apparently, the rival Fox/Shapiro companies were "killing each other off" by building competing theatres in the same immediate area. When a fourth theatre was under construction in the area, a deal was struck to share profits of the first three theatres for a period of 25 years and convert the fourth (unfinished) theatre into a roller skating rink instead (which is what was done). The Fox/Shapiro deal expired sometime in the 70's; ownership of the Merben reverted to Shapiro, who then included the Merben in the Midway/Arcadia divorce settlement shortly thereafter.
As I said, this was never spelled out for me by the owner but the story was repeated to me almost verbatim by most of his long-term associates and employees and seemed totally credible, from what I observed. Ben and the other Shapiros (Sam and Merton) seemed to continue a fine, supportive (yet competitive) business and personal relationship throughout all of this and I was sometimes recruited to help out at any/all of their collective theatres, from time to time. Ben (my employer) had a real love of the business and it's too bad the dawning multiplex business-model forced him to close his theatres as he always aimed for a first-class operation and tried to upgrade the Merben & Midway (as I mentioned before), until it became financially unfeasable to do so.

This was one of the theaters of my youth. I lived on Willard Street, and spent Saturdays and Sundays at matinees at the Midway. I can recall a nickle admission which then was raised to ten cents. This is back in the 50s. I also haunted the Iris Theater around the corner. The inside of the Midway was special, though. The walls were decorated with art nouveau painted or etched figures behind long wall sconces that were dimmed dramatically at the beginning of each show. I used to get a real thrill out of that as a kid. I can't recall a balcony, but I thought the theater was on two levels. Perhaps the upper level only housed restrooms? I recall seeing many a great Hollywood musical here, as well as "Julius Caesar" with Brando, and "Blackboard Jundlge" with Poitier.

I worked at the Midway from 1964 to early 1968. The film playing when I started was "The Seven Faces of Dr. Lao." I remember the balcony being opened for some shows when the crowed was large, usually matinees. Ususally it was closed but you could normally find a policeman sitting up there getting out of the cold or the heat and watching the film.
When I was younger there were some live shows there with local celebrities like Roland and Sally Star.
Art S.

What a great art deco interior! When Burger King purchased/leased the lot and threatened to tear it down which it did, people protested at nearby BKs by making their purchases by paying in pennies. The "protest" did not work. K and A lost a giant when they razed the Midway.

Did the Merben have another name?

Hey Frank, did your brother also work at the Midway?
Art S.

Here is a 1932 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/s6ap6

Frank DeLorca, can you add anything to iobdennis' description of the interior of the Midway?
I remember the Midway as having the coldest air conditioning of any theater I've ever been in including the downtown palaces.
My recollection of the Midway dates to the mid 1950's onward to 1965, as I recall there were 5 aisles in this behemoth of a showplace.

Here is the 1932 photo again, as I apparently botched the first one:
http://tinyurl.com/jwhzp

Dear Frank,
Did the Merben have another name before being named for Mervin and Ben? Is the roller rink now a self-storage place up near the Merben parking lot? I think it was called Concord Lanes. I guess it was never a theater even though it looks like one.

I saw "Murder on the Orient Express" and "The Last of Sheila" at this grand place. As I recall, the Midway was extremely art deco. There was a small, separate balcony which was closed for reasons indicated above.
I hope those protesters are enjoying their closed-up Burger King too!

Protest in 1971:
http://tinyurl.com/2upaqr

I remember The Midway very fondly as a child. There were two films that I saw there that I can recall. The first "Mary Poppins" and a few years later I went with my Dad, the only time i can ever remember going to the movies with him to see "Dr Zhivago". I don't remember there being a balcony there, but i guess there was according to reports. One of the films that was shown there that I really wanted to see but they told me I was too young was "Valley Of The Dolls" Back then they didn't have ratings for films. "Valley" had a rating of "M" for mature audiences. I finally saw it later in life and would have loved to have seen it on "the big screen".

There was a small balcony; there is no doubt about that.

I went to Mastbaum High, starting in Fall 1981-- all I ever saw was the worthless Burger King; that's gone now too? How grand the Midway must have been.

Gerald Clough
Mastbaum '84

There were 3 movie theaters in the same area, the Midway, the Kent and the????? Can anyone help me out???

The Iris -- just around the corner from the Midway. It was on Kensington Ave, just off Allegheny Ave.

Thank you Frank, my husband and I were going crazy trying to come up with the name of that 3rd theater.

I worked as an usher at the Midway during the summer of 1956 while a student at NE High. I was paid 60 cents per hour and I remember one of my jobs was to wake people up after the last show who were asleep.

earlaney, did the ushers wear uniforms? would you please describe them?

Yes,we wore uniforms and carried flashlights. I remember during the time I worked there (1956) they exchanged our old uniforms for a new "modern" style uniform. If I remember correctly, we went from a short jacket with a bow tie to a suit length jacket with a regular tie. I believe they were dark blue. We used to change our clothes in one of the old dressing rooms behind the stage on an upper floor.

We were still wearing those heavy, hot, woolen jackets in the late 60s when I started working there! They had gold braid, brass buttons with the "SW" logo on them (for Stanley-Warner)and a gold SW shoulder patch. No matter how many times we took them to the cleaners, we couldn't get rid of their odd, musty smell. In the early 70s, they bought us some great new (and lightweight) black tuxedo jackets with thin black satin lapels. Those were a welcome change! I still have a few of the original uniform's brass buttons & a patch, too... somewhere!

Here is a 1967 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/c936nk

Great photo. I remember the Midway well. I was working there as an assistant manager in 1967.