Max and Louis Graf opened the twin theaters of the Aztec and Egyptian in 1925 thinking that having two smaller first-run theatres might be better than going all in on a single palace. They soon added the similarly-themed Pompeii Theatre as the start of their theatre circuit. All were architected by Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of the Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm.
But within months, the Grafs struggled and they closed their theaters. The business model was in the wrong era and Max Graf would continue his successful movie production career and Louis Graf would go into movie theater management. The Egyptian and Pompeii theaters would continue operation under new operators and immediately became sub-run grind houses. The Aztec would be partially dismantled though would reopen as a grindhouse much later.
The Pompeii Theatre was architected by Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm in 1925 for Max and Louis Graf. The Grafs went out of the exhibition business in a matter of months but the theater carried on under new management.
Opened as the short-lived Aztec Theatre in 1925, the twin sister Egyptian Theatre. The architects were Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm.
This early silent-era theatre was boarded up when it went out of business in 1913. Charles A. Smith of Kansas City was the architect who updated the theatre for its reopening in 1925 as the New Central. In 1950, it became the Eastown Theatre. It transformed to the Eastown Ballroom by decade’s end before being damaged in a fire on January 28, 1959.
Cherryvale’s big silent-era entertainment venues were its 19th Century Cherryvale Opera House for live entertainment and its photoplay houses, the Lyric Theatre (1908), the Gem Theatre (1908), and the 300-seat Star Theatre (1909) at 215 West Main. The Union Traction Company ran an interurban electric rail line between Parsons and Independence to Coffeyville and down to Nowata, Oklahoma. That line apparently brought business to these Cherryvale entertainment locations when it established a stop on Main Street in 1910 in downtown C'vale.
The Vale Theatre had started as the Star Theatre which as noted was launched in 1909, the town’s first venue designed expressly as a photoplay house. During World War I, on Feb. 21 1918, the Star was updated to remain competitive and became the Liberty Theatre – a common name for WWI era theaters.
As the 1920s were ending, Samuel A. Davidson purchased the Liberty knowing the town could likely support just one film venue in the transition to sound. The Liberty became that theater with the former Lyric turned Royal Theatre closing in 1929. R.O. Lee took on the Liberty changing it to the Lee Theatre.
Harry Musgrave opened the Ritz Theatre in the 1930s on south Neosho Street but it burned down in March of 1938 after very limited operation. The Lee Theatre was taken on by the Glen W. Dickenson Circuit. R.O. Lee stayed on for several years but when he left the managerial position during Dickenson’s run, the Lee changed to its final name of the Vale Theatre in the 1940s. A ceremonial final run of the interurban took place June 17, 1947. The Vale would also later vanish ending Cherryvale’s movie exhibition era.
This is the Nova 8 Cinemas that closed September 5, 2005. It opened August 1, 1986 as the $1 million, 2,160 seat Carmike 8 with Haunted Honeymoon, Pirates, Vamp, Maximum Overdrive, Northing in Common, Friday the 13th IV, and Howard the Duck. Carmike moved on in 2002.
Nova Cinemas took on the venue reopening July 26, 2002 as the Nova 8 Cinemas. It closed September 5, 2005. It then became the True Word of Life Church before becoming home to Sys-Con.
“Poor Richard” was operator Richard Dupuis who founded the pub/cinema beginning with Annie Hall on July 18, 1978 and had a ten-year lease that lapsed. He got six one-month renewals and closed February 2, 1989 after an auctioning of the pub/theater’s contents and a final showing of “Tequila Sunrise”.
The $65,000 Paul K. Evans architected Motor-Vu Drive-In launched June 3, 1947 for Eric and Carl Peterson. At the end of the 1953 season, the Petersons went large converting to a 105 foot wide CinemaScope compatible screen relaunching March 19, 1954 with “The Robe.” Sound was stereo using two Utah in-car speakers.
The Grand Opera House was built in 1900. Phoenix Amusement Circuit took on both the Alamo Theatre and the Paris Grand Opera Theatre in 1930. They equipped the Grand with sound and renamed it the Bourbon Theatre. The Bourbon Theatre closed for regular business in 1955 and had sporadic events through 1960. In 1961, the Opera House was raised.
The Globe Theatre’s grand opening was June 1, 1914. The property was in the Joseph Harrison Jr. family from 1855 to June 8, 1913 when sold to interests allowing the Stanley Theatre’s Globe to come into existence with the existing buildings demolished later that same year. The theatre was at what’s now considered 1 East Penn Street at a deleted address at Market and Juniper streets (listed often as 7 N. Juniper but varying).
It’s probably best remembered for its marble work and frieze of Alexander the Great entering Babylon in 331 BC and its neighbor, the busy Automat vending-based restaurant. But the theatre was outmoded as movie palaces with sound hurt the Globe’s chances. The building’s structure was also too small to survive in booming Philly. The theatre closed on Halloween of 1929 to make way for the 24-story Market Street National Bank Building with equipment removed on November 20, 1929.
Awaiting demolition in 1930, the theatre exploded on January 9, 1930 leading to injuries and fatalities. The Market Street National Bank Building address changed to 1 East Penn during its long run to be transformed to a Residence Inn hotel as of the 21st Century.
The $200,000 Fairlawn Cinema opened November 2, 1967 with “The Taming of the Shrew.” It was designed by Keith Haag & Associates of Cayahoga Falls with continental arrangement of 675 seats for Edward J. Rabb. It was located in the Fairview Shopping Center replacing the O'Neils Store. In 1969, Rabb sold it and the Village Twin to General Cinemas. It became a Mann theatre in 1973 when GCC sold it. The final operator Ted Bare Enterprises bought it in 1978 closed it on December 8, 1988.
There was a classified ad for the Lyric as being for sale in 1908. A trade press ad claims the Lyric Theatre closed in February of 1929 and converted into a retail store. It was likely at 201 W. Penn at Barbadoes Street where the Markley Street Parking Lot is.
The Liberty Theatre opened as an African American vaudeville and movie house on June 13, 1919. The theater went out of business in 1930 likely not transitioning to sound. It reopened in 1931 running to 1936 with sound.
It reopened as the Mood Theatre opened February 20, 1937 as an integrated venue showing the film, “Dancing Feet.” The operators were Mr. and Mrs. Chuck M.P. Morel. They closed the theatre two years later on March 5, 1939. After closing for repair, the theatre reopened in November of 1939 as the Ritz Theatre apparently
The original building was consumed in a fire on May 16, 1951 which killed the fire captain. It rebuilt and appears to have closed March 30, 1971 as a grind house. Two months later, it reopened as the Alex Theatre relaunching in 1972 showing Blaxploitation films and appeared to go out of business in April of 1978. The theater’s equipment and materials are sold off in 1980 apparently to satisfy liens. The building is partially demolished and then finished off in 1982.
Reboot ad as the Fox Theatre Now on November 2, 1929 in photos. The move proved short-lived and not without incident. On the venue’s tenth anniversary on September 29, 1933, it went back to its original Rex Theatre moniker and that ad was posted by another user in photos.
Max and Louis Graf opened the twin theaters of the Aztec and Egyptian in 1925 thinking that having two smaller first-run theatres might be better than going all in on a single palace. They soon added the similarly-themed Pompeii Theatre as the start of their theatre circuit. All were architected by Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of the Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm.
But within months, the Grafs struggled and they closed their theaters. The business model was in the wrong era and Max Graf would continue his successful movie production career and Louis Graf would go into movie theater management. The Egyptian and Pompeii theaters would continue operation under new operators and immediately became sub-run grind houses. The Aztec would be partially dismantled though would reopen as a grindhouse much later.
The Pompeii Theatre was architected by Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm in 1925 for Max and Louis Graf. The Grafs went out of the exhibition business in a matter of months but the theater carried on under new management.
Opened as the short-lived Aztec Theatre in 1925, the twin sister Egyptian Theatre. The architects were Oliver M. Rousseau and Arthur Rousseau of Rousseau & Rousseau architectural firm.
This early silent-era theatre was boarded up when it went out of business in 1913. Charles A. Smith of Kansas City was the architect who updated the theatre for its reopening in 1925 as the New Central. In 1950, it became the Eastown Theatre. It transformed to the Eastown Ballroom by decade’s end before being damaged in a fire on January 28, 1959.
Cherryvale’s big silent-era entertainment venues were its 19th Century Cherryvale Opera House for live entertainment and its photoplay houses, the Lyric Theatre (1908), the Gem Theatre (1908), and the 300-seat Star Theatre (1909) at 215 West Main. The Union Traction Company ran an interurban electric rail line between Parsons and Independence to Coffeyville and down to Nowata, Oklahoma. That line apparently brought business to these Cherryvale entertainment locations when it established a stop on Main Street in 1910 in downtown C'vale.
The Vale Theatre had started as the Star Theatre which as noted was launched in 1909, the town’s first venue designed expressly as a photoplay house. During World War I, on Feb. 21 1918, the Star was updated to remain competitive and became the Liberty Theatre – a common name for WWI era theaters.
As the 1920s were ending, Samuel A. Davidson purchased the Liberty knowing the town could likely support just one film venue in the transition to sound. The Liberty became that theater with the former Lyric turned Royal Theatre closing in 1929. R.O. Lee took on the Liberty changing it to the Lee Theatre.
Harry Musgrave opened the Ritz Theatre in the 1930s on south Neosho Street but it burned down in March of 1938 after very limited operation. The Lee Theatre was taken on by the Glen W. Dickenson Circuit. R.O. Lee stayed on for several years but when he left the managerial position during Dickenson’s run, the Lee changed to its final name of the Vale Theatre in the 1940s. A ceremonial final run of the interurban took place June 17, 1947. The Vale would also later vanish ending Cherryvale’s movie exhibition era.
This is the Nova 8 Cinemas that closed September 5, 2005. It opened August 1, 1986 as the $1 million, 2,160 seat Carmike 8 with Haunted Honeymoon, Pirates, Vamp, Maximum Overdrive, Northing in Common, Friday the 13th IV, and Howard the Duck. Carmike moved on in 2002.
Nova Cinemas took on the venue reopening July 26, 2002 as the Nova 8 Cinemas. It closed September 5, 2005. It then became the True Word of Life Church before becoming home to Sys-Con.
Designed by Nancy McLelland in 1929.
Technically, it’s “Poor Richard’s” Pub and Cinema
“Poor Richard” was operator Richard Dupuis who founded the pub/cinema beginning with Annie Hall on July 18, 1978 and had a ten-year lease that lapsed. He got six one-month renewals and closed February 2, 1989 after an auctioning of the pub/theater’s contents and a final showing of “Tequila Sunrise”.
The $65,000 Paul K. Evans architected Motor-Vu Drive-In launched June 3, 1947 for Eric and Carl Peterson. At the end of the 1953 season, the Petersons went large converting to a 105 foot wide CinemaScope compatible screen relaunching March 19, 1954 with “The Robe.” Sound was stereo using two Utah in-car speakers.
November 6, 1922 grand opening program in photos
The Grand Opera House was built in 1900. Phoenix Amusement Circuit took on both the Alamo Theatre and the Paris Grand Opera Theatre in 1930. They equipped the Grand with sound and renamed it the Bourbon Theatre. The Bourbon Theatre closed for regular business in 1955 and had sporadic events through 1960. In 1961, the Opera House was raised.
A 1922 ad for the Alamo Theatre before being renamed the Bourbon
Karl Boyer (and Rollin) open Boyer’s Auto Theatre May 27, 1939 with “Youth Takes a Fling”
The Globe Theatre’s grand opening was June 1, 1914. The property was in the Joseph Harrison Jr. family from 1855 to June 8, 1913 when sold to interests allowing the Stanley Theatre’s Globe to come into existence with the existing buildings demolished later that same year. The theatre was at what’s now considered 1 East Penn Street at a deleted address at Market and Juniper streets (listed often as 7 N. Juniper but varying).
It’s probably best remembered for its marble work and frieze of Alexander the Great entering Babylon in 331 BC and its neighbor, the busy Automat vending-based restaurant. But the theatre was outmoded as movie palaces with sound hurt the Globe’s chances. The building’s structure was also too small to survive in booming Philly. The theatre closed on Halloween of 1929 to make way for the 24-story Market Street National Bank Building with equipment removed on November 20, 1929.
Awaiting demolition in 1930, the theatre exploded on January 9, 1930 leading to injuries and fatalities. The Market Street National Bank Building address changed to 1 East Penn during its long run to be transformed to a Residence Inn hotel as of the 21st Century.
The $200,000 Fairlawn Cinema opened November 2, 1967 with “The Taming of the Shrew.” It was designed by Keith Haag & Associates of Cayahoga Falls with continental arrangement of 675 seats for Edward J. Rabb. It was located in the Fairview Shopping Center replacing the O'Neils Store. In 1969, Rabb sold it and the Village Twin to General Cinemas. It became a Mann theatre in 1973 when GCC sold it. The final operator Ted Bare Enterprises bought it in 1978 closed it on December 8, 1988.
There was a classified ad for the Lyric as being for sale in 1908. A trade press ad claims the Lyric Theatre closed in February of 1929 and converted into a retail store. It was likely at 201 W. Penn at Barbadoes Street where the Markley Street Parking Lot is.
The Liberty Theatre opened as an African American vaudeville and movie house on June 13, 1919. The theater went out of business in 1930 likely not transitioning to sound. It reopened in 1931 running to 1936 with sound.
It reopened as the Mood Theatre opened February 20, 1937 as an integrated venue showing the film, “Dancing Feet.” The operators were Mr. and Mrs. Chuck M.P. Morel. They closed the theatre two years later on March 5, 1939. After closing for repair, the theatre reopened in November of 1939 as the Ritz Theatre apparently
The original building was consumed in a fire on May 16, 1951 which killed the fire captain. It rebuilt and appears to have closed March 30, 1971 as a grind house. Two months later, it reopened as the Alex Theatre relaunching in 1972 showing Blaxploitation films and appeared to go out of business in April of 1978. The theater’s equipment and materials are sold off in 1980 apparently to satisfy liens. The building is partially demolished and then finished off in 1982.
Its proximity to Kansas State Highway 42 aka K-42.
Reboot ad as the Fox Theatre Now on November 2, 1929 in photos. The move proved short-lived and not without incident. On the venue’s tenth anniversary on September 29, 1933, it went back to its original Rex Theatre moniker and that ad was posted by another user in photos.
One of the rare “Architectural Styles – Colonial” for a drive-in. See photos.
Ben Schlanger was the architect of a redesign of teh Scarsdale Theater in 1950 and even helped develop its new screen (see photo).
Hadley & Worthington architectural refurbishing of the New Roxy Theater in 1950 in photos.
Sorry – 1952.
Opened October 26, 1925 with “Don Q: Son of Zorro” with Douglas Fairbanks. The Palace replaced Hilo’s Gaiety Theatre which closed on October 25, 1925.