The Rumford Drive-In Theatre launches October 5, 1949 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” and “Shocking Miss Pilgrim” supported by a cartoon. It closed permanently on May 12, 1985 with a double feature of “Missing in Action” and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning.“ The owners were fed up with underage drinking and behavioral issues ending their 27th season not long after it had opened for the season.
General Cinema opened its GCC Northwood Park Cinema with “Tobruk” on February 17, 1967. GCC architect William Riseman had the task of taking the existing Holiday Lanes bowling alley and converting it to a General Cinema location (information above is incorrect). Like many GCC theatres, it had an art gallery area for local artists. February 17, 1967. Five years later, the venue was twinned becoming the GCC Northwood Plaza I & II.
Cinema Centers Corporation of Boston took over the venue on July 19, 1978 altering its name to the Northwood Twin Cinema. Under Hoyts Cinema Circuit’s watch, the theatres were known as Northwood Cinemas. Hoyts bought out the 111-screen Cinema Centers Corp. in 1986. Hoyts operated the Northwood Cinemas until December 13, 1990 closing with “The Rookie” and “The Rescuers Down Under.” They opened the Auburn Cinemas the next day closing the Northwood, the Promenade Mall in Lewistown and the Auburn Mall theatres. After closing, the venue was converted once again - this time to the Fitness Connection Gym in 1991.
A major refresh was conducted in 1936 by architects Thalheimer & Weitz including air conditioning, a new marquee with silhouetted lettering, and a bathing in royal blue and stainless steel for a streamlined moderne makeover. The theatre closed at the end of a 15-year lease with “Dancing in the Dark” and “Brimstone.” It found new operators and continued, apparently, as a theatre for African American patrons until 1957.
The College Theatre launched on September 20, 1946 with “Waltz Time.” It appears to have closed with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on December 5, 1987. If so, that’s a good way to go out.
The Rex appears to have launched in 1915. It closed permanently after a triple-feature western with “Pecos River,” “Jubilee Trail,” and “Jesse James Rides Again” on September 11, 1955.
The Brookline Theatre appears to have ceased operations as a sub-run discount venue following the June 21, 1981 screening of “9 to 5.” What a way to make a living.
The Cambria Theatre closed permanently at the end of lease on October 30, 1966 with “Marco, the Magnificent” and “Around the World Under the Sea” as a double feature.
The October 10, 1927 opening ad for the Park Theatre with Colleen Moore in “Naughty but Nice” is posted in photos. Muriel Draper was at the Barton Two Console Double Orchestral Organ at the opening show for Equity Theatres Circuit.
The final listing is just shy of its 50th anniversary with the Park going out as a grind house with continuous shows its last day of “Hours of the Damned,” “Young Guns of Texas,” “Khartoum,” and “Dr. Goldfoot & the Girl Bombs” on December 4, 1966. No further listings are advertised at the Park. And, if true, it was a memorable final day of operation.
The Broad Theatre closed on July 5, 1967 with “Born Free” and “Hombre.” The building was offered for sale days later. In 1969, it became home to the Industrial Workers Union.
Genera Cinema opened here on August 10th, 1966. At a leasing exit point at 15 years, General Cinemas left the venue. Sameric Circuit took on the venue renaming it as the Eric Twin Clifton Heights in 1981. In May of 1988, United Artists purchased Sameric Corp.’s theaters, including the Clifton Heights which ran under the UA Eric Clifton Heights Twin banner into the 1990s.
United Artists renamed it in 1992 as the UA Clifton Heights Twin (dropping the Eric nameplate) but closed the duplex on June 29, 1993 at end of lease as a discount, sub-run house with “Lost in Yonkers” and “Benny & Joon” splitting a screen with “The Adventures of Huck Finn.”
Warner Bros. Circuit closed the Lindley with an all-German program of “Verlorene Melodie” and “der Florentiner Hut” supported by German language newsreels at the end of lease on May 29, 1955.
The Strand was a Moorish new-build, $250,000 structure built in 1916 by Ketcham & McQuade. The project was first announced in December of 1914 when Jennie E. Effinger acquired this property at the confluence of Germantown Avenue and West Venango Street. Plans were initially drawn by Carl P. Berger but rejected and the project languished in 1915. The Strand concept was rekindled when Hoffman-Henon architectural plans referenced above were approved and the construction team worked much of 1916 on the building.
The Strand’s grand opening scheduled for Christmas Eve on 1916 was pushed back when the theatre wasn’t quite ready. Jennie and son, Herbert Effinger, of the Leader Theatre opened the Strand on January 1, 1917 with Clara Kimball Young in “The Foolish Virgin.” Henry Spiller was at the Kimball organ with Professor Jacob Friedman directing the 18-piece orchestra. Simplex projectors shone upon the Rembusch gold fiber screen. Seat count decreased when the boxes were discontinued. The Strand was decorated by Barbarita of Pittsburgh. (References to a Strand Theatre on this property prior to 1916/7 and in the 1961-1971 period are in error.)
Stanley Warner circuit took over the Strand. Sound was added to keep the movie house viable. Ads are discontinued by Warner following the July 31, 1960 double-feature of “Michael Strogoff” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” at end of lease. The building was demolished beginning the next month for a parking facility. (There is a story about a Strand Theatre fire in February of 1961 in the local paper that took place in Connecticut. I see no coverage of any fire at the Philadelphia Strand and would doubt that such a fire would go uncovered by the local paper.)
The Leader Theatre closed for renovations after a triple-feature of “Terror-Creatures from the Grave,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Bloody Pit of Horror” on December 17, 1968 promising to reopen on Christmas Day 1968. But Leader fans got a lump of coal as the theatre remained closed.
The address of the Carman Theatre for its first 20-year sublease was listed as 3221-3231 Germantown Avenue. The 2,500 seat theatre struggled in the television age where - on its second 20-year sublease it was listed at 3221–3229 Germantown. It appears to have closed with a 94 cent bargain priced double feature of “You’re Never Too Young” and “Great Missouri Raid.“ It was auctioned off at the end of its second 20-year leasing period in 1968 bringing just $40,000. Its upper floor was used for retail and was demolished just after its 50th anniversary in 1978.
Louis Chiaramonte was responsible for the 1957 remodeling and its transformation as the “new” Gray Cinema in 1957.
The Rumford Drive-In Theatre launches October 5, 1949 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” and “Shocking Miss Pilgrim” supported by a cartoon. It closed permanently on May 12, 1985 with a double feature of “Missing in Action” and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning.“ The owners were fed up with underage drinking and behavioral issues ending their 27th season not long after it had opened for the season.
Ceased operations on April 25, 1982 with “Vice Squad.”
Final shows on September 25, 2021 were “I Can Only Imagine” with “Cry Macho” and “It” with “It Chapter 2.”
General Cinema opened its GCC Northwood Park Cinema with “Tobruk” on February 17, 1967. GCC architect William Riseman had the task of taking the existing Holiday Lanes bowling alley and converting it to a General Cinema location (information above is incorrect). Like many GCC theatres, it had an art gallery area for local artists. February 17, 1967. Five years later, the venue was twinned becoming the GCC Northwood Plaza I & II.
Cinema Centers Corporation of Boston took over the venue on July 19, 1978 altering its name to the Northwood Twin Cinema. Under Hoyts Cinema Circuit’s watch, the theatres were known as Northwood Cinemas. Hoyts bought out the 111-screen Cinema Centers Corp. in 1986. Hoyts operated the Northwood Cinemas until December 13, 1990 closing with “The Rookie” and “The Rescuers Down Under.” They opened the Auburn Cinemas the next day closing the Northwood, the Promenade Mall in Lewistown and the Auburn Mall theatres. After closing, the venue was converted once again - this time to the Fitness Connection Gym in 1991.
Looks to have closed as a discount sub-run dollar house with “Shampoo” at the end of a leasing period on September 28, 1975 with “Shampoo.”
A major refresh was conducted in 1936 by architects Thalheimer & Weitz including air conditioning, a new marquee with silhouetted lettering, and a bathing in royal blue and stainless steel for a streamlined moderne makeover. The theatre closed at the end of a 15-year lease with “Dancing in the Dark” and “Brimstone.” It found new operators and continued, apparently, as a theatre for African American patrons until 1957.
The College Theatre launched on September 20, 1946 with “Waltz Time.” It appears to have closed with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on December 5, 1987. If so, that’s a good way to go out.
Closed at the end of lease on November 28, 1957 with “The Midnight Story” and “Run of the Arrow.”
The Rex appears to have launched in 1915. It closed permanently after a triple-feature western with “Pecos River,” “Jubilee Trail,” and “Jesse James Rides Again” on September 11, 1955.
The Brookline Theatre appears to have ceased operations as a sub-run discount venue following the June 21, 1981 screening of “9 to 5.” What a way to make a living.
The Cambria Theatre closed permanently at the end of lease on October 30, 1966 with “Marco, the Magnificent” and “Around the World Under the Sea” as a double feature.
The October 10, 1927 opening ad for the Park Theatre with Colleen Moore in “Naughty but Nice” is posted in photos. Muriel Draper was at the Barton Two Console Double Orchestral Organ at the opening show for Equity Theatres Circuit.
The final listing is just shy of its 50th anniversary with the Park going out as a grind house with continuous shows its last day of “Hours of the Damned,” “Young Guns of Texas,” “Khartoum,” and “Dr. Goldfoot & the Girl Bombs” on December 4, 1966. No further listings are advertised at the Park. And, if true, it was a memorable final day of operation.
Here is the October 10, 1927 opening ad for the Park Theatre with Colleen Moore in “Naughty but Nice.”
The York Theatre closed permanently following Gregory Peck in “Twelve O'Clock High” supported by cartoons on February 5, 1951.
The Logan Theatre closed on January 30, 1973 with Ringo Starr in “Blindman” and Paul Winfield in “Trouble Man.”
The Broad Theatre closed on July 5, 1967 with “Born Free” and “Hombre.” The building was offered for sale days later. In 1969, it became home to the Industrial Workers Union.
Genera Cinema opened here on August 10th, 1966. At a leasing exit point at 15 years, General Cinemas left the venue. Sameric Circuit took on the venue renaming it as the Eric Twin Clifton Heights in 1981. In May of 1988, United Artists purchased Sameric Corp.’s theaters, including the Clifton Heights which ran under the UA Eric Clifton Heights Twin banner into the 1990s.
United Artists renamed it in 1992 as the UA Clifton Heights Twin (dropping the Eric nameplate) but closed the duplex on June 29, 1993 at end of lease as a discount, sub-run house with “Lost in Yonkers” and “Benny & Joon” splitting a screen with “The Adventures of Huck Finn.”
Warner Bros. Circuit closed the Lindley with an all-German program of “Verlorene Melodie” and “der Florentiner Hut” supported by German language newsreels at the end of lease on May 29, 1955.
The Strand was a Moorish new-build, $250,000 structure built in 1916 by Ketcham & McQuade. The project was first announced in December of 1914 when Jennie E. Effinger acquired this property at the confluence of Germantown Avenue and West Venango Street. Plans were initially drawn by Carl P. Berger but rejected and the project languished in 1915. The Strand concept was rekindled when Hoffman-Henon architectural plans referenced above were approved and the construction team worked much of 1916 on the building.
The Strand’s grand opening scheduled for Christmas Eve on 1916 was pushed back when the theatre wasn’t quite ready. Jennie and son, Herbert Effinger, of the Leader Theatre opened the Strand on January 1, 1917 with Clara Kimball Young in “The Foolish Virgin.” Henry Spiller was at the Kimball organ with Professor Jacob Friedman directing the 18-piece orchestra. Simplex projectors shone upon the Rembusch gold fiber screen. Seat count decreased when the boxes were discontinued. The Strand was decorated by Barbarita of Pittsburgh. (References to a Strand Theatre on this property prior to 1916/7 and in the 1961-1971 period are in error.)
Stanley Warner circuit took over the Strand. Sound was added to keep the movie house viable. Ads are discontinued by Warner following the July 31, 1960 double-feature of “Michael Strogoff” and “Pretty Boy Floyd” at end of lease. The building was demolished beginning the next month for a parking facility. (There is a story about a Strand Theatre fire in February of 1961 in the local paper that took place in Connecticut. I see no coverage of any fire at the Philadelphia Strand and would doubt that such a fire would go uncovered by the local paper.)
January 1, 1917
Official city documents place the venue at 3208-3216 South 84th Street
The Plaza Theatre closed permanently at end of lease on July 4, 1951 with “The Thing” and “Soldiers Three.”
The Leader Theatre closed for renovations after a triple-feature of “Terror-Creatures from the Grave,” “Night of the Living Dead” and “Bloody Pit of Horror” on December 17, 1968 promising to reopen on Christmas Day 1968. But Leader fans got a lump of coal as the theatre remained closed.
The address of the Carman Theatre for its first 20-year sublease was listed as 3221-3231 Germantown Avenue. The 2,500 seat theatre struggled in the television age where - on its second 20-year sublease it was listed at 3221–3229 Germantown. It appears to have closed with a 94 cent bargain priced double feature of “You’re Never Too Young” and “Great Missouri Raid.“ It was auctioned off at the end of its second 20-year leasing period in 1968 bringing just $40,000. Its upper floor was used for retail and was demolished just after its 50th anniversary in 1978.