I came across a notice about a proposed two-story brick, stucco and tile moving picture theater, 50x100 feet, at the northeast corner of Bushwick and Hancock, for the Beacon Photo Play Corporation of Manhattan. Plans were being prepared by architects Hopkins & McKentee. The notice appeared in the April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide. I imagine this was the same project noted in the New York Times that year. The item does confirm the location John Dereszewski surmised for the project in 2011.
The January 3, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had an item about a proposed theater in this immediate neighborhood. It was to be on the East side of Melrose south of 157th street, for the Benenson Realty Company. It was to be a two-story building with a theater and two stores, and the project had been designed by architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag. I know it’s not a perfect match for the Boro Theatre, but plans do change sometimes so the developer might have just abandoned the plan for second floor.
From the February 7, 1914 Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “New Brooklyn Picture Theatre. Tobias Goldstone, architect, 49 Graham avenue, Brooklyn, has completed plans and specifications for a moving picture theatre to be erected at 577-583 Gates avenue, Brooklyn. The owner is Herman Weingarten, a builder, 676 Humbolt street, Brooklyn. The theatre will be modern in every respect, one story, 33 by 100 feet, with a facade of Tapestry brick and Indiana limestone. The auditorium is planned to accommodate about 450 people. The interior of the theatre will be plastered on expanded metal lath with ornamental plaster panels. The building will be heated by steam and have all necessary sanitary conveniences. As noted elsewhere, the owner will build and will be ready about February 15 to take estimates on subcontracts and materials.”
Here is an item about this theater from the March 11, 1916 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “PATERSON, N. J.- Charles E. Slaight, architect, Romaine Bldg., is taking estimates on general and separate contracts to close March 15th for a brick moving picture theatre, at 204 Market st, for Max Gold, Main st, owner. Cost, about $20,000.”
The item misspells the surname of architect Charles E. Sleight, who also designed the Majestic Theatre in Paterson. His son Albert E. Sleight designed Paterson’s Plaza Theatre.
A 1913 Sanborn map of Newburgh shows “Moving Pictures” at 13 S. Colden Street, a few doors south of 1st street. There were no other theaters between that and Broadway, so that one must have been the Royal. Unfortunately, neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps nor Bing maps will show that address in its proper location, all three displacing it several blocks south. Addresses work fine on Water street, one block east, but fail on Colden Street. The entire neighborhood from the west side of Water Street to Grand Street has been ravaged by an Urban Removal project. The Royal’s site is now part of a park.
This item about the recent opening of Michigan City’s New Lido Theatre appeared in the July 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice: “Many Chicagoans Attend New Lido Opening
“Michigan City, Ind.—Many Chicago film industry figures attended the formal opening of the New Lido, 900-seat house here being operated by Maurice and Harry Rubin and Alex Manta and Jack Rose of Chicago. Managing director is Maurice Rubin.
“The house features the new sphere-o-torium, designed by Pereira & Pereira, Chicago architects and members of the Boxoffice Modern Theatre Planning Institute. The new design gives the auditorium a cone effect. All 900 seats are on the main floor, and the color scheme is blue and buff.”
The article continues with a long list of the attendees, which included architect Hal Pereira, William’s partner and brother, who would eventually launch a second career as a leading Hollywood set designer.
I’ve come across something a bit puzzling. The September 28, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald has an item headed “Hightower Dresses entire staff for ‘Public Hero’” and the item says: “For ‘Public Hero,’ R. H. Hightower, Ritz Theatre, Dublin, Ga., had a man dressed in guard uniform carrying rifle walking his post between two lookout towers on either side of theatre. On each side of entrance and exit doors, guards paced back and forth. Usherettes were dressed as convicts with the number one on their backs. For foyer display, Hightower had a display of submarine guns, pistols, etc., taken from city and county criminals.”
The “submarine” guns were obviously meant to read submachine guns, but the point is that Dublin had a Ritz Theatre operating more than a year after the original Ritz burned. I doubt that Mr. Hightower would have sent the magazine the wrong name for his theater, so the logical conclusion is that the rebuilt house that is now the Dublin Theatre opened as the Ritz, just as its predecessor had. Indeed, the 1935 FDY lists the 400-seat Rose Theatre and the 900-seat Ritz. In later editions the Ritz is listed through the 1940s. In 1945, a Dublin Theatre appears, with 850 seats, but both the Rose and the Ritz continue to be listed along with it. In 1949, the Ritz finally vanishes, and the Dublin is suddenly listed with an astonishing 1,650 seats. Obviously that was extraordinarily unlikely for town of little more than 7000 population.
I suspect that the continued listing of the Ritz after 1945 was a mistake, and this house was called the Dublin Theatre from then until the early 1950s. I don’t have access to FDYs from the 1950s, so I don’t know when it became the Martin Theatre, but it might be that Martin took over the house in 1949, when a brief item datelined Dublin in the July 23 issue of Boxoffice said “Theatre sold to Martin Theatres by Jack Powell.”
Given the information that has come to light, I suspect that the Ritz was not destroyed by the 1934 fire, but was probably just gutted and soon restored, and reopened later that same year.
The December 17, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Rose Theater: “Dublin, Ga., Dec. 14. - Work was commenced recently to enlarge the Rose Theatre. Mr. T. C. Fountain was given the contract by Manager Yeomans to build an additional thirty feet for seating capacity, and also to erect a stage. This will include the seating capacity of the Rose to 750. Contract was also given for one of the latest heating systems.”
The Rose first appears in the 1928 FDY, indicating a likely 1927 opening. It joined a 400-seat house called the Crystal Theatre, which appeared in editions from 1926 through 1929, but had actually opened in 1916. Only the Rose is listed in 1930. In the 1914-1915 AMPD, Dublin is the home of the Amusu Theatre on Jackson Street and the Gem Theatre, no address.
Dublin had a movie house by 1908, as a January 2, 1909 Moving Picture World item said that the Star (or Old Star) theater in Dublin had changed hands, and the new owners would rebuild the house and hold a contest to chose a new name. The item said the house would open “around Christmas,” revealing a considerable delay in the item’s publication.
The Star might have been a storefront marked on the 1913 Sanborn Map as a “Picture Show” in the third space east of Jefferson Street on the south side of Jackson. This might also have been the Amusu Theatre of 1914. The 1913 map also showed an Opera House (from plans) upstairs in a building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Franklin. This house had burned by 1920, as the Sanborn published that year shows theater ruins on that lot. I haven’t found much about this theater, but perhaps it was the house that operated as the Gem in 1914.
The January 26, 1929 issue of The Billboard had this announcement: “MUSCODA, Wis., Jan. 19. -Synchrotone has been installed at the Muscoda Theater and the first sound program was given Sunday night.”
Frank Paulick frequently submitted capsule movie reviews to trade journals, continuing well into 1923.
Although the Muscoda Theatre burned in 1937, it was still listed in the 1940 FDY, though with the notation that it was closed. The October 5 issue of Boxoffice that year said that “Muscoda, which is
without a theatre, is now showing film every Saturday night in the school auditorium through the cooperation of local merchants.”
On December 21, 1940, Boxoffice said that the town’s merchants were actively seeking someone to build a theater in the town. Local residents going to other towns to see movies were also patronizing retail shops in those towns, much to the displeasure of Muscoda’s business community. They did finally get a new theater, but it took the better part of a decade.
One interesting bit of Muscoda history is that the May 6, 1916 issue of American Contractor, which carried a notice of Fred Paulick’s theater project also carried an adjacent notice of another theater project in Muscoda, a house 40x100 owned by a W. Davis. I’ve been unable to find any evidence that Mr. Davis’s project was completed, but if it was the competition must have been fierce once Mr. Paulick began running movies. I doubt that Mr. Davis’s smaller house would have survived for long.
The Woodstock Theatre, then called the Town Hall Theatre, was in operation at least as early as mid-1937. This article from the Woodstock History Center cites an article in the December 24, 1942, Vermont Standard saying that Peter Latchis had run the movie theater in the Town Hall for 5 ½ years. That would take his tenure back to mid-1937.
It doesn’t say if Mr. Latchis was the first operator of the house, so it might have opened even earlier. The 1936 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Fireman’s Hall at Woodstock, but it was closed. Earlier, according to the History center article, Woodstock had a theater called the Gem, which had occupied a room at the elementary school for at least part of its history. It might also have been the 300-seat house listed in the 1926 FDY as the Community theater.
50sSNIPES: Auburn is the name of the town where the Starlight Theatre opened in January, 1940. It’s listed at Cinema Treasures as the Marian Theatre.
The 1935 FDY lists two theaters in Cumberland, a 242-seat Cumberland Theatre and a 156-seat Ritz Theatre. The 1938 FDY lists the 500-seat Novo and a 156-seat Cumberland. One of the older two had to have been the house next door to the Novo, which replaced it. The Ritz is listed in the 1929 FDY, but without a seating capacity.
Incidentally, a small photo of the entrance to this theater when it was called the Time can be found on this Facebook post. Unfortunately, the five comments on the post are all about how scary “The Exorcist” was, with no more information about the theater.
The Cozy is listed in the 1931 FDY as closed, and with 200 seats. It doesn’t reappear until the 1936 edition, when it is listed with 500 seats. In 1937 and 1938, the Cozy is listed, but with 300 seats. The Ritz is listed, with 500 seats, in all the editions from 1931 though 1938. I don’t have access to a 1939 Year Book, but the 1940 edition lists the Cozy as closed, and the 1941 edition lists it with 400 seats. The Ritz continues to have 500.
To add a bit of complication, this item from the July 2, 1938 issue of Motion Picture Herald might be about the Cozy, but there’s no evidence that it isn’t about the Ritz. “…R. L. Barton, who is mayor of Stroud, Okla., has signed a five year lease on an air-conditioned theatre being built by the Disney Lumber Company.” It’s also possible that this project wasn’t even in Stroud, since Mr. Barton expanded his theater holdings during this period. Given the name of the construction company, the house might have been in the town of Disney.
This 1939 item is explicitly about the Cozy, in Boxoffice of July 1: “Hurricane Paris is rebuilding Lewis Barton’s Cozy Theatre at Stroud, Okla., and is contemplating producing a color newsreel of Disney, Okla.” This must have been the iteration of the Cozy that burned in February, 1940, after having been open only about four months.
A “Picture Theater” is shown at the Cozy’s location on both the 1916 and 1925 Sanborn maps. It is the only movie theater shown on either map, but both show the Stroud Opera House, an upstairs theater of 600 seats built in 1902 at the northwest corner of Main (then called 3rd) Street and 2nd Avenue. The 1910 map shows the Opera House, and also a “Cheap Theater” on the north side of Main in the second storefront east of 4th Avenue, but the Cozy’s site was then a vacant lot.
Local memory of the opening date of this house is apparently wrong. Not only does the Barton Theatre make its first appearance in the 1928 FDY, but this item is from the October 16, 1926 issue of The Billboard: “STROUD, Okla. -The Barton Theater, Stroud’s most modern movie house, constructed at a cost of $50,000, has been opened for business.”
I’ve found the house referred to as the Ritz as early as the July, 1931 issue of Theatre Engineering.
This bit of information about the Barton building is from the City of Stroud’s web site: “Built in 1920, it was the Ritz Theater in the 1930’s and 40’s. The Bartons owned both the Ritz and the Cozy Theater, which building was at 407 W. Main.”
The 200-seat Barton Theatre first appears in the 1928 FDY. The 1926 and 1927 editions both list the 200-seat Cozy and a New, with no seating capacity given. The New might have been the Barton, not yet named. Both the Cozy and the Barton are mentioned in the February, 1928 issue of Theatre Management, which says the houses, previously booked by Griffith Brothers, had been purchased by W. S. Spearman.
The Ritz was closed for a time in the summer of 1939, according to this item from Boxoffice, August 12, 1939: “Lewis Barton, the mayor of Stroud, is all set to reopen his Ritz Theatre there…”
The Cozy Theatre was at 407 W. Main Street. It has been demolished, and a small park now occupies the site. This Facebook post has a photo of the Cozy, probably from 1957, but two comments in the thread indicate that the house was later called the Time Theatre. One commenter recalls seeing “Jaws” at the house, so it must have been open at least until 1975.
One interesting bit of information from the February 17, 1940 issue of Boxoffice suggests that the Cozy had to be rebuilt twice in less than a year.: “STROUD, OKLA.—Mayor Louis Barton will rebuild the Cozy, destroyed by fire a few days ago. The house was built about four months ago.” I haven’t found any references to this fire, or an earlier rebuilding, anywhere else.
This item is from the December 22, 1927 Kenedy Advance: “Ken Tex Theatre announces as a vaudeville feature tonight The Dancing Demons. The cast is composed of Verne Gibson, Jimmy Bates, Cyril Durette and Frne Barbay. This a clever bunch of dancers and singers, introducing the latest dance crazes throughout the country.”
Here’s an interesting tidbit from the December 24, 1953 issue of Boxoffice: “We have been informed that Dave Smason, owner-manager of the Vic Theatre, Karnes City, is anxious to start a stage show policy at his house.” Given that the house ran Spanish language movies, I would imagine that the stage shows were in Spanish as well, perhaps featuring some of the Mexican vaudeville acts which often toured the southwest into the 1960s.
This house was also known (at least as early as September, 1906) as the Messenger Theatre. Here is a notice about the name change and reopening from the December 19, 1908 issue of The Billboard: “The Meseenger Theatre at Corry, Pa., has been leased for a term of years by J. J. Desmond and will be remodeled into a handsome playhouse. The name will be changed to the Library Theatre and will be under the management of Mr. Harry W. Parker. The house will open Januay 4, with The Lion and the Mouse.”
The current Corry armory is an NRHP listed building opened in December, 1907. The old armory was converted into a theater in 1908. A history of Erie County published in 1909 gives this brief account of Corry’s theaters up until then:
“In the matter of amusements, Corry has had its experiences. The earliest theatre was Wright’s, which was burned a good many years ago. To supply the need in the seventies the second and third floors of the Ajax building on Centre street were transformed into a handsome little theatre and called the Harmon Opera House. This was needed for other purposes in time, when the Corry Opera House took it place for a short while, until the Weeks Theatre, a thoroughly modern and complete playhouse was erected. This was buried [burned] in 1898. The city was then without any theatre facilities worthy the name until 1908, when the old Armory building was taken by Harry Parker and rebuilt into an admirable theatre, with a well equipped stage and seating capacity for 700. It is heated by steam, lighted by electricity, is well furnished, handsomely decorated, and is provided with eleven dressing rooms.”
I checked Historic Aerials, where the most recent view available was 1959, and there were still a couple of small buildings to the north, so I’d guess the intended expansion was south. Most likely the expansion didn’t happen, as I doubt they’d expand a building and then demolish only that half of it for new construction thirty years later.
The only mention of the Grand I’ve found in the trade journals so far is this item from the August 28, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World: “C. R. Rogers has purchased from Mrs. Anna Shuss two frame buildings on North Center street, Corry, Pa., and later will raze them to afford space for an addition to the Grand Theatre, at present a picture house. When remodeled the house will be used for legitimate attractions.” I’ve been unable to discover if Mr. Rogers' rather ambitious plans were carried out.
Here is a closing notice from The New York Dramatic Mirror of December 18, 1909: “C. N. Waters has closed the Continuous Theatre at Corry, Pa., moved to a new location and opened the New Lyric, which is one of the neatest in this section, handsomely equipped with all latest improvements, with six threefoot aisles and plenty of fire escapes. The opening occurred Dec. 2 to capacity business and souvenirs were given to all on the opening night.”
I don’t think the New Lyric mentioned in this item could have been the one at 36-38 W. Main, given the description of “…six threefoot aisles….” etc.
A 1913 trade journal item that mentioned C. N. Waters said that he had been in the movie business at Corry for seven years, so the Continuous might have opened as early as 1906.
There was a Lyric Theatre operating in Corry in 1913, as I found this item in the November 8 issue of Moving Picture World that year: “WATERS BUILDS NEW HOUSE.
“C. N. Waters, of Corry, Pa., who has been in the picture show business for the past seven years, is building a new picture house in that city. The new theater, which will have 350 seats, is expected to be ready about the first of January next. In the meanwhile Mr. Waters will conduct his Lyric theater.”
According to an item in The New York Dramatic Mirror of December 18, 1909, a house called the New Lyric Theatre had opened at Corry on December 2, but from its description I don’t think it could have been this house. So far it’s a complete mystery.
The theater Waters was building in 1913 was probably a house called the Family Theatre, which opened that December. I haven’t been able to find its location or any details about it.
The April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had a notice about this project. The architect was William H. McElfatrick.
I came across a notice about a proposed two-story brick, stucco and tile moving picture theater, 50x100 feet, at the northeast corner of Bushwick and Hancock, for the Beacon Photo Play Corporation of Manhattan. Plans were being prepared by architects Hopkins & McKentee. The notice appeared in the April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide. I imagine this was the same project noted in the New York Times that year. The item does confirm the location John Dereszewski surmised for the project in 2011.
The January 3, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had an item about a proposed theater in this immediate neighborhood. It was to be on the East side of Melrose south of 157th street, for the Benenson Realty Company. It was to be a two-story building with a theater and two stores, and the project had been designed by architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag. I know it’s not a perfect match for the Boro Theatre, but plans do change sometimes so the developer might have just abandoned the plan for second floor.
From the February 7, 1914 Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “New Brooklyn Picture Theatre. Tobias Goldstone, architect, 49 Graham avenue, Brooklyn, has completed plans and specifications for a moving picture theatre to be erected at 577-583 Gates avenue, Brooklyn. The owner is Herman Weingarten, a builder, 676 Humbolt street, Brooklyn. The theatre will be modern in every respect, one story, 33 by 100 feet, with a facade of Tapestry brick and Indiana limestone. The auditorium is planned to accommodate about 450 people. The interior of the theatre will be plastered on expanded metal lath with ornamental plaster panels. The building will be heated by steam and have all necessary sanitary conveniences. As noted elsewhere, the owner will build and will be ready about February 15 to take estimates on subcontracts and materials.”
Here is an item about this theater from the March 11, 1916 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “PATERSON, N. J.- Charles E. Slaight, architect, Romaine Bldg., is taking estimates on general and separate contracts to close March 15th for a brick moving picture theatre, at 204 Market st, for Max Gold, Main st, owner. Cost, about $20,000.”
The item misspells the surname of architect Charles E. Sleight, who also designed the Majestic Theatre in Paterson. His son Albert E. Sleight designed Paterson’s Plaza Theatre.
A 1913 Sanborn map of Newburgh shows “Moving Pictures” at 13 S. Colden Street, a few doors south of 1st street. There were no other theaters between that and Broadway, so that one must have been the Royal. Unfortunately, neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps nor Bing maps will show that address in its proper location, all three displacing it several blocks south. Addresses work fine on Water street, one block east, but fail on Colden Street. The entire neighborhood from the west side of Water Street to Grand Street has been ravaged by an Urban Removal project. The Royal’s site is now part of a park.
This item about the recent opening of Michigan City’s New Lido Theatre appeared in the July 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice: “Many Chicagoans Attend New Lido Opening
“Michigan City, Ind.—Many Chicago film industry figures attended the formal opening of the New Lido, 900-seat house here being operated by Maurice and Harry Rubin and Alex Manta and Jack Rose of Chicago. Managing director is Maurice Rubin.
“The house features the new sphere-o-torium, designed by Pereira & Pereira, Chicago architects and members of the Boxoffice Modern Theatre Planning Institute. The new design gives the auditorium a cone effect. All 900 seats are on the main floor, and the color scheme is blue and buff.”
The article continues with a long list of the attendees, which included architect Hal Pereira, William’s partner and brother, who would eventually launch a second career as a leading Hollywood set designer.
I’ve come across something a bit puzzling. The September 28, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald has an item headed “Hightower Dresses entire staff for ‘Public Hero’” and the item says: “For ‘Public Hero,’ R. H. Hightower, Ritz Theatre, Dublin, Ga., had a man dressed in guard uniform carrying rifle walking his post between two lookout towers on either side of theatre. On each side of entrance and exit doors, guards paced back and forth. Usherettes were dressed as convicts with the number one on their backs. For foyer display, Hightower had a display of submarine guns, pistols, etc., taken from city and county criminals.”
The “submarine” guns were obviously meant to read submachine guns, but the point is that Dublin had a Ritz Theatre operating more than a year after the original Ritz burned. I doubt that Mr. Hightower would have sent the magazine the wrong name for his theater, so the logical conclusion is that the rebuilt house that is now the Dublin Theatre opened as the Ritz, just as its predecessor had. Indeed, the 1935 FDY lists the 400-seat Rose Theatre and the 900-seat Ritz. In later editions the Ritz is listed through the 1940s. In 1945, a Dublin Theatre appears, with 850 seats, but both the Rose and the Ritz continue to be listed along with it. In 1949, the Ritz finally vanishes, and the Dublin is suddenly listed with an astonishing 1,650 seats. Obviously that was extraordinarily unlikely for town of little more than 7000 population.
I suspect that the continued listing of the Ritz after 1945 was a mistake, and this house was called the Dublin Theatre from then until the early 1950s. I don’t have access to FDYs from the 1950s, so I don’t know when it became the Martin Theatre, but it might be that Martin took over the house in 1949, when a brief item datelined Dublin in the July 23 issue of Boxoffice said “Theatre sold to Martin Theatres by Jack Powell.”
Given the information that has come to light, I suspect that the Ritz was not destroyed by the 1934 fire, but was probably just gutted and soon restored, and reopened later that same year.
The December 17, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Rose Theater: “Dublin, Ga., Dec. 14. - Work was commenced recently to enlarge the Rose Theatre. Mr. T. C. Fountain was given the contract by Manager Yeomans to build an additional thirty feet for seating capacity, and also to erect a stage. This will include the seating capacity of the Rose to 750. Contract was also given for one of the latest heating systems.”
The Rose first appears in the 1928 FDY, indicating a likely 1927 opening. It joined a 400-seat house called the Crystal Theatre, which appeared in editions from 1926 through 1929, but had actually opened in 1916. Only the Rose is listed in 1930. In the 1914-1915 AMPD, Dublin is the home of the Amusu Theatre on Jackson Street and the Gem Theatre, no address.
Dublin had a movie house by 1908, as a January 2, 1909 Moving Picture World item said that the Star (or Old Star) theater in Dublin had changed hands, and the new owners would rebuild the house and hold a contest to chose a new name. The item said the house would open “around Christmas,” revealing a considerable delay in the item’s publication.
The Star might have been a storefront marked on the 1913 Sanborn Map as a “Picture Show” in the third space east of Jefferson Street on the south side of Jackson. This might also have been the Amusu Theatre of 1914. The 1913 map also showed an Opera House (from plans) upstairs in a building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Franklin. This house had burned by 1920, as the Sanborn published that year shows theater ruins on that lot. I haven’t found much about this theater, but perhaps it was the house that operated as the Gem in 1914.
The January 26, 1929 issue of The Billboard had this announcement: “MUSCODA, Wis., Jan. 19. -Synchrotone has been installed at the Muscoda Theater and the first sound program was given Sunday night.”
Frank Paulick frequently submitted capsule movie reviews to trade journals, continuing well into 1923.
Although the Muscoda Theatre burned in 1937, it was still listed in the 1940 FDY, though with the notation that it was closed. The October 5 issue of Boxoffice that year said that “Muscoda, which is without a theatre, is now showing film every Saturday night in the school auditorium through the cooperation of local merchants.”
On December 21, 1940, Boxoffice said that the town’s merchants were actively seeking someone to build a theater in the town. Local residents going to other towns to see movies were also patronizing retail shops in those towns, much to the displeasure of Muscoda’s business community. They did finally get a new theater, but it took the better part of a decade.
One interesting bit of Muscoda history is that the May 6, 1916 issue of American Contractor, which carried a notice of Fred Paulick’s theater project also carried an adjacent notice of another theater project in Muscoda, a house 40x100 owned by a W. Davis. I’ve been unable to find any evidence that Mr. Davis’s project was completed, but if it was the competition must have been fierce once Mr. Paulick began running movies. I doubt that Mr. Davis’s smaller house would have survived for long.
The Woodstock Theatre, then called the Town Hall Theatre, was in operation at least as early as mid-1937. This article from the Woodstock History Center cites an article in the December 24, 1942, Vermont Standard saying that Peter Latchis had run the movie theater in the Town Hall for 5 ½ years. That would take his tenure back to mid-1937.
It doesn’t say if Mr. Latchis was the first operator of the house, so it might have opened even earlier. The 1936 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Fireman’s Hall at Woodstock, but it was closed. Earlier, according to the History center article, Woodstock had a theater called the Gem, which had occupied a room at the elementary school for at least part of its history. It might also have been the 300-seat house listed in the 1926 FDY as the Community theater.
50sSNIPES: Auburn is the name of the town where the Starlight Theatre opened in January, 1940. It’s listed at Cinema Treasures as the Marian Theatre.
The 1935 FDY lists two theaters in Cumberland, a 242-seat Cumberland Theatre and a 156-seat Ritz Theatre. The 1938 FDY lists the 500-seat Novo and a 156-seat Cumberland. One of the older two had to have been the house next door to the Novo, which replaced it. The Ritz is listed in the 1929 FDY, but without a seating capacity.
Incidentally, a small photo of the entrance to this theater when it was called the Time can be found on this Facebook post. Unfortunately, the five comments on the post are all about how scary “The Exorcist” was, with no more information about the theater.
The Cozy is listed in the 1931 FDY as closed, and with 200 seats. It doesn’t reappear until the 1936 edition, when it is listed with 500 seats. In 1937 and 1938, the Cozy is listed, but with 300 seats. The Ritz is listed, with 500 seats, in all the editions from 1931 though 1938. I don’t have access to a 1939 Year Book, but the 1940 edition lists the Cozy as closed, and the 1941 edition lists it with 400 seats. The Ritz continues to have 500.
To add a bit of complication, this item from the July 2, 1938 issue of Motion Picture Herald might be about the Cozy, but there’s no evidence that it isn’t about the Ritz. “…R. L. Barton, who is mayor of Stroud, Okla., has signed a five year lease on an air-conditioned theatre being built by the Disney Lumber Company.” It’s also possible that this project wasn’t even in Stroud, since Mr. Barton expanded his theater holdings during this period. Given the name of the construction company, the house might have been in the town of Disney.
This 1939 item is explicitly about the Cozy, in Boxoffice of July 1: “Hurricane Paris is rebuilding Lewis Barton’s Cozy Theatre at Stroud, Okla., and is contemplating producing a color newsreel of Disney, Okla.” This must have been the iteration of the Cozy that burned in February, 1940, after having been open only about four months.
A “Picture Theater” is shown at the Cozy’s location on both the 1916 and 1925 Sanborn maps. It is the only movie theater shown on either map, but both show the Stroud Opera House, an upstairs theater of 600 seats built in 1902 at the northwest corner of Main (then called 3rd) Street and 2nd Avenue. The 1910 map shows the Opera House, and also a “Cheap Theater” on the north side of Main in the second storefront east of 4th Avenue, but the Cozy’s site was then a vacant lot.
Local memory of the opening date of this house is apparently wrong. Not only does the Barton Theatre make its first appearance in the 1928 FDY, but this item is from the October 16, 1926 issue of The Billboard: “STROUD, Okla. -The Barton Theater, Stroud’s most modern movie house, constructed at a cost of $50,000, has been opened for business.”
I’ve found the house referred to as the Ritz as early as the July, 1931 issue of Theatre Engineering.
This bit of information about the Barton building is from the City of Stroud’s web site: “Built in 1920, it was the Ritz Theater in the 1930’s and 40’s. The Bartons owned both the Ritz and the Cozy Theater, which building was at 407 W. Main.”
The 200-seat Barton Theatre first appears in the 1928 FDY. The 1926 and 1927 editions both list the 200-seat Cozy and a New, with no seating capacity given. The New might have been the Barton, not yet named. Both the Cozy and the Barton are mentioned in the February, 1928 issue of Theatre Management, which says the houses, previously booked by Griffith Brothers, had been purchased by W. S. Spearman.
The Ritz was closed for a time in the summer of 1939, according to this item from Boxoffice, August 12, 1939: “Lewis Barton, the mayor of Stroud, is all set to reopen his Ritz Theatre there…”
The Cozy Theatre was at 407 W. Main Street. It has been demolished, and a small park now occupies the site. This Facebook post has a photo of the Cozy, probably from 1957, but two comments in the thread indicate that the house was later called the Time Theatre. One commenter recalls seeing “Jaws” at the house, so it must have been open at least until 1975.
One interesting bit of information from the February 17, 1940 issue of Boxoffice suggests that the Cozy had to be rebuilt twice in less than a year.: “STROUD, OKLA.—Mayor Louis Barton will rebuild the Cozy, destroyed by fire a few days ago. The house was built about four months ago.” I haven’t found any references to this fire, or an earlier rebuilding, anywhere else.
This item is from the December 22, 1927 Kenedy Advance: “Ken Tex Theatre announces as a vaudeville feature tonight The Dancing Demons. The cast is composed of Verne Gibson, Jimmy Bates, Cyril Durette and Frne Barbay. This a clever bunch of dancers and singers, introducing the latest dance crazes throughout the country.”
Here’s an interesting tidbit from the December 24, 1953 issue of Boxoffice: “We have been informed that Dave Smason, owner-manager of the Vic Theatre, Karnes City, is anxious to start a stage show policy at his house.” Given that the house ran Spanish language movies, I would imagine that the stage shows were in Spanish as well, perhaps featuring some of the Mexican vaudeville acts which often toured the southwest into the 1960s.
This house was also known (at least as early as September, 1906) as the Messenger Theatre. Here is a notice about the name change and reopening from the December 19, 1908 issue of The Billboard: “The Meseenger Theatre at Corry, Pa., has been leased for a term of years by J. J. Desmond and will be remodeled into a handsome playhouse. The name will be changed to the Library Theatre and will be under the management of Mr. Harry W. Parker. The house will open Januay 4, with The Lion and the Mouse.”
The Billboard desperately needed spellcheck.
The current Corry armory is an NRHP listed building opened in December, 1907. The old armory was converted into a theater in 1908. A history of Erie County published in 1909 gives this brief account of Corry’s theaters up until then:
I checked Historic Aerials, where the most recent view available was 1959, and there were still a couple of small buildings to the north, so I’d guess the intended expansion was south. Most likely the expansion didn’t happen, as I doubt they’d expand a building and then demolish only that half of it for new construction thirty years later.
The only mention of the Grand I’ve found in the trade journals so far is this item from the August 28, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World: “C. R. Rogers has purchased from Mrs. Anna Shuss two frame buildings on North Center street, Corry, Pa., and later will raze them to afford space for an addition to the Grand Theatre, at present a picture house. When remodeled the house will be used for legitimate attractions.” I’ve been unable to discover if Mr. Rogers' rather ambitious plans were carried out.
Here is a closing notice from The New York Dramatic Mirror of December 18, 1909: “C. N. Waters has closed the Continuous Theatre at Corry, Pa., moved to a new location and opened the New Lyric, which is one of the neatest in this section, handsomely equipped with all latest improvements, with six threefoot aisles and plenty of fire escapes. The opening occurred Dec. 2 to capacity business and souvenirs were given to all on the opening night.”
I don’t think the New Lyric mentioned in this item could have been the one at 36-38 W. Main, given the description of “…six threefoot aisles….” etc.
A 1913 trade journal item that mentioned C. N. Waters said that he had been in the movie business at Corry for seven years, so the Continuous might have opened as early as 1906.
There was a Lyric Theatre operating in Corry in 1913, as I found this item in the November 8 issue of Moving Picture World that year: “WATERS BUILDS NEW HOUSE.
“C. N. Waters, of Corry, Pa., who has been in the picture show business for the past seven years, is building a new picture house in that city. The new theater, which will have 350 seats, is expected to be ready about the first of January next. In the meanwhile Mr. Waters will conduct his Lyric theater.”
According to an item in The New York Dramatic Mirror of December 18, 1909, a house called the New Lyric Theatre had opened at Corry on December 2, but from its description I don’t think it could have been this house. So far it’s a complete mystery.
The theater Waters was building in 1913 was probably a house called the Family Theatre, which opened that December. I haven’t been able to find its location or any details about it.