T he project began in planning as the Delsea Theatre. Just two months prior to it announced opening, the owners were gone and the project stalled. I. Mayer picked up the project renaming it as the Roxy. The Roxy opened with “Glorious Betsy” on September 21, 1928. The operator quickly went bankrupt forcing a sheriffs sale. It reopened April 23, 1930 with sound, a new operator, and a new name: the Glassboro Theatre.
Such things may not matter too much but the phrase above, “Nonetheless, the cinema survived on this format until it closed on April 20, 2002” is off by ten years (and, technically, more).
The theatre showed 95% mainstream Hollywood fare from May 10, 1972 to 1981 under Platt Showcase Theatres Circuit and then Milgrim Theatres with only a few midnight adult titles. Platt was responding to the picketing that dogged the theater under previous owner Countryside’s X-rated policy.
Under new operators, it returned to X-rated fare in 1982. The Plaza actually returned to the format / policy referenced above only for a little over a year.
Then in the Summer of 1983 it switched to racier, unrated “XXX” films - for the first time - under most likely a subleasing deal. Unrated XXX films are actually a different format than X-rated porno chic films. It stayed with that format 19 years throughout the home video era - the longest period for this venue. And it stayed with the policy longer than most theaters did in the United States. An impressive run for a most unimpressive facility.
Again, probably doesn’t matter but there you have it.
Carrols Development opened its 400-seat automated mini-cinema in the W.T. Grant’s Plaza on October 6, 1971 with Jacqueline Susann’s “The Love Machine.” Its address was 751 Black Horse Pike. Countryside Theaters, Inc. takes on the venue running into major protests and an obscenity charge for showing X-rated film in February of 1972. The theater closes and reopens with second-run Hollywood fare on April 14, 1972 with neither protests or many customers. The theater closes soon thereafter. Platt Showcase Theatres takes on the venue on May 10, 1972 with first-run Hollywood films starting with Dirty Harry.
On July 30, 1982, it shifts to X-rated fare likely on a sublease from Milgrim Theatres. It then switches to unrated XXX films. With Grant’s long-bankrupt, the shopping center changes names to the Route 42 Shop Center. It found its audience as it would become one of the area’s longest running adult theatres. By the turn of the Century, there were just three adult theatres left in all of the Delaware Valley. But on April 30, 2002 at the end of a 20-year subleasing agreement and following a double feature of Avi Scott and Bobbi Barrington in “The Girl Next Door” and Briana Banks and Nikita Denise in “Up the Wahoo” it was over. The Plaza would remain empty until its demolition in 2008.
Louis C. Joyce, Jr. built the brick-based Blackwood Theatre in 1921 as a photoplay house launching August 24, 1921. I.J. Legal took on the venue opening it four days a week in 1930 as the theater converted to sound to remain viable. Saul Cohen operated the venue from 1940 to 1955. In the 1970s, it closed and opened several times under a variety of operators. It was renamed the Movie Box on May 16, 1974 showing discount, second-run dollar movies until September of 1980.
On September 19, 1980, it became Movies! until its final showing of “Annie" on November 30, 1982 ending a 60 year photoplay / movie exhibition run. It was donated to the city. In October of 1983 it returned to its Blackwood Theatre moniker with live plays first by adults and then by children closing in 1984. The building needed $500,000 in interior improvements and the same amount for a new roof. Still owned by the city, it was demolished in April of 1990.
Opened as the New Hill Theatre replacing a previous Hill Theatre. Herbert Hill opened on April 8, 1938 with “Radio City Revels.” It was converted to a TV production studio early in the 21st Century
California Cinema Properties Circuit opened here as the American Theatres I & II with “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Funny Girl” on September 22, 1970. The venue was automated with two identical 350-seat auditoriums.
The G.G. Green Block held Green’s Opera House on its second floor, as noted above. In 1912, Howard Willis presented movies in that space. When Woodbury Amusement took on the venue in 1919, it turned it into a modern movie palace moving the theater to the main floor.
The Rialto launched December 20, 1919 with Bryant Washburn in “It Pays to Advertise” supported by the Ben Turpin comedy “Salome versus Shenandoah”. The Hill Brothers closed the Rialto on January 8, 1955 with John Wayne in “Reap the Wild Wind” without converting to widescreen projection. It was converted to retail within months
Rake and Blumenfield opened the Arlington Theatre on April 16, 1925 with Richard Barthemless in “Classmates” supported by “A Spanish Romeo”, a Fox newsreel, and a live accordionist. The venue closed April 27, 1929 unable to convert to sound.
B.C. Wilson reopened the Arlington Theatre on February 21, 1931 with Western Electric sound playing “The Bachelor Father.” He went out of business in April of 1933 but Lou Trager took on the Arlington reopening a month later on May 25, 1933. It closed again on March 3, 1937. It reopened a week later as the Suisun Theatre by G.R. Moore likely on a 20-year lease. The Suisun Theatre closed on March 28, 1957 with “The Tall Men” and “Private Hell 36”. It held sporadic events and several free kids screenings over the next year.
C.N. Jenkins and Penny Swetcoff opened the New Theater in the existing Lester Building on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. They held a naming contest and, in December 1934, it was renamed Melba Theater. Commonwealth Amusements took on the the venue and decided to create a new home for the Melba in 1940.
Commonwealth architect Richard Orear used the existing Brewer Building that housed a business and a hatchery to carve out a 722-seat theatre and a spot for Engles Barber Shop. The New Melba opened on November 27, 1940 with “Tugboat Annie” supported by the Warner Cartoon “Good Night Elmer,” the Warner Vitaphone short “Jan Garber and Orchestra” and Ray Whitley and Six Bar Cowboys in “Barroom Buckaroos.”
Strand Theatre #2 was built after the original burned down December 21, 1920 completely destroying both it and the Edison phonograph dealer, Z.B. Reid Music House. The new theater was located at 119 Walnut Street but was torn down after a lengthy period of vacancy in the 1990s.
The venue opened in 1911 as the Airdrome. After a year off, Will Mack and Geroge Bleck added a roof and solid walls creating the Grand Theatre. In 1927, Mack closed the Grand and took over the Strand Theatre with the neighboring Harwood’s Confectionery, the de facto concessionaire for the Grand, moving to the Strand Building.
Preston Hatcher and G.W. Pitts took on the former Airdrome turned Grand operating it as the Palace Theatre in 1927. It appears that the building was condemned. Malco Theatres, operators of the Liberty and Strand, took on the venue in in 1938 and, transformed it into an art deco venue, the Palace Theatre. The Palace launched on March 3, 1938 with “Topper Takes a Trip.” It ended on April 11, 1957 with Abbott and Costello in “Dance with Me, Henry!” Many of the theater elements were then carried over to the Liberty Theatre while crews converted the Palace Theatre into the Palace Bowling Lanes.
This is definitely the Madeline Theatre at 118 Walnut and whose neighbor was Candy Land, the de facto concession stand in 1915-1917 at 116 Walnut. The Madeline was in existence from under that name from late in 1914 until being sold to Mrs. H. Clay Sanders who owned the neighboring building. The name was reportedly changed to the Sanders Theatre though there are no trade articles or advertisements under that name.
The Gem Opera House launched in 1906 and turned Gem Theatre in 1911. It changed names again at the end of 1930 as the sound era tran anniversarysition was happening. The Gem Theatre became the Landers Theatre named after the Landers family who operated the location. It converted to CinemaScope on March 8, 1954. It received its last major interior update in 1984. The Landers closed its continuous movie operation at its 90th Anniversary with “First Wives Club” on November 21, 1996. The theatre continued with sporadic live events thereafter.
First International Theatres of Prairie Village, Kansas, launched the Oaks 7 Cinema on November 15, 1996. On July 25, 1997, Carmike Cinemas Circuit acquired First International. The venue became the Carmike Oaks Cinema 7 at that point.
In December of 2016, AMC acquired Carmike. It rebranded many of the inherited locations as “AMC Classic” indicating that generally the property would not be extended past their leases or would receive modest to no upgrades. This venue became known as the AMC Classic Batesville 7.
In December of 2018, AMC closed the Batesville 7. VIP Cinema’s parent, The Theater Group, added the former AMC Classic Batesville 7 relaunching it January 3, 2020 with luxury recliner seating. The theatre was then closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 25, 2020 but reopened later in the year.
The Theater Group had five locations in Arkansas: Little Rock’s Riverdale VIP, as well as Searcy, Cabot, Hot Springs, and Batesville VIP Cinemas.
The Cozy Theatre launched August 31, 1946 with “Personality Kid” with Anita Louise. It closed permanently on August 6, 1949 with a double feature of “Buckaroo from Powder River” and “Kazan” before being converted to a VFW Hall.
Grand opening was October 15, 1925 with Norma Maddox in “Queen’s Temple” and a $10,000 organ recital by Ms. Causey playing the Wisconsin Organ Company unit. On June 28, 1929, the venue added Vitaphone for sound exhibition.
T he project began in planning as the Delsea Theatre. Just two months prior to it announced opening, the owners were gone and the project stalled. I. Mayer picked up the project renaming it as the Roxy. The Roxy opened with “Glorious Betsy” on September 21, 1928. The operator quickly went bankrupt forcing a sheriffs sale. It reopened April 23, 1930 with sound, a new operator, and a new name: the Glassboro Theatre.
Such things may not matter too much but the phrase above, “Nonetheless, the cinema survived on this format until it closed on April 20, 2002” is off by ten years (and, technically, more).
The theatre showed 95% mainstream Hollywood fare from May 10, 1972 to 1981 under Platt Showcase Theatres Circuit and then Milgrim Theatres with only a few midnight adult titles. Platt was responding to the picketing that dogged the theater under previous owner Countryside’s X-rated policy.
Under new operators, it returned to X-rated fare in 1982. The Plaza actually returned to the format / policy referenced above only for a little over a year.
Then in the Summer of 1983 it switched to racier, unrated “XXX” films - for the first time - under most likely a subleasing deal. Unrated XXX films are actually a different format than X-rated porno chic films. It stayed with that format 19 years throughout the home video era - the longest period for this venue. And it stayed with the policy longer than most theaters did in the United States. An impressive run for a most unimpressive facility.
Again, probably doesn’t matter but there you have it.
Carrols Development opened its 400-seat automated mini-cinema in the W.T. Grant’s Plaza on October 6, 1971 with Jacqueline Susann’s “The Love Machine.” Its address was 751 Black Horse Pike. Countryside Theaters, Inc. takes on the venue running into major protests and an obscenity charge for showing X-rated film in February of 1972. The theater closes and reopens with second-run Hollywood fare on April 14, 1972 with neither protests or many customers. The theater closes soon thereafter. Platt Showcase Theatres takes on the venue on May 10, 1972 with first-run Hollywood films starting with Dirty Harry.
On July 30, 1982, it shifts to X-rated fare likely on a sublease from Milgrim Theatres. It then switches to unrated XXX films. With Grant’s long-bankrupt, the shopping center changes names to the Route 42 Shop Center. It found its audience as it would become one of the area’s longest running adult theatres. By the turn of the Century, there were just three adult theatres left in all of the Delaware Valley. But on April 30, 2002 at the end of a 20-year subleasing agreement and following a double feature of Avi Scott and Bobbi Barrington in “The Girl Next Door” and Briana Banks and Nikita Denise in “Up the Wahoo” it was over. The Plaza would remain empty until its demolition in 2008.
Louis C. Joyce, Jr. built the brick-based Blackwood Theatre in 1921 as a photoplay house launching August 24, 1921. I.J. Legal took on the venue opening it four days a week in 1930 as the theater converted to sound to remain viable. Saul Cohen operated the venue from 1940 to 1955. In the 1970s, it closed and opened several times under a variety of operators. It was renamed the Movie Box on May 16, 1974 showing discount, second-run dollar movies until September of 1980.
On September 19, 1980, it became Movies! until its final showing of “Annie" on November 30, 1982 ending a 60 year photoplay / movie exhibition run. It was donated to the city. In October of 1983 it returned to its Blackwood Theatre moniker with live plays first by adults and then by children closing in 1984. The building needed $500,000 in interior improvements and the same amount for a new roof. Still owned by the city, it was demolished in April of 1990.
Opened as the New Hill Theatre replacing a previous Hill Theatre. Herbert Hill opened on April 8, 1938 with “Radio City Revels.” It was converted to a TV production studio early in the 21st Century
Under its third operator in six months, Dean Davis re-opened here as the Avenue Theatre January 24, 1942 with Barbara Stanwyck in “Banjo on My Knee”.
It wasn’t meant to be… but a new twin theater would appear about a mile away.
California Cinema Properties Circuit opened here as the American Theatres I & II with “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Funny Girl” on September 22, 1970. The venue was automated with two identical 350-seat auditoriums.
The Suisun’s first film was “The Last of Mrs. Cheyney” at its launch on March 12, 1937.
The G.G. Green Block held Green’s Opera House on its second floor, as noted above. In 1912, Howard Willis presented movies in that space. When Woodbury Amusement took on the venue in 1919, it turned it into a modern movie palace moving the theater to the main floor.
The Rialto launched December 20, 1919 with Bryant Washburn in “It Pays to Advertise” supported by the Ben Turpin comedy “Salome versus Shenandoah”. The Hill Brothers closed the Rialto on January 8, 1955 with John Wayne in “Reap the Wild Wind” without converting to widescreen projection. It was converted to retail within months
Rake and Blumenfield opened the Arlington Theatre on April 16, 1925 with Richard Barthemless in “Classmates” supported by “A Spanish Romeo”, a Fox newsreel, and a live accordionist. The venue closed April 27, 1929 unable to convert to sound.
B.C. Wilson reopened the Arlington Theatre on February 21, 1931 with Western Electric sound playing “The Bachelor Father.” He went out of business in April of 1933 but Lou Trager took on the Arlington reopening a month later on May 25, 1933. It closed again on March 3, 1937. It reopened a week later as the Suisun Theatre by G.R. Moore likely on a 20-year lease. The Suisun Theatre closed on March 28, 1957 with “The Tall Men” and “Private Hell 36”. It held sporadic events and several free kids screenings over the next year.
Pullman Village Centre Cinemas will permanently close on Thursday, September 5 after “The Crow (2024)‘.
Closed May 12, 1985 for the twinning reopening June 21, 1985 as the Cameo Theatres 1 & 2 with “Secret Admirer” and “Desperately Seeking Susan.”
Launched June 3, 1953 with “California Conquest.”
C.N. Jenkins and Penny Swetcoff opened the New Theater in the existing Lester Building on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. They held a naming contest and, in December 1934, it was renamed Melba Theater. Commonwealth Amusements took on the the venue and decided to create a new home for the Melba in 1940.
Commonwealth architect Richard Orear used the existing Brewer Building that housed a business and a hatchery to carve out a 722-seat theatre and a spot for Engles Barber Shop. The New Melba opened on November 27, 1940 with “Tugboat Annie” supported by the Warner Cartoon “Good Night Elmer,” the Warner Vitaphone short “Jan Garber and Orchestra” and Ray Whitley and Six Bar Cowboys in “Barroom Buckaroos.”
Strand Theatre #2 was built after the original burned down December 21, 1920 completely destroying both it and the Edison phonograph dealer, Z.B. Reid Music House. The new theater was located at 119 Walnut Street but was torn down after a lengthy period of vacancy in the 1990s.
Robert Lowery launched the Starlite Drive-In on East Nettleton Avenue on June 1, 1952 with “Gobs and Gals.”
The venue opened in 1911 as the Airdrome. After a year off, Will Mack and Geroge Bleck added a roof and solid walls creating the Grand Theatre. In 1927, Mack closed the Grand and took over the Strand Theatre with the neighboring Harwood’s Confectionery, the de facto concessionaire for the Grand, moving to the Strand Building.
Preston Hatcher and G.W. Pitts took on the former Airdrome turned Grand operating it as the Palace Theatre in 1927. It appears that the building was condemned. Malco Theatres, operators of the Liberty and Strand, took on the venue in in 1938 and, transformed it into an art deco venue, the Palace Theatre. The Palace launched on March 3, 1938 with “Topper Takes a Trip.” It ended on April 11, 1957 with Abbott and Costello in “Dance with Me, Henry!” Many of the theater elements were then carried over to the Liberty Theatre while crews converted the Palace Theatre into the Palace Bowling Lanes.
This is definitely the Madeline Theatre at 118 Walnut and whose neighbor was Candy Land, the de facto concession stand in 1915-1917 at 116 Walnut. The Madeline was in existence from under that name from late in 1914 until being sold to Mrs. H. Clay Sanders who owned the neighboring building. The name was reportedly changed to the Sanders Theatre though there are no trade articles or advertisements under that name.
The Gem Opera House launched in 1906 and turned Gem Theatre in 1911. It changed names again at the end of 1930 as the sound era tran anniversarysition was happening. The Gem Theatre became the Landers Theatre named after the Landers family who operated the location. It converted to CinemaScope on March 8, 1954. It received its last major interior update in 1984. The Landers closed its continuous movie operation at its 90th Anniversary with “First Wives Club” on November 21, 1996. The theatre continued with sporadic live events thereafter.
First International Theatres of Prairie Village, Kansas, launched the Oaks 7 Cinema on November 15, 1996. On July 25, 1997, Carmike Cinemas Circuit acquired First International. The venue became the Carmike Oaks Cinema 7 at that point.
In December of 2016, AMC acquired Carmike. It rebranded many of the inherited locations as “AMC Classic” indicating that generally the property would not be extended past their leases or would receive modest to no upgrades. This venue became known as the AMC Classic Batesville 7.
In December of 2018, AMC closed the Batesville 7. VIP Cinema’s parent, The Theater Group, added the former AMC Classic Batesville 7 relaunching it January 3, 2020 with luxury recliner seating. The theatre was then closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 25, 2020 but reopened later in the year.
The Theater Group had five locations in Arkansas: Little Rock’s Riverdale VIP, as well as Searcy, Cabot, Hot Springs, and Batesville VIP Cinemas.
The Cozy Theatre launched August 31, 1946 with “Personality Kid” with Anita Louise. It closed permanently on August 6, 1949 with a double feature of “Buckaroo from Powder River” and “Kazan” before being converted to a VFW Hall.
The White River Drive-In launched with “El Paso” on July 27, 1950
Grand opening was October 15, 1925 with Norma Maddox in “Queen’s Temple” and a $10,000 organ recital by Ms. Causey playing the Wisconsin Organ Company unit. On June 28, 1929, the venue added Vitaphone for sound exhibition.
The Sunset launched June 28, 1950 with “The Flaming Arrow” on a soft launch with the public opening the next night