Hello WayneC;The device on a film projector which reads the sound is called a sound scanner. Most old film prints ran about 20 minutes and the cues for the projectionist were printed in the right hand corner of the film print which was projected upon the cinema screen. This printed signal told the projectionist when to start the second machine to complete a smooth film changeover. Thats the little I have gleaned about film projection. The (Nati )I refered to was a shortened version of the word Cincinnati taken from a litter ad which ran on tv here encouraging people not to “Trash the Nati!” I’m guessing that AMC in L.A. stands for American Movie Classics? What goes on at that event? If you’re back visiting Peebles Corner a great local restaurant in that area is called (The Parkside Cafe)on McMillian Ave. Do you know anything about The Century Theater of 1914 on Gilbert Ave? As you mentioned Tyrone Powers was an usher at the Orpheum and Paramount Theaters ,he took his training at The Schuster-Martin School on Kemper Lane, which later became The Little Playhouse.Also the Twenthieth Century Th., in Oakley opened in 1941 with Tyrone Powers in “Blood and Sand”. You probably know that Mrs. Wurlitzer had the Paramount Th. built in
1931, but because Cincinnati was an RKO dominated town they took over her operation. So strange for a Paramount Th. to be affilated with RKO and not Publix Films which was their studio film distributor! Any more recall about your Orpheum days?
indyta1989 The Newman Manufacturing Co. made the 25 bronze doors which were installed at our 1927 4$ million dollar Albee Th. on East Fifth St. Some of those doors today reside at another Thomas Lamb designed theater, which is the Ohio Th. in Columbus,Oh.
Hello WayneC,What a terriffic place to play at Cowboys and Sheriff with real guns. Did you have passes to all the other RKO Theaters in Cincinnati?Maybe the near by Paramount Th.? Do you still live in the Nati area?Have you visited the Peebles Corner Area to see what the vast changes are?Where was the projection booth located? Were there opening and closing curtains and were there more than one set of drapes?Was there any stage scenery left from the earlier days?Could you tell us about Mr. Earl (J.)Graham (the manager), I found an obituary about Earl (A.) Graham from the Enquirer of Nov. 7,2001 he was aged 87, but I doubt that this is the same man. Did you remain in the cinema business? Did you ever get to hear the Wurlitzer at the Paramount Th?Your recall if splendid hope you can tell us more.
Hello Wayne C. ,thanks for some fresh new info on the Orpheum! In the 1940’s were you also an usher? Were the 5 elevators on only one side of the building?Were the organ pipes still in their first and second story chambers? Were any of the Martin Family members still working there? Was the bowling operation still being used in the l940"s? What was your Moms first and last name? Sorry to be so nosey, but this theate fascinates me! Love to hear more of your rememberances!
indyta1989 What a great idea for your home,guests must really get a kick out of your purchase if they know what it is. Should I find any visuals on the Andulas I’ll let you know.
indyta1989 thanks for more info, I think Newman Mfc also made showcases and one sheet frames and other cinema items, but I,d need to check that for you. Any more info on the Andulas I’d love! Do you run a theater?
indyta1989 A nice shot of the shredder! I guess the seller told you where the machine came from or was there an id name attached to it? Wonder if red was its original color? Did you ever attend the Andulas Th. when it was a movie house? The original manager of this house was trained under the Ike Libson management. Ike was Head of Mid-States Ths. for many years and continued in that capacity even after he sold his chain to RKO in 1930. Libson started in Pittsburgh,Pa.but moved here in 1908 to open the Bijou Th. on Fountain Square next to his friend Marcus Loew who later went on to found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Culver City,Ca.
indyta1989 I don’t have apicture of the Andulas ,but the St.Bernard ,Ohio library might be able to provide one. Did you get your ticket chopper at an auction? The nabhouse was maybe our only atmosperic venue. Having visited it only once it was after the last days of a church minerstry which was housed there and it still had some of the original fixtures still in place, the stage however had become a baptism pool.
The National Th. was managed and owned by Mr&Mrs.Shakespeare(no joke). The site picture shows a parking lot on the right hand side of the screen ,that’s the former site.
Hello Chuck, This site is now part of the Carson School Complex. Sunset was the first Cincy cinema to use black lighting interior-wise,but I don’t know how!
Joe there was at a later date another Fairmount Theater at Carll and Seegar Avenue,I’m working on that at the moment. The 1515 Harrison Ave Fairmount became a garage after 1919.
The 1915 City Directory lists one L.B.VanCamp as proprietor of this venue and he lives in the same neighborhood.Cincinnati,Ohio’s famous Spring Grove Cemetery is a close by to this cinema.
Thankx Joe, The Fairmount was listed as 1515 Harrison Avenue which put it on the other side of Harrison from The Valley ,nothing further about Theodore Bley except he resided at 1513 Harrison,close by his theatre. Maybe Fairmount started as a penny arcade and morphed into a cinema.
This theater was named for the author Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote,“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, her home is situated close by and is a museum of sorts today.
As you’ve noted Joe V. that stretch of West 5TH. street was very busy for nickel houses in those early days, today the area is filled with hotels,a Macy’s,and parking lots.McMahon and Jackson were big bookers locally from which your film product could be rented,plus they had a string of local theatres. Since they located their nitrate film storage warehouse downtown a few years later our fire dept. asked that film row be moved safetly to a less heavily populated section of the metropolis . Later on film row populated Central Parkway near Liberty Street where today some of those repositories still stand and are used for other purposes.
A newspaper item from March 1933 lists Willis Vance as in charge of the Newsreel Th. which seats 118 . Showings should last one hour ,Willis also runs the Latonia Theater in Covington,Kentucky .
Camargo Theater opened Jan.20,1948 it closed sometime in 1966 according to the suburban city directory.At opening ceremonies former mayor George Kirkwood was M.C. with many other leading citizens including then Mayor of Maderia ,Russell Brown . Double Feature films for that evening were,“Merton Of The Movies”,starring Red Skelton plus,“This Time For Keeps”,had Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante,both flickers were in technicolor.The house interior featured a working fireplace lounge and snack bar ,all this and free parking.It has been suggested sometime after its 1966 closing this property became Camargo Buffet. In 2011 this site holds a CVS Drug Store and mini shopping mall. Listed in 1966 the theatre had Robert J.Strauss as President and Fred Grall as Secretary. Architect Earl Henn died in 1974 aged 71, after spending 50 years in the architectural profession.
The original owner was Willis Vance he had quite a few local cinemas, including The Ohio in Norwood,Guild in Cincinnati,,State in Newport,Kentucky and others. He seemed to keep F&Y Construction Builders very busy.
Carousel was built in 1968,was twinned in 1970,later closed in Aug. 1999. Twas re-born as Carousel American Cinema on Jan.18,1991 being run by Misters Segal and Baum,but was finally finished for good in 1994.
Hello WayneC;The device on a film projector which reads the sound is called a sound scanner. Most old film prints ran about 20 minutes and the cues for the projectionist were printed in the right hand corner of the film print which was projected upon the cinema screen. This printed signal told the projectionist when to start the second machine to complete a smooth film changeover. Thats the little I have gleaned about film projection. The (Nati )I refered to was a shortened version of the word Cincinnati taken from a litter ad which ran on tv here encouraging people not to “Trash the Nati!” I’m guessing that AMC in L.A. stands for American Movie Classics? What goes on at that event? If you’re back visiting Peebles Corner a great local restaurant in that area is called (The Parkside Cafe)on McMillian Ave. Do you know anything about The Century Theater of 1914 on Gilbert Ave? As you mentioned Tyrone Powers was an usher at the Orpheum and Paramount Theaters ,he took his training at The Schuster-Martin School on Kemper Lane, which later became The Little Playhouse.Also the Twenthieth Century Th., in Oakley opened in 1941 with Tyrone Powers in “Blood and Sand”. You probably know that Mrs. Wurlitzer had the Paramount Th. built in 1931, but because Cincinnati was an RKO dominated town they took over her operation. So strange for a Paramount Th. to be affilated with RKO and not Publix Films which was their studio film distributor! Any more recall about your Orpheum days?
indyta1989 The Newman Manufacturing Co. made the 25 bronze doors which were installed at our 1927 4$ million dollar Albee Th. on East Fifth St. Some of those doors today reside at another Thomas Lamb designed theater, which is the Ohio Th. in Columbus,Oh.
Hello WayneC,What a terriffic place to play at Cowboys and Sheriff with real guns. Did you have passes to all the other RKO Theaters in Cincinnati?Maybe the near by Paramount Th.? Do you still live in the Nati area?Have you visited the Peebles Corner Area to see what the vast changes are?Where was the projection booth located? Were there opening and closing curtains and were there more than one set of drapes?Was there any stage scenery left from the earlier days?Could you tell us about Mr. Earl (J.)Graham (the manager), I found an obituary about Earl (A.) Graham from the Enquirer of Nov. 7,2001 he was aged 87, but I doubt that this is the same man. Did you remain in the cinema business? Did you ever get to hear the Wurlitzer at the Paramount Th?Your recall if splendid hope you can tell us more.
Hello Wayne C. ,thanks for some fresh new info on the Orpheum! In the 1940’s were you also an usher? Were the 5 elevators on only one side of the building?Were the organ pipes still in their first and second story chambers? Were any of the Martin Family members still working there? Was the bowling operation still being used in the l940"s? What was your Moms first and last name? Sorry to be so nosey, but this theate fascinates me! Love to hear more of your rememberances!
indyta1989 What a great idea for your home,guests must really get a kick out of your purchase if they know what it is. Should I find any visuals on the Andulas I’ll let you know.
indyta1989 thanks for more info, I think Newman Mfc also made showcases and one sheet frames and other cinema items, but I,d need to check that for you. Any more info on the Andulas I’d love! Do you run a theater?
indyta1989 A nice shot of the shredder! I guess the seller told you where the machine came from or was there an id name attached to it? Wonder if red was its original color? Did you ever attend the Andulas Th. when it was a movie house? The original manager of this house was trained under the Ike Libson management. Ike was Head of Mid-States Ths. for many years and continued in that capacity even after he sold his chain to RKO in 1930. Libson started in Pittsburgh,Pa.but moved here in 1908 to open the Bijou Th. on Fountain Square next to his friend Marcus Loew who later went on to found Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in Culver City,Ca.
indyta1989 I don’t have apicture of the Andulas ,but the St.Bernard ,Ohio library might be able to provide one. Did you get your ticket chopper at an auction? The nabhouse was maybe our only atmosperic venue. Having visited it only once it was after the last days of a church minerstry which was housed there and it still had some of the original fixtures still in place, the stage however had become a baptism pool.
The National Th. was managed and owned by Mr&Mrs.Shakespeare(no joke). The site picture shows a parking lot on the right hand side of the screen ,that’s the former site.
Hello Chuck, This site is now part of the Carson School Complex. Sunset was the first Cincy cinema to use black lighting interior-wise,but I don’t know how!
F&Y Construction out of Columbus,Ohio was the building company of this venue and Fred W. Stritzel was their designer for our Sunset Th.
Current site is New Prospect Baptist Church. Former Findlay Th. was owned by Jack Frisch, he had several venues in that area.
This entire area is to be redeveloped into a water stream in 2015 so most of the structures for 2 whole miles in this area will disappear.
A little archway between Taft Th. and Masonic Hall was UFA’s main entrance ,later its name became Mayfair Hall.
Joe there was at a later date another Fairmount Theater at Carll and Seegar Avenue,I’m working on that at the moment. The 1515 Harrison Ave Fairmount became a garage after 1919.
The 1915 City Directory lists one L.B.VanCamp as proprietor of this venue and he lives in the same neighborhood.Cincinnati,Ohio’s famous Spring Grove Cemetery is a close by to this cinema.
Thankx Joe, The Fairmount was listed as 1515 Harrison Avenue which put it on the other side of Harrison from The Valley ,nothing further about Theodore Bley except he resided at 1513 Harrison,close by his theatre. Maybe Fairmount started as a penny arcade and morphed into a cinema.
This theater was named for the author Harriet Beecher Stowe who wrote,“Uncle Tom’s Cabin”, her home is situated close by and is a museum of sorts today.
As you’ve noted Joe V. that stretch of West 5TH. street was very busy for nickel houses in those early days, today the area is filled with hotels,a Macy’s,and parking lots.McMahon and Jackson were big bookers locally from which your film product could be rented,plus they had a string of local theatres. Since they located their nitrate film storage warehouse downtown a few years later our fire dept. asked that film row be moved safetly to a less heavily populated section of the metropolis . Later on film row populated Central Parkway near Liberty Street where today some of those repositories still stand and are used for other purposes.
A newspaper item from March 1933 lists Willis Vance as in charge of the Newsreel Th. which seats 118 . Showings should last one hour ,Willis also runs the Latonia Theater in Covington,Kentucky .
The theater is Celeberties Banquet Rooms according to the City Directory of 2010.
Camargo Theater opened Jan.20,1948 it closed sometime in 1966 according to the suburban city directory.At opening ceremonies former mayor George Kirkwood was M.C. with many other leading citizens including then Mayor of Maderia ,Russell Brown . Double Feature films for that evening were,“Merton Of The Movies”,starring Red Skelton plus,“This Time For Keeps”,had Esther Williams and Jimmy Durante,both flickers were in technicolor.The house interior featured a working fireplace lounge and snack bar ,all this and free parking.It has been suggested sometime after its 1966 closing this property became Camargo Buffet. In 2011 this site holds a CVS Drug Store and mini shopping mall. Listed in 1966 the theatre had Robert J.Strauss as President and Fred Grall as Secretary. Architect Earl Henn died in 1974 aged 71, after spending 50 years in the architectural profession.
The original owner was Willis Vance he had quite a few local cinemas, including The Ohio in Norwood,Guild in Cincinnati,,State in Newport,Kentucky and others. He seemed to keep F&Y Construction Builders very busy.
Carousel was built in 1968,was twinned in 1970,later closed in Aug. 1999. Twas re-born as Carousel American Cinema on Jan.18,1991 being run by Misters Segal and Baum,but was finally finished for good in 1994.
Once again Fred W. Stritzel of F&Y Const. designed this house.