The Moving Picture World of December 25, 1920, said that Sherman A. Cartwright had purchased Lyric Theatre at East Moline, and named Theodore C. Defoe as the manager of the house.
The August 7, 1920, issue of The Moving Picture World had a long description of the Fort Armstrong Theatre, then under construction:
“Rosenfield and Hopp Building Big Theatre in Rock Island; Scheduled to Open October 20
“THE Fort Armstrong Theatre, Rock Island, I11., which has been under construction since early March, this year, will be ready for opening about October 20. The structure, which has a frontage of 90 feet on Third avenue and a depth of 150 feet on Nineteenth street, is devoted wholly to a fine, modern picture theatre, with a spacious main floor seating 1,150 persons and a mezzanine balcony seating 850. In conjunction, there will be a smoking room for men, a parlor for women, and a large nursery for children in the basement, also a tea room and a dance salon on the mezzanine floor, adjoining the balcony. The estimated cost of the entire structure, when finished, is $400,000.
“Rosenfield, Hopp & Co., which also owns the Majestic Theatre, Rock Island, is the corporation formed for the construction and control of the Fort Armstrong Theatre. Walter A. Rosenfield, banker, manufacturer, and big business man of Rock Island, who is also prominent in club life and in state political circles, is president of the company; Joseph Hopp, nationally known in film circles as second vice-president of the Motion Picture Theatre Owners of America, and president of the Illinois Exhibitors’ Alliance, is vice-president and general manager; George Schneider, secretary; Charles D. Rosenfield, treasurer, and Joseph M. Quinn, house manager. Mr. Tuinn will also have supervision of the Majestic Theatre management.
“Will Book All Pictures.
“Walter A. Rosenfield, president of the company, served as a volunteer soldier during the Great War, with the rank of major. His regiment was not sent abroad, but was assigned to guard the Mexican border. It was due to his interest in army life and to perpetuate the name that the house has been called the Fort Armstrong Theatre. On the island in the Mississippi, near Rock Island, is located one of the largest U. S. arsenals in the country. On this island old Fort Armstrong, which dates back to the time of the Indian wars in that section, is still preserved by the U. S. government.
“Without enumerating particulars it can be said that the new theatre will include all the latest modern improvements and devices that contribute to the comfort and safety of patrons. General Manager Hopp, who will have charge of all the bookings for the Fort Armstrong and the Rock Is- land, will retain his office in Chicago. All makes will be included in Mr. Hopp’s bookings, without discrimination.
“Fifteen Pieces in Orchestra.
“A symphony orchestra of fifteen pieces will be used in the presentations given by House Manager Quinn. A large organ, specially built by Lyon & Healy, of Chicago, in their Rock Island factory, at a cost of $15,0D0, will support the orchestra.
“The Fort Armstrong Theatre will have a population of over 120,000 to draw from. Close by, in Illinois, is the manufacturing town of Moline, and across the Mississippi, in Iowa, is Davenport. Besides, neighboring small towns and villages will yield their regular quota to view the high class picture programs, presented in conjunction with the most approved musical aids.
“Mr. Hopp states that a big novelty act — either musical, dramatic or specialty, will always precede the feature of the program. Each of these acts will be carefully selected and their stage introduction will be novel, artistic and agreeably impressive.
“The plans of the Fort Armstrong Theatre were made with great care. Many of the leading picture theatres in the Middle West were visited before they were drawn. Cervin & Horn, Rock Island architects, and William T. Braun, a Chicago architect, worked in collaboration. To Mr. Braun, who has made a special study of modern theatre construction, is due many of the practical structural features, which give the Fort Armstrong high rank as a thoroughly up-to-date house.”
AndreasP is correct. I am not sure that Robert Larson was correct when he said this was the second Rio Theatre, though. SteveSwanson’s information about the Myrtle Theatre is probably from this web page, which says that the Myrtle Theatre was destroyed by a fire, and reopened as the Rio Theatre on January 9, 1953, at the First Avenue location.
The page does not say that the Myrtle was renamed the Rio sometime before the fire, nor is it clear about when the fire took place. One fire happened in 1943, destroying the Post Office which occupied the bay adjacent to the theater (as near as I can tell from the vague wording), but the page does not specifically say that that fire was the one that destroyed the Myrtle Theatre.
Perhaps the FDY editions between 1944 and 1952 list the theater in Myrtle Creek, if any, giving the name it was using at the time. Alas, I no longer have my digital FDY editions (they are trapped on another computer that no longer works.)
I see that one of the congratulatory notices in the grand opening ad dallasmovietheaters just uploaded is from William B. David. That strongly suggests that he was indeed the actual (but unlicensed) architect of the house, with William W. Wolf signing the plans. Another of the notices is from Gus (Gale) Santocono, who was probably responsible for the decoration of the theater.
An article about architect Sydney Lovell in the summer, 2003, issue of Marquee, by Barbara Coy Janssens, says that Lovell was working in partnership with James Wood when, in 1888, Wood received a commission to remodel the Grand Opera House. The project was completed in 1890.
As the house was only four years old when Wood was commissioned to remodel it, it seems likely that he, already noted as a theater architect, was brought in to correct shortcomings of the original design by Kysor and Morgan, who were not experienced in theater design.
I would imagine that most of Wood and Lovell’s work on the building had to do with the practical aspects of theater design, and focused on the stage facilities. Photos over the years don’t indicate any significant change in the style of the building, inside or out. It’s likely that the original gas lighting system was either replaced by or augmented with electric lighting as part of this project.
The principals of Toltz, King & Day were Maximilian Toltz, Wesley King, and Beaver Wade Day. The firm is still in existence today, operating under the name TKDA.
Baroose: Cinema Treasures does not yet have a listing for the Cherokee Theatre. It was listed in the finding aid for the papers of the architectural firm of Toltz, King & Day, for whom it was a 1921 project. That is the only place on the Internet I’ve seen it mentioned, until you posted your comment.
Google’s current street view shows a small building on the southwest corner of the intersection, fronting on Robie Street, which is currently in use as some sort of workshop or garage, with no signage indicating its actual use or its exact address. As it has a broad doorway in front, now sporting an overhead door, it does look as though it might have been a theater, though today it is a rather plain box so it might be a newer structure that replaced the original building.
The street view at Bing Maps shows the overhead door open, and it looks like there might be a big truck parked inside, though the light is too poor to be sure. None of the other corners of the intersection has any buildings that look like they could have housed a theater, so if the Cherokee wasn’t in this building it is gone.
This item is from the March 4, 1925, issue of The Film Daily:
“Sunbeam, New L. A. House
(Special to THE FILM DAILY) Los Angeles — The Sunbeam built jointly by C. W. Grubbs and West Coast Theaters, Inc., at Compton Ave. and 69th [sic] St. has opened. It seats 1,400. The owners recently opened another, but smaller house, known as the Kinema, at Manchester and Compton Aves.“
The May 1, 1926, issue of Moving Picture World said that Hoffman Enterprises had reopened the Gem Theatre in Willimantic on April 20. The company had bought the house on February 1 and closed it for extensive remodeling, which included the installation of a new ventilation system and an Austin organ. Hoffman retained as manager John R. Pickett, who had been in charge of the house since its opening in 1912.
The May 1, 1926, issue of Moving Picture World said that Saxe Enterprises was engaged in reconstruction of the Burke Theatre in Kenosha. The house had been destroyed the previous October, and the company had been waiting for the $26,000 insurance settlement to come through before rebuilding. The house was expected to reopen in June.
This item appeared in the September 12, 1925, issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Work has begun on a new 650-seat theatre in Longview, Wash. G. W. Swope, formerly of Marysville, Cal., an experienced theatre operator, will own the house, the estimated cost of which has been named as $24,000. The house will be dressed in Chinese colorings and designs and will be called the Peek-In. It will be a popular priced family theatre, and will have five dressing rooms under the stage, equipping it to handle roadshows and vaudeville. The house will occupy a site 100 by 50 feet. It will be ready in ninety days.”
I would imagine that the “…customer who fled without paying….” referred to in Katie Mac’s description of this theater was Mr. Swope. There might be a bit more to the story, though, considering this item from MPW of May 1, 1926:
“Quoidback Buys Peekin
In Longview, Wash.
“Moving Picture World Bureau, Seattle, April 17.
“G. M. QUOIDBACK and associates have purchased the recently opened Peekin Theatre, Longview, Wash., from G. W. Swope. As the name would indicate, the Peekin is Oriental in its interpretation. It occupies a site 50x120 feet and is housed in a two-story building of masonry construction. It contains seats for nearly 600. Mr. and Mrs. Quoidback will operate the house.”
Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society has this page about the Roxy, which includes a photo of Commerce Street in the 1920s showing the original Chinese style decoration above the theater entrance. It also cites David L. Junchen’s opus list of organs as saying that a 2/4 Robert Morton theatre organ was installed in the Longview “Peking Theatre” in 1921. I suspect that either Junchen or his source made the mistakes, giving the wrong year and theater name. MPW would not have published those notices four years late.
This weblog post says that the Palace opened in 1919 as the Wilselman Theatre, its name being a portmanteau of the surnames of its original owners, Floyd Williams and Sam Selman. Jeff Custer bought the house in 1920 and operated it through 1925.
The theater was remodeled and renamed the Palace by a new owner, Oscar Korn, in 1927. Later, the Palace was operated by Walter Buenger.
The page also mentions a house called the Cozy Theatre at the corner of 9th and Garza (very near the Palace, then) which was Slaton’s first movie house, opened sometime between 1911 and 1915.
This photo depicts the State Theatre in 1955, although it is captioned Slaton Theatre. The name on the theater itself is not visible due to the angle, but the vertical sign does appear to have spaces for six letters. An index for the June 13, 1952 Frontier Celebration Edition of the Slaton Slatonite lists advertisements for the Slaton Theatre and the Caprock Theatre (the drive-in.) I’ve also found a reference to the Slaton Theatre on this web page about the experiences of the Diaz family, who moved to Slaton in 1947.
Two poster cases remain intact on the building, one of them reading “Klemke’s Antiques and Gifts” and the other “Klemke’s Sausage Haus”, and it appears that at least the front section of the former theater houses the antique shop, while the entrance to the butcher shop (Klemke’s does operate a restaurant, but at a different location) is in the building next door at the corner of 10th Street. The company also does its own meat processing, and I think the processing plant is in this complex, possibly including the former auditorium.
A building with a 1930s streamline modern tile front, at 198 E. Dupont Avenue, now home of Pentacostals of Belle Church, was probably a movie theater. Here is a Google street view.
This photo purports to be the Royal Theatre in Chicago ca. 1904, but the copyright date on the photo itself is 1910. The copyright was held by the Decorators Supply Co., an outfit founded in 1883 and still in business today, with a web site.
jcarroll: The schedules for the Needham Theatre and for the Station Theatre at Point Mugu Naval Base (which follows the same policy) can be accessed from this page at the NavyLifeSW – Ventura web site. Hover your cursor over the word “movies” in the masthead and select the theater you wish to attend.
Louis Rugani posted part of the 1947 obituary of Steve Dorece earlier. Here is part of the 1996 obituary of his son, Leonard Dorece:
“Mr. Dorece served his country with the United States Army during World War II. While he was stationed in Italy, he was commissioned to operate the Goldoni Theater in Livorno, Italy because of his theater background. Although Mr. Dorece retired from American Motors in 1981, he will most be remembered for his work as the Owner and Operator of the Crown Theater, which was family-owned and operated until it closed in 1955.”
Union Cleaning Company, almost directly across the street from the site of the Hollywood Theatre’s entrance, is at 316 Third Street, so the most likely address for the theater would have been 317 Third.
This web page has a few photos of the Paramount, plus what appears to be a pre-1919 photo showing the original Columbia Theatre when it was a ten-cent movie house.
A two-manual, six rank Robert Morton organ, opus 2412, was installed in the Columbia Theatre in 1926. In a later restoration, the console was replaced by one from the Paramount in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The page linked in paragraph one has a link at the bottom leading to a page that links to an audio-only recording of the organ, played by the Paramount’s house organist, Dolton McAlpin. It’s quite impressive. The organ pipes and chestwork were later installed in a private home in Jackson, Mississippi.
This article mentions that the Columbia became the Paramount in 1929.
This article about Louisiana’s movie theaters is illustrated with a photo of what turns out to have been the second Cook’s Theatre.
The house was opened in the mid-1930s by James C. Cook and his wife, Ruby J. Darensbourg, and was the first movie house in Louisiana owned by an African-American family. The original wooden structure was destroyed by a fire in 1944, and replaced by a cinder block building in 1945. The gabled roof on the building now did not exist when the vintage photo was made.
The architect of the original Spanish Colonial Revival style buildings at the San Diego Naval Training Center, built from 1921 to 1923, was Frank Walter Stevenson. Among numerous other San Diego area landmarks, Stevenson also designed the Bush Egyptian Theatre, listed at Cinema Treasures as the Park Theatre.
The Moving Picture World of December 25, 1920, said that Sherman A. Cartwright had purchased Lyric Theatre at East Moline, and named Theodore C. Defoe as the manager of the house.
The August 7, 1920, issue of The Moving Picture World had a long description of the Fort Armstrong Theatre, then under construction:
The February 19, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World had this notice:
AndreasP is correct. I am not sure that Robert Larson was correct when he said this was the second Rio Theatre, though. SteveSwanson’s information about the Myrtle Theatre is probably from this web page, which says that the Myrtle Theatre was destroyed by a fire, and reopened as the Rio Theatre on January 9, 1953, at the First Avenue location.
The page does not say that the Myrtle was renamed the Rio sometime before the fire, nor is it clear about when the fire took place. One fire happened in 1943, destroying the Post Office which occupied the bay adjacent to the theater (as near as I can tell from the vague wording), but the page does not specifically say that that fire was the one that destroyed the Myrtle Theatre.
Perhaps the FDY editions between 1944 and 1952 list the theater in Myrtle Creek, if any, giving the name it was using at the time. Alas, I no longer have my digital FDY editions (they are trapped on another computer that no longer works.)
I see that one of the congratulatory notices in the grand opening ad dallasmovietheaters just uploaded is from William B. David. That strongly suggests that he was indeed the actual (but unlicensed) architect of the house, with William W. Wolf signing the plans. Another of the notices is from Gus (Gale) Santocono, who was probably responsible for the decoration of the theater.
AndreasP’s link doesn’t work for me, but I did find this photo which might be the same one.
An article about architect Sydney Lovell in the summer, 2003, issue of Marquee, by Barbara Coy Janssens, says that Lovell was working in partnership with James Wood when, in 1888, Wood received a commission to remodel the Grand Opera House. The project was completed in 1890.
As the house was only four years old when Wood was commissioned to remodel it, it seems likely that he, already noted as a theater architect, was brought in to correct shortcomings of the original design by Kysor and Morgan, who were not experienced in theater design.
I would imagine that most of Wood and Lovell’s work on the building had to do with the practical aspects of theater design, and focused on the stage facilities. Photos over the years don’t indicate any significant change in the style of the building, inside or out. It’s likely that the original gas lighting system was either replaced by or augmented with electric lighting as part of this project.
The official web site says their target for completion of the renovations and reopening is December, 2017.
The project was designed by the St. Paul architectural firm TKDA. There is a slide show with three drawings on the firm’s web site.
The principals of Toltz, King & Day were Maximilian Toltz, Wesley King, and Beaver Wade Day. The firm is still in existence today, operating under the name TKDA.
Baroose: Cinema Treasures does not yet have a listing for the Cherokee Theatre. It was listed in the finding aid for the papers of the architectural firm of Toltz, King & Day, for whom it was a 1921 project. That is the only place on the Internet I’ve seen it mentioned, until you posted your comment.
Google’s current street view shows a small building on the southwest corner of the intersection, fronting on Robie Street, which is currently in use as some sort of workshop or garage, with no signage indicating its actual use or its exact address. As it has a broad doorway in front, now sporting an overhead door, it does look as though it might have been a theater, though today it is a rather plain box so it might be a newer structure that replaced the original building.
The street view at Bing Maps shows the overhead door open, and it looks like there might be a big truck parked inside, though the light is too poor to be sure. None of the other corners of the intersection has any buildings that look like they could have housed a theater, so if the Cherokee wasn’t in this building it is gone.
This item is from the March 4, 1925, issue of The Film Daily:
The May 1, 1926, issue of Moving Picture World said that Hoffman Enterprises had reopened the Gem Theatre in Willimantic on April 20. The company had bought the house on February 1 and closed it for extensive remodeling, which included the installation of a new ventilation system and an Austin organ. Hoffman retained as manager John R. Pickett, who had been in charge of the house since its opening in 1912.
The May 1, 1926, issue of Moving Picture World said that Saxe Enterprises was engaged in reconstruction of the Burke Theatre in Kenosha. The house had been destroyed the previous October, and the company had been waiting for the $26,000 insurance settlement to come through before rebuilding. The house was expected to reopen in June.
This item appeared in the September 12, 1925, issue of The Moving Picture World:
I would imagine that the “…customer who fled without paying….” referred to in Katie Mac’s description of this theater was Mr. Swope. There might be a bit more to the story, though, considering this item from MPW of May 1, 1926:Puget Sound Theatre Organ Society has this page about the Roxy, which includes a photo of Commerce Street in the 1920s showing the original Chinese style decoration above the theater entrance. It also cites David L. Junchen’s opus list of organs as saying that a 2/4 Robert Morton theatre organ was installed in the Longview “Peking Theatre” in 1921. I suspect that either Junchen or his source made the mistakes, giving the wrong year and theater name. MPW would not have published those notices four years late.This weblog post says that the Palace opened in 1919 as the Wilselman Theatre, its name being a portmanteau of the surnames of its original owners, Floyd Williams and Sam Selman. Jeff Custer bought the house in 1920 and operated it through 1925.
The theater was remodeled and renamed the Palace by a new owner, Oscar Korn, in 1927. Later, the Palace was operated by Walter Buenger.
Here is an early photo of the Wilselma [sic] Theatre, dated 1920.
The page also mentions a house called the Cozy Theatre at the corner of 9th and Garza (very near the Palace, then) which was Slaton’s first movie house, opened sometime between 1911 and 1915.
This photo depicts the State Theatre in 1955, although it is captioned Slaton Theatre. The name on the theater itself is not visible due to the angle, but the vertical sign does appear to have spaces for six letters. An index for the June 13, 1952 Frontier Celebration Edition of the Slaton Slatonite lists advertisements for the Slaton Theatre and the Caprock Theatre (the drive-in.) I’ve also found a reference to the Slaton Theatre on this web page about the experiences of the Diaz family, who moved to Slaton in 1947.
Two poster cases remain intact on the building, one of them reading “Klemke’s Antiques and Gifts” and the other “Klemke’s Sausage Haus”, and it appears that at least the front section of the former theater houses the antique shop, while the entrance to the butcher shop (Klemke’s does operate a restaurant, but at a different location) is in the building next door at the corner of 10th Street. The company also does its own meat processing, and I think the processing plant is in this complex, possibly including the former auditorium.
A building with a 1930s streamline modern tile front, at 198 E. Dupont Avenue, now home of Pentacostals of Belle Church, was probably a movie theater. Here is a Google street view.
This photo purports to be the Royal Theatre in Chicago ca. 1904, but the copyright date on the photo itself is 1910. The copyright was held by the Decorators Supply Co., an outfit founded in 1883 and still in business today, with a web site.
jcarroll: The schedules for the Needham Theatre and for the Station Theatre at Point Mugu Naval Base (which follows the same policy) can be accessed from this page at the NavyLifeSW – Ventura web site. Hover your cursor over the word “movies” in the masthead and select the theater you wish to attend.
Louis Rugani posted part of the 1947 obituary of Steve Dorece earlier. Here is part of the 1996 obituary of his son, Leonard Dorece:
Union Cleaning Company, almost directly across the street from the site of the Hollywood Theatre’s entrance, is at 316 Third Street, so the most likely address for the theater would have been 317 Third.
This web page has a few photos of the Paramount, plus what appears to be a pre-1919 photo showing the original Columbia Theatre when it was a ten-cent movie house.
A two-manual, six rank Robert Morton organ, opus 2412, was installed in the Columbia Theatre in 1926. In a later restoration, the console was replaced by one from the Paramount in Clarksdale, Mississippi. The page linked in paragraph one has a link at the bottom leading to a page that links to an audio-only recording of the organ, played by the Paramount’s house organist, Dolton McAlpin. It’s quite impressive. The organ pipes and chestwork were later installed in a private home in Jackson, Mississippi.
This article mentions that the Columbia became the Paramount in 1929.
The Louisiana Theatre gets a short paragraph in this article, which says the house closed in 1954.
This article about Louisiana’s movie theaters is illustrated with a photo of what turns out to have been the second Cook’s Theatre.
The house was opened in the mid-1930s by James C. Cook and his wife, Ruby J. Darensbourg, and was the first movie house in Louisiana owned by an African-American family. The original wooden structure was destroyed by a fire in 1944, and replaced by a cinder block building in 1945. The gabled roof on the building now did not exist when the vintage photo was made.
The architect of the original Spanish Colonial Revival style buildings at the San Diego Naval Training Center, built from 1921 to 1923, was Frank Walter Stevenson. Among numerous other San Diego area landmarks, Stevenson also designed the Bush Egyptian Theatre, listed at Cinema Treasures as the Park Theatre.