Mall Theatres

303 Euclid Avenue,
Cleveland, OH 44144

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rivest266
rivest266 on January 19, 2014 at 3:41 pm

March 17th, 1917 grand opening ad uploaded here

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on May 28, 2012 at 4:29 am

Edward Richardson and Arthur Yost, architects of the Mall Theatres, also designed the Abbey Theatre on Waterloo Road.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on May 28, 2012 at 4:02 am

Direct link to the Popular Mechanics magazine of May, 1917. Scroll down to read p. 735

rivest266
rivest266 on May 27, 2012 at 3:40 pm

There is an article with a picture in Popular Mechanics May 1917 Page 735, which can be see in Google Books.

CSWalczak
CSWalczak on March 12, 2012 at 7:43 pm

if you navigate to the upper center portion of this large photo, the Euclid Avenue entrance to Loew’s Mall Theater can be seen circa 1927, the date of release for the movie being shown.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on March 12, 2012 at 1:51 pm

There were at least two early theaters called the Mall in Cleveland. As shown in the ad to which Mike Rivest linked in the previous comment, the duplex Mall Theatre on Euclid Avenue opened in 1917. The earlier Mall Theatre was a smaller house located on Superior Avenue.

Here are a few relevant lines from an article on Cleveland movie houses published in The Moving Picture World, issue of July 5, 1916:

“Louis H. Becht, now owner of the Mall theater, Superior avenue, opened Dreamland, on Euclid avenue, which is the oldest downtown picture theater still in existence, in 1908. He was there two years when he opened the Mall where he now is.

“Now Becht is spending $100,000 on a new Mall, to be a duplex theater, each auditorium to seat 650 persons and have both entrances from Euclid avenue, which run parallel. This house will be ready for opening about Nov. 1. The present Mall, one of the most popular downtown houses, seats 300 persons.”

As Mike’s ad is dated March 17, 1917, the completion of the house was obviously delayed. The 1917 opening also means that the Duplex Theatre in Detroit, opened in 1915, so far remains the earliest twin theater known to have operated in the United States. The claim to uniqueness made in the Mall’s opening ad could only have applied to its piggyback configuration. The Detroit Duplex featured side-by-side auditoriums.

I’ve found several references to this house as Loew’s Mall Theatre from the period 1920-1922.

rivest266
rivest266 on March 13, 2011 at 4:39 pm

Grand opening ad, “The Only Duplex Theatre Of Its Kind In The World"
from March 17th, 1917 is at
View link

TLSLOEWS
TLSLOEWS on August 4, 2010 at 11:51 pm

Was it called Loews Mall at one time?

buckguy
buckguy on May 3, 2010 at 12:31 am

This building was not demolished after its closure, it was put to other use. I believe that the Euclid Avenue side was an S&H green stamp redemption center. That building had a large blank wall with a decorative sign that was probably 3 stories, which would be the sort of thing that would have replaced a theater. On the Superior side were several savings and loans, one of which probably absorbed the theater space on that side.

Hibi
Hibi on October 6, 2009 at 7:08 pm

Odd, I never heard of this theater till now. I guess I was too small when it closed to remember. It must’ve been the first theater on Euclid Avenue.

dave-bronx™
dave-bronx™ on January 5, 2007 at 6:49 pm

The Mall was built in 1914 by real estate developer Joseph Laronge. In 1916 Laronge built the Stillman Theatre near 12th St. Later that year he formed a partnership with 2 guys named Strong and Desberg and a third guy, Marcus Loew. The partnership was called Loew’s Ohio Theatres. This may be when the Mall and Stillman became Loew’s houses. The partnership went on to develop the Loew’s State, Ohio, Park and Granada theatres.

rogers
rogers on October 6, 2004 at 1:55 am

An interesting sidelight: It’s not widely known around Cleveland, but the Mall was formerly a Loew’s theatre. This was very early on in its existence. A photograph does exist showing the Loew’s Mall sign atop the Euclid Avenue marquee. I’m trying to obtain a copy of this photo right now.

Another quasi-interesting note: During the early to late 1930s, the Mall was managed by Bert H. Todd, who would become an assistant manager to Billy Rose, the famous showman who managed the 1939 New York World’s Fair. Todd returned to Cleveland after the fair, and was manager and part-owner of several area theatres, including the Oriental and Bandbox.