Franklin Theater

The Grand/Franklin Theater was originally the Grand Opera House owned and managed by Oscar Korns. The opera house was remodeled into a theater in 1910. In 1927, when the theater was renamed the Franklin, Gilda Gray’s Cabaret played here. About 1932, the theater became a “talkie”.

According to “Bay City and Matagorda County: A History” by Junann J. Stieghorst (1965), in the early 1920s, Mrs. Grady Kiser Chapman played piano during the movies on weekday afternoons and Saturdays. A banjoist named Glenn Ellis would join her occasionally. Chapman would “become so engrossed” in the movie that she would play progressively faster and louder until L.E. Miller, manager, would tap her on the shoulder to bring her back to reality.

Clara Bow, the one-time “It Girl”, was called “The Flame” because of her red hair, and Miller would admit all red-haired people for free when one of her movies was showing.

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater