There’s a typo in the middle paragraph in my comment above. The Boxoffice item cited was in the August 19, 1944, issue.
The name State Theatre was restored to this house in 1951, according to the July 28 issue of Boxoffice that year.
I found a September 16, 1968, Boxoffice item mentioning that the Cinema Showcase in El Segundo had been reopened. This is the only reference to the name in Boxoffice, and a Cinema Showcase in El Segundo isn’t listed in any of my old copies of the L.A. Times from that period. Has anybody else ever heard of it?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office says that this building was built in 1921, with an effectively-built date (indicating major alterations) of 1923. Southwest Builder and Contractor had items in its issue of June 11, 1920, saying that Edward L. Mayberry Jr. was designing a brick moving picture theater at El Segundo for E.L. McMurry.
The State Theatre apparently closed in the mid-1930s, and remained dark for almost nine years. Boxoffice of August 19, 194, said that Norman W. Rowell had renovated and reopened the 350-seat house as the El Segundo Theatre.
Both an architect and an engineer, E.L. Mayberry is most closely associated with Long Beach, but worked throughout Southern California. He is credited as the engineer for architect George Washington Smith’s second Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, a legitimate house which later presented movies. The Lobero today is primarily a music venue, though it also serves as a venue for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Boxoffice of May 3, 1965, said that the Colony Theatre had reopened after a major remodeling. The house was now equipped to show 70mm, Cinerama, and all other film types then available. A November 22, 1977, Boxoffice item said that the Colony had originally opened in 1941.
A photo of the Colony’s auditorium was featured in an ad for the American Seating Company in Boxoffice of October 7, 1950. The text said the installation of American’s Bodiform chairs at the Colony was completed in 1942.
The September 13, 1971, issue of Boxoffice reported that the Jerry Lewis Cinema at Burnsville was nearing completion and expected to open within a couple of weeks.
The Movies at Burnsville was slated to open soon, according to Boxoffice of October 10, 1977. The April 11, 1977, issue of Boxoffice had said that The Movies at Burnsville would have 1,304 seats.
An item in Boxoffice of October 10, 1977, indicates that the Trail 4 Theatre didn’t last very long. An item about recent activity in the Twin Cities market said that owner/operator Harry Lind had closed the Trail 4 permanently after performances on September 25, and that the house was being dismantled and its equipment sold.
The same item said that United Artists would soon open a four-screen theater at Burnsville. It was speculated that Lind had closed the Trail 4 in anticipation of the difficulty his operation would face competing with the United Artists circuit’s greater negotiating power in dealing with movie distributors.
A couple of 1972 Boxoffice items had given the seating capacity of the Trail 4 Theatre as 1,100. The 1977 item said it was about 1,200.
Various issues of Boxoffice place the Studio 97 Theatre in Bloomington, Oxboro, and Anoka. The January 28, 1974, issue has an item saying that the Engler Brothers circuit had gotten approval from the Anoka City Council to show “mild” X-rated movies at the Studio 97 Theatre. To add more confusion, a Boxoffice item of November 28, 1953, gives the location of the Oxboro Theatre as Richfield. Somebody at Boxoffice was geographically challenged.
A brief item in Boxoffice of October 21, 1950, announcing the recent opening of the Oxboro Theatre gave the address as 9711 Lyndale Avenue. Boxoffice spells the original owner’s name as Otto Kobs. A September 23, 1950, Boxoffice item gave the Oxboro’s seating capacity as 424.
Boxoffice of March, 1991, has an item about the reopening of the Anoka twin the previous Christmas. It says: “Built in 1949 and twinned in 1982, it now plays first-run films.”
An item from the December 10, 1949, issue of Boxoffice said the Anoka Theatre was nearing completion. The 1,044-seat house was being built by E.J. Bauhr, who ran a small circuit that also operated the State Theatre in Anoka.
Well, I guess it’s not a good idea to leave an unposted comment on an open browser tab overnight. The theater across the street must have been the one Lloyd Palmer took over in 1924.
This was another very early theater. Lloyd Palmer, who in 1924 took over the Iris Theatre in Postville, Iowa, had his start in show business as a musician at the Green Theatre in Anoka in 1915, according to a brief item about him in Boxoffice of November 5, 1955.
The Green Theatre was redecorated and got a new front in 1946, as reported in Boxoffice of June 1 that year.
Unless it was rebuilt or the name was moved at some time (I can’t find any indication that either of these took place) this was a very old theater. Lloyd Palmer took over the Iris in 1924, according to a brief article about him (center column, right page) in Boxoffice, November 5, 1955.
Mr.Palmer was not a big fan of musicals or costume dramas, judging from his letter to the editor (upper left) published in Boxoffice of February 11, 1956.
The Midway was still in operation as late as 1978. With Federal funds for its garage project delayed, the city of Camden decided to let the theater on a monthly lease to Marcos Cotto, who presented Spanish language movies at the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of July 10, 1978.
From Google satellite and street views it looks like this theater has been demolished. There is no building on that block with anything that looks like an auditorium or former auditorium. Historic Aerials has nothing before 2007 for the location.
I don’t think this theater was ever the Victoria. The Victoria (which opened in 1910) and the Embassy were in operation at the same time in the 1930s and 1940s, and the Victoria and the Astor were both in operation during the early 1950s. The Embassy did become the Astor, right around 1950. Also the Victoria was about twice the size of the Embassy or the Astor. I don’t know if the Victoria is listed here under a later name or not. If it is, it’s missing the Victoria aka. I’ve been unable to discover an address for it.
Here is a 1950 Boxoffice article about the reopening of the Victoria that year (lower right corner of page.) The Victoria was a Famous Players house. The Embassy/Astor was operated by Ben Ulster during this period.
An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.
There’s a typo in the middle paragraph in my comment above. The Boxoffice item cited was in the August 19, 1944, issue.
The name State Theatre was restored to this house in 1951, according to the July 28 issue of Boxoffice that year.
I found a September 16, 1968, Boxoffice item mentioning that the Cinema Showcase in El Segundo had been reopened. This is the only reference to the name in Boxoffice, and a Cinema Showcase in El Segundo isn’t listed in any of my old copies of the L.A. Times from that period. Has anybody else ever heard of it?
The L.A. County Assessor’s office says that this building was built in 1921, with an effectively-built date (indicating major alterations) of 1923. Southwest Builder and Contractor had items in its issue of June 11, 1920, saying that Edward L. Mayberry Jr. was designing a brick moving picture theater at El Segundo for E.L. McMurry.
The State Theatre apparently closed in the mid-1930s, and remained dark for almost nine years. Boxoffice of August 19, 194, said that Norman W. Rowell had renovated and reopened the 350-seat house as the El Segundo Theatre.
Both an architect and an engineer, E.L. Mayberry is most closely associated with Long Beach, but worked throughout Southern California. He is credited as the engineer for architect George Washington Smith’s second Lobero Theatre in Santa Barbara, a legitimate house which later presented movies. The Lobero today is primarily a music venue, though it also serves as a venue for the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Boxoffice of May 3, 1965, said that the Colony Theatre had reopened after a major remodeling. The house was now equipped to show 70mm, Cinerama, and all other film types then available. A November 22, 1977, Boxoffice item said that the Colony had originally opened in 1941.
A photo of the Colony’s auditorium was featured in an ad for the American Seating Company in Boxoffice of October 7, 1950. The text said the installation of American’s Bodiform chairs at the Colony was completed in 1942.
The September 13, 1971, issue of Boxoffice reported that the Jerry Lewis Cinema at Burnsville was nearing completion and expected to open within a couple of weeks.
The Movies at Burnsville was slated to open soon, according to Boxoffice of October 10, 1977. The April 11, 1977, issue of Boxoffice had said that The Movies at Burnsville would have 1,304 seats.
An item in Boxoffice of October 10, 1977, indicates that the Trail 4 Theatre didn’t last very long. An item about recent activity in the Twin Cities market said that owner/operator Harry Lind had closed the Trail 4 permanently after performances on September 25, and that the house was being dismantled and its equipment sold.
The same item said that United Artists would soon open a four-screen theater at Burnsville. It was speculated that Lind had closed the Trail 4 in anticipation of the difficulty his operation would face competing with the United Artists circuit’s greater negotiating power in dealing with movie distributors.
A couple of 1972 Boxoffice items had given the seating capacity of the Trail 4 Theatre as 1,100. The 1977 item said it was about 1,200.
Various issues of Boxoffice place the Studio 97 Theatre in Bloomington, Oxboro, and Anoka. The January 28, 1974, issue has an item saying that the Engler Brothers circuit had gotten approval from the Anoka City Council to show “mild” X-rated movies at the Studio 97 Theatre. To add more confusion, a Boxoffice item of November 28, 1953, gives the location of the Oxboro Theatre as Richfield. Somebody at Boxoffice was geographically challenged.
A brief item in Boxoffice of October 21, 1950, announcing the recent opening of the Oxboro Theatre gave the address as 9711 Lyndale Avenue. Boxoffice spells the original owner’s name as Otto Kobs. A September 23, 1950, Boxoffice item gave the Oxboro’s seating capacity as 424.
Boxoffice of March, 1991, has an item about the reopening of the Anoka twin the previous Christmas. It says: “Built in 1949 and twinned in 1982, it now plays first-run films.”
An item from the December 10, 1949, issue of Boxoffice said the Anoka Theatre was nearing completion. The 1,044-seat house was being built by E.J. Bauhr, who ran a small circuit that also operated the State Theatre in Anoka.
Well, I guess it’s not a good idea to leave an unposted comment on an open browser tab overnight. The theater across the street must have been the one Lloyd Palmer took over in 1924.
This was another very early theater. Lloyd Palmer, who in 1924 took over the Iris Theatre in Postville, Iowa, had his start in show business as a musician at the Green Theatre in Anoka in 1915, according to a brief item about him in Boxoffice of November 5, 1955.
The Green Theatre was redecorated and got a new front in 1946, as reported in Boxoffice of June 1 that year.
Unless it was rebuilt or the name was moved at some time (I can’t find any indication that either of these took place) this was a very old theater. Lloyd Palmer took over the Iris in 1924, according to a brief article about him (center column, right page) in Boxoffice, November 5, 1955.
Mr.Palmer was not a big fan of musicals or costume dramas, judging from his letter to the editor (upper left) published in Boxoffice of February 11, 1956.
The Midway was still in operation as late as 1978. With Federal funds for its garage project delayed, the city of Camden decided to let the theater on a monthly lease to Marcos Cotto, who presented Spanish language movies at the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of July 10, 1978.
From Google satellite and street views it looks like this theater has been demolished. There is no building on that block with anything that looks like an auditorium or former auditorium. Historic Aerials has nothing before 2007 for the location.
A glimpse of the auditorium of the Flower Theatre on the cover of Boxoffice, October 7, 1950.
A view of the auditorium is one of two photos of the Crest featured in an ad for Heywood-Wakefield theater seats in Boxoffice of October 7, 1950.
Thanks for clearing up the confusion.
I don’t think this theater was ever the Victoria. The Victoria (which opened in 1910) and the Embassy were in operation at the same time in the 1930s and 1940s, and the Victoria and the Astor were both in operation during the early 1950s. The Embassy did become the Astor, right around 1950. Also the Victoria was about twice the size of the Embassy or the Astor. I don’t know if the Victoria is listed here under a later name or not. If it is, it’s missing the Victoria aka. I’ve been unable to discover an address for it.
Here is a 1950 Boxoffice article about the reopening of the Victoria that year (lower right corner of page.) The Victoria was a Famous Players house. The Embassy/Astor was operated by Ben Ulster during this period.
The Jefferson Drive-In was designed by Jack Corgan. The architect’s rendering appeared in Boxoffice of December 2, 1950.
An article abut the Guyan Theatre appeared in the December 2, 1950, issue of Boxoffice. There are several photos. The decoration was by Hanns Teichert Studios. The Art Moderne design was by Alex B. Mahood, a Beaux-Arts-trained architect from Bluefield, West Virginia.
Boxoffice of October 28, 1950, said that the Paramount Theatre in Jackson, Tennessee, had been renamed the Malco. The new Paramount Theatre opened a couple of doors down the block some time later that year or early in 1951. The first mention I’ve found of it is in the January 20, 1951, issue of Boxoffice.
The new Paramount, not the old one, was formerly the State, which had been entirely rebuilt except for the four walls. The aka State should be moved to the Paramount page and the aka Paramount Theatre added to this page.
This Paramount Theatre was a 1950-51 rebuild of the former State Theatre. The former Paramount Theatre a few doors up the street was renamed the Malco Theatre shortly before the new Paramount opened.
The scan is a bit fuzzy, but the item in Boxoffice of March 29, 1941, appears to say that the Brisbane Theatre would be opening about mid-April. The first operator was Ralph Dostal. In 1948 he sold the house to H.L. Boyd. It later changed hands again a couple of times. The last owner was Robert Rogers. Boxoffice of December 7, 1957, reported that Rogers had closed the Brisbane permanently as of November 15.
The auditorium of the Odeon Ottawa was on the cover of Boxoffice, December 2, 1950.
A photo of the lobby of the Garmar was featured on the frontispiece of Boxoffice Magazine’s Modern Theatre section, December 2, 1950.
I use Google’s advanced search page, putting the name Boxoffice in the top field, following a specific word (one word of a theatre name, a city name, a person’s or a company’s name, etc); a multi-word phrase in the second field; and the domain issuu.com in the bottom field.
So, searching this theater for example, I used[quote]louis boxoffice
new merry widow
issuu.com[/quote]in the respective fields. Searching a theater with a more common name it’s better to put both name and location in the exact wording field thus: strand boston (or strand at boston; strand theatre boston; boston strand, etc.) Keep the theater name (or other term) ahead of the name Boxoffice in the first field, too, as Issuu’s internal search will fetch pages with instances of the first word of a field only, and the name Boxoffice appears on virtually every page of each issue of the magazine.
Once you fetch an issue of the magazine at Issuu, single words entered into the site’s search box will find the individual pages on which that word appears, but it won’t find a word that’s been spilt with a hyphen onto two lines of an article. It will find only the halves. It’s not case-sensitive, though, so don’t worry about capitalizing.
You can also find a specific issue of the magazine at Issuu by entering its date in Google’s exact phrase field, as: August 07 1943.