Marvel Theater
228 W. Main Street,
Carlinville,
IL
62626
228 W. Main Street,
Carlinville,
IL
62626
1 person
favorited this theater
This theater, in the heart of downtown Carlinville, along an historic stretch of the old Route 66, was built as a single-screen theater, opening on August 26, 1920, by the Paul family. It didn’t last long as it burned down in December 1926.
It was re-built and reopened on January 19, 1928 with “The Gay Retreat”. It was operated by the Frisina Amusement Co. during the early 1940’s.
In 1977, it was twinned with 156 seats in the balcony theatre and 300 seats on the main floor. Its current marquee dates from the 1960’s.
The Marvel continues to operate as a first-run movie house, and is also known as the Cinema 1 & 2.
Contributed by
Bryan Krefft
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Not a very colorful marquee. White with cheap red plastic letters stuck on. Pretty ugly, and not in keeping with the design of the building. The ‘A’ has fallen off the front of the horizontal portion. Lower portion of the facade has ugly brown tile stuck on it, and the windows on the second floor are covered with plywood which was painted brown, and is now warped and peeling.
I found seating of 776 for the Marvel Theatre. Also wasn’t this operated by the Frisina Circuit from 1940 thru 1969?
Here is a recent photo of the Marvel Theater.
This is the Eisentraut Theatres website for the Marvel Theater.
Here is the Marvel Theater in 1995.
The year given for this photo is 1982.
This is a nice 2009 photo.
The Marvel Theatre is alive and well. The $6.00 admission including popcorn and a drink is hard to beat.
This theatre is no longer operated by Eisentraut Theatres. It has been closed for sometime and is scheduled to reopen Memorial Week End under new management. It has been given a refurbishment including new digital projection.
Very nice looking theatre,best of luck.Thanks for a great picture.