A September 26, 1953, Boxoffice item about the retirement of W. B. Small said that he had opened the Victoria Theatre in partnership with Judge Henry Titus in 1923.
Here is a photo of the entrance to Loew’s East on the cover of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice, January 16, 1967. The description (on the following page) says that the Loew’s West in Cleveland was opened the same day as Loew’s East.
Boxoffice of July 10, 1943, said that the Regent at Elmira had been dismantled. The last operator had been Howard Shedewitz. Boxoffice of February 30 that same year had run an obituary for Frank H. Tooker which said that he had built the Regent, but it didn’t mention the year it had opened.
The Columbia Theatre is listed at this address in the 1922 Flint City Directory. It’s possible the theater was rebuilt in 1930, but so far I’ve been unable to find anything indicating that this happened.
Boxoffice of June 2, 1956, reported that the Columbia Theatre had been closed, but the September 1 issue that same year reported that the house had been reopened by Lawrence Leon and Jay Walker. Their venture lasted less than a year. Boxoffice of August 10, 1957, said that the Columbia had closed again. I haven’t found the theater mentioned in any later issues of the magazine.
Boxoffice of April 17, 1937, said that Lester Matt’s Della Theatre was scheduled to open on May 1, but the May 8 issue reported that the formal opening had taken place “last Wednesday night,” which would have been May 5.
The 1916 Cheboygan City Directory lists the Liberty Theatre at 417 N. Main Street. I’ve been unable to determine if the same building that the Liberty occupied survived to house the Gold Front, or if it was replaced sometime during the decades between 1916 and 1950. As I said above it doesn’t look like a 1950 vintage building. Perhaps it was a theater converted to retail space and then back into a theater.
I’m pretty sure I’ve accounted for all the theaters operating in Cheboygan during the 1940s, and none were at this location. Missing from Cinema Treasures as of today are the Silver Theatre, closed in 1956, and the Ritz, opened in 1938 and still operating at lest as late as 1956.
Boxoffice of August 1, 1977, had an item about Marjorie Malin, then operator of the Lura Theatre. It mentioned that her father, W. E. Malin, had opened the theater in 1916.
The Lura Theatre is mentioned in many issues of Boxoffice, and was long operated by Marjorie Malin’s mother, Lura Malin. She is first mentioned as operator of the theater in 1950. Prior to that, W. E. Milin was the operator, so he might have died about that time, though I can’t find a death notice for him in Boxoffice. A brief notice of Lura Malin’s death was published in Boxoffice of February 26, 1968.
A single line in Boxoffice of October, 1982, read: “The Lura Theatre, Augusta, recently closed.” I’ve found nolater mentions of it.
Boxoffice of July 3, 1943, said that Roy V. Starling’s new Wings Theatre had opened the previous Saturday night. The theater was in a converted store building, though Boxoffice said the building was “practically new” at the time.
Boxoffice of March 22, 1965, said that the Wings Theatre had been condemned by the city, and that the owners intended to demolish the building and erect a new theater on the same site. I’ve been unable to discover from Boxoffice if the new theater was ever built.
The web site Lost Memory linked to above says that Gordon Smith designed this theater. Smith was a partner in the firm of Smith, Pitts & MacPherson, with DeHaven Pitts and Charles T. MacPherson. The slightly earlier It Theatre in Mathis, Texas, another quonset-type house, is attributed to DeHaven Pitts.
An article headed Final Days of Old Nashville Bijou appeared in Boxoffice of August 10, 1957. It has a brief history of the theater, and some information about the Bijou Amusement Company.
The Bijou circuit served African-American audiences, but was not African-American owned. It was founded by Milton Starr, and various members of the Starr family were involved with its management for several decades. The circuit was quite extensive, operating theaters from the Carolinas all across the south and into Texas and Oklahoma. At its peak there were more than fifty houses in the chain. The headquarters was in Nashville.
There were two theaters called El Cajon, this one being a 1946 replacement for a house that had burned the previous year. Boxoffice of July 20, 1946, ran a double-page spread on the new El Cajon, which had opened on April 24.
The El Cajon Theatre was designed by architect Robert Halley Jr. (one of his last works, if not the very last) and his associate James Wheeler. James Wheeler might have been related to William Henry Wheeler, architect of the Balboa Theatre in San Diego (and former partner of Robert Halley jr.), but I’ve been unable to confirm a connection.
Both the first and second Luez theaters were originally owned and operated by Louise Mask. A January 18, 1941, Boxoffice item gives the origin of the theater’s unusual name. Ms. Mask wanted a name with only four letters, and when building the first theater held a naming contest for it. The name Luez, a phonic contraction the name Louise, was the winning submission. I’ve found Louise Mask mentioned in Boxoffice as operator of the Luez as late as 1967.
Original owners Jerry and Edith Drake opened their new Drake Theatre on March 11, 1948, said Boxoffice of March 20. The Drakes had, since 1929, operated the smaller Ritz Theatre in Bolivar, which they planned to continue operating after the new house opened, though on a weekends-only basis. The plans for the Drake Theatre had been prepared by early 1946, and construction might have started that year, but completion of the house appears to have been delayed, probably by post-war shortages of materials.
Boxoffice of December 15, 1945, had an article about the Drakes and their plans for the new theater and for the renovation of the Ritz which would follow the opening of the Drake. Both projects were designed by Robert Boller, but I’ve been unable to find out if the plans for the Ritz were carried out. I don’t find the Ritz mentioned after 1948.
The Drakes were still operating the Drake Theatre at least as late as 1968, when the September 9 issue of Boxoffice reported that they had closed the house for a few days in August while visiting relatives in Colorado.
I’ve been unable to find any references to this house as the Esquire in Boxoffice, or to discover when B&B took over operation.
The 1958 closing of this theater must have been temporary. Boxoffice of January 7, 1974, said: “The Oriel Theatre in Glencoe has shuttered for an indefinite time.” I don’t find it mentioned in any later issues of the magazine, so late 1973 or early 1974 for the final closing of the Oriel seems likely.
The Oriel might have opened before 1935, too, though perhaps under a different name. Movie Age of August 31, 1929, said that Charles J. Novak, a local theater manager, would begin construction on a new theater at Glencoe in a few days.
The October 11, 1971, issue of Boxoffice said that Les Schultz had taken over the Oriel Theatre from Tom Novak, who had operated the house “…for some forty years.” That indicates a possibility that the Oriel was the theater Charles Novak was planning in 1929. It’s likely that Tom Novak was his son, or other relative.
Though a few items in Boxoffice refer to the “New Crystal Theatre” in Glencoe, I can’t find any items saying that the original Crystal Theatre there was ever replaced with a new building. There was a Crystal Theatre operating in Glencoe at least into the 1970s, and it was run by members of the Gould family throughout its history to that time. The magazine did mention the Crystal Theatre many times, though. Here’s a sampling of some of those that I found revealing.
The Crystal Theatre in Glencoe was the subject of a brief article in Boxoffice, January 3, 1953. 85-year-old Kate Gould was then still working ar the Crystal, which had been opened by her family in 1909 (though this item says it opened in January, 1907, later Boxoffice items all give what is apparently the correct year.) There’s no photo of the theater itself, but the shot of Mrs. Gould doing a bit of embroidery in the box office is downright Rockwellesque.
If an 85-year-old theater cashier is not sufficiently remarkable, this later article (somewhat longer, but lacking a photo) from Boxoffice of January 2, 1961, says that she had taken a few months off from her job at the Crystal, but intended to return to work in the box office. She was then 93. This items also notes that it was her son, Jay, who had opened the Crystal Theatre in 1909.
Boxoffice of November 7, 1966, took note of Kate Gould’s 99th birthday, and said that she had finally retired as the theater’s cashier a few years earlier, at the age of 94.
Boxoffice of October 9, 1967, published Jay Gould’s death notice, mentioning that Kate Gould would be 100 years old the following Monday. The Crystal Theatre was still open at his time, and had for decades been under the management of George Gould, Jay’s brother.
George apparently handed over the theater to another brother, Howard, for a while, as Boxoffice of June 9, 1969, said that George Gould was resuming management of the theater following the death of his brother Howard. The item said that Kate Gould would be 102 on her next birthday.
A brief item in Boxoffice of December 16, 1974, said that George Gould of the Crystal Theatre at Glencoe had been hospitalized for tests and observation. Another Gould, 79-year-old Mrs. Florence Gould, was admitted to a hospital for tests and observation in 1976, reported Boxoffice of October 25 that year. The Crystal must have still been open, as the item said she was “…still active with the Crystal Theatre, Glencoe….” Kate Gould was not mentioned in this item.
I’ve been unable to find a Boxoffice obituary for Kate Gould. Given the frequency with which she was mentioned in the magazine, I find this odd. Perhaps they ran one, but the issue containing it is missing from the online database.
Another odd thing is that an Internet search on “Crystal Theatre, Glencoe” brings up many listings (usually under the classification movie theaters) for something called The Crystal Theatre Company, with an address of 1706 Judd Avenue North, Glencoe. Google Maps satellite view shows this to be an entirely residential neighborhood. I have no idea what to make of this.
Chuck, Mike seldom cites his sources, so I don’t know where the unquestioned dates he uses come from. The dates (and other bits of information) with question marks must be his surmises, or are taken from sources he thinks might be unreliable. I’ve often found his lists very useful, though I usually try to double check his information before I cite it here.
The multiple listing of individual theaters under their different aka’s can be confusing, but can also be useful because they are arranged alphabetically. I’ve sometimes used Mike’s list to track down aka’s that are missing from Cinema Treasures pages.
As for seat counts, I’ve found just about everybody’s to be questionable. It’s not only because the original sources (managers, owners, Boxoffice stringers) are sometimes unreliable, but because seat counts often changed even in houses that hadn’t been fully reseated or remodeled. A theater with declining business might close a balcony to save on upkeep costs (or to avoid hiring two projectionists), leading to a sudden drop in reported capacity; or seats from the front of the house might be moved to replace broken-down seats farther back (a fairly common practice) leading to a creeping reduction in overall capacity.
In more recent times, a drop in capacity of a dozen or so could be the result of retrofitting the house for wheelchair spaces. But seat counts are useful primarily to give an idea of the general size of a theater anyway, so if they are off by a handful I don’t think it’s a big problem. If they are off by hundreds, I’d like to know why.
Also note that Mike does revise his lists, making corrections and filling in gaps, often incorporating information that he finds at Cinema Treasures or CinemaTour (a couple of times he’s even quoted from posts I’ve made here.) Cinema Treasures (and to a lesser extent CiemaTour) can update with corrections and new information more quickly, though, as they both have numerous contributors, while Rivest’s Lists are apparently a one-man project.
I found the Milda Theatre mentioned in Boxoffice as recently as the issue of October 23, 1961, so it was apparently still in operation at that time. Here’s the whole one-line item: “John Semadalis, owenr of the Romova and Milda theatres, returned from a visit to Greece.”
Boxoffice frequently misspelled the name of the Ramova Theatre, but it’s interesting that as far back as the 1930s, the Milda and Ramova were frequently mentioned together, and were apparently for much of their history under the same ownership.
On January 21, 1974, Boxoffice reported that the Irvin-Fuller circuit’s Merrimon Twins had opeend on December 21, 1973, with “Robin Hood” the initial feature in both auditoriums.
Owners Sam Irvin and Jack Fuller had been operating theaters for over 20 years, and the opening of the Merrimon Twins brought the total number of screens in the Irvin-Fuller circuit to 14, with locations in Asheville, Columbia, and Spartanburg. The circuit also operated the Plaza I and II in downtown Asheville.
Boxoffice of August 22, 1942, said that the new Wink Theatre was scheduled to open on September 10. The September 5 issue of Boxoffice said the formal opening would take place the following Monday. The first manager was named Ed Barber.
Hugh Manning and Herman Wink were partners in Manning & Wink, operators of the Wink and Crescent theaters at Dalton, and theaters in several other towns in Georgia and Tennessee.
After Herman Wink died, the M&W chain of nine houses was sold to Martin Theatres, as reported in Boxoffice of October 9, 1943. The other Georgia theaters sold in the deal were the Gem at Calhoun, Grand at Carterville, and the Strand and Cobb at Marrietta. M&W’s Tennessee houses were the Gage in Etowah and the Strand and Athens theaters at Athens.
A June 28, 1941, Boxoffice item indicated that a new theater planned at Dalton would be built to replace the Shadowland Theatre, which was being demolished. Information about the Shadowland is sketchy, but Manning & Wink had reopened it in 1938, and it was still operating in 1940. As it was demolished before construction on the Wink Theatre began, it’s possible that it had occupied the same location, but Boxoffice doesn’t say.
Boxoffice of August 11, 1956, reported that the Strand Theatre in Canton would be closed before the end of that month, and would be demolished to make way for a parking lot for Canton National Bank. Joseph Calla, manager of the house for several decades, said that there were still about ten years to run on the theater’s 50-year lease, so the Strand must have been open by about 1916.
In the 1920s, the Alhambra was operated by the Variety Amusement company, a large regional circuit operating mostly in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. In the mid-1930s, the Alhambra was taken over by Warner, and was renamed the Ohio Theatre in 1936 or 1937.
The Ohio Theatre continued under Warner or Stanley Warner operation until 1965, when the company was granted permission by a Federal judge to build a new theater at Canton provided they gave up the lease on the Ohio.
In 1965, When Stantley Warner opened their new McKinley Theatre, the Ohio was taken over by Reinco Theatres, operated by members of the Reinhart family, who had been in the theater buisness in Canton since at least the mid-1920s. Under Reinco management it was a first-run house.
In 1969, the Ohio Theatre was severely damaged by fire, but was restored and reopened by Reinco, still operating as a first-run theater.
I had Boxoffice citations for this information, but the crappy laptop I’ve been stuck with for the last couple of months devoured the whole post before I could submit it, and I don’t feel like looking everything up again.
On the Plaza Theatre page, Chuck gives the address of the Ohio Theatre as 332 Market Avenue North.
A September 26, 1953, Boxoffice item about the retirement of W. B. Small said that he had opened the Victoria Theatre in partnership with Judge Henry Titus in 1923.
Here is a photo of the entrance to Loew’s East on the cover of the Modern Theatre section of Boxoffice, January 16, 1967. The description (on the following page) says that the Loew’s West in Cleveland was opened the same day as Loew’s East.
Boxoffice of July 10, 1943, said that the Regent at Elmira had been dismantled. The last operator had been Howard Shedewitz. Boxoffice of February 30 that same year had run an obituary for Frank H. Tooker which said that he had built the Regent, but it didn’t mention the year it had opened.
The Columbia Theatre is listed at this address in the 1922 Flint City Directory. It’s possible the theater was rebuilt in 1930, but so far I’ve been unable to find anything indicating that this happened.
Boxoffice of June 2, 1956, reported that the Columbia Theatre had been closed, but the September 1 issue that same year reported that the house had been reopened by Lawrence Leon and Jay Walker. Their venture lasted less than a year. Boxoffice of August 10, 1957, said that the Columbia had closed again. I haven’t found the theater mentioned in any later issues of the magazine.
The Star Theatre is listed at this address in the 1922 Flint City Directory.
Boxoffice of April 17, 1937, said that Lester Matt’s Della Theatre was scheduled to open on May 1, but the May 8 issue reported that the formal opening had taken place “last Wednesday night,” which would have been May 5.
The 1916 Cheboygan City Directory lists the Liberty Theatre at 417 N. Main Street. I’ve been unable to determine if the same building that the Liberty occupied survived to house the Gold Front, or if it was replaced sometime during the decades between 1916 and 1950. As I said above it doesn’t look like a 1950 vintage building. Perhaps it was a theater converted to retail space and then back into a theater.
I’m pretty sure I’ve accounted for all the theaters operating in Cheboygan during the 1940s, and none were at this location. Missing from Cinema Treasures as of today are the Silver Theatre, closed in 1956, and the Ritz, opened in 1938 and still operating at lest as late as 1956.
I think it must have been Disney’s animated version of Robin Hood that opened the Merrimon Twins. 1973 was the year it was released.
I finally found an item about W. E. Malin’s death, in Boxoffice of March 11, 1950. He was killed in an automobile accident on March 8 that year.
Boxoffice of August 1, 1977, had an item about Marjorie Malin, then operator of the Lura Theatre. It mentioned that her father, W. E. Malin, had opened the theater in 1916.
The Lura Theatre is mentioned in many issues of Boxoffice, and was long operated by Marjorie Malin’s mother, Lura Malin. She is first mentioned as operator of the theater in 1950. Prior to that, W. E. Milin was the operator, so he might have died about that time, though I can’t find a death notice for him in Boxoffice. A brief notice of Lura Malin’s death was published in Boxoffice of February 26, 1968.
A single line in Boxoffice of October, 1982, read: “The Lura Theatre, Augusta, recently closed.” I’ve found nolater mentions of it.
Boxoffice of July 3, 1943, said that Roy V. Starling’s new Wings Theatre had opened the previous Saturday night. The theater was in a converted store building, though Boxoffice said the building was “practically new” at the time.
Boxoffice of March 22, 1965, said that the Wings Theatre had been condemned by the city, and that the owners intended to demolish the building and erect a new theater on the same site. I’ve been unable to discover from Boxoffice if the new theater was ever built.
The web site Lost Memory linked to above says that Gordon Smith designed this theater. Smith was a partner in the firm of Smith, Pitts & MacPherson, with DeHaven Pitts and Charles T. MacPherson. The slightly earlier It Theatre in Mathis, Texas, another quonset-type house, is attributed to DeHaven Pitts.
An article headed Final Days of Old Nashville Bijou appeared in Boxoffice of August 10, 1957. It has a brief history of the theater, and some information about the Bijou Amusement Company.
The Bijou circuit served African-American audiences, but was not African-American owned. It was founded by Milton Starr, and various members of the Starr family were involved with its management for several decades. The circuit was quite extensive, operating theaters from the Carolinas all across the south and into Texas and Oklahoma. At its peak there were more than fifty houses in the chain. The headquarters was in Nashville.
There were two theaters called El Cajon, this one being a 1946 replacement for a house that had burned the previous year. Boxoffice of July 20, 1946, ran a double-page spread on the new El Cajon, which had opened on April 24.
The El Cajon Theatre was designed by architect Robert Halley Jr. (one of his last works, if not the very last) and his associate James Wheeler. James Wheeler might have been related to William Henry Wheeler, architect of the Balboa Theatre in San Diego (and former partner of Robert Halley jr.), but I’ve been unable to confirm a connection.
Both the first and second Luez theaters were originally owned and operated by Louise Mask. A January 18, 1941, Boxoffice item gives the origin of the theater’s unusual name. Ms. Mask wanted a name with only four letters, and when building the first theater held a naming contest for it. The name Luez, a phonic contraction the name Louise, was the winning submission. I’ve found Louise Mask mentioned in Boxoffice as operator of the Luez as late as 1967.
Original owners Jerry and Edith Drake opened their new Drake Theatre on March 11, 1948, said Boxoffice of March 20. The Drakes had, since 1929, operated the smaller Ritz Theatre in Bolivar, which they planned to continue operating after the new house opened, though on a weekends-only basis. The plans for the Drake Theatre had been prepared by early 1946, and construction might have started that year, but completion of the house appears to have been delayed, probably by post-war shortages of materials.
Boxoffice of December 15, 1945, had an article about the Drakes and their plans for the new theater and for the renovation of the Ritz which would follow the opening of the Drake. Both projects were designed by Robert Boller, but I’ve been unable to find out if the plans for the Ritz were carried out. I don’t find the Ritz mentioned after 1948.
The Drakes were still operating the Drake Theatre at least as late as 1968, when the September 9 issue of Boxoffice reported that they had closed the house for a few days in August while visiting relatives in Colorado.
I’ve been unable to find any references to this house as the Esquire in Boxoffice, or to discover when B&B took over operation.
The 1958 closing of this theater must have been temporary. Boxoffice of January 7, 1974, said: “The Oriel Theatre in Glencoe has shuttered for an indefinite time.” I don’t find it mentioned in any later issues of the magazine, so late 1973 or early 1974 for the final closing of the Oriel seems likely.
The Oriel might have opened before 1935, too, though perhaps under a different name. Movie Age of August 31, 1929, said that Charles J. Novak, a local theater manager, would begin construction on a new theater at Glencoe in a few days.
The October 11, 1971, issue of Boxoffice said that Les Schultz had taken over the Oriel Theatre from Tom Novak, who had operated the house “…for some forty years.” That indicates a possibility that the Oriel was the theater Charles Novak was planning in 1929. It’s likely that Tom Novak was his son, or other relative.
Though a few items in Boxoffice refer to the “New Crystal Theatre” in Glencoe, I can’t find any items saying that the original Crystal Theatre there was ever replaced with a new building. There was a Crystal Theatre operating in Glencoe at least into the 1970s, and it was run by members of the Gould family throughout its history to that time. The magazine did mention the Crystal Theatre many times, though. Here’s a sampling of some of those that I found revealing.
The Crystal Theatre in Glencoe was the subject of a brief article in Boxoffice, January 3, 1953. 85-year-old Kate Gould was then still working ar the Crystal, which had been opened by her family in 1909 (though this item says it opened in January, 1907, later Boxoffice items all give what is apparently the correct year.) There’s no photo of the theater itself, but the shot of Mrs. Gould doing a bit of embroidery in the box office is downright Rockwellesque.
If an 85-year-old theater cashier is not sufficiently remarkable, this later article (somewhat longer, but lacking a photo) from Boxoffice of January 2, 1961, says that she had taken a few months off from her job at the Crystal, but intended to return to work in the box office. She was then 93. This items also notes that it was her son, Jay, who had opened the Crystal Theatre in 1909.
Boxoffice of November 7, 1966, took note of Kate Gould’s 99th birthday, and said that she had finally retired as the theater’s cashier a few years earlier, at the age of 94.
Boxoffice of October 9, 1967, published Jay Gould’s death notice, mentioning that Kate Gould would be 100 years old the following Monday. The Crystal Theatre was still open at his time, and had for decades been under the management of George Gould, Jay’s brother.
George apparently handed over the theater to another brother, Howard, for a while, as Boxoffice of June 9, 1969, said that George Gould was resuming management of the theater following the death of his brother Howard. The item said that Kate Gould would be 102 on her next birthday.
A brief item in Boxoffice of December 16, 1974, said that George Gould of the Crystal Theatre at Glencoe had been hospitalized for tests and observation. Another Gould, 79-year-old Mrs. Florence Gould, was admitted to a hospital for tests and observation in 1976, reported Boxoffice of October 25 that year. The Crystal must have still been open, as the item said she was “…still active with the Crystal Theatre, Glencoe….” Kate Gould was not mentioned in this item.
I’ve been unable to find a Boxoffice obituary for Kate Gould. Given the frequency with which she was mentioned in the magazine, I find this odd. Perhaps they ran one, but the issue containing it is missing from the online database.
Another odd thing is that an Internet search on “Crystal Theatre, Glencoe” brings up many listings (usually under the classification movie theaters) for something called The Crystal Theatre Company, with an address of 1706 Judd Avenue North, Glencoe. Google Maps satellite view shows this to be an entirely residential neighborhood. I have no idea what to make of this.
Chuck, Mike seldom cites his sources, so I don’t know where the unquestioned dates he uses come from. The dates (and other bits of information) with question marks must be his surmises, or are taken from sources he thinks might be unreliable. I’ve often found his lists very useful, though I usually try to double check his information before I cite it here.
The multiple listing of individual theaters under their different aka’s can be confusing, but can also be useful because they are arranged alphabetically. I’ve sometimes used Mike’s list to track down aka’s that are missing from Cinema Treasures pages.
As for seat counts, I’ve found just about everybody’s to be questionable. It’s not only because the original sources (managers, owners, Boxoffice stringers) are sometimes unreliable, but because seat counts often changed even in houses that hadn’t been fully reseated or remodeled. A theater with declining business might close a balcony to save on upkeep costs (or to avoid hiring two projectionists), leading to a sudden drop in reported capacity; or seats from the front of the house might be moved to replace broken-down seats farther back (a fairly common practice) leading to a creeping reduction in overall capacity.
In more recent times, a drop in capacity of a dozen or so could be the result of retrofitting the house for wheelchair spaces. But seat counts are useful primarily to give an idea of the general size of a theater anyway, so if they are off by a handful I don’t think it’s a big problem. If they are off by hundreds, I’d like to know why.
Also note that Mike does revise his lists, making corrections and filling in gaps, often incorporating information that he finds at Cinema Treasures or CinemaTour (a couple of times he’s even quoted from posts I’ve made here.) Cinema Treasures (and to a lesser extent CiemaTour) can update with corrections and new information more quickly, though, as they both have numerous contributors, while Rivest’s Lists are apparently a one-man project.
I found the Milda Theatre mentioned in Boxoffice as recently as the issue of October 23, 1961, so it was apparently still in operation at that time. Here’s the whole one-line item: “John Semadalis, owenr of the Romova and Milda theatres, returned from a visit to Greece.”
Boxoffice frequently misspelled the name of the Ramova Theatre, but it’s interesting that as far back as the 1930s, the Milda and Ramova were frequently mentioned together, and were apparently for much of their history under the same ownership.
Chas: Mike Rivest’s list of Cleveland-Akron area theaters can be viewed online here at Scribd.
You can also download it in Excel spreadsheet format from a link on this page at Mike Rivest’s web site.
On January 21, 1974, Boxoffice reported that the Irvin-Fuller circuit’s Merrimon Twins had opeend on December 21, 1973, with “Robin Hood” the initial feature in both auditoriums.
Owners Sam Irvin and Jack Fuller had been operating theaters for over 20 years, and the opening of the Merrimon Twins brought the total number of screens in the Irvin-Fuller circuit to 14, with locations in Asheville, Columbia, and Spartanburg. The circuit also operated the Plaza I and II in downtown Asheville.
Boxoffice of August 22, 1942, said that the new Wink Theatre was scheduled to open on September 10. The September 5 issue of Boxoffice said the formal opening would take place the following Monday. The first manager was named Ed Barber.
Hugh Manning and Herman Wink were partners in Manning & Wink, operators of the Wink and Crescent theaters at Dalton, and theaters in several other towns in Georgia and Tennessee.
After Herman Wink died, the M&W chain of nine houses was sold to Martin Theatres, as reported in Boxoffice of October 9, 1943. The other Georgia theaters sold in the deal were the Gem at Calhoun, Grand at Carterville, and the Strand and Cobb at Marrietta. M&W’s Tennessee houses were the Gage in Etowah and the Strand and Athens theaters at Athens.
A June 28, 1941, Boxoffice item indicated that a new theater planned at Dalton would be built to replace the Shadowland Theatre, which was being demolished. Information about the Shadowland is sketchy, but Manning & Wink had reopened it in 1938, and it was still operating in 1940. As it was demolished before construction on the Wink Theatre began, it’s possible that it had occupied the same location, but Boxoffice doesn’t say.
Boxoffice of August 11, 1956, reported that the Strand Theatre in Canton would be closed before the end of that month, and would be demolished to make way for a parking lot for Canton National Bank. Joseph Calla, manager of the house for several decades, said that there were still about ten years to run on the theater’s 50-year lease, so the Strand must have been open by about 1916.
In the 1920s, the Alhambra was operated by the Variety Amusement company, a large regional circuit operating mostly in Ohio and western Pennsylvania. In the mid-1930s, the Alhambra was taken over by Warner, and was renamed the Ohio Theatre in 1936 or 1937.
The Ohio Theatre continued under Warner or Stanley Warner operation until 1965, when the company was granted permission by a Federal judge to build a new theater at Canton provided they gave up the lease on the Ohio.
In 1965, When Stantley Warner opened their new McKinley Theatre, the Ohio was taken over by Reinco Theatres, operated by members of the Reinhart family, who had been in the theater buisness in Canton since at least the mid-1920s. Under Reinco management it was a first-run house.
In 1969, the Ohio Theatre was severely damaged by fire, but was restored and reopened by Reinco, still operating as a first-run theater.
I had Boxoffice citations for this information, but the crappy laptop I’ve been stuck with for the last couple of months devoured the whole post before I could submit it, and I don’t feel like looking everything up again.
On the Plaza Theatre page, Chuck gives the address of the Ohio Theatre as 332 Market Avenue North.