An MGM film called “The Unfinished Dance” with Danny Thomas and Margaret O'Brien was playing at the Barnum on 11/16/47. Other theaters advertised that day were the Colonial, Rivoli, Black Rock, West End, Brooklawn, Stratford, Bostwick, Community, Lyric and E.M. Loew’s Milford Open-Air Drive In.
Here are excerpts from a 1962 article in the Pasadena Independent which discusses early theaters in Los Angeles:
So, without overture, let’s raise the curtain on a period around 1912. The Mason Opera House, Broadway near First, was a favorite for road shows and notable stars. Flashing back to before the turn of the century in Los Angeles, the former Child’s Opera House, Main near First, was housing Orpheum vaudeville. Later known as The Grand, “The Campus” had its long run there. For several seasons Ferris Harlman’s musical comedy company had its home at The Grand. Other Main Street attractions were Lewis Stone at the Belasco and the great productions at the Burbank.
Burlesque wasn’t a bad word in those days and a favored theater was The Olympic, across from the Burbank near 6th Street, where Blossom
Seeley and Frances White gained stardom. Jules Mendel (Pickle Heinz) was top comedian, supported by his wife, Rose. Decorative Vera Hansdale took the spotlight.
Switching to Spring Street, the Orpheum had moved to the Los Angeles Theater near 2nd. Perhaps you read recently that L.E. Behymer staged the opera, “La Boheme,” there just 65 years ago. In this Orpheum
Leo Carrillo got his start as a story teller. Another theater further
south then took the name Los Angeles Theater and presented Kolb and Dill in “Pigs is Pigs.” Later Sullivan and Considine turned the house to 10, 20 and 30 cent vaudeville, changed the name to Empress, and finally sold out to Marcus Loew.
Now, to Broadway where, in 1911 the third Orpheum opened near 6th. The last and finest Orpheum opened about 1925, near 9th, but was shortlived for major vaudeville’s day ended in less than four years.
Here is an article from the Fort Wayne Sentinel dated 12/31/03. Apparently the Garrick patrons were unaware of the terrible fire engulfing the nearby Iriquois, which took 600 lives:
HOW PANIC WAS AVERTED IN GARRICK THEATER
Chicago, Dec. 31-One of the largest audiences ever seen in the Garrick Theater, which is on the same street as the Iroquois, less than one block distant, sat in complete ignorance of the awful tragedy which was being enacted, 200 feet from where they sat.
When the fire engines commenced to patter past the Garrick, Manager
Schubert became fearful lest the impression that his theater was on fire should spread in the audience. When the intermission between acts came he ordered the doors closed and refused to allow any one to pass in or out, as he was determined that no knowledge of the fire should reach the audience.
Wilton Lackaye, the star of the play now being presented at the Garrick, stepped before the curtain and entertained the audience for over five minutes with a witty speech, which kept his hearers in continual laughter. The orchestra contributed its part toward diverting the audience and the curtain rose for the next act without anybody other than the theater employes knowing that hundreds of lives were being sacrificed almost next door to the Garrick.
When the people filed out of the Garrick they were greeted at the door by men and women, who anxiously scanned the faces to see if any of their friends were among them. They looked for members of their families and acquaintanceswho had gone down town simply to attend a matinee, without stating to what theater they had intended to go. There were many scenes of joyful recognition and astonished members of the Garrick audience were hugged and kissed in frantic delight by their relatives who up to that time had believed it possible that they were a ghastly pile of dead lying within the doors of the Iriquois Theater.
On 7/24/49, the Davenport Democrat-Leader advertised Clark Gable and Alexis Smith at the Capitol in MGM’s “Any Number Can Play”, plus a cartoon and late news. “The Stratton Story” with Jimmy Stewart would start a few days later. Other theaters in Davenport at that time were the State, Esquire, Garden, Uptown, Bel-Air, RKO Orpheum and Sunset.
LM’s link states that the Rococo/Stuart was built in 1929. That makes sense, as an October 1929 ad in the Lincoln Daily News has ads for the Lyric, Sun, Colonial, Rialto, Liberty and Orpheum.
This is excerpted from a 9/15/07 article in the Oakland Tribune. This is clearly a different building, and may not have shown films at all:
The big new temple of vaudeville on Twelfth street, the new Orpheum Theater of Oakland, which for a year has been in the hands of the architects and contractors, today was turned over to the force
of interior decorators employed by the Orpheum Circuit Company to embellish and make beautiful throughout the magnificent house which is to be devoted, hereafter, to the staging of vaudeville shows in Oakland.
Here is an article about the closing of the drive-in, dated ¾/69:
Twin Drive-In Theaters Up For Industrial Review
Hayward lost its only drive-in theater last year to the bulldozers of Bay Area Rapid Transit, but it’s about to recoup its loss two-fold and gain something of a cinematic first in the bargain, a spokesman for East Bay Theaters, Inc. said yesterday.
Plans for a twin-drive-in theater complex accommodating 1,257 cars on a 17-acre flatlands site south of Industrial Parkway West are in the hands of city zoning officials. Hayward Industrial Commissioners are scheduled to review them tomorrow at 8 p.m. at city hall.
Arnold C. Childhouse, who said he represents both East Bay Theaters, Inc. and United Artists Theaters, Inc., which prepared the plans, said construction of the twin 74 by 116-foot screens and a connecting
concession – cafeteria building could start in April if city review
and approval procedures run smoothly.
The site for the project is on the south edge of the city’s industrial belt, in an open, vacant area just north of the Alameda
County flood control channel which separates Hayward and Union City.
East Bay Theaters owns the site, plus about 15 acres which separates it from Hesperian Boulevard, which will give access to the theaters.
Not quite a year ago, Hayward’s lone drive-in, the Hayward Motor Movies at the southwest corner of Mission Boulevard and Tennyson Road, closed its gates for the last time. Owned by United Artists
Theaters, it was one of the first drive-in theaters opened in the
bay area and had occupied its 13-acre site for about 20 years. It was demolished last spring to make way for the South Hayward BART Station.
The gentrification of Main Street has taken over a good section of Main between 4th and 5th, but the blocks going south are still somewhat disreputable. I’m not advocating wholesale relocation of the disadvantaged, but on the other hand I don’t see the gentrification stopping anytime soon. Both sides will learn to co-exist, I imagine.
Downtown, do you know of any plans to show films at the Regent, or solely live performances?
I am partial to 70s movies, having grown up in that era. Hold the jokes, please. I was looking at an ad from the Bucks County Courier Times dated 2/19/78. You tell me if anyone has a better choice of films nowadays:
Eric Feasterville and Eric Twin Lawrenceville: “Close Encounters”
Pennsbury Theater (Morrisville): “Taxi Driver”
Lincoln (Roosevelt Blvd at City Line): “Black Sunday”, “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” and “Marathon Man”
Eric Playhouse (Princeton) and Eric Fairless Hills: “High Anxiety”
Eric Garden (Princeton) and Eric Twin Penn Jersey: “Coma”
Budco Prince (Trenton): “Julia” with Vanessa Redgrave
Eric Twin Independence Mall (Trenton): “Saturday Night Fever”
Newtown: “Smoky and the Bandit” (OK, not a classic, but a good redneck film)
Premiere Twin (Neshaminy Mall): “Goodbye Girl” and “Harold Robbins' The Betsy”, with Lawrence Olivier (a great “bad” film).
This 7/4/67 article from the Syracuse Post-Standard mentions the Riviera:
TREND SHOWS INCREASE IN MOVIE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
New “hardtop” motion picture theaters are rising even quicker than old ones are being torn down â€" but most of them are in the suburbs.
However, the trend will be reversed when the Kallets build the first Twin Theaters downtown opening in 1968, across from the War Memorial.
A third downtown theater is expected to be built by Slotnick Enterprises Inc. in the 400 block of S. Salina Street, as part of the Downtown One Urban Renewal Project.
The new Westhill Theater, at Velasko Road and Onondaga Street, will open in August as a third new suburban theater built by Slotnick Enterprises, Inc. This will have about 900 seats. In the 1965-66 season, the Slotnicks opened two theaters â€" Cinema North and Cinema
East. Last December, the Slotnicks acquired the Riviera Cinema, the art theater on S. Salina Street.
With the completion of the new Westhill Cinema, they will have “hardtop” theaters in all four sections of the city, in addition to the three drive-ins they operate â€" DeWitt, Lakeshore and North Drive-Ins.
The first new theater before that was the Kallet Shoppingtown Theater, which opened in 1957. The theater was especially built for the Todd-AO process and became the premiere showcase for long-run,
“hard-ticket” productions. This showcase, with its unusual multi-colored velvet curtain, was the first new theater since Loew’s State was built at the end of the twenties. This was another “first” for
Kallet Theaters. They had built the first drive-in â€" the Kallet Drive-In â€" which made way for Camillus Plaza.
Shoppingtown Theater had the longest run of any motion picture â€" 18 months for “The Sound of Music,” since unequalled. It has also played
“Around the World in 80 Days,” “Ben-Hur,” “South Pacific,” “The Bible” and “Cleopatra” and is showing “The Sand Pebbles”. Manager Sam Mitchell already has plans to bring back the granddaddy of long runs, “Gone With the Wind,” in Todd-AO process, wide-screen and stereophonic sound. The Kallets also operate the Genesee Theater on the West Side, where “Doctor Zhivago” played 36 weeks. “Thoroughly
Modern Millie” will open soon.
The new Twin Theaters are planned for art films, road shows and regular films and will be two separate theaters built side by side with a mutual lobby. These “theaters of the future” are planned to have many innovations. The two remaining theaters downtown are the elaborate Loew’s theater â€" largest of all with its 2,896 seats â€" and
the Eckel, a former Schine theater and home of Cinerama.
The score of major theaters is currently two downtown, five suburban; another suburban opening this summer; and three downtown theaters to open in the next year or two. The neighborhood theaters
of Syracuse now number fourâ€" The Wescot, the Franklin, the Hollywood and the Palace. Even these have gone first-run occasionally. The Palace in Eastwood, in a neighborhood downtown section, has since the closing of the Paramount and RKO Keith’s theaters been obtaining
first-run films.
The Wescot, in the University section, has also booked first-run art and foreign films, striking a bonanza with “A Man and a Woman” which is in its 40th week.
Here is an ad from the Syracuse Herald Journal dated 7/10/50:
DEWITT DRIVE-IN THEATER
OPENS NIGHTLY 7:30 P.M.
Children under 12 in cars admitted FREE
Only a ten-minute drive from Salina Street.
Located on one of Syracuse’s main traffic arteries, on Erie Boulevard East, between Thompson Road and DeWitt,
Largest drive-in theater in upstate New York with a 950-car capacity.
Latest RCA in-the-car sound equipment.
Largest screen tower in the East, measuring 80 ½ feet in height. Assures perfect visibility of the screen from anywhere on the theater grounds.
Completely equipped nursery room for the convenience of parents.
Modern and roomy refreshment service conveniently located.
Spacious rest rooms.
Rain or shine the show goes on. Living room comforts in a country atmosphere here in Syracuse.
Last Time Tonight
THE BIG HANGOVER" Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor
This is a 1936 ad from the Modesto Bee. Go to the movies or take the chicken – tough choice:
FREE
A Thanksgiving Turkey For You
A 10 Lb. turkey free with every complete engine overhaul.
A 5-lb dressed chicken free with every purchase amounting to over $25.00
2 State Theater tickets with every purchase over $10.00.
1 State Theater ticket with every purchase over $5.00.
The treat’s on usâ€"Come early. Sweeley’s Garage 1211 J Street
Phone 716
Here is a 7/29/65 article from the Modesto Bee about the death of the Esquire:
The theater business in Modesto, like other places throughout the nation, has been hard hit by television. As a result several movie houses have closed down while others operate on a part time basis
or face the final curtain. Orders have been issued to demolish
the old Lyric theater, called the Esquire in its dying days, at 721 10th Street. The Lyric, a converted garage, was the first place in town to show talking pictures with the sound track on the film.
Modesto has watched the movies from the early jumpy and flickering shadows of the nickelodeon days to today’s million dollar wide screen multicolored spectaculars. Although business has picked up, the day of the show palaces of the past is doomed, especially
in the big cities. Many major movie shrines have been demolished in
New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles where property is too expensive for theaters.
Here is an article from the Fresno Bee dated 5/29/31, when Sid ceded control to Fox:
Final papers now are being prepared which will give William Fox control of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, according to announcement made by Harold B. Franklin, president of Fox West
Coast Theaters. Attorneys are now working on the details, Franklin said. Control of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, considered the show house of the world, will become effective the minute the final details are completed. Franklin added that the taking over of the famous theater will not in any way affect the Fox plans for the building of a new theater in Hollywood.
Sid Grauman, nationally known and colorful showman, will remain in an advisory capacity in the conduct of the theater under the policy to be set by William Fox when the picturesque playhouse passes to actual participation in the Fox country-wide circuit. The same policy instituted by Grauman will remain under the Fox direction. This means that the theater will continue with prerelease showings of the most outstanding screen attractions and with the stage prologues that have a national reputation for originality, beauty and lavish splendor.
Since the opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theater on May 18th, 1927, it has occupied a unique position in national theatricals. Grauman, of course, had considerable reputation before coming to Los Angeles,
but with opening of the Egyptian Theater, his fame grew to world-wide proportions and when the Chinese Theater opened the event was one of the most colorful in the history of the industry.
With the passing of the Chinese into the control of the Fox organization, the theater becomes a part of the circuit in which the great Roxy Theater, the finest in the East, is a unit. In other important cities of the country, William Fox has erected magnificent playhouses, at the present time there is nearing completion in San Francisco a 5,000-seat Fox Theater and before Fall new Fox Theaters will open in San Diego, Visalia, Hanford and Stockton, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.
Here is an article from the Oakland Tribune dated 11/16/24:
NEW THEATER AT ELMHURST OPENS NOVEMBER 20
The Granada Theater, a new motion picture palace located in the heart of East Oakland on East Fourteenth street at Eighty-ninth Avenue, will he dedicated by Mayor Davie Thursday evening, November 20, it is announced.
The new theater will be operated by the Golden State Theater and Realty Corporation, of which Robert A. McNeil is president, with which corporation will be associated John Peters, for the last ten years owner of the two smaller theaters now serving this territory
known as the Elmhurst district. L.J. and J. C. Toffelmier, pioneer
business men of Elmurst, are the builders and owners of the theater.
With a seating capacity of 1200 persons, the Granada will be one
of the most comfortable and modern motion picture theaters in the
Eastbay region. It has being planned with the idea in view of providing every convenience for patrons in surroundings that are at
the same time luxurious and beautiful. To gain this end the builders have dealt most lavishly with the interior.
Upon entering the theater through a double row of doors, the
patron will find himself in a broad, heavily carpeted lobby. From the
lobby one ascends to the balcony by stairways at right and left or
may enter the main auditorium through curtain-draped arches. The full dimensions of the auditorium are immediately revealed, as the balcony projects but a short distance over the rear seat sections.
Among the striking details are the lighting fixtures suspended from the ceiling. The larger fixtures are seven feet in diameter, provide
a dual colored lighting effect and are of cathedral art glass and mica construction. Another bold feature which strikes the eye at once is the richly ornamented curtain which may be drawn across the screen. In harmony with the Spanish atmosphere of the Granada, a rakish Spanish galleon is emblazoned upon this curtain.
Gay drapes are used throughout, and the painter’s artistic brush has traced delicate murals in the niches behind heroic sized vases set into the side walls. An interesting old coat of arms is used as a decorative design in one part of the lobby. A new plaster treatment in the main auditorium creates a most unusual effect. The main lighting for the auditorium is derived from concealed cornice troughs which permit the light to spread out over the decorated areas of the walls and ceilings in a pleasing manner.
A $25,000 Wurlitzer Hope-Jones organ of the newest type which in
the hands of a skilled organist can mimic the human voice or a full
symphony orchestra, has been installed. The heating and ventilating
systems are of the most approved designs and everything has been installed in the operating room equipment to give a perfectly
projected picture upon the screen. Wicker loge chairs, with overstuffed leather cushions, will provide the utmost comfort.
Topping the building will be a huge electric sign which will be visible for dozens of blocks in every direction.
Three additional neighborhood theaters in Oakland, of a class
similar to the Granada, were announced recently by Mortimer
Thomas, treasurer of the Golden State. One theater of 1500 seats
capacity will be built on East Fourteenth street, near 38th avenue, in the Fruitvale district. Another, also seating 1500 persons, will be built on Park Boulevard at East Eighteenth street in the Lake
Merritt district. The third theater, for 1200 persons, will be located in the Dimond district, East Oakland, at Fruitvale avenue and Hopkins Street.
An MGM film called “The Unfinished Dance” with Danny Thomas and Margaret O'Brien was playing at the Barnum on 11/16/47. Other theaters advertised that day were the Colonial, Rivoli, Black Rock, West End, Brooklawn, Stratford, Bostwick, Community, Lyric and E.M. Loew’s Milford Open-Air Drive In.
Here are excerpts from a 1962 article in the Pasadena Independent which discusses early theaters in Los Angeles:
So, without overture, let’s raise the curtain on a period around 1912. The Mason Opera House, Broadway near First, was a favorite for road shows and notable stars. Flashing back to before the turn of the century in Los Angeles, the former Child’s Opera House, Main near First, was housing Orpheum vaudeville. Later known as The Grand, “The Campus” had its long run there. For several seasons Ferris Harlman’s musical comedy company had its home at The Grand. Other Main Street attractions were Lewis Stone at the Belasco and the great productions at the Burbank.
Burlesque wasn’t a bad word in those days and a favored theater was The Olympic, across from the Burbank near 6th Street, where Blossom
Seeley and Frances White gained stardom. Jules Mendel (Pickle Heinz) was top comedian, supported by his wife, Rose. Decorative Vera Hansdale took the spotlight.
Switching to Spring Street, the Orpheum had moved to the Los Angeles Theater near 2nd. Perhaps you read recently that L.E. Behymer staged the opera, “La Boheme,” there just 65 years ago. In this Orpheum
Leo Carrillo got his start as a story teller. Another theater further
south then took the name Los Angeles Theater and presented Kolb and Dill in “Pigs is Pigs.” Later Sullivan and Considine turned the house to 10, 20 and 30 cent vaudeville, changed the name to Empress, and finally sold out to Marcus Loew.
Now, to Broadway where, in 1911 the third Orpheum opened near 6th. The last and finest Orpheum opened about 1925, near 9th, but was shortlived for major vaudeville’s day ended in less than four years.
Here is an article from the Fort Wayne Sentinel dated 12/31/03. Apparently the Garrick patrons were unaware of the terrible fire engulfing the nearby Iriquois, which took 600 lives:
HOW PANIC WAS AVERTED IN GARRICK THEATER
Chicago, Dec. 31-One of the largest audiences ever seen in the Garrick Theater, which is on the same street as the Iroquois, less than one block distant, sat in complete ignorance of the awful tragedy which was being enacted, 200 feet from where they sat.
When the fire engines commenced to patter past the Garrick, Manager
Schubert became fearful lest the impression that his theater was on fire should spread in the audience. When the intermission between acts came he ordered the doors closed and refused to allow any one to pass in or out, as he was determined that no knowledge of the fire should reach the audience.
Wilton Lackaye, the star of the play now being presented at the Garrick, stepped before the curtain and entertained the audience for over five minutes with a witty speech, which kept his hearers in continual laughter. The orchestra contributed its part toward diverting the audience and the curtain rose for the next act without anybody other than the theater employes knowing that hundreds of lives were being sacrificed almost next door to the Garrick.
When the people filed out of the Garrick they were greeted at the door by men and women, who anxiously scanned the faces to see if any of their friends were among them. They looked for members of their families and acquaintanceswho had gone down town simply to attend a matinee, without stating to what theater they had intended to go. There were many scenes of joyful recognition and astonished members of the Garrick audience were hugged and kissed in frantic delight by their relatives who up to that time had believed it possible that they were a ghastly pile of dead lying within the doors of the Iriquois Theater.
On 7/24/49, the Davenport Democrat-Leader advertised Clark Gable and Alexis Smith at the Capitol in MGM’s “Any Number Can Play”, plus a cartoon and late news. “The Stratton Story” with Jimmy Stewart would start a few days later. Other theaters in Davenport at that time were the State, Esquire, Garden, Uptown, Bel-Air, RKO Orpheum and Sunset.
Date that newspaper ad 1924, not 1929. It’s getting late.
LM’s link states that the Rococo/Stuart was built in 1929. That makes sense, as an October 1929 ad in the Lincoln Daily News has ads for the Lyric, Sun, Colonial, Rialto, Liberty and Orpheum.
This is excerpted from a 9/15/07 article in the Oakland Tribune. This is clearly a different building, and may not have shown films at all:
The big new temple of vaudeville on Twelfth street, the new Orpheum Theater of Oakland, which for a year has been in the hands of the architects and contractors, today was turned over to the force
of interior decorators employed by the Orpheum Circuit Company to embellish and make beautiful throughout the magnificent house which is to be devoted, hereafter, to the staging of vaudeville shows in Oakland.
Thanks for the info.
Here is an article about the closing of the drive-in, dated ¾/69:
Twin Drive-In Theaters Up For Industrial Review
Hayward lost its only drive-in theater last year to the bulldozers of Bay Area Rapid Transit, but it’s about to recoup its loss two-fold and gain something of a cinematic first in the bargain, a spokesman for East Bay Theaters, Inc. said yesterday.
Plans for a twin-drive-in theater complex accommodating 1,257 cars on a 17-acre flatlands site south of Industrial Parkway West are in the hands of city zoning officials. Hayward Industrial Commissioners are scheduled to review them tomorrow at 8 p.m. at city hall.
Arnold C. Childhouse, who said he represents both East Bay Theaters, Inc. and United Artists Theaters, Inc., which prepared the plans, said construction of the twin 74 by 116-foot screens and a connecting
concession – cafeteria building could start in April if city review
and approval procedures run smoothly.
The site for the project is on the south edge of the city’s industrial belt, in an open, vacant area just north of the Alameda
County flood control channel which separates Hayward and Union City.
East Bay Theaters owns the site, plus about 15 acres which separates it from Hesperian Boulevard, which will give access to the theaters.
Not quite a year ago, Hayward’s lone drive-in, the Hayward Motor Movies at the southwest corner of Mission Boulevard and Tennyson Road, closed its gates for the last time. Owned by United Artists
Theaters, it was one of the first drive-in theaters opened in the
bay area and had occupied its 13-acre site for about 20 years. It was demolished last spring to make way for the South Hayward BART Station.
The gentrification of Main Street has taken over a good section of Main between 4th and 5th, but the blocks going south are still somewhat disreputable. I’m not advocating wholesale relocation of the disadvantaged, but on the other hand I don’t see the gentrification stopping anytime soon. Both sides will learn to co-exist, I imagine.
Downtown, do you know of any plans to show films at the Regent, or solely live performances?
I am partial to 70s movies, having grown up in that era. Hold the jokes, please. I was looking at an ad from the Bucks County Courier Times dated 2/19/78. You tell me if anyone has a better choice of films nowadays:
Eric Feasterville and Eric Twin Lawrenceville: “Close Encounters”
Pennsbury Theater (Morrisville): “Taxi Driver”
Lincoln (Roosevelt Blvd at City Line): “Black Sunday”, “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” and “Marathon Man”
Eric Playhouse (Princeton) and Eric Fairless Hills: “High Anxiety”
Eric Garden (Princeton) and Eric Twin Penn Jersey: “Coma”
Budco Prince (Trenton): “Julia” with Vanessa Redgrave
Eric Twin Independence Mall (Trenton): “Saturday Night Fever”
Newtown: “Smoky and the Bandit” (OK, not a classic, but a good redneck film)
Premiere Twin (Neshaminy Mall): “Goodbye Girl” and “Harold Robbins' The Betsy”, with Lawrence Olivier (a great “bad” film).
This 7/4/67 article from the Syracuse Post-Standard mentions the Riviera:
TREND SHOWS INCREASE IN MOVIE HOUSE CONSTRUCTION
New “hardtop” motion picture theaters are rising even quicker than old ones are being torn down â€" but most of them are in the suburbs.
However, the trend will be reversed when the Kallets build the first Twin Theaters downtown opening in 1968, across from the War Memorial.
A third downtown theater is expected to be built by Slotnick Enterprises Inc. in the 400 block of S. Salina Street, as part of the Downtown One Urban Renewal Project.
The new Westhill Theater, at Velasko Road and Onondaga Street, will open in August as a third new suburban theater built by Slotnick Enterprises, Inc. This will have about 900 seats. In the 1965-66 season, the Slotnicks opened two theaters â€" Cinema North and Cinema
East. Last December, the Slotnicks acquired the Riviera Cinema, the art theater on S. Salina Street.
With the completion of the new Westhill Cinema, they will have “hardtop” theaters in all four sections of the city, in addition to the three drive-ins they operate â€" DeWitt, Lakeshore and North Drive-Ins.
The first new theater before that was the Kallet Shoppingtown Theater, which opened in 1957. The theater was especially built for the Todd-AO process and became the premiere showcase for long-run,
“hard-ticket” productions. This showcase, with its unusual multi-colored velvet curtain, was the first new theater since Loew’s State was built at the end of the twenties. This was another “first” for
Kallet Theaters. They had built the first drive-in â€" the Kallet Drive-In â€" which made way for Camillus Plaza.
Shoppingtown Theater had the longest run of any motion picture â€" 18 months for “The Sound of Music,” since unequalled. It has also played
“Around the World in 80 Days,” “Ben-Hur,” “South Pacific,” “The Bible” and “Cleopatra” and is showing “The Sand Pebbles”. Manager Sam Mitchell already has plans to bring back the granddaddy of long runs, “Gone With the Wind,” in Todd-AO process, wide-screen and stereophonic sound. The Kallets also operate the Genesee Theater on the West Side, where “Doctor Zhivago” played 36 weeks. “Thoroughly
Modern Millie” will open soon.
The new Twin Theaters are planned for art films, road shows and regular films and will be two separate theaters built side by side with a mutual lobby. These “theaters of the future” are planned to have many innovations. The two remaining theaters downtown are the elaborate Loew’s theater â€" largest of all with its 2,896 seats â€" and
the Eckel, a former Schine theater and home of Cinerama.
The score of major theaters is currently two downtown, five suburban; another suburban opening this summer; and three downtown theaters to open in the next year or two. The neighborhood theaters
of Syracuse now number fourâ€" The Wescot, the Franklin, the Hollywood and the Palace. Even these have gone first-run occasionally. The Palace in Eastwood, in a neighborhood downtown section, has since the closing of the Paramount and RKO Keith’s theaters been obtaining
first-run films.
The Wescot, in the University section, has also booked first-run art and foreign films, striking a bonanza with “A Man and a Woman” which is in its 40th week.
Here is an ad from the Syracuse Herald Journal dated 7/10/50:
DEWITT DRIVE-IN THEATER
OPENS NIGHTLY 7:30 P.M.
Children under 12 in cars admitted FREE
Only a ten-minute drive from Salina Street.
Located on one of Syracuse’s main traffic arteries, on Erie Boulevard East, between Thompson Road and DeWitt,
Largest drive-in theater in upstate New York with a 950-car capacity.
Latest RCA in-the-car sound equipment.
Largest screen tower in the East, measuring 80 ½ feet in height. Assures perfect visibility of the screen from anywhere on the theater grounds.
Completely equipped nursery room for the convenience of parents.
Modern and roomy refreshment service conveniently located.
Spacious rest rooms.
Rain or shine the show goes on. Living room comforts in a country atmosphere here in Syracuse.
Last Time Tonight
THE BIG HANGOVER" Van Johnson, Elizabeth Taylor
“THE OUTRIDERS” Joel McCrea, Arlene Dahl
Tomorrow Through Thursday: “THE RED SHOES”
It’s an interesting video, but I couldn’t enlarge it. Is there a trick to that?
Here is a 2006 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yguv2o
Here is an article about financial aspects of the theater business:
http://tinyurl.com/yjw7wd
There is a larger version of the postcard above on this page:
http://tinyurl.com/ykl44m
There is an interior photo on this page that alleges to be the Nickelodeon:
http://tinyurl.com/tq7fr
This is a 1936 ad from the Modesto Bee. Go to the movies or take the chicken – tough choice:
FREE
A Thanksgiving Turkey For You
A 10 Lb. turkey free with every complete engine overhaul.
A 5-lb dressed chicken free with every purchase amounting to over $25.00
2 State Theater tickets with every purchase over $10.00.
1 State Theater ticket with every purchase over $5.00.
The treat’s on usâ€"Come early. Sweeley’s Garage 1211 J Street
Phone 716
Here is a 7/29/65 article from the Modesto Bee about the death of the Esquire:
The theater business in Modesto, like other places throughout the nation, has been hard hit by television. As a result several movie houses have closed down while others operate on a part time basis
or face the final curtain. Orders have been issued to demolish
the old Lyric theater, called the Esquire in its dying days, at 721 10th Street. The Lyric, a converted garage, was the first place in town to show talking pictures with the sound track on the film.
Modesto has watched the movies from the early jumpy and flickering shadows of the nickelodeon days to today’s million dollar wide screen multicolored spectaculars. Although business has picked up, the day of the show palaces of the past is doomed, especially
in the big cities. Many major movie shrines have been demolished in
New York, San Francisco and Los Angeles where property is too expensive for theaters.
Here is an article from the Fresno Bee dated 5/29/31, when Sid ceded control to Fox:
Final papers now are being prepared which will give William Fox control of Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood, according to announcement made by Harold B. Franklin, president of Fox West
Coast Theaters. Attorneys are now working on the details, Franklin said. Control of Grauman’s Chinese Theater, considered the show house of the world, will become effective the minute the final details are completed. Franklin added that the taking over of the famous theater will not in any way affect the Fox plans for the building of a new theater in Hollywood.
Sid Grauman, nationally known and colorful showman, will remain in an advisory capacity in the conduct of the theater under the policy to be set by William Fox when the picturesque playhouse passes to actual participation in the Fox country-wide circuit. The same policy instituted by Grauman will remain under the Fox direction. This means that the theater will continue with prerelease showings of the most outstanding screen attractions and with the stage prologues that have a national reputation for originality, beauty and lavish splendor.
Since the opening of Grauman’s Chinese Theater on May 18th, 1927, it has occupied a unique position in national theatricals. Grauman, of course, had considerable reputation before coming to Los Angeles,
but with opening of the Egyptian Theater, his fame grew to world-wide proportions and when the Chinese Theater opened the event was one of the most colorful in the history of the industry.
With the passing of the Chinese into the control of the Fox organization, the theater becomes a part of the circuit in which the great Roxy Theater, the finest in the East, is a unit. In other important cities of the country, William Fox has erected magnificent playhouses, at the present time there is nearing completion in San Francisco a 5,000-seat Fox Theater and before Fall new Fox Theaters will open in San Diego, Visalia, Hanford and Stockton, California, and Phoenix, Arizona.
Here is a 1925 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yfjv7v
Here is an article from the Oakland Tribune dated 11/16/24:
NEW THEATER AT ELMHURST OPENS NOVEMBER 20
The Granada Theater, a new motion picture palace located in the heart of East Oakland on East Fourteenth street at Eighty-ninth Avenue, will he dedicated by Mayor Davie Thursday evening, November 20, it is announced.
The new theater will be operated by the Golden State Theater and Realty Corporation, of which Robert A. McNeil is president, with which corporation will be associated John Peters, for the last ten years owner of the two smaller theaters now serving this territory
known as the Elmhurst district. L.J. and J. C. Toffelmier, pioneer
business men of Elmurst, are the builders and owners of the theater.
With a seating capacity of 1200 persons, the Granada will be one
of the most comfortable and modern motion picture theaters in the
Eastbay region. It has being planned with the idea in view of providing every convenience for patrons in surroundings that are at
the same time luxurious and beautiful. To gain this end the builders have dealt most lavishly with the interior.
Upon entering the theater through a double row of doors, the
patron will find himself in a broad, heavily carpeted lobby. From the
lobby one ascends to the balcony by stairways at right and left or
may enter the main auditorium through curtain-draped arches. The full dimensions of the auditorium are immediately revealed, as the balcony projects but a short distance over the rear seat sections.
Among the striking details are the lighting fixtures suspended from the ceiling. The larger fixtures are seven feet in diameter, provide
a dual colored lighting effect and are of cathedral art glass and mica construction. Another bold feature which strikes the eye at once is the richly ornamented curtain which may be drawn across the screen. In harmony with the Spanish atmosphere of the Granada, a rakish Spanish galleon is emblazoned upon this curtain.
Gay drapes are used throughout, and the painter’s artistic brush has traced delicate murals in the niches behind heroic sized vases set into the side walls. An interesting old coat of arms is used as a decorative design in one part of the lobby. A new plaster treatment in the main auditorium creates a most unusual effect. The main lighting for the auditorium is derived from concealed cornice troughs which permit the light to spread out over the decorated areas of the walls and ceilings in a pleasing manner.
A $25,000 Wurlitzer Hope-Jones organ of the newest type which in
the hands of a skilled organist can mimic the human voice or a full
symphony orchestra, has been installed. The heating and ventilating
systems are of the most approved designs and everything has been installed in the operating room equipment to give a perfectly
projected picture upon the screen. Wicker loge chairs, with overstuffed leather cushions, will provide the utmost comfort.
Topping the building will be a huge electric sign which will be visible for dozens of blocks in every direction.
Three additional neighborhood theaters in Oakland, of a class
similar to the Granada, were announced recently by Mortimer
Thomas, treasurer of the Golden State. One theater of 1500 seats
capacity will be built on East Fourteenth street, near 38th avenue, in the Fruitvale district. Another, also seating 1500 persons, will be built on Park Boulevard at East Eighteenth street in the Lake
Merritt district. The third theater, for 1200 persons, will be located in the Dimond district, East Oakland, at Fruitvale avenue and Hopkins Street.
Here is a photo I took in July 2006:
http://tinyurl.com/ycwvcg
Here are some photos fron July 2006:
http://tinyurl.com/yg5no3
http://tinyurl.com/ycykqc