Liberty Theater
1333 Walnut Street,
Murphysboro,
IL
62966
1333 Walnut Street,
Murphysboro,
IL
62966
3 people
favorited this theater
The Tilford Theater, later renamed Liberty Theater, was continously operated as a motion picture theater from 1913 until 1998, by the Marlow Brothers (circa 1918 to 1967) and then by Kerasotes Theaters (1968 to 1998).
The small theater’s huge wall-to-wall, 32' CinemaScope screen provided a quasi-IMAX experience long befiore the IMAX process was introduced.
The Liberty Theater is now frequently used as a community arts center featuring concerts, stage shows and an occasional motion picture.
The theater has a new marquee and the stage area — never intended for more than a motion picture screen and its accompanying speakers — has been enlarged.
Contributed by
Michael Ellis
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Recent comments (view all 35 comments)
I’ve been unable to find any mention of the Tilford Theatre later than the 1915 item I cited above, and the only mention of the Liberty I’ve found in the trade publications is the Boxoffice item from 1955. Local newspaper archives would probably be the best source of information about the Tilford’s change of ownership.
Speaking of sound systems, what sound was the films presented in while under Kerasotes ownership? The one time I saw a movie there (in 1992), there were no surround speakers to be seen on the walls, and I can’t even remember if it was two-channel stereo, with the speakers behind the screen, or regular monaural sound. For the life of me I can’t remenber, that was almost 20 years ago.
The Liberty had a single channel, optical sound system under Kerasotes ownership. I don’t know what type of sound system is used at the Liberty today.
I’m not aware of any motion picture sound system that reproduces only two channels. “Fantasound” which was used in only a handful of theaters for the film “Fantasia” (1940) was a four-channel optical system on a separate 35mm reel; Cinerama (1952) employed a seven-channel magnetic system on a separate reel; CinemaScope (1953) used a four-channel magnetic sound-on-film system; Dolby Stereo (1975) employed a four-channel optical sound-on-film system matrixed into two tracks; and Dolby Digital and DTS employs a sound-on-film digital system.
Most every commercial theater uses an acoustically transparent material for a screen surface so loudspeakers can be placed directly behind the screen.
Yep I figured it would have mono sound, it being an old theater (and a dollar house for 20+years as well). Thanks for clearing that up. Now one other thing about the Liberty has been bugging me for the past 10 years… did they run films on platters or reels? Considering it was chain operated, I would be leaning towards platters.
I suspect Kerasotes installed a platter to reduce operating costs. Previously, it was a two-projector, change-over booth.
Here’s a recent picture of the interior, taken during the Big Muddy Film Festival in 2010:
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And here’s another picture I had stowed away on Photobucket, looking towards the back. Notice the projection booth now houses the spotlights. I never remember the Liberty having the burgundy trim, it was white all around, and the curtain was a fugly brown color.
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A fairly recent Murphysboro American article on the Liberty. There are some exterior and interior pictures from 1950. Notice the interior looks completely different than it currently appears. The reason is the theater suffered a major fire in 1954 and reopened the following year, hence the remodel.
http://www.murphysboroamerican.com/entertainment/x1797084383/James-Marlow-The-Impresario-of-Murphysboro
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