Hippodrome Theatre

I think it came down to “real estate.” The theatre was run down and so was the office space. Cleveland had been “downsizing” for decades.

There was a huge need for parking in the area because of new office buildings like the National City Bank building across the street.
The NCB building also ate up the Embassy theatre and the Roxy.

The era when the Hipp closed was the one of the “shoebox cinemas” in the suburban malls. The thought of doing anything like that with the HIPP was just too daunting and downtown was dying anyway. The only movies left in downtown Cleveland are the Hoyt’s Cinemas in Tower City Center.

If the HIPP had been a part of Playhouse Square, it might have been “saved” like the Palace, State, Ohio, and Allen.

I had submitted the Roxy, and stated that it did show movies, but was told it didn’t qualify for this site since it was primarily a burlesque house.

TO: neighborhoodtheatres -Jim Somich is right! There are many that would find your pictures interesting. Put me on the list if you ever decide to share them, rent them or even sell them. I’m interested! I only wish I’d taken a camera with me when I worked as a stagehand back in the 1950s. The theatres you mentioned brought back a lot of memories. The ones that come to mind that don’t appear in Cinema Treasures are: The Euclid – which was on Euclid between Noble Road and Ivanhoe; The Ambassador – on Superior at E. 124th St; The Shaw-Hayden, on Hayden at Shaw, of course; The Lexington – E. 55th & Lexington; the Hough-79th – at guess where? The Astor, E. 86th & Hough; the Yale, St Clair and E. 84th, (I think); the Norwood, St Clair and E. 74th – or thereabouts; the Regent – on Buckeye Avenue (the Hungarian section of town); the Mayfield – in the heart of Little Italy on Mayfield Hill; the Union Square, Union Avenue at E. 79th; the Doan, St. Clair at E. 105th. The Avalon, E. 131st & Miles Ave; The Stillwell in downtown Bedford; the Vine on Vine Street in Willoughby, Ohio; the Oriental – I think on E. 105th between Euclid & Chester —– and I’ve probably forgotten 7 or 8 more. There’s also several more on the West Side, but my memory is really fading on those. I’ll have to think on that for a day or two! As for the Colonial Theatre, my great uncle either owned or managed that theatre at one time. I think he also owned the Oriental – out on 105th. His name was Bert Todd, and he later managed the Upper & Lower Mall Theatres downtown. As for the Roxy, I snuck into that place when I was just 14 years old – after being refused admittance numerous times. Your grandfather was right! The hawkers sold stuff in the aisles after the pitchman made a long-drawn sales presentation from the stage. He pushed opera glasses especially — so you could see EVERYTHING when the girls came out! The old men in the audience would get tired of listening to him and would start throwing things at the stage. They’d stand up and yell, “BRING ON THE WOMEN!” The Roxy was a real fun place. I got to see the world-famous stripper Tempest Storm there in about 1954 or 55. Good memories! Let’s hope your comments generate more stories from some Cleveland old-timers!

I have posted a great (exterior) picture of the Hippodrome Theatre.
Can anyone date it?
http://maxxgen.org/hipp/hipp.jpg

Here is some interesting info from the “Encyclopedia of Cleveland History:”

The HIPPODROME THEATER was located in an 11-story office building at 720 Euclid Ave. Designed by Cleveland architect John Elliot, the “Hipp” featured exceptionally good acoustics, a lavish interior, grandiose spaciousness, and a second entrance on Prospect Ave. Considered to be among the world’s great playhouses, it attracted performers such as Enrico Caruso, Sarah Bernhardt, W. C. Fields, Will Rogers, Al Jolson, and John McCormack. The auditorium had boxes, 2 balconies with elevators, and seating for 3,548. The stage was equipped to handle large-scale productions and spectacles such as operas. The world’s 2nd-largest, next to the Hippodrome in New York, it measured 130' wide, 104' deep, 110' high, and could be lifted to 4 different levels by hydraulic jacks. On one level was an 80x40x10-ft. water tank used for water spectacles. The theater was built in 1907 by an operating company headed by Max Faetkenhauer at a cost of $800,000. After several years, theater operations were leased to B. F. Keith. In 1922 Walter Reasoner took over operations, followed by RKO in 1929. Remodeling in 1931 made it the largest American theater devoted entirely to motion pictures. A large portion of the stage was removed, while the main floor was lowered and a new mezzanine added to increase seating to above 4,000. In 1933 the theater went bankrupt, and operations were taken over by Warner Bros. In 1951 it became part of the Telenews chain, and in 1972 the property was purchased by Alvin Krenzler. The last of the major downtown movie houses to close, the Hipp’s downfall came when the office space was closed and the theater’s revenues proved insufficient to support the building. The Hippodrome was demolished in 1981 to make way for a parking lot.

Back in 1978 I wrote an article which got published in the PD Sunday Magazine on the “Neighborhood Theatres” of Cleveland. I was just a kid then but always had a love for theatres. In doing the research I was able to secure a large number of photos of Cleveland area neighborhood theatres, like the Jewel, Uptown, Stork, Mt Pleasant, La Salle, Garfield, Shaker, Grand, Olympia and many others. I got lucky and made contact with a fellow who owned the Garfield Theatre. He had a ton of pictures of local theatres which he gave to me. All pictures are from the outside, showing the structure and usually the marquee. When the PD published the article they included a great photo of the old Colonial Theatre in 1932 ( from their files ). From the outside this looks like a great theatre. I would bet that the PD has a massive archive of theatre photos.

All of my photos are of small neighborhood theatres, and nothing on the grand old ladies from downtown. If anyone is interested I can scan my photo collection and post it somewhere ( I’ll have to ask one of my sons how to do this ). However, I am very interested in seeing photos of the inside of the Hipp, State or Ohio PRE- RECONSTRUCTION, or in the case of the Hipp de-construction. I would also like to see any interior photos of the Roxy. I was just old enough to see an actual burlesque show there in the late 1960’s – ok I was 15 – but tall enough to get in.

TJ: If the air conditioning went out in the Hipp’s last days, I’m not surprised. I can’t remember what kind of a/c system they had, but I seem to remember several Airtemp compressors humming along in the basement. This was in the 50s, and the Hipp was a first run house back then. But it was not a “first-rate” house, simply because management would never spend what it took to keep the place up and running properly. Even so, it would have been unthinkable to try to operate that huge, cavernous building without air-conditioning. I’m glad I wasn’t around at the time of the Hipp’s horrible demise.

TO: Jim Somich: Yes, I remember Silverthorne’s office, and his loud, irritating voice pouring out into the lobby. He was “difficult” – to be sure. I got into the balconies, but not via the elevator. It was not, as far as I know, working when I was assigned on infrequent occasions,to work at the Hipp. I guess my momory is fading fast, but I was thinking there was a third balcony. I don’t remember anything unusual about the balconies, other than the fact that they were not used much in the late 50s. I remember that several sections of seats had been removed — maybe to have the seats re-upholstered, (or retaped – given the penny-pinching nature of the ownership!)

Jack Silverthorne, the manager of the Hipp, had a rep for being difficult. I remember that his office door was often open and visible from the lobby. The walls were plastered with celebrity pictures.
I had to beg and beg to get into the booth. After a while it became a real challenge.
The Hipp was an amazing theatre. I never got into either of the two balconies. I understand that there was an elevator to the second balcony.

Dave: A “shotgun house” was one where an armed guard was an integral part of the theatre’s management staff. The Standard was one of Cleveland’s first “adult theatres.” But prior to that, it had a rather sleazy reputation for running films that came from the “10-cent rack,” and then charging a low admission price that would attract bums and other “street people” who would then use the place to warm up in winter/cool off in summer. The Carter Theatre was between Euclid and Prospect on E. 9th Street. I’m not familiar with the Cleveland Trust parking garage, so I don’t know if that’s where it was built or not. While we’re at it, Dave, we should also mention that the good old Roxy Burlesque House was also on East 9th, north of Euclid. It doesn’t qualify as a “shotgun house,” even though there may have been a hired gun on the premises from time to time. The Roxy did have motion picture projectors, so it does qualify as a “Cinema Treasure.” The slogan of the Roxy was, “If you want to be foxy, go to the Roxy!” (As a young whippersnapper, I went to the Roxy many times, but never worked there. I also never became “foxy.”)

TO: Jim Somich: I think you were right the first time. But I thought the Hipp had 4 Super Simplex projectors w/Peerless lamps. And Jack Silverthorne was the manager back in the 50s too, (Ugh!).

I take that back about the Peerless lamps. My memory is coming back. They were Ashcraft lamps.