Victor Theatre
1112 Harrison Avenue,
Cincinnati,
OH
45214
1112 Harrison Avenue,
Cincinnati,
OH
45214
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Built in 1910 for just $5,000, the theatre sold off its pipe organ in a 1939 remodel. It struggled in the TV era becoming a church in 1961 to 1971. It was then converted to retail purposes,
It is October 9, 2014 and the Victor is currently owned by a company called Lawn Care Service Plus LLC. I was hoping it would become three recording studios. Doesn’t look like it!!!
The Victor theater has been sold recently and is due to become three recording studios.
Flooding reports from a March 6 th. 1937issue of,“ Motion Picture Herald”, tally a water damage loss to the Victor of $3,000.00.Many theatres in low lying Ohio areas were thusly effected.This means new seating and machines must be replaced.
It’s Jan. 28, 2012 and I have as yet to find a pic of the Victor from back when it was in use as a theater. I was a little tot when I lived in the area. Now I am 56. The closest I could come was a pic of the Centrl Trust Bank (called the Brighton Bank in those days) from back when streetcars oamed the area. The Victor sits right behind the bank, and you can’t see any of it in the pic. It still may job someone’s memory to click here. http://www.flickr.com/photos/67094764@N00/6777743203/in/photostream
Film Daily of 1927 lists Victor Th. with 300 seats.
The Victor is not very impressive these days, but it stands. The neighborhood is quiet and lonely.
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Good info. Never heard them called “Oaters.” Makes sense, though. By the way, even when they were using the Victor for church revivals and the like, they still had the original piano they used for the silent movies. Wonder whatever happened to it? Yeah, there were still several bars there along Central Ave. and Harrison Ave. I could see where it would be a rough and tumble spot, but it was nothing like it is now. I will have to take a few shots of the area and post them somehow. I only wish I could have some “before” shots to compare them with.
The Brighton area in the canal boat days was a very rough and tumble spot where bars and whorehouses thrived from the business patronage of the Mike Finn rivermen and travelors. I talked to a woman, years ago, who said she watched many a silent cowboy film at The Victor, she called them,“Oaters”!
I stand corrected. That building is empty and is about to be razed. Structurally unsound. Actually, they ought to raze the entire area. It has really gone to the dogs. That area is called Brighton. In the 20s, 30s, 40s and even into the 50s, it was a bustling area. It used to have a Central Trust Bank at Brighton Corner, 4 bars (Davis Cafe, Pleasure Bar, New Brighton Cafe, Short Stop Inn), 2 restaurants (The Pepper Pod and the Streamline Grille), a mom & pop department store (Burgin’s), a drug store complete with a soda shop (Koenig’s Drugs), a deli (Nelson’s), a sporting goods store (Feldhaus), a dime store and the Cincinnati Transit bus garage. I remember all of the trolley cars parked there. Now there is NOTHING. The drug dealers and thugs have ruined the entire area. Pretty much as they have ruined the entire great city of Cincinnati. Sorry I got off on this tangent again. I get upset when I think about it.
I have been trying for 5 years or so to find just one photo of this old theater when it was in business. I gather there are none anywhere. At least the building is still there and is being used for something.
In Dec. 1942 right after the Boston,Ma. Coconut Grove Nightclub tragedy ,Fire departments throughout the nation conducted carefull exit door inspections in local theaters. On Dec. 15,1942 the manager of the Victor Th.,Nola Schwartz, was $25.00 for having bolted exit doors.
I have a pic of how the Victor looks today. Maybe it would jar someone’s memory. Or not. E-mail me at and I’ll reply with it.
The Victor was built in 1910.
Maybe the Victor wasn’t as large as I remember (again, I was very young when I lived there). They did have a balcony. I remember that after closing, the owner rented it out for functions such as church revivals, etc. Was there a photo in the 1954 Film Daily Yearbook?