Opened Dec. 1980 by AMC as a 4 plex in a mall that is on life support. After Carmike, it was Cinema Entertainment, which sold a number of its theatres to Marcus. So Marcus is the 4th operator. The photo (not provided by me) must of one of the new three added-on screens. That is not one of the original 4 screens. There are no other theatres operating in Superior.
The Lyric’s function through most of its life was as a move-over house. Calling it “second run” is not the best terminology to use. It was a move-over house for the larger Minnesota Amusement/Paramount Theatres. The Lyric’s first runs in the 40s and 50s were often lower-studio/B type of pictures. Otherwise it was a move-over house for the Radio City, State, Century theatres. By the 1960s, the State and the Lyric were the only Paramount houses left in the downtown, so the Lyric started playing more first runs of major pictures then. The Radio City closed in 1958 and the Century in 1964. Paramount had given up most of its neighborhood theatres by the end of the 50s to early 60s. The Lyric closed in January 1971 with the first run of “Rio Lobo” which was a Christmas release.
It was called the “IDS Center Theatre” more often than anything else. It was in business 1972 to 1976. These are the correct dates.
Engler was the 2nd and last operator of the theatre. It was started by a partnership called Movieland, Inc. which ran the theatre for about 13 months. Engler took it over in December 1973 and got the first run of “The Laughing Policeman” (Fox) as its Christmas picture.
It was not a repertory theatre. There were a handful of showings, over its four-year life, where it played some W. C. Fields and Marx Brothers, but during that period many theatres would do that. There were some midnight shows promoted with radio stations however. There were a lot of “repeats” of pictures that were a few years old.
The IDS Theatre could never get any product. The operators were desperate to have anything on the screen. The other failing of the theatre is that the public could not find it. It was below street level – you had to take an escalator down. There was no marquee or signage on the street. You just had to know where it was. When the theatre closed, it was converted to conference and banquet rooms.
Capacity was 384 and ran hour reels.
Interesting that the seats from the IDS were put into St Anthony Main. That was Engler too, but there is a 9-year gap between the closing of the IDS in 1976 and opening of St Anthony Main 5 in 1985. Engler got out of that one after two years and UA Theatres took it over. The IDS seats were in storage for nine years?
The part about this theatre lasting to 1957 is erroneous. The only theatre that was ever on Central Ave., in Mpls., to the 1950s was the Arion Theatre. The “Central Ave Theatre” is not one I have even heard of. My guess is that this was another short-lived makeshift theatre that didn’t last into the sound era. There certainly was no theatre at this address in the sound era. Those Film Daily Yearbooks, Motion Picture Almanacs, etc. should all be burned in a bonfire. They are 98% worthless and should not be used as reference tools. I question whether a theatre ever existed at all at the address given at the top of the page…
Correct address for Arion Theatre was 2316 Central Ave., Mpls. Building permits show that a 48x108 building was built here in 1914. Liebenberg & Kaplan’s first theatre job was this one, a remodel in 1923. There was also a major remodel in 1953 while it was closed during the spring and summer, after Paramount dropped the theatre. It was picked up by the operator of the Hollywood Theatre and reopened in August 1953. Closed April 1958, was converted. 1959 city directory says occupant was “Roberts Co. Clothing Rental.” There were lawsuits about many of the North Mpls. theatres’ clearances during the 1930s and 40s. The Arion went to a 28 or 35 day clearance in 1950 but in 1952 was dropped back to double bills and late runs. To put it simplistically, the lawsuits stemmed from the Hollywood and Homewood theatres, among others, that complained they were not able to get the same run as the Paradise and Arion.
1915 construction; Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix. Paramount bought out F & R around 1930, then the local corporation was called Minnesota Amusement Co. For a brief time in 1946 they changed the name to Mindako Theatres but that didn’t take, and it reverted back to Minn. Amuse. Co.
The theatre was closed only 5 weeks in 1937 for the Liebenberg remodeling. The Rialto usually was on a 42-day or a 49-day run. The Uptown (also Paramount) was on a 28 day clearance and had that spot exclusively for decades. Paramount/Minnesota Amusement had the theatre until 1960 when it was sold to the Lyle Carisch circuit. Carisch sold in 1969 to Richard St. Marie, who owned the Gopher News distribution company. “I Am Curious Yellow” opened in Sept. 1969 and played over 8 months. The film distributor, Grove Press was impressed enough with the grosses to buy the theatre but “I Am Curious Blue” died at the boxoffice. Grove Press distributed documentaries and eclectic foreign and cult films from their offices in New York. A top officer in the company was quoted in the Mpls. Star newspaper that they found it tough going to operate a theatre in Minnesota from New York. In September 1970, Grove Press showed the last general audience films that would ever be shown at the Rialto. Local porn king Ferris Alexander purchased the theatre and reopened it in Feb. 1971. The theatre was twinned in 1975 and was demolished in 1991.
Don’t have the building permit on this one, however the wrecking permit was May 1977. The theatre closed in April 1977, showing porn at the time. There were 2 screens by then, but the 2nd screen was a storefront, the theatre was not twinned. Liebenberg may have done something in here but probably nothing major. There was a 1942 makeover but the theatre was closed only 10 days so I doubt it was structurally altered. Ads said new seats were put in. In 1955 the marquee had to be pared down as did the other Lake Street theatres when the street was widened. American Amusement, Publix, Minnesota Amusement was all Paramount. This was one of the theatres Paramount dumped after the decree, they gave it up in 1954 and sold it to Joseph Podoloff. The downtown Gopher and Aster theatres were also ones that they sold off because of the decree.
The American’s booth was in the corner, so there was a keystone problem.
Like the Vogue/Stage 7 did in the late 1960s, the American occasionally showed classics before it was fashionable. In 1966 and ‘67 there were showings of Marx Bros. and Bogart pix. At the Stage 7 in 1969 there were showings of W. C. Fields features.
The American closed in Nov. 1967 and beginning here things get a little sketchy. There was a “grand opening” of the New American Oct 18, 1968 with “The Sound of Music”. The last advertising in the Minneapolis papers was 12/5/69, “Romeo and Juliet”. Then apparently it was closed for six months. Who the operator was during 1968-69 is unknown. The next ads came June 25, 1970 with “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield”. This is when porn king Ferris Alexander took over the theatre – one of the next bookings was “Man and Wife” which set off some controversy in the city.
At this same time the Franklin and Empress theatres were being changed to porno by Alexander. In 1968-69, he had transitioned the Rialto Theatre on Lake Street too. The Aster and Avalon theatres were already into adult fare by that time. The city of Mpls. paid Alexander $325,000 for the American Theatre in 1977.
The Vogue didn’t open in 1948, that was only a remodel and redecoration, and “new management” (probably Henry Greene).
The building permit for a theatre here was issued in 1913. It closed in 1939 for a few weeks and at that time it had been called the New Lake (not to be confused with the Lake Theatre which was further east on Lake Street). When it reopened in July 1939 (“Stagecoach”) it was under a new name VOGUE. Then another remodel in 1948 but no name change. Building permits show there was some minor remodeling in 1954 and 1955 to the canopy, concession stand, front and lobby. It appears the Vogue closed in Nov. 1967.
It reopened as the STAGE 7 on May 22, 1968 with double bill of Cool Hand Luke and Tony Rome. It closed Feb 16, 1975 with A Minute To Pray A Second to Die plus Wattstax. Also frequently shown in the early 1970s were German language films. One of the perennial money makers here was “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” which brought in capacity crowds and was repeated many times. A new screen was installed for the 1968 reopening, and seats and projection equipment came from the El Lago Theatre which had closed in 1966.
The Vogue had an artesian well system. Seating capacity during the Stage 7 days was around 375. A restaurant next door, LaPizzeria, would bring in your food (you could order via an intercom). The Stage 7 owner also owned the restaurant. George Kennedy came to the theatre while shooting “Airport” in Mpls. He hadn’t seen “The Dirty Dozen” and came in and told the owner that he wanted to keep a low profile.
Also see American Theatre in Minneapolis, which was across the street from the New Lake/Vogue/Stage 7.
I cannot verify this theatre ever had the name Garrick; if it did, it was brief. In 1920 and 1925 the name was LaSalle, so there was no name change in 1930. Many silent theatres changed their names often, or the name while under construction gets into the city directory, and never gets changed for years – in the meantime the name might have been changed at the time the theatre opened. Names also changed with ownerships, fires and a new building or remodeling, etc. Many theatres changed names when sound came in.
The LaSalle Theatre closed in Dec. 1950. The recording studio building permit was pulled in Aug. 1955. This was also a Franklin Amusement Co. theatre (see Avalon, Lyndale) for its entire life; or at least certainly during the sound era. Franklin had it at the time of closing. They also had the Lyndale Theatre, which was in close proximity and that closed in ‘52.
The early name was ROSEBUD, believe it or not, long before Orson Welles came along. There was also a late 1920’s name, RENO, but this is unverified. Yes, there was a theatre on this site 1909-24 then the renovation in 1924 and then the art deco Crosier makeover in 1937 to a much larger theatre. The puppet company took it over in 1988. Porn lasted to 1985. The “Fine Arts” name was really just because the name Avalon fell off the marquee. It was always referred to as the “Avalon Fine Arts” in its porn days and advertised as such. The move to “Fine Arts” in 1955, starting with a run of Welles' “Othello” and migrating to an art/foreign policy which soon gave away to sex pictures and porn. Some of Russ Meyer’s early films were here, as well the usual nudist colony pictures, etc. “And God Created Woman” played at least 3 months in the summer of 1958 after the downtown run at the World. There would occasionally be a sex/horror type of film, for example Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace played as their Christmas attraction in 1965. “La Notte” played here too, and sometimes these “arty” films were double billed with a late-run Hollywood film, with the Hollywood film usually on the lower half of the bill. The theatre had an artesian well and a keystone problem that projectionists had to grapple with.
Also see this link for corrections that pertain to this entry too:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28319
The only Elite theatre in my research is what became the Metro Theatre.
There was no Elite Theatre anywhere in Mpls in the 1960s, or during the sound era.
The circuit name was Franklin Amusement Co. – not Franklin Theatres. W. R. Frank, Oscar Woempner and Val Nearpass were Franklin Amusement Co. Frank produced some feature films in the 1940s and early 50s. He died around 1960. Frank Jr. was the producer of the 1974 feature, “The Wrestler”.
This is in reference to this page and the /theaters/31180 link as well. To clear all this up, many pieces of misinformation need to be corrected, so here goes:
Elite Theatre was the early name of the Metro Theatre during the silent era, 2519 27th Av. S. The building still stands.
I don’t believe there was ever a theatre at 424 20th Av. N. That might not be a real address, either. Doesn’t sound right. I cannot link a theatre to that address in any of my notes.
The Lyndale theatre was at 2932-2934 Lyndale Av. S., near the intersection of Lyndale Av & Lake St. in south Minneapolis. It was always called the Lyndale. The building permit was issued in 1914 – I have seen it. It was a Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix house until they pulled out of it in 1930. After that, it was the W. R. Frank-Oscar Woempner-Val Nearpass circuit called Franklin Amusement Co. One of the managers of the theatre during the Publix days was Edward Heimberger who went to Hollywood to become Eddie Albert. The Lyndale Theatre closed in 1952. In early 1954 it became a grocery, and was a furniture store for about a decade, 1962-72, roughly. It was a bingo hall for the American Legion 1973-1990. After that, an antiques store. Was vacant on a drive-by in 2006. Don’t know what the status is now. Another piece of trivia is that there was a booth fire in the Lyndale in 1940.
Do not rely on Motion Picture Almanac, Film Daily Yearbook and Polk city directories for information. They are often more wrong than right. All they are good for is giving a theatre name and an address, then you have to check those out thoroughly from there. The seating capacities are wrong 98% of the time.
The Lyndale Theatre building is not large – even in the old days when seats were smaller and tighter – I doubt it was ever more than 500 seats and was probably closer to 400.
Opened Dec. 1980 by AMC as a 4 plex in a mall that is on life support. After Carmike, it was Cinema Entertainment, which sold a number of its theatres to Marcus. So Marcus is the 4th operator. The photo (not provided by me) must of one of the new three added-on screens. That is not one of the original 4 screens. There are no other theatres operating in Superior.
Opened 1938, closed Dec. 1980. Was closed circa 1972-73, reopened. Demolished some years after closing.
The Lyric’s function through most of its life was as a move-over house. Calling it “second run” is not the best terminology to use. It was a move-over house for the larger Minnesota Amusement/Paramount Theatres. The Lyric’s first runs in the 40s and 50s were often lower-studio/B type of pictures. Otherwise it was a move-over house for the Radio City, State, Century theatres. By the 1960s, the State and the Lyric were the only Paramount houses left in the downtown, so the Lyric started playing more first runs of major pictures then. The Radio City closed in 1958 and the Century in 1964. Paramount had given up most of its neighborhood theatres by the end of the 50s to early 60s. The Lyric closed in January 1971 with the first run of “Rio Lobo” which was a Christmas release.
It was called the “IDS Center Theatre” more often than anything else. It was in business 1972 to 1976. These are the correct dates.
Engler was the 2nd and last operator of the theatre. It was started by a partnership called Movieland, Inc. which ran the theatre for about 13 months. Engler took it over in December 1973 and got the first run of “The Laughing Policeman” (Fox) as its Christmas picture.
It was not a repertory theatre. There were a handful of showings, over its four-year life, where it played some W. C. Fields and Marx Brothers, but during that period many theatres would do that. There were some midnight shows promoted with radio stations however. There were a lot of “repeats” of pictures that were a few years old.
The IDS Theatre could never get any product. The operators were desperate to have anything on the screen. The other failing of the theatre is that the public could not find it. It was below street level – you had to take an escalator down. There was no marquee or signage on the street. You just had to know where it was. When the theatre closed, it was converted to conference and banquet rooms.
Capacity was 384 and ran hour reels.
Interesting that the seats from the IDS were put into St Anthony Main. That was Engler too, but there is a 9-year gap between the closing of the IDS in 1976 and opening of St Anthony Main 5 in 1985. Engler got out of that one after two years and UA Theatres took it over. The IDS seats were in storage for nine years?
The part about this theatre lasting to 1957 is erroneous. The only theatre that was ever on Central Ave., in Mpls., to the 1950s was the Arion Theatre. The “Central Ave Theatre” is not one I have even heard of. My guess is that this was another short-lived makeshift theatre that didn’t last into the sound era. There certainly was no theatre at this address in the sound era. Those Film Daily Yearbooks, Motion Picture Almanacs, etc. should all be burned in a bonfire. They are 98% worthless and should not be used as reference tools. I question whether a theatre ever existed at all at the address given at the top of the page…
Correct address for Arion Theatre was 2316 Central Ave., Mpls. Building permits show that a 48x108 building was built here in 1914. Liebenberg & Kaplan’s first theatre job was this one, a remodel in 1923. There was also a major remodel in 1953 while it was closed during the spring and summer, after Paramount dropped the theatre. It was picked up by the operator of the Hollywood Theatre and reopened in August 1953. Closed April 1958, was converted. 1959 city directory says occupant was “Roberts Co. Clothing Rental.” There were lawsuits about many of the North Mpls. theatres’ clearances during the 1930s and 40s. The Arion went to a 28 or 35 day clearance in 1950 but in 1952 was dropped back to double bills and late runs. To put it simplistically, the lawsuits stemmed from the Hollywood and Homewood theatres, among others, that complained they were not able to get the same run as the Paradise and Arion.
1915 construction; Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix. Paramount bought out F & R around 1930, then the local corporation was called Minnesota Amusement Co. For a brief time in 1946 they changed the name to Mindako Theatres but that didn’t take, and it reverted back to Minn. Amuse. Co. The theatre was closed only 5 weeks in 1937 for the Liebenberg remodeling. The Rialto usually was on a 42-day or a 49-day run. The Uptown (also Paramount) was on a 28 day clearance and had that spot exclusively for decades. Paramount/Minnesota Amusement had the theatre until 1960 when it was sold to the Lyle Carisch circuit. Carisch sold in 1969 to Richard St. Marie, who owned the Gopher News distribution company. “I Am Curious Yellow” opened in Sept. 1969 and played over 8 months. The film distributor, Grove Press was impressed enough with the grosses to buy the theatre but “I Am Curious Blue” died at the boxoffice. Grove Press distributed documentaries and eclectic foreign and cult films from their offices in New York. A top officer in the company was quoted in the Mpls. Star newspaper that they found it tough going to operate a theatre in Minnesota from New York. In September 1970, Grove Press showed the last general audience films that would ever be shown at the Rialto. Local porn king Ferris Alexander purchased the theatre and reopened it in Feb. 1971. The theatre was twinned in 1975 and was demolished in 1991.
I have an address of 2533, not 2633.
Don’t have the building permit on this one, however the wrecking permit was May 1977. The theatre closed in April 1977, showing porn at the time. There were 2 screens by then, but the 2nd screen was a storefront, the theatre was not twinned. Liebenberg may have done something in here but probably nothing major. There was a 1942 makeover but the theatre was closed only 10 days so I doubt it was structurally altered. Ads said new seats were put in. In 1955 the marquee had to be pared down as did the other Lake Street theatres when the street was widened. American Amusement, Publix, Minnesota Amusement was all Paramount. This was one of the theatres Paramount dumped after the decree, they gave it up in 1954 and sold it to Joseph Podoloff. The downtown Gopher and Aster theatres were also ones that they sold off because of the decree.
The American’s booth was in the corner, so there was a keystone problem.
Like the Vogue/Stage 7 did in the late 1960s, the American occasionally showed classics before it was fashionable. In 1966 and ‘67 there were showings of Marx Bros. and Bogart pix. At the Stage 7 in 1969 there were showings of W. C. Fields features.
The American closed in Nov. 1967 and beginning here things get a little sketchy. There was a “grand opening” of the New American Oct 18, 1968 with “The Sound of Music”. The last advertising in the Minneapolis papers was 12/5/69, “Romeo and Juliet”. Then apparently it was closed for six months. Who the operator was during 1968-69 is unknown. The next ads came June 25, 1970 with “Midnight Cowboy” and “The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield”. This is when porn king Ferris Alexander took over the theatre – one of the next bookings was “Man and Wife” which set off some controversy in the city.
At this same time the Franklin and Empress theatres were being changed to porno by Alexander. In 1968-69, he had transitioned the Rialto Theatre on Lake Street too. The Aster and Avalon theatres were already into adult fare by that time. The city of Mpls. paid Alexander $325,000 for the American Theatre in 1977.
The Vogue didn’t open in 1948, that was only a remodel and redecoration, and “new management” (probably Henry Greene).
The building permit for a theatre here was issued in 1913. It closed in 1939 for a few weeks and at that time it had been called the New Lake (not to be confused with the Lake Theatre which was further east on Lake Street). When it reopened in July 1939 (“Stagecoach”) it was under a new name VOGUE. Then another remodel in 1948 but no name change. Building permits show there was some minor remodeling in 1954 and 1955 to the canopy, concession stand, front and lobby. It appears the Vogue closed in Nov. 1967.
It reopened as the STAGE 7 on May 22, 1968 with double bill of Cool Hand Luke and Tony Rome. It closed Feb 16, 1975 with A Minute To Pray A Second to Die plus Wattstax. Also frequently shown in the early 1970s were German language films. One of the perennial money makers here was “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” which brought in capacity crowds and was repeated many times. A new screen was installed for the 1968 reopening, and seats and projection equipment came from the El Lago Theatre which had closed in 1966. The Vogue had an artesian well system. Seating capacity during the Stage 7 days was around 375. A restaurant next door, LaPizzeria, would bring in your food (you could order via an intercom). The Stage 7 owner also owned the restaurant. George Kennedy came to the theatre while shooting “Airport” in Mpls. He hadn’t seen “The Dirty Dozen” and came in and told the owner that he wanted to keep a low profile.
Also see American Theatre in Minneapolis, which was across the street from the New Lake/Vogue/Stage 7.
Some information here needs to be corrected:
I cannot verify this theatre ever had the name Garrick; if it did, it was brief. In 1920 and 1925 the name was LaSalle, so there was no name change in 1930. Many silent theatres changed their names often, or the name while under construction gets into the city directory, and never gets changed for years – in the meantime the name might have been changed at the time the theatre opened. Names also changed with ownerships, fires and a new building or remodeling, etc. Many theatres changed names when sound came in.
The LaSalle Theatre closed in Dec. 1950. The recording studio building permit was pulled in Aug. 1955. This was also a Franklin Amusement Co. theatre (see Avalon, Lyndale) for its entire life; or at least certainly during the sound era. Franklin had it at the time of closing. They also had the Lyndale Theatre, which was in close proximity and that closed in ‘52.
The early name was ROSEBUD, believe it or not, long before Orson Welles came along. There was also a late 1920’s name, RENO, but this is unverified. Yes, there was a theatre on this site 1909-24 then the renovation in 1924 and then the art deco Crosier makeover in 1937 to a much larger theatre. The puppet company took it over in 1988. Porn lasted to 1985. The “Fine Arts” name was really just because the name Avalon fell off the marquee. It was always referred to as the “Avalon Fine Arts” in its porn days and advertised as such. The move to “Fine Arts” in 1955, starting with a run of Welles' “Othello” and migrating to an art/foreign policy which soon gave away to sex pictures and porn. Some of Russ Meyer’s early films were here, as well the usual nudist colony pictures, etc. “And God Created Woman” played at least 3 months in the summer of 1958 after the downtown run at the World. There would occasionally be a sex/horror type of film, for example Mario Bava’s Blood and Black Lace played as their Christmas attraction in 1965. “La Notte” played here too, and sometimes these “arty” films were double billed with a late-run Hollywood film, with the Hollywood film usually on the lower half of the bill. The theatre had an artesian well and a keystone problem that projectionists had to grapple with.
Also see this link for corrections that pertain to this entry too:
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/28319
The only Elite theatre in my research is what became the Metro Theatre.
There was no Elite Theatre anywhere in Mpls in the 1960s, or during the sound era.
The circuit name was Franklin Amusement Co. – not Franklin Theatres. W. R. Frank, Oscar Woempner and Val Nearpass were Franklin Amusement Co. Frank produced some feature films in the 1940s and early 50s. He died around 1960. Frank Jr. was the producer of the 1974 feature, “The Wrestler”.
This is in reference to this page and the /theaters/31180 link as well. To clear all this up, many pieces of misinformation need to be corrected, so here goes:
Elite Theatre was the early name of the Metro Theatre during the silent era, 2519 27th Av. S. The building still stands.
I don’t believe there was ever a theatre at 424 20th Av. N. That might not be a real address, either. Doesn’t sound right. I cannot link a theatre to that address in any of my notes.
The Lyndale theatre was at 2932-2934 Lyndale Av. S., near the intersection of Lyndale Av & Lake St. in south Minneapolis. It was always called the Lyndale. The building permit was issued in 1914 – I have seen it. It was a Finkelstein & Ruben/Publix house until they pulled out of it in 1930. After that, it was the W. R. Frank-Oscar Woempner-Val Nearpass circuit called Franklin Amusement Co. One of the managers of the theatre during the Publix days was Edward Heimberger who went to Hollywood to become Eddie Albert. The Lyndale Theatre closed in 1952. In early 1954 it became a grocery, and was a furniture store for about a decade, 1962-72, roughly. It was a bingo hall for the American Legion 1973-1990. After that, an antiques store. Was vacant on a drive-by in 2006. Don’t know what the status is now. Another piece of trivia is that there was a booth fire in the Lyndale in 1940.
Do not rely on Motion Picture Almanac, Film Daily Yearbook and Polk city directories for information. They are often more wrong than right. All they are good for is giving a theatre name and an address, then you have to check those out thoroughly from there. The seating capacities are wrong 98% of the time.
The Lyndale Theatre building is not large – even in the old days when seats were smaller and tighter – I doubt it was ever more than 500 seats and was probably closer to 400.