The photo of the Adler Theatre that Lou Rugani uploaded here a few days ago actually depicts not this house, but the 1937 New Adler Theatre on Central Avenue, which is listed here under its current name, Rogers Cinema 8. Maybe the photo can be moved to the correct page, and this comment can then be deleted.
Also, there are three instances of the misspelling “Alder” in place of Adler in the introductory description of this theater. Five instances of the same error appear in the introduction to the Relda Theatre.
A 1914 issue of Variety carried a brief announcement that the Princess Theatre in Corning had just opened as a picture house with 800 seats. The manager was Harry P. Kress of Wellsville. I can’t find the date of the publication, but it was probably from around mid-October.
I’ve also found two references in Evening Leader items in 1930 and 1931 to a theater called the Little Palace. This was before the first ads for the Palace Theatre at 35 Market had appeared. I wonder if the name Little Palace has been accidentally mingled with the name Princess, and that’s how the modern Palace’s web site came up with Little Princess as the early name of the theater in their building? It’s even possible that the Princess was the Little Palace for a year or so, and then the name Palace was moved to the other theater down the street.
According to the official web site of the Palace Theatre, this twin cinema occupies a space that was was once an upstairs theater called the Little Princess. The web site says that the Little Princess opened in the late 1800s, but to me the building looks more like something from the early 20th century. There’s no Victorian style to the facade, though it is possible that it was a Victorian building that was remodeled with a more modern facade in the 1910s.
The Corning Evening Leader carries many ads for a theater called simply the Princess during the late 1910s and mid 1920s. The Princess is mentioned as a theater as late as 1929, but this is in an item about an amateur theatrical performance being held there. The last ad for movies at the Princess Theatre that I’ve found is from 1927.
It’s very likely that the Princess Theatre of the 1920s was in the same building as the modern Palace, as a clothing store at 21 Market Street advertised itself as being next to the Princess Theatre.
Google Maps has no Street View for this location, but they have a decent Bird’s Eye View at Bing Maps. The gabled roof of the upstairs hall the theaters occupy is easily recognizable, especially if you rotate the view to the sides.
I’ve found that the original Palace Theatre was just down the block from this theater, probably at 35 W. Market Street. It advertised in the Evening Leader from as early as 1931 and into the early 1950s.
The November 15, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item, which is probably about the Day Square Theatre:
“Mr. Louis D. Cohen is having erected at 282 Bennington street, East Boston, a photoplay theater, to cost $40,000. The plans were made by architect Nathan Douglas, and the theater is to be a first-class affair.”
finestkind: The house listed at Cinema Treasures as the Paramount Theatre opened in 1915 as the Olympia Theatre. I don’t know exactly when it was renamed the Paramount, but it’s quite likely that it was still called the Olympia in 1927. It was certainly still the Olympia in 1924, when Anthony Dumas made this drawing of it.
The Paramount also had an organ that was still operational into the middle years of the 20th century. Most likely, the MC on the record conflated the two theaters in his mind and misspoke.
FrankW: Thanks for confirming that the Corning Cinema was the former Fox Theatre. The old Corning Opera House was a different theater, located on Pine Street, and is listed at Cinema Treasures under its later name, the State Theatre.
Given its location, I think that the Fox must have been either the 1921 or the 1928 project for the Liberty Theatre company that I mentioned in my previous comment. The 1928 project by Victor Rigaumont might have been either a new theater on an adjacent site, or a remodeling of the 1921 house that was to be built at at 14 E. Erie. Either way, I think it’s safe to assume that the Fox was at 16-18 E. Denison Parkway, and was designed by Victor A. Rigaumont.
The earliest mention of the Fox Theatre I’ve found so far is from a 1934 issue of the Corning Evening Leader.
An item in the February 3, 1923, issue of the Corning Evening Leader said that the former Corning Opera House would reopen as the State Theatre on Monday night, February 5.
A 1911 newspaper report confirms that the Alhambra Theatre built in 1915 was either a replacement for or an enlargement of an existing theater. The 1911 item said that the Alhambra Theatre on the south side of Bleeker Street near Genesee Street was being enlarged to accommodate 900 patrons.
In the 1940s, the Lux Building housed the Utica branch of W. T. Grant’s. The first two photos in the “Shops and Stores” section of the photo gallery at Utica Remember When show Grants, probably around 1940.
Sketchup has a 3-D model of the Lux Building’s exterior here. I’m not sure the auditorium was demolished. More likely the space was gutted and had a couple of floors built into it.
An item in a 1958 issue of Motion Picture Herald reported that Michael F. Cory, operator of the Strand Theatre in Canajoharie, New York, had purchased the Fort Plain Theatre from a subsidiary of Smalley Theatres.
Dream Star Cinemas no longer operates the Captiol (they are down to one two-screen theater in Pella, Iowa.) At some point the Capitol was taken over by Big Time Cinema,which operates seven houses in Iowa and two in Missouri.
The plans of the Lyric Theatre Company of Ellendale, North Dakota, were noted in the February 7, 1914, issue of Construction News:
“Ellendale, N. D.—Theatre. Brick., frpf., 1 sty., 25x125. Plans in progress. Archt., J. W. Henry, Aberdeen, S. D. Owner, Lyric Theatre Co., Ellendale, N. D.
"Hebry” was apparently a typo. I’ve found several references to an Aberdeen architect named J. W. Henry, but no others to a J. W. Hebry.
A 1954 book, 100 Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois, says that the Anna Drive-In opened on July 1, 1953. Its pre-CinemaScope screen was 44 feet high and 58 feet wide.
There is no such address as 226 S. Main Street in Anna. Street View shows that addresses go from 214 on one side of the alley (King’s Wok Chinese Restaurant) to 300 on the other side (This N That Flea Market and Resale Shop.) Given that fact, it seems more likely that the Yale Theatre was indeed at 327 S. Main.
A book called 100 Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois, published in 1954, says that when the Yale opened in 1914 it was called the Main Theatre. It was renamed the Yale in 1922, the year before I. W. Rodgers took over the lease. In 1933 Rodgers bought the theater and had it remodeled and enlarged. The Yale Theatre was still in operation at the time the book went to press.
Comparing vintage photos of the Gem linked earlier, and from Bill2’s statement that the Stadium Theatre is now a woodworking shop, it’s clear that the two photos uploaded by Norman Plant depict the Stadium Theatre, not the Gem. The Stadium is not yet listed at Cinema Treasures.
From the 1990s photo of the Gem linked by lostmemory, it is clear that the red brick sidewalls of the theater building were much older than the white brick front. Its possible that the 1936 opening date for the Gem was actually a reopening of a remodeled and perhaps renamed theater.
It’s also possible that the Gem was the theater mentioned in the May 20, 1916, issue of The American Contractor:
“Caruthersville, Mo.—Theater & Airdome: $10,000. 2 sty. 80x140. Archt. M. E. Worcester, Cape Girardeau, Mo. Owner Caruthersville Amusement Co., care archt. Plans ready for bids.”
. The Gem appears to be about 40 feet wide, and the airdome could have been on the adjacent parcel where a smaller building shows in the 1990s photo. However, various issues of The Moving Picture World from 1918 name three movie theaters then operating in Caruthers; the Exchange, the Dixie, and the Liberty. Any of these might have been the 1916 project, but any of them might also have been the Gem under an earlier name.
Architect M. E. Worcester also designed a theater in Cape Girardeau in 1916, though I’ve been unable to track down its name or discover if the project was ever carried out.
The history of the Baldwin Theatre that seymourcox linked to says that it was destroyed by fire on January 6, 1909. It’s possible that it never operated as a movie house, though it might have presented exhibitions of early films as a technological curiosity.
This web page from the Springfield-Greene County Library, says that the Landers Theatre opened on September 18, 1909 (our introduction currently says 1890 for some reason.)
The Landers Theatre suffered a major fire on December 17, 1920, and was not reopened until 1922. David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theaters lists the Landers Theatre as both a 1909 and 1921 project, so Robert Boller, who took over the Kansas City office when Carl moved to California around 1920, should also be credited as architect, as he probably did the plans for the rebuilding.
The official web site says that during the period when the theater was part of the Orpheum circuit, it was called the Landers Orpheum Theatre. The Landers Orpheum sign on the stage house has been restored, and can be seen here. The house was apparently never called just the Orpheum Theatre.
Although the official web site’s main page is captioned Springfield Little Theatre, the site uses the name Landers Theatre throughout, including in the company’s mission statement which says:
“Springfield Little Theatre is a volunteer driven organization, energized by the highest artistic ideals, that strives to entertain, educate and involve the community in live productions and in the preservation of the historic Landers Theatre.”
It appears that they still call the theater itself by its original name, while Springfield Little Theatre is only the name of the organization.
However, the Lyric might have been open only intermittently during its later years. In this 1963 photo, signage indicates that the theater was closed. The marquee advertised the Nor Shor Theatre.
The Minnesota Digital Library also has this photo depicting the original Lyric Theatre, which was at 114-116 W. Superior Street.
The address is one number off, but this item in the December 27, 1913, issue of The Construction News is surely about the Zelda Theatre:
“Duluth, Minn.—Moving Picture Theater. $20,000. 311 W. Superior St. Brk. & conc., frpf., 2 stys., 40x140. Refiguring. Archt., Wangenstein & Giliuson, 702 Providence Bldg. Owncr. Wm. M. Abrahamson, 31 E. Superior St.”
Wangenstein & Giliuson (John J. Wangenstein and Ephraim C. Giliuson) also designed the Lyric Theatre, which opened in the next block of Superior Street in 1914 as the New Grand Theatre.
The photo of the Adler Theatre that Lou Rugani uploaded here a few days ago actually depicts not this house, but the 1937 New Adler Theatre on Central Avenue, which is listed here under its current name, Rogers Cinema 8. Maybe the photo can be moved to the correct page, and this comment can then be deleted.
Also, there are three instances of the misspelling “Alder” in place of Adler in the introductory description of this theater. Five instances of the same error appear in the introduction to the Relda Theatre.
A 1914 issue of Variety carried a brief announcement that the Princess Theatre in Corning had just opened as a picture house with 800 seats. The manager was Harry P. Kress of Wellsville. I can’t find the date of the publication, but it was probably from around mid-October.
I’ve also found two references in Evening Leader items in 1930 and 1931 to a theater called the Little Palace. This was before the first ads for the Palace Theatre at 35 Market had appeared. I wonder if the name Little Palace has been accidentally mingled with the name Princess, and that’s how the modern Palace’s web site came up with Little Princess as the early name of the theater in their building? It’s even possible that the Princess was the Little Palace for a year or so, and then the name Palace was moved to the other theater down the street.
According to the official web site of the Palace Theatre, this twin cinema occupies a space that was was once an upstairs theater called the Little Princess. The web site says that the Little Princess opened in the late 1800s, but to me the building looks more like something from the early 20th century. There’s no Victorian style to the facade, though it is possible that it was a Victorian building that was remodeled with a more modern facade in the 1910s.
The Corning Evening Leader carries many ads for a theater called simply the Princess during the late 1910s and mid 1920s. The Princess is mentioned as a theater as late as 1929, but this is in an item about an amateur theatrical performance being held there. The last ad for movies at the Princess Theatre that I’ve found is from 1927.
It’s very likely that the Princess Theatre of the 1920s was in the same building as the modern Palace, as a clothing store at 21 Market Street advertised itself as being next to the Princess Theatre.
Google Maps has no Street View for this location, but they have a decent Bird’s Eye View at Bing Maps. The gabled roof of the upstairs hall the theaters occupy is easily recognizable, especially if you rotate the view to the sides.
I’ve found that the original Palace Theatre was just down the block from this theater, probably at 35 W. Market Street. It advertised in the Evening Leader from as early as 1931 and into the early 1950s.
An ad for the New Plaza Theatre appears in the March 18, 1919, issue of the Corning Evening Leader.
Here is a 1924 drawing by Anthony Dumas depicting the Paramount as the Olympia Theatre. This web page has a small photo of the Olympia around 1915.
The November 15, 1913, issue of The Moving Picture World had this item, which is probably about the Day Square Theatre:
finestkind: The house listed at Cinema Treasures as the Paramount Theatre opened in 1915 as the Olympia Theatre. I don’t know exactly when it was renamed the Paramount, but it’s quite likely that it was still called the Olympia in 1927. It was certainly still the Olympia in 1924, when Anthony Dumas made this drawing of it.
The Paramount also had an organ that was still operational into the middle years of the 20th century. Most likely, the MC on the record conflated the two theaters in his mind and misspoke.
FrankW: Thanks for confirming that the Corning Cinema was the former Fox Theatre. The old Corning Opera House was a different theater, located on Pine Street, and is listed at Cinema Treasures under its later name, the State Theatre.
Given its location, I think that the Fox must have been either the 1921 or the 1928 project for the Liberty Theatre company that I mentioned in my previous comment. The 1928 project by Victor Rigaumont might have been either a new theater on an adjacent site, or a remodeling of the 1921 house that was to be built at at 14 E. Erie. Either way, I think it’s safe to assume that the Fox was at 16-18 E. Denison Parkway, and was designed by Victor A. Rigaumont.
The earliest mention of the Fox Theatre I’ve found so far is from a 1934 issue of the Corning Evening Leader.
An item in the February 3, 1923, issue of the Corning Evening Leader said that the former Corning Opera House would reopen as the State Theatre on Monday night, February 5.
Here is a photo of the Lyric Theatre dated 1917.
The Colonial Theatre was in operation prior to 1916, and was the subject of this article in the January 19 issue of the Rutland Herald that year.
A 1911 newspaper report confirms that the Alhambra Theatre built in 1915 was either a replacement for or an enlargement of an existing theater. The 1911 item said that the Alhambra Theatre on the south side of Bleeker Street near Genesee Street was being enlarged to accommodate 900 patrons.
In the 1940s, the Lux Building housed the Utica branch of W. T. Grant’s. The first two photos in the “Shops and Stores” section of the photo gallery at Utica Remember When show Grants, probably around 1940.
Sketchup has a 3-D model of the Lux Building’s exterior here. I’m not sure the auditorium was demolished. More likely the space was gutted and had a couple of floors built into it.
An item in a 1958 issue of Motion Picture Herald reported that Michael F. Cory, operator of the Strand Theatre in Canajoharie, New York, had purchased the Fort Plain Theatre from a subsidiary of Smalley Theatres.
Dream Star Cinemas no longer operates the Captiol (they are down to one two-screen theater in Pella, Iowa.) At some point the Capitol was taken over by Big Time Cinema,which operates seven houses in Iowa and two in Missouri.
The plans of the Lyric Theatre Company of Ellendale, North Dakota, were noted in the February 7, 1914, issue of Construction News:
"Hebry” was apparently a typo. I’ve found several references to an Aberdeen architect named J. W. Henry, but no others to a J. W. Hebry.The Rodgers Theatre opened in February, 1938, according to the 1954 book 100 Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois.
The 1940 Boxoffice article cited earlier identifies the architect of the Varsity Theatre as Oliver W. Stiegemeyer.
A 1954 book, 100 Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois, says that the Anna Drive-In opened on July 1, 1953. Its pre-CinemaScope screen was 44 feet high and 58 feet wide.
There is no such address as 226 S. Main Street in Anna. Street View shows that addresses go from 214 on one side of the alley (King’s Wok Chinese Restaurant) to 300 on the other side (This N That Flea Market and Resale Shop.) Given that fact, it seems more likely that the Yale Theatre was indeed at 327 S. Main.
A book called 100 Years of Progress: The Centennial History of Anna, Illinois, published in 1954, says that when the Yale opened in 1914 it was called the Main Theatre. It was renamed the Yale in 1922, the year before I. W. Rodgers took over the lease. In 1933 Rodgers bought the theater and had it remodeled and enlarged. The Yale Theatre was still in operation at the time the book went to press.
Comparing vintage photos of the Gem linked earlier, and from Bill2’s statement that the Stadium Theatre is now a woodworking shop, it’s clear that the two photos uploaded by Norman Plant depict the Stadium Theatre, not the Gem. The Stadium is not yet listed at Cinema Treasures.
From the 1990s photo of the Gem linked by lostmemory, it is clear that the red brick sidewalls of the theater building were much older than the white brick front. Its possible that the 1936 opening date for the Gem was actually a reopening of a remodeled and perhaps renamed theater.
It’s also possible that the Gem was the theater mentioned in the May 20, 1916, issue of The American Contractor:
. The Gem appears to be about 40 feet wide, and the airdome could have been on the adjacent parcel where a smaller building shows in the 1990s photo. However, various issues of The Moving Picture World from 1918 name three movie theaters then operating in Caruthers; the Exchange, the Dixie, and the Liberty. Any of these might have been the 1916 project, but any of them might also have been the Gem under an earlier name.Architect M. E. Worcester also designed a theater in Cape Girardeau in 1916, though I’ve been unable to track down its name or discover if the project was ever carried out.
The history of the Baldwin Theatre that seymourcox linked to says that it was destroyed by fire on January 6, 1909. It’s possible that it never operated as a movie house, though it might have presented exhibitions of early films as a technological curiosity.
This web page from the Springfield-Greene County Library, says that the Landers Theatre opened on September 18, 1909 (our introduction currently says 1890 for some reason.)
The Landers Theatre suffered a major fire on December 17, 1920, and was not reopened until 1922. David and Noelle’s list of known Boller Brothers theaters lists the Landers Theatre as both a 1909 and 1921 project, so Robert Boller, who took over the Kansas City office when Carl moved to California around 1920, should also be credited as architect, as he probably did the plans for the rebuilding.
The official web site says that during the period when the theater was part of the Orpheum circuit, it was called the Landers Orpheum Theatre. The Landers Orpheum sign on the stage house has been restored, and can be seen here. The house was apparently never called just the Orpheum Theatre.
Although the official web site’s main page is captioned Springfield Little Theatre, the site uses the name Landers Theatre throughout, including in the company’s mission statement which says:
It appears that they still call the theater itself by its original name, while Springfield Little Theatre is only the name of the organization.The description of this photo of the New Grand Theatre, ca.1914, says that, as the Lyric, the house showed movies into the 1970s.
However, the Lyric might have been open only intermittently during its later years. In this 1963 photo, signage indicates that the theater was closed. The marquee advertised the Nor Shor Theatre.
The Minnesota Digital Library also has this photo depicting the original Lyric Theatre, which was at 114-116 W. Superior Street.
The address is one number off, but this item in the December 27, 1913, issue of The Construction News is surely about the Zelda Theatre:
Wangenstein & Giliuson (John J. Wangenstein and Ephraim C. Giliuson) also designed the Lyric Theatre, which opened in the next block of Superior Street in 1914 as the New Grand Theatre.