The Jasper Theatre closed late in 1932 and reopened less than a year later under the new ownership of Robert Turner on August 18, 1933 - likely with a new sound system. The theatre runs continuously and has RKO films booked and advertised in all of the years from 1933 to 1936. Not sure what evidence exists that the theatre was closed from 1933 to 1936.
The National Theatre launched in downtown Wilmington on March 9, 1916 showing movies and live vaudeville. It was the second theatre trying to reach an African American clientele after the Strand opened in 1909 and had little success. The National, however, connected with the community becoming a long-running African American movie theatre under the operation of John O. and Josephine Hopkins. Hopkins had been on the Wilmington City Council since 1913 and would serve 16 consecutive terms before retiring in 1945. The National converted to sound to remain viable and played a wide array of films including one starring Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, and Lena Horne.
The National Theatre (and sometimes called the National Auditorium) served as a place for worship on Sundays, hosted live sporting events on its stage, had political rallies and civil rights presentations, and hosted many dances and live musicians including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. The National operated until a replacement theatre was built nearby - the Hopkins Theatre. That theatre was drawn up in 1945 but didn’t open until the early 1950s.
The final films to play at the National were on May 22, 1951 with a continuous double-feature that grinded from 10a until well after midnight of “S.O.S. Submarine” and “Helltown.” The Hopkins couple along with their son, John O., Jr., launched the new-build Hopkins Theatre on May 23, 1951. The National was converted to a short-lived dance hall called Danceland.
Parking was an issue for the Hopkins so a decision was made to tear down the National and three adjoining buildings in 1955 for a parking garage. But the Hopkins Theatre was heading for closure and the garage didn’t help that theater survive. It went out of business in 1958 and both the replacement parking garage and theHopkins Theatre would be demolished in 1965 as part of the city’s Civic Center urban renewal project.
The Jasper Theatre was announced in 1929 by Will Richards and on a lot adjoining the Masonic Temple. It appears to have opened June 13, 1929 with “Riley, the Cop.” It appears to have closed October 30, 1982 with “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
The town’s other venue, the Lyric Theatre launched August 20, 1927 as a silent movie house in downtown Jasper with Jack Hoxie and Rex, the Wonder Horse, in “Rough and Ready” supported by the Warner short, “What’s Your Hurry” plus a newsreel. It hosted African American film nights and survived to the end of 1928.
The Wehrley Theatre opened July 29, 1926 with Betty Compton in “The Pony Express” and a capacity crowd. Trouble was ahead when there was an unpaid note for the theater’s 1930 transition to BesTone Sound. The theatre relaunched under new management as the Rialto Theatre on July 29, 1933 with Lee Tracy in “Blessed Event.” The theatre switched to widescreen presentations in 1954 becoming the Arnold Theatre on November 27, 1954 with “The Mad Magician.” It reopened with volunteers at Arnold’s Rialto Theatre on April 10, 2010 with sub-run discount films. It later switched to digital projection and first-run films in its mix.
The Brach Theatre opened with a Louis the XIVth style on October 2, 1916 with Orrin Johnson starring in “The Light at Dusk” showing on the Gold Fibre screen. The $8,000 pipe organ wowed as did the terra cotta front and interior marble work. C.W. Martin took on the venue on July 1, 1917 to make improvements and renamed it the Strand Theatre at a relaunch on July 6, 1917 with Earle Williams in “Apartment 29.”
On October 26, 1929, the Strand relaunched after a brief refresh and now with Vitaphone sound to keep pace with the Rivoli. The Strand added widescreen projection in 1954 to present CinemaScope titles. It was still open in 1964. Central States took on the venue closing at the end of a 20-year lease on March 30, 1984.
The Cook Opera House opened in 1894. In 1918 it appears to have become the Strand Theatre playing motion pictures. It converted to sound films on December 4, 1929 with “The Flying Fool.” On November 15, 1930, local merchants took on the theatre renaming it as the Cook Theatre on November 15, 1930 with “Men of the North.”
The theater was closed by Ernest Gundmann in 1954 but taken over later that year by Paul Benson who reopened it. It is likely that the Cook Theatre closed permanently on November 1, 1955 after showing “The Blackboard Jungle.”
Alma was home to the Crescent turned New Theatre turned Rialto turned talking Parrot Theatre. But by 1933, the owners felt constrained by the cobbled together building which had been used for films for 25 years and was likely reaching the end of a leasing agreement. They decided to move to a brand new theatre designed for sound film. It was the New Parrot Theatre.
The New Parrot was architected by Swift & Arrowsmith of Belleville, Kansas. They were inspired by the World’s Fair of Chicago in creating the Art Deco venue with a new neon sign. Their New Parrot Theatre opened at 603 West Main in downtown Alma. The former Parrot Theatre and former Crescent Theatre was converted to an art supply retail store.
The New Parrot Theatre opened December 14, 1933 retaining its name, two parrot plaques in the lobby, and launching with Ginger Rogers co-starring in “Sitting Pretty". Ten cars drove all over the county to drum up support for the first show and also the free Santa show on the following Saturday.
The original, deco Parrot theatre was gutted by a fire on December 8, 1958 leaving its original walls. The town went without a theatre while the Haekers started over though retaining the four walls.
The newly-rebuilt Parrot Theatre relaunched with a new 300-seat auditorium and the film, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” at its grand reopening on April 30, 1959. The theatre had widescreen projection to present CinemaScope screenings. Owners, the Haekers, celebrated 50 years of operation in 1980.
But during the home video era, the Haekers closed the Parrot Theatre in 1986. In 1988, Paul Haeker sold the venue to the Alma Chamber of Commerce. The Parrot Theatre got a new roof and refresh reducing seat count slightly. A 12-panel group was devised to provide a large cadre of operators without overburdening a single person. The concept worked and volunteers have kept the place running into the 2020s
The Franklin Opera House launched with a live play on October 18, 1909. The venue experimented with movies over the next ten years. It switched to full-time movies when a new operator rebranded it as the Pastime Theatre launching there on July 2, 1918 with the World War I propogandastic feature, “The Beast of Berlin.” Burton Flower Shop owner Harold Daddow reopened the venue changing its name to the Rex Theatre beginning on September 2, 1921 with D.W. Griffith’s “Love Flower” on a four-day a week movie policy.
Daddow sold the venue to Harold Gould who continued it as the Rex. The theatre closed briefly for a remodeling in January of 21, 1927 following showings of “Laddie.” New owner George E. Hall - and future Franklin, Nebraska Mayor - relaunched it as the Rialto Theatre on February 10, 1927 with Harold Lloyd in “For Heaven’s Sake.” Hall would operate the nearby Bloomington Picture Show Theatre just five miles away in the town’s opera house.
In 1929, likely due to the end of a 20-year leasing period, Hall moved the venue adding sound to the Rialto to stay viable and closed the Bloomington operation as well as the Franklin former Opera House venue. Three years later, Hall then remodeled the former Opera House/Rex/Rialto venue moving the local movie house back to its previous location on December 29, 1932 and renaming it as the RoseBowl Theatre. (The newspaper listings often added a space to the name but it was the “spaceless” RoseBowl Theatre for reasons unknown.) Hall added widescreen projection for the presentation of CinemaScope films beginning March 4, 1954 with “Mister Roberts.”
On September 28, 1990, Al & Val Smith and Steve Siel donated the RoseBowl venue to the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. It was reopened as the RoseBowl Playhouse & Theatre on January 18, 1992 with the film, “An American Tale: Fievel Goes West”. Fire in September of 2012 ended film projection but not the theater. The RoseBowl converted to digital projection thanks, in part, to donations in 2012 at its refurbishing. It was still working in the 2020s through the assistance of dedicated volunteers four days a week. Its name has become the Rosebowl Movie Theatre (still no spaces) losing its capital “B” (though still reflected with the RB on the marquee).
Art Sunde launched the Papio Theatre on August 4, 1948 with “Carnival in Costa Rica” supported by a cartoon in a sneak preview opening. The Grand Opening took place the following night. The 400-seat theatre was the first movie house in town since the early 1930s.
The Starlite Drive-In opened August 28, 1952 despite protestors trying to prevent that from happening. The opening films were Anthony Steel in “Ivory Hunter” supported by the shorts “Caribbean Sentinel” and the Woody Woodpecker cartoon, “Chew-Chew Baby.” The protests appeared to come from the operator of the Stockade which had just opened two months earlier and felt that Black Hills Amusement was simply trying to undercut his business. Black Hills bought the competing and independently run Stockade Drive-In prior to the 1957 seasons and continued operation of the Pace Theatre and changed the name of the Starlite to Starlight likely with a new wide-screen screen tower.
Clyde Walgren took on the venue changing its name to the Star Theatre beginning on August 13, 1920 with the Wm. S. Hart film, “Sand.” It had 219 seats at opening. H. Esmond Hardin took on the venue on November 1, 1947 and renamed it as the Civic Theatre. The theatre closed on May 31, 1966 and was reopened by Mrs. Dick Burback on September 8, 1966. She appears to have closed early in 1967.
Dave T. Gourley not only built the city’s first performance venue, the Gourley Opera House, but also its first electrical plant. On August 21, 1914, the Star Theatre opened in downtown Rushville apparently in the Opera House. By 1915, movies had taken over the the Gourley Opera House and shown every night of the week.
July 1, 1919 was a momentous day in Rushville, Nebraska, as it was the first day of Prohibition in the United States and it was the day that new operators, the Shipleys, took over the Star Theatre and changed it to the EssAnEss Theatre or Essaness Theatre playing upon their surnames “S and S.” The theatre converted to sound films in 1929 to remain viable.
Two owners later, on May 9, 1938, the theatre became the Plains Theatre showing Warner Baxter in “Vogues of 1938” supported by the comedy short, “Ask Uncle Sol” with Eddie Lambert. 100 years later the venue was still operating.
The Chisholm West 5 launched on June 19, 1981 on a 30-year lease with Superman II, Cannonball Run, Clash of the Titans, The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia, and Last Flight of Noah’s Ark. It was operated by the same circuit that operated the South Shields 2, the Park Terrace 2, the Westpark Twin, the MacArthur Park 4, and the South Park 4. Its aging portfolio of theaters seemed to drop off one by one during the multiplex era likely reaching end of leasing agreements. MI Theatres ran it under the moniker of Dollar Movies 5 as a sub-run discount house in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In March of 2004, Landmark’s discount subsidiary Silver Cinemas took on the venue under the name of Yukon Movies 5. Silver Cinemas updated the facility in 2007 becoming the Yukon 5 Cinema though continuing as a discount house. It closed under that name at the end of lease in July of 2014. As 2021, the theater was still standing but was threatened with potential demolition likely to remove the facility from the tax rosters.
Mid-America Theatres Circuit closed the Continental after showing “2001: A Space Odyssey” on September 30, 1982 ending its continuous theatrical life. It had a brief run as a church and did have its final film screening in 1983. A classified ad shortly thereafter offered all of the seats for sale.
Opened Feb. 27, 1928 with Laura LaPlante in “Silk Stockings.” It converted to widescreen to show CinemaScope films but that didn’t stem the tides as the theatre went down to three-day a week operation in 1956 and closed in 1957. It was used as a church and for sporadic events until being emptied out for a refresh and relaunch on November 15th, 1968 as Theatre A.
It was sold to Cinema Southwest in 1973 and converted to X-Rated fare in 1975 before closing. In 1977, it was refreshed as a twin-screener playing first-run fare. That failed within a year and it was converted to The Pub.
The AMC Oakview Plaza 24 from a realtor’s website selling the building in 2020
Layout of the AMC Oakview Plaza 24
The Palm turned B.B. Theatre’s opening film was “Kiki” with Norma Talmadge on July 15, 1926.
The re-opening date was announced December 24, 2021.
The Jasper Theatre closed late in 1932 and reopened less than a year later under the new ownership of Robert Turner on August 18, 1933 - likely with a new sound system. The theatre runs continuously and has RKO films booked and advertised in all of the years from 1933 to 1936. Not sure what evidence exists that the theatre was closed from 1933 to 1936.
Please replace the above with:
The National Theatre launched in downtown Wilmington on March 9, 1916 showing movies and live vaudeville. It was the second theatre trying to reach an African American clientele after the Strand opened in 1909 and had little success. The National, however, connected with the community becoming a long-running African American movie theatre under the operation of John O. and Josephine Hopkins. Hopkins had been on the Wilmington City Council since 1913 and would serve 16 consecutive terms before retiring in 1945. The National converted to sound to remain viable and played a wide array of films including one starring Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, and Lena Horne.
The National Theatre (and sometimes called the National Auditorium) served as a place for worship on Sundays, hosted live sporting events on its stage, had political rallies and civil rights presentations, and hosted many dances and live musicians including Louis Armstrong and Fats Waller. The National operated until a replacement theatre was built nearby - the Hopkins Theatre. That theatre was drawn up in 1945 but didn’t open until the early 1950s.
The final films to play at the National were on May 22, 1951 with a continuous double-feature that grinded from 10a until well after midnight of “S.O.S. Submarine” and “Helltown.” The Hopkins couple along with their son, John O., Jr., launched the new-build Hopkins Theatre on May 23, 1951. The National was converted to a short-lived dance hall called Danceland.
Parking was an issue for the Hopkins so a decision was made to tear down the National and three adjoining buildings in 1955 for a parking garage. But the Hopkins Theatre was heading for closure and the garage didn’t help that theater survive. It went out of business in 1958 and both the replacement parking garage and theHopkins Theatre would be demolished in 1965 as part of the city’s Civic Center urban renewal project.
The Jasper Theatre was announced in 1929 by Will Richards and on a lot adjoining the Masonic Temple. It appears to have opened June 13, 1929 with “Riley, the Cop.” It appears to have closed October 30, 1982 with “The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”
The town’s other venue, the Lyric Theatre launched August 20, 1927 as a silent movie house in downtown Jasper with Jack Hoxie and Rex, the Wonder Horse, in “Rough and Ready” supported by the Warner short, “What’s Your Hurry” plus a newsreel. It hosted African American film nights and survived to the end of 1928.
The Wehrley Theatre opened July 29, 1926 with Betty Compton in “The Pony Express” and a capacity crowd. Trouble was ahead when there was an unpaid note for the theater’s 1930 transition to BesTone Sound. The theatre relaunched under new management as the Rialto Theatre on July 29, 1933 with Lee Tracy in “Blessed Event.” The theatre switched to widescreen presentations in 1954 becoming the Arnold Theatre on November 27, 1954 with “The Mad Magician.” It reopened with volunteers at Arnold’s Rialto Theatre on April 10, 2010 with sub-run discount films. It later switched to digital projection and first-run films in its mix.
The Brach Theatre opened with a Louis the XIVth style on October 2, 1916 with Orrin Johnson starring in “The Light at Dusk” showing on the Gold Fibre screen. The $8,000 pipe organ wowed as did the terra cotta front and interior marble work. C.W. Martin took on the venue on July 1, 1917 to make improvements and renamed it the Strand Theatre at a relaunch on July 6, 1917 with Earle Williams in “Apartment 29.”
On October 26, 1929, the Strand relaunched after a brief refresh and now with Vitaphone sound to keep pace with the Rivoli. The Strand added widescreen projection in 1954 to present CinemaScope titles. It was still open in 1964. Central States took on the venue closing at the end of a 20-year lease on March 30, 1984.
The Cook Opera House opened in 1894. In 1918 it appears to have become the Strand Theatre playing motion pictures. It converted to sound films on December 4, 1929 with “The Flying Fool.” On November 15, 1930, local merchants took on the theatre renaming it as the Cook Theatre on November 15, 1930 with “Men of the North.”
The theater was closed by Ernest Gundmann in 1954 but taken over later that year by Paul Benson who reopened it. It is likely that the Cook Theatre closed permanently on November 1, 1955 after showing “The Blackboard Jungle.”
Alma was home to the Crescent turned New Theatre turned Rialto turned talking Parrot Theatre. But by 1933, the owners felt constrained by the cobbled together building which had been used for films for 25 years and was likely reaching the end of a leasing agreement. They decided to move to a brand new theatre designed for sound film. It was the New Parrot Theatre.
The New Parrot was architected by Swift & Arrowsmith of Belleville, Kansas. They were inspired by the World’s Fair of Chicago in creating the Art Deco venue with a new neon sign. Their New Parrot Theatre opened at 603 West Main in downtown Alma. The former Parrot Theatre and former Crescent Theatre was converted to an art supply retail store.
The New Parrot Theatre opened December 14, 1933 retaining its name, two parrot plaques in the lobby, and launching with Ginger Rogers co-starring in “Sitting Pretty". Ten cars drove all over the county to drum up support for the first show and also the free Santa show on the following Saturday.
The original, deco Parrot theatre was gutted by a fire on December 8, 1958 leaving its original walls. The town went without a theatre while the Haekers started over though retaining the four walls.
The newly-rebuilt Parrot Theatre relaunched with a new 300-seat auditorium and the film, “Cat on a Hot Tin Roof,” at its grand reopening on April 30, 1959. The theatre had widescreen projection to present CinemaScope screenings. Owners, the Haekers, celebrated 50 years of operation in 1980.
But during the home video era, the Haekers closed the Parrot Theatre in 1986. In 1988, Paul Haeker sold the venue to the Alma Chamber of Commerce. The Parrot Theatre got a new roof and refresh reducing seat count slightly. A 12-panel group was devised to provide a large cadre of operators without overburdening a single person. The concept worked and volunteers have kept the place running into the 2020s
The Franklin Opera House launched with a live play on October 18, 1909. The venue experimented with movies over the next ten years. It switched to full-time movies when a new operator rebranded it as the Pastime Theatre launching there on July 2, 1918 with the World War I propogandastic feature, “The Beast of Berlin.” Burton Flower Shop owner Harold Daddow reopened the venue changing its name to the Rex Theatre beginning on September 2, 1921 with D.W. Griffith’s “Love Flower” on a four-day a week movie policy.
Daddow sold the venue to Harold Gould who continued it as the Rex. The theatre closed briefly for a remodeling in January of 21, 1927 following showings of “Laddie.” New owner George E. Hall - and future Franklin, Nebraska Mayor - relaunched it as the Rialto Theatre on February 10, 1927 with Harold Lloyd in “For Heaven’s Sake.” Hall would operate the nearby Bloomington Picture Show Theatre just five miles away in the town’s opera house.
In 1929, likely due to the end of a 20-year leasing period, Hall moved the venue adding sound to the Rialto to stay viable and closed the Bloomington operation as well as the Franklin former Opera House venue. Three years later, Hall then remodeled the former Opera House/Rex/Rialto venue moving the local movie house back to its previous location on December 29, 1932 and renaming it as the RoseBowl Theatre. (The newspaper listings often added a space to the name but it was the “spaceless” RoseBowl Theatre for reasons unknown.) Hall added widescreen projection for the presentation of CinemaScope films beginning March 4, 1954 with “Mister Roberts.”
On September 28, 1990, Al & Val Smith and Steve Siel donated the RoseBowl venue to the Franklin Chamber of Commerce. It was reopened as the RoseBowl Playhouse & Theatre on January 18, 1992 with the film, “An American Tale: Fievel Goes West”. Fire in September of 2012 ended film projection but not the theater. The RoseBowl converted to digital projection thanks, in part, to donations in 2012 at its refurbishing. It was still working in the 2020s through the assistance of dedicated volunteers four days a week. Its name has become the Rosebowl Movie Theatre (still no spaces) losing its capital “B” (though still reflected with the RB on the marquee).
Art Sunde launched the Papio Theatre on August 4, 1948 with “Carnival in Costa Rica” supported by a cartoon in a sneak preview opening. The Grand Opening took place the following night. The 400-seat theatre was the first movie house in town since the early 1930s.
The Starlite Drive-In opened August 28, 1952 despite protestors trying to prevent that from happening. The opening films were Anthony Steel in “Ivory Hunter” supported by the shorts “Caribbean Sentinel” and the Woody Woodpecker cartoon, “Chew-Chew Baby.” The protests appeared to come from the operator of the Stockade which had just opened two months earlier and felt that Black Hills Amusement was simply trying to undercut his business. Black Hills bought the competing and independently run Stockade Drive-In prior to the 1957 seasons and continued operation of the Pace Theatre and changed the name of the Starlite to Starlight likely with a new wide-screen screen tower.
The Stockade Outdoor Theatre opened July 8, 1952 with Vincent Price in “Bagdad” and Dick Powell in “You Can Never Tell.”
Clyde Walgren took on the venue changing its name to the Star Theatre beginning on August 13, 1920 with the Wm. S. Hart film, “Sand.” It had 219 seats at opening. H. Esmond Hardin took on the venue on November 1, 1947 and renamed it as the Civic Theatre. The theatre closed on May 31, 1966 and was reopened by Mrs. Dick Burback on September 8, 1966. She appears to have closed early in 1967.
Dave T. Gourley not only built the city’s first performance venue, the Gourley Opera House, but also its first electrical plant. On August 21, 1914, the Star Theatre opened in downtown Rushville apparently in the Opera House. By 1915, movies had taken over the the Gourley Opera House and shown every night of the week.
July 1, 1919 was a momentous day in Rushville, Nebraska, as it was the first day of Prohibition in the United States and it was the day that new operators, the Shipleys, took over the Star Theatre and changed it to the EssAnEss Theatre or Essaness Theatre playing upon their surnames “S and S.” The theatre converted to sound films in 1929 to remain viable.
Two owners later, on May 9, 1938, the theatre became the Plains Theatre showing Warner Baxter in “Vogues of 1938” supported by the comedy short, “Ask Uncle Sol” with Eddie Lambert. 100 years later the venue was still operating.
Harry Lawrie - architect (sorry misspelled above)
The trade press cites C. Howard Crane and Harry Lawrie as co-architects in 1921
The five arched windows on the second floor at right represent the opera house’s space with the entry behind the electrical pole.
This theatre reopened under new management as the Lion’s Den Cinema 3 on September28, 2021. It’s name is in honor the high school mascot there
The Chisholm West 5 launched on June 19, 1981 on a 30-year lease with Superman II, Cannonball Run, Clash of the Titans, The Nights the Lights Went Out in Georgia, and Last Flight of Noah’s Ark. It was operated by the same circuit that operated the South Shields 2, the Park Terrace 2, the Westpark Twin, the MacArthur Park 4, and the South Park 4. Its aging portfolio of theaters seemed to drop off one by one during the multiplex era likely reaching end of leasing agreements. MI Theatres ran it under the moniker of Dollar Movies 5 as a sub-run discount house in the 1990s and early 2000s.
In March of 2004, Landmark’s discount subsidiary Silver Cinemas took on the venue under the name of Yukon Movies 5. Silver Cinemas updated the facility in 2007 becoming the Yukon 5 Cinema though continuing as a discount house. It closed under that name at the end of lease in July of 2014. As 2021, the theater was still standing but was threatened with potential demolition likely to remove the facility from the tax rosters.
Mid-America Theatres Circuit closed the Continental after showing “2001: A Space Odyssey” on September 30, 1982 ending its continuous theatrical life. It had a brief run as a church and did have its final film screening in 1983. A classified ad shortly thereafter offered all of the seats for sale.
Opened August 24, 1940 with “Broadway Melody of 1940.”
Opened Feb. 27, 1928 with Laura LaPlante in “Silk Stockings.” It converted to widescreen to show CinemaScope films but that didn’t stem the tides as the theatre went down to three-day a week operation in 1956 and closed in 1957. It was used as a church and for sporadic events until being emptied out for a refresh and relaunch on November 15th, 1968 as Theatre A.
It was sold to Cinema Southwest in 1973 and converted to X-Rated fare in 1975 before closing. In 1977, it was refreshed as a twin-screener playing first-run fare. That failed within a year and it was converted to The Pub.