White Theatre

The White Theatre stood next to the somewhat still-standing Hotel Fresno. The theatre had a retrofit 2 manual 4 rank Wurlitzer that came from the Fresno Hippodrome (nee Barton Opera House)that was installed in a swellbox on-stage. When the organ was removed in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the piano-console with roll player was found resting on its back in the orchestra pit. THe organ still exists, but has not played a note since it was removed from the White Theatre. The organ is owned by a Northern California musical instrument collector. (Point of fact, the next door Hotel Fresno also contained a 2 manual 5 rank Wurlitzer installed in the hotel lobby. Fo many years this organ was in a Bay Area home. It has since been split up for parts. Some of the organ is in storage in the Bay Area.)

I have never heard that Odeon was ever in Fresno. The Barton Opera House was later renamed the Hippodrome. This old building was torn down and replaced in 1928 with the Sequoia/State/Towne Cinema. The Kinema Theatre was involved with the Kinema/Criterion Theatre in LA. Without looking it up, I think the Fresno Kinema opened in 1914.
One unusual facet of the Kinema was that it had a 5 manual 12 rank Robert Morton pipe organ installed in 1921.

I have never heard of the Odeon-Keith. Keith-Orpheum was a more likely name. I do not know of a Fresno theatre that was affiliated with Keith-Orpheum either. The Fresno Warnor’s Theatre was originally built as the Pantages Theatre in 1928.

Here is a June 1947 ad:
http://tinyurl.com/nlhbhp

On May 8, 1966, a Fresno Bee story was headlined: “Curtain Falls For The White.” The article said Truman C. White, Fresno banker, vineyard owner and county supervisor built, the $150,000 White, which opened on October 30, 1914. The Bee stated that the city’s oldest theatre would be demolished to make room for a diagonal street from Tuolumne Street to H Street.
According to the Bee, the White theatre, designed by Robert Boller of DeCamp & Boller was originally a vaudevillian theater and playhouse that transitioned into movies. By September 20, 1915, they were showing D.W. Griffith’s “The Clansman,” now known as “Birth of a Nation.” Other theaters advertising in the Fresno Morning Republican when they opened were the Theater Fresno, the Kinema, the Empire and the Fresno Photo. In August of 1940, after redecoration and the installation of motion picture projectors, the White was back to showing movies again. By early 1964 you had the privilege of seeing three second-run movies for .55 cents. Later in 1964 they started an adults-only film policy, which continued to their last day of operation on April 30, 1966.
On August 8, 1966 the Bee published a photo of the demolition of the White, which was to be completed by August 24. The photo was taken from the top of the Hotel Fresno and shows the White with the roof removed but the walls still up.