Harris Theatre
809 Liberty Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
809 Liberty Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15222
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Showing 1 - 25 of 32 comments found
I’ve been here a couple of times. As part of PGH Film Makers, it’s a good place to see fare that’s just a little out of the mainstream. I wish they’d do something with the exterior, though. That blue still reminds me of its days as a porno house.
An article about the Harris with a picture of the auditorium: View link
Yes, Gerald DeLuca (that’s me) still posts on CT. But I tend to specialize in cinemas of my area, the state of Rhode Island.
Here is a photo of the Art Cinema courtesy Dorsett Studios.
View link
Chuck….Gerald DeLuca still posts on CT. This is a recent night photo.
Photo from 1948:
View link
Renewing link.
LM, do you know if Gerald DeLuca still posts on CT. I came across a bunch of notes for him and one was on this theatre.
It’s not Pittsburgh here, it’s Google. Their microfilming or whatever they do is horrible. If you go on the LA Times database or Newspaperarchive.com, no problem.
It is readable Ed, but the type is kind of dark.
No idea why, Ken, but I, for one, can never read the copies posted here from Pittsburgh newspapers. The guys who post stuff from New York newspapers get imaculate copies with large type, which one can navigate from top to bottom and from left to right, but the Pittsburgh ones are always inky black and with tiny reproductions. Wish I understood what the problem here is. Thanks for trying.
Here is an article from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette dated 7/3/51:
http://tinyurl.com/5w49j6
Here is a recent photo of the Harris Theater.
BTW….This one is spelled theater.
All those comments for nothing. That’s what happens when you trust a library. Anyway, thanks for identifying those theaters in the photo Ed.
We need to sort out something here. The photo you’re discussing is of the wrong Harris theater. The one relating to this particular CT entry, at 809 Liberty Avenue, is functioning today as a moviehouse run by Pittsburgh Filmmakers.
The one in the photo(s) began as the Alvin, changed to the (John P.) Harris and finally became the Gateway. It has been a health club for about a quarter of a century. See separate entry under Gateway Theatre.
The theater on the left is the Byham, which functions today as a performance arts theater. (It’s listed in CT as the Byham.) In the era when the photo was taken, it was the Fulton, which was its identity for several decades. In the vaudeville/silent era, it was the Gayety.
The one with the Deanna Durbin is the one I’m talking about. I can barely see the one in the distance.
I’m not sure which one is in the foreground, and which one is in the background.
What is the theater on the left in the foreground?
There’s another theater down the street, but I can’t make out the name on the marquee.
Sorry, Ed. It’s from the U of Pittsburgh digital collection. I’m not having any problem with it.
That link works for me Ed. Try this link instead.
Can’t access that, Ken.
Here is a 1944 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/6yvumk
The theater dates to at least 1927. From then until 1936 it was known as the Avenue (one of at least five Avenue theaters in the Pittsburgh/McKeesport area in the early 20th Century).
The capacity in the early years was estimated at both 300 and 374.
In 1936 it became the Art Cinema, a name it retained until its 1995 refurbishing and reopening as the Harris.
The Art Cinema was the premiere art house (foreign, British and independent films) in Pittsburgh for about 17 years.
Its many classic films included “Paisan” (16 weeks), “The Red Shoes” (weeks 5 through 14 of its initial Downtown run), “Quartet,” “The Fallen Idol,” “The Bicycle Thief,” “Kind Hearts and Coronets,” “Bitter Rice” (a record 17 weeks, later returning for two more), “Cyrano de Bergerac,” “Trio,” “Kon-Tiki,” “Oliver Twist,” “The River,” “Rashomon,” “Manon,” “Devil in the Flesh” and many others.
The Art Cinema unfortunately lacked amenities, and when a wholly renovated Squirrel Hill Theatre reopened Christmas Day 1952 with “The Lavender Hill Mob,” the Art Cinema’s dominance as THE local art house began to fade.
As several other art theaters (the Shadyside, King’s Court, Forum, Guild) competed for product in the eastern suburbs, the Downtown Art Cinema lost its upscale audience.
Fow a while it continued to grab occasional important films (“Fanfan the Tulip,” “Forbidden Games”), but by 1954 its bill of fare vascilated among double bills of recent commercial hits (“From Here to Eternity” with “The Wild One”; “The Caine Mutiny” with “On the Waterfront”), nudist camp romps, saucy softcore sex films and a long-defunct series of striptease movies. Some, including “The Orgy at Lil’s Place” in the early 1960s, did some business, but the audience for them was finite – the “raincoat” crowd.
The theater became identified progressively more with harder-core porno in the 1970s and 1980s, and its condition deteriorated markedly over the decades. By the time it closed for renovation into the Harris, many seats were missing, and those remaining were in deplorable condition.
The Harris, though minimalist in amenities, is a great improvement in programming and comfort. Its one drawback is a peculiar acoustical problem.
The Harris marquee at night.