Dante Theatre
1212 S. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19146
1212 S. Broad Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19146
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The Dante Theatre opened on Broad Street near Federal Street in 1937, with seating for 650. The theater was designed in Art Moderne style by Armand de Cortieux Carroll. A year later, the firm of Thalheimer & Weitz was hired to remodel the Dante. The theater remained in operation until 1962. Today the building is the home of the JNA Institue of Culinary Arts.
Contributed by
Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
Here is a link to a thumbnail of the Dante Theatre.
View link
There was a beautiful and detailed writeup (with photos) of this theater in the July 1938 issue of Architectural Record magazine. Armand Carrol is listed as the architect. The marquee was manufactured by Philadelphia Sign Company.
from 9-15-1937 The Exhibitor, photo of Dante Theatre’s ticket booth:
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and photo of glass brick standee wall at auditorium rear with text below:
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The standing rail of the new Dante Theatre, Philadelphia, PA Armand Carroll, Architect. Glass brick inlaid in wood panelling and topped with upholstering to match the chairs, is an unusual modern touch. Subdued reflected illumination from within serves only to guide incoming patrons.
Here is the website for the culinary school:
http://www.culinaryarts.com/
If you google search EXACTLY “Boxoffice April 30, 1938” and then after the issue appears, place in the search box “Philadelphia” then after enough clicks you will eventually find an exterior photo of the Dante in its Art Moderne glory.
Not exactly theater-related, but this web log post contains a 1935 Armstrong Linoleum ad with a picture of the stunning deco-moderne interior of a Philadelphia night club and restaurant designed by the architect of the Dante, Armand Carroll.
Thanks, Joe, last year, I captured that restaurant photo but didn’t recall where I got it from. It is stunning.
From Boxoffice, November 7, 1936:
Lombardi “Dante” Backer
Philadelphia – Joe Lombardi, wel-known south Philadelphia theatre owner, heads the syndicate of Italian-Americans building a new theatre at Broad and Federal streets.
The theatre, which will show both foreign and domestic films, will be called the “Dante.”
It was a nice movie theater. We went often.
Direct link to image of the Dante Theatre in Boxoffice magazine, April 30, 1938: VIEW LINK