A Philadelphia Inquirer article in the ‘90s indicated that the auditorium may have still been largely intact at that time. Employees of the retail tenant said they had moved a drop ceiling panel in a back room, climbed up a ladder and took a peek; they said they were able to see seats and even exit signs that were still lit.
This can be made Closed/Demolished—the north side of the 1200 block of Market Street was cleared by the early ‘90s to make way for a Marriott hotel as part of the Convention Center project.
RickB
commented about
Eric Twinon
Jan 28, 2005 at 8:35 am
The Route 38 Twin was in Cherry Hill, near the mall. This one is on Route 30, across from the Lindenwold PATCO train terminal. As far as I know this one was always an Eric operation.
46th Street & Westfield Avenue would be a more exact address; don’t know the precise number.
Part of the local Savar chain until the mid-‘70s when an independent operator took over and tried mixing live shows with the movies; I remember that Moe Howard of the Three Stooges made an appearance here not long before he died. They also booked Frank Sinatra Jr.; I heard they hardly sold any tickets for that one.
Supposedly the building had structural problems, which provided an excuse for the demolition. Pennsauken wanted to build a new town hall on the site but ultimately decided they couldn’t afford it. There’s a Walgreens there now.
Part of the local Savar chain in the early ‘70s, later became an independent theater. Always a second-run neighborhood house. Demolished by the late '80s; I think there’s a firehouse on the site now.
When the Stanley was built the theaters in Philadelphia were closed on Sundays due to state blue laws, so many big-name acts would play Philly on Saturdays and cross the river to play the Stanley on Sundays.
Demolished soon after it closed to make way for a Holiday Inn that never got built.
The 1984 closing date in the description sounds about right. If memory serves, the building was condemned because the facade was in danger of collapsing.
Last time I was down that way the screen of this theater was still up but the site looked very overgrown—no marquee, not even an obvious entrance road (not a paved one, anyway). It would take a lot of work to bring this one back.
Bob, there is one other theater in Philadelphia that might be the one, except that the location doesn’t match. It would be the Metropolitan Opera House at Broad and Poplar (not on the outskirts of town—a mile north of City Hall, if that). Built around the start of the 20th Century, it was owned for many years by an evangelical organization that did not have the kind of funds needed for proper maintenance. It hosted many kinds of events over the years but I don’t think it was ever a regular movie venue, hence outside the scope of this site.
The Erlen (theater #9129) was right on the city line on Cheltenham Avenue, was occupied by a church and had a seating capacity similar to the Logan’s, but it may not have had quite the grandeur you describe. I could be wrong on that, though.
Apparently some redevelopment plans are afoot here; there’s a proposal to build a restaurant that would be connected to the theater in some way. This story from the local daily probably raises more questions than it answers: View link
The seating capacity may have been reduced from the original. I believe that New York stage theatres with fewer than 500 seats operate under less expensive union rules than bigger houses do, thus the 499 figure.
In its earlier years the Pearl was a regular stop for leading African-American entertainers on tour. Pearl Bailey is said to have started her career after winning an amateur contest here. The theater must have survived as a movie venue at least into the late ‘60s or early '70s, as it was still advertised in the Inquirer’s (but not the Bulletin’s) neighborhood theater listings.
I once found some newspapers from 1954 and ‘55 that contained ads for the Carman; the burlesque policy was in force at that time. (A comic listed as a coming attraction was Billy “Cheese and Crackers” Hagen—what a nickname!) Around 1976 I took a ride past there on the #23 trolley; the building was still up and there were some signs on it advertising a church or revival meeting but it was hard to tell if they were current or old. It was still quite an imposing structure.
The Tower store building was a rock venue under the Ripley Music Hall name during the first half of the 1980s. Before that it had been a menswear store called Ripley for quite a few years.
In the late ‘60s and early '70s the Castor was booked day-and-date with the Bala in Bala-Cynwyd and the Yorktown in Elkins Park, usually showing foreign or art films.
Like its Market Street neighbors the Palace and the Family aka Apollo, the News played out its last years as an all-night grind house showing B movies and eventually adult features. It had a very narrow frontage on Market Street, with the name “NEWS” spelled out vertically in tile above the entrance. Demolished along with the Palace and several other structures to make way for the 1234 Market office building.
Operated from the mid-‘50s to its closing by Stanley Warner/RKO Stanley Warner as an all-night house, running B double features and maybe some adult product at the very end. Demolished along with the News Theater at 1230 Market and several retail buildings to make room for the 1234 Market office building, best known these days as the home of mass transit agency SEPTA.
Not to be confused with two other theaters in Philadelphia that have operated under the Palace name since 1980 (neither one for very long): the Theater of the Living Arts on South Street and the former Theatre 1812 on Chestnut.
Wasn’t this the theater that was the home of “Moron Movies?” They were a series of very short comedy films made by a guy named Len Cella, in his basement more or less…he strung them together and made a midnight-show feature out of them. Eventually he got some of them shown on the Tonight Show.
I’m pretty sure that the online sources that mention this theater have the address wrong; it was near Cumberland Street, which should make it something like 2449 instead of 2649. Demolished by the ‘90s at the latest (the Inquirer ran a picture of a neighbor sitting in a seat in the half-razed theater) and closed long before that, probably in the mid- to late '60s.
A Philadelphia Inquirer article in the ‘90s indicated that the auditorium may have still been largely intact at that time. Employees of the retail tenant said they had moved a drop ceiling panel in a back room, climbed up a ladder and took a peek; they said they were able to see seats and even exit signs that were still lit.
This can be made Closed/Demolished—the north side of the 1200 block of Market Street was cleared by the early ‘90s to make way for a Marriott hotel as part of the Convention Center project.
The Route 38 Twin was in Cherry Hill, near the mall. This one is on Route 30, across from the Lindenwold PATCO train terminal. As far as I know this one was always an Eric operation.
46th Street & Westfield Avenue would be a more exact address; don’t know the precise number.
Part of the local Savar chain until the mid-‘70s when an independent operator took over and tried mixing live shows with the movies; I remember that Moe Howard of the Three Stooges made an appearance here not long before he died. They also booked Frank Sinatra Jr.; I heard they hardly sold any tickets for that one.
Supposedly the building had structural problems, which provided an excuse for the demolition. Pennsauken wanted to build a new town hall on the site but ultimately decided they couldn’t afford it. There’s a Walgreens there now.
Part of the local Savar chain in the early ‘70s, later became an independent theater. Always a second-run neighborhood house. Demolished by the late '80s; I think there’s a firehouse on the site now.
When the Stanley was built the theaters in Philadelphia were closed on Sundays due to state blue laws, so many big-name acts would play Philly on Saturdays and cross the river to play the Stanley on Sundays.
Demolished soon after it closed to make way for a Holiday Inn that never got built.
Demolition is now scheduled for this month. Local news story:
View link
The 1984 closing date in the description sounds about right. If memory serves, the building was condemned because the facade was in danger of collapsing.
The Calo was a bowling alley during my college days in Chicago in the late ‘70s; don’t know when that use began or ended.
Last time I was down that way the screen of this theater was still up but the site looked very overgrown—no marquee, not even an obvious entrance road (not a paved one, anyway). It would take a lot of work to bring this one back.
Bob, there is one other theater in Philadelphia that might be the one, except that the location doesn’t match. It would be the Metropolitan Opera House at Broad and Poplar (not on the outskirts of town—a mile north of City Hall, if that). Built around the start of the 20th Century, it was owned for many years by an evangelical organization that did not have the kind of funds needed for proper maintenance. It hosted many kinds of events over the years but I don’t think it was ever a regular movie venue, hence outside the scope of this site.
The Erlen (theater #9129) was right on the city line on Cheltenham Avenue, was occupied by a church and had a seating capacity similar to the Logan’s, but it may not have had quite the grandeur you describe. I could be wrong on that, though.
Apparently some redevelopment plans are afoot here; there’s a proposal to build a restaurant that would be connected to the theater in some way. This story from the local daily probably raises more questions than it answers:
View link
The seating capacity may have been reduced from the original. I believe that New York stage theatres with fewer than 500 seats operate under less expensive union rules than bigger houses do, thus the 499 figure.
Status can be made Closed/Demolished. This block of Atlantic Avenue is now occupied by a strip mall and its parking lots.
The Bowie Baysox are a minor league baseball team…what’s their connection with the drive-in?
Are there any other cinemas influenced by baseball?
In its earlier years the Pearl was a regular stop for leading African-American entertainers on tour. Pearl Bailey is said to have started her career after winning an amateur contest here. The theater must have survived as a movie venue at least into the late ‘60s or early '70s, as it was still advertised in the Inquirer’s (but not the Bulletin’s) neighborhood theater listings.
The name did get used on at least one porn theater somewhere—I can remember Tony Randall, of all people, talking about it on some TV show in the ‘70s.
I once found some newspapers from 1954 and ‘55 that contained ads for the Carman; the burlesque policy was in force at that time. (A comic listed as a coming attraction was Billy “Cheese and Crackers” Hagen—what a nickname!) Around 1976 I took a ride past there on the #23 trolley; the building was still up and there were some signs on it advertising a church or revival meeting but it was hard to tell if they were current or old. It was still quite an imposing structure.
The Tower store building was a rock venue under the Ripley Music Hall name during the first half of the 1980s. Before that it had been a menswear store called Ripley for quite a few years.
The Closed/Demolished designation may be premature, as the owners are said to be consulting an engineer to see if the building can be saved: View link
In the late ‘60s and early '70s the Castor was booked day-and-date with the Bala in Bala-Cynwyd and the Yorktown in Elkins Park, usually showing foreign or art films.
Like its Market Street neighbors the Palace and the Family aka Apollo, the News played out its last years as an all-night grind house showing B movies and eventually adult features. It had a very narrow frontage on Market Street, with the name “NEWS” spelled out vertically in tile above the entrance. Demolished along with the Palace and several other structures to make way for the 1234 Market office building.
Operated from the mid-‘50s to its closing by Stanley Warner/RKO Stanley Warner as an all-night house, running B double features and maybe some adult product at the very end. Demolished along with the News Theater at 1230 Market and several retail buildings to make room for the 1234 Market office building, best known these days as the home of mass transit agency SEPTA.
Not to be confused with two other theaters in Philadelphia that have operated under the Palace name since 1980 (neither one for very long): the Theater of the Living Arts on South Street and the former Theatre 1812 on Chestnut.
Wasn’t this the theater that was the home of “Moron Movies?” They were a series of very short comedy films made by a guy named Len Cella, in his basement more or less…he strung them together and made a midnight-show feature out of them. Eventually he got some of them shown on the Tonight Show.
I’m pretty sure that the online sources that mention this theater have the address wrong; it was near Cumberland Street, which should make it something like 2449 instead of 2649. Demolished by the ‘90s at the latest (the Inquirer ran a picture of a neighbor sitting in a seat in the half-razed theater) and closed long before that, probably in the mid- to late '60s.