Renel Theatre

Another PAB photo?

Thanks, Howard, for the link to the Renel’s fireplace. I remember those chairs very well, although I never sat in them. When I was going to the Renel in the late 50’s and early 60’s the lounge always seemed to be very dimly lit and creepy to this young boy. I was very quick in going to the boys room (I think to the left of the fireplace, girls to the right) and did not want to linger in the lounge at all.

If you google search EXACTLY “Boxoffice May 29, 1937” and when the issue appears, type “Philadelphia” in the search box then after enough clicks, you will eventually see a photo of the glass block fireplace & mural above it! (next to a photo of a giant Hollywood vertical sign).

Does the fireplace & mural survive?

Putney Swope with Stan Gottlieb and Allen Garfield was released in July of 1969.

Every so often when coming home from the station I will drive through my old neighborhood and I will stop church (theater). The folks are sooo nice and let me spend a little time remembering when I was a kid and spent a lot of time in this building. rg

Looking pictures of this theater before it went to adult movies. Thanks rg You can contact me at

Wow!!! Wasn’t the Renel Theatre a “Wonderful Place” when we were kids… Yes, it did had a Sunrise Procenium that we associate w/ Radio City Music Hall. I remember the ceiling was a blue and gray tile with an aluminum/stanless steel lighting fixture running straight from the back to the front procenium. The procenium it self was painted a dark pink/mauve. The stage curtin was deep red with two green swatches of material on either side of the center, and there were always those 3 white stripes stitched near the bottom.
Can’t forget the red, blue, orange & yellow foot lighting. The side walls of the auditorium were a dark maroon textured fabric. The side lighting was actually resessed into the wall with a black marbelized glass panel that ran from about 4 to 5 feet from the floor extending to the ceiling. There were 6 of these, 3 on each side of the audi-
torium and were lit up in orange lighting before the show and a dim green when the movie was running. I remember so vividly because from about 1957 to 1960 I attended practically EVERY Saturday Matanee. When the movie started they projected it right onto the curtin, as the curtin opened there was always this “Loud SCREAM” from the kids, popcorn, candy wrappers, soda cups were tossed so high that you could see them on the screan.
In the early sixtys when I started going on Sundays the movie was continuous from 12:00 Noon till the last show at 8 or 9:00 PM and probably ran till about mid-night. What a difference, quiet, no screams…
My father took me to Radio City Music Hall as a child and in later years this became my neighborhood theatre. I now live in Center City Philadelphia today and now only have the old “Boyd” or SamEric that we’re waiting to be restored.
But nothing was better than my childhood home in West Oak Lane living right around the corner from the good old “Renel Theatre.”-BJ

The Renel is a church and most od the intero the same. The area where the cany stand and the inner lobby (with the fire place)is several offices. The aud. was cut in half. The front half is the chapel and the other (stage and storage) was turned into a meeting room and kitchen. A second floor was added. The church takes good care of the buiding. rg

The Erlen Theatre was on Cheltenham Ave. The ceiling in this theatre was dark with mini lights. When the movie was running it looked like the sky with stars. When the theatre closed it sat for a long time then became a church and was torn down several years ago.