The July 2, 1938 issue of Film Daily had this item:
“4,024-Seat Minneapolis Theater Closed by Para.
“Paramount has closed the 4,024-seat Minnesota Theater, Minneapolis, and will not reopen it, John Friedl, president of the Minnesota Amusement Co., Paramount affiliate, stated yesterday in New York. House closed Thursday night. Lease on the theater does not expire until next February but under the terms of the agreement, Paramount was not obliged to operate it more than six months of any calendar year.
“It is not likely that any other company will take the Minnesota over because of the high overhead; house was built before Minneapolis was ready for such a theater, it was said.”
If Paramount’s lease was ending until February, 1939 and the house opened in March of 1928, it seems unlikely that they were the original operators of the Minnesota. I’ve never heard of anyone taking an eleven year lease on a theater.
The April 18, 1957 issue of the Brazil Daily Times said that the Beverly Theatre building was being remodeled for the Thrift Department Store, which was located one door west. The floor had been leveled. The article didn’t say how long the house had been closed.
The January 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item datelined Brazil saying “Samuel M. Grimes has opened the new Cine, a 375-seat house.” I’ve been unable to find a theater called the Cine mentioned in the local newspaper, or any mention of a Samuel Grimes. The size and maybe the timing sort of match up with the Beverly, though.
The January 6, 1957 issue of the Brazil Daily Times said that Stanley Cooper had sold the Lark Theatre building to a developer who planned to convert it to retail use. The article noted that the Lark had been closed since 1953 except for a brief period of operation the previous spring, so the final closing must have been by summer of 1956. The article also said that the Lark had opened in March, 1922. The conversion to a J. C. Penney store came in late 1957.
The site of Tobin’s Opera House is just outside the boundaries of the Sidney Historic Business District, but the NRHP registration form for the district nevertheless notes that it was located on the north side of Jackson Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. As the buildings on the west side of 10th Avenue at Jackson are part of the historic district, and the corner of 11th Avenue is occupied by the Elks Lodge and City Auditorium building erected in 1929 before the Tobin was demolished, the only place it could have been was on the parking lot across the street from the Cheyenne County Courthouse. That would be somewhere in the range of 1012-1022 Jackson Street.
The May 14, 1949 Boxoffice article about the opening of E.E. Branscome’s North Miami Theatre said that the event, a benefit for the Optimist’s Club, consisted of five acts of vaudeville and the feature film “The Untamed Breed.” This must have been before the beginning of regular operations on May 5, 1949, but Boxoffice doesn’t give the date of the event. It was likely on May 4.
The off-center projection booth noted by some earlier commenters was probably the result of the inclusion of a small balcony that served as a smoking loge on one side of the house. Despite the vaudeville acts at the opening, the North Miami was a new build, not an old legitimate theater converted for movies.
Boxoffice gave the name of the architect as M. Ungaro. After poking around the Internet I’ve concluded that this must have been Manfred Mancusi-Ungaro, a fairly well known Miami modernist in his time, best known for designing many single family houses and small apartment buildings. I’ve found no other theaters among his works.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that the Normandie Twin Outdoor Theatre had recently opened at Jacksonville. In addition to accommodating over 1,000 cars, the facility had outdoor seating areas near the refreshment stands for about 400 walk-in customers.
The May 14, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said that the Georgia Theatre Company’s 350-car Athens Drive-In had been opened on a 50-acre site. It was the first Drive-In theater in Athens.
Google satellite view shows that this entire block of buildings along Avenue J has now been demolished. An earlier street view from 2007 shows the buildings at the end of the block still standing, and I’m inclined to agree that one of them was the neighboring building we see a sliver of in the vintage photo of the theater.
The photo was taken in January, 1939 by Marion Post Walcott for the Farm Security Administration. Boxoffice of May 29, 1937 had said that the New Glades Theatre had been opened that month by Mrs. Mary Kay Davis. The building looked rather older than that in the 1939 photo, so I suspect it was either an old theater that had been reopened or an old commercial building that had just been converted into a theater.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that construction had begun at Moore Haven on a new theater to replace one that had been destroyed by a fire. It was to be a quonset structure behind a store building that would contain a foyer providing access to the new auditorium. I don’t think the new theater was at the same location as the old one, though the article didn’t say so.
There is currently a quonset building as described in the article at 134 Avenue J, and it even has a second-floor structure at one end of the quonset that is perfectly positioned to have been a projection booth. In the current Google street view it is occupied by a dance studio, though earlier it was a cabinet maker’s shop. I strongly suspect that this building was the replacement theater built in 1949.
I’m pretty sure this theater has been demolished. The grand opening ad said that it was across the street from the high school. This was not the current Petal High School, which is quite a way east of the old downtown and looks to have been built no earlier than the 1980s, but an earlier campus that can be seen on the north side of East Central Avenue east of Main Street in a 1960 aerial view of Petal.
The aerial shows a row of commercial structures on the south side of Central, two of which were about the right size to have housed a 329 seat theater. The entire neighborhood has been redeveloped, and Central Avenue realigned, but the buildings were approximately where a modern mini-mall stands, at 114 E. MS Hwy 42.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that “E. B. Hand has opened his Hand Drive-In in Minden, La., making two drive-ins in the town of 6,677 persons. There are three other theatres there.”
The Yazoo Theatre was being operated by Dixie Theatres Corporation when Boxofficeof May 14, 1949 reported that the house had recently reopened following an extended closure to repair fire damage.
An item datelined Newton, N.C. in the May 14, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said “[t]he Catawba Theatre here was completely destroyed by fire last week. It had been operated by Everett Enterprises.”
As the façade of the building at this address looks to date from the late 19th or early 20th century, at least part of the structure clearly survived (though the roof might have collapsed– it’s impossible to tell just from seeing the current front) so “completely destroyed” probably referred to all the theater’s furnishings and equipment.
A house called the Star Theatre was one of the five movie houses listed at Lincoln in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. As the Directory doesn’t provide its address, I can’t be positive that it was the same theater that later became the Vogue.
The Empire Theatre, 119 Kickapoo Street, was one of five movie houses listed at Lincoln in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The entire block it was on, facing the west side of the courthouse in the town square, consists of beautifully restored and well maintained 19th century commercial buildings with retail shops on their ground floors.
I found a note saying that construction on the Martin Theatre in Americus began on April 17, 1941. I’ve been unable to find anything about when it was completed. The note also said that the architect was named McArchen and was from Valdosta, but I’ve been unable to find anything about an architect of that name, so I think it might have been a typo.
The item I cited above also said that the new Martin drive-in at Phenix City Alabama would open that week, but our photo page for the Phenix Drive-In has a grand opening ad dated March 24. I suspect that Boxoffice was tardy in publishing the announcement, so it’s likely that the Sunset was also already open by the time the issue came out.
As far as I’ve been able to determine, the only opera house in Americus was the one that opened on January 27, 1882 as Glover’s Opera House. Cahn guides list it as an 800-seat, second floor theater with a stage 27 feet from footlights to back wall and 56 feet between side walls. Though the theater upstairs has long been dark, the Opera House building is still standing at 111 W. Forsyth Street, its ground floor currently occupied by a medical services lab providing ultrasound.
The Opera House began showing movies fairly early, but does not appear to have remained a movie theater consistently. It was not listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, unless it was operating under one of the two theater names listed in that publication, the Alcazar and the Grand. But as early as 1907 it was operating as a movie house, as noted in this item from The Moving Picture World in November that year:
“Hub and Comedy Theater Company, of New York, have taken over Glover’s Opera House, Americus, Ga., together with the bookings for the season of 1907-8. Incidentally it may be stated that for the last six weeks the Hub and Comedy Theater Company have been putting on a high-class moving picture show at this amusement house on dark or closed nights. So market has been the success attending this venture that the Glover management made a proposition to the Hub and Comedy Company involving exclusive control of the house, under the management of H. K. Lucas. After some modifications, their offer was accepted. As an instance of the up-to-dateness of the New York concern, the full election news was bulletined at both afternoon and evening performances.”
References to the Opera House in the later 1900s and early 1910s were to live performances, especially vaudeville shows. But by the late 1910s Americus had more modern picture theaters, augmented in the early 1920s by the Rylander, and the old Opera House seems not to have been able to compete with them, as I don’t find any more references to it in the trade publications. Around 2016 a book store and restaurant called BitterSweet opened in the building, apparently just on the ground floor, but it closed in 2017. Aside from that, the history of the Opera House since the early 1920s remains dark.
The Grand Theatre opened as the Great Falls Opera House on January 4, 1892. In style it was a slightly awkward combination of Romanesque and Queen Anne Revival, and was designed by Chicago theater architect Oscar Cobb. It was the leading entertainment venue for Great Falls for many years, still quite popular when Al Jolson made an appearance there on August 31, 1915, by which time it was known as the Grand Opera House.
But after more than a quarter of a century the Opera House was in need of updating, and in 1920 a $50,000 renovation was undertaken. Nothing was changed in the auditorium, which was merely refreshed, as it was blessed with excellent acoustics, but the lobby, lounges, offices, and stage were modernized. After this it was known as the Grand Theatre, though for some years, some high-toned events were still advertised as appearing at the Grand Opera House. I’ve been unable to discover when it became predominantly a movie house.
The Grand also had a life after its years as a movie theater. I found an obituary for a woman who met her husband while they were both working scenery at the Grand in 1946. I’ve also found records of wrestling matches taking place at the Grand in 1947 and 1948.
Sadly, the Grand Theatre was demolished in 1955. I’ve been unable to find the address of the Grand, but it was located on Third Street near Second Avenue North.
The July 2, 1938 issue of Film Daily had this item:
If Paramount’s lease was ending until February, 1939 and the house opened in March of 1928, it seems unlikely that they were the original operators of the Minnesota. I’ve never heard of anyone taking an eleven year lease on a theater.An item datelined Fowler in the January 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice said “Dick Viastos is operating the new Fowler.”
The April 18, 1957 issue of the Brazil Daily Times said that the Beverly Theatre building was being remodeled for the Thrift Department Store, which was located one door west. The floor had been leveled. The article didn’t say how long the house had been closed.
The January 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice had a brief item datelined Brazil saying “Samuel M. Grimes has opened the new Cine, a 375-seat house.” I’ve been unable to find a theater called the Cine mentioned in the local newspaper, or any mention of a Samuel Grimes. The size and maybe the timing sort of match up with the Beverly, though.
The January 6, 1957 issue of the Brazil Daily Times said that Stanley Cooper had sold the Lark Theatre building to a developer who planned to convert it to retail use. The article noted that the Lark had been closed since 1953 except for a brief period of operation the previous spring, so the final closing must have been by summer of 1956. The article also said that the Lark had opened in March, 1922. The conversion to a J. C. Penney store came in late 1957.
The Academy of Music was built in 1892.
The site of Tobin’s Opera House is just outside the boundaries of the Sidney Historic Business District, but the NRHP registration form for the district nevertheless notes that it was located on the north side of Jackson Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. As the buildings on the west side of 10th Avenue at Jackson are part of the historic district, and the corner of 11th Avenue is occupied by the Elks Lodge and City Auditorium building erected in 1929 before the Tobin was demolished, the only place it could have been was on the parking lot across the street from the Cheyenne County Courthouse. That would be somewhere in the range of 1012-1022 Jackson Street.
The May 14, 1949 Boxoffice article about the opening of E.E. Branscome’s North Miami Theatre said that the event, a benefit for the Optimist’s Club, consisted of five acts of vaudeville and the feature film “The Untamed Breed.” This must have been before the beginning of regular operations on May 5, 1949, but Boxoffice doesn’t give the date of the event. It was likely on May 4.
The off-center projection booth noted by some earlier commenters was probably the result of the inclusion of a small balcony that served as a smoking loge on one side of the house. Despite the vaudeville acts at the opening, the North Miami was a new build, not an old legitimate theater converted for movies.
Boxoffice gave the name of the architect as M. Ungaro. After poking around the Internet I’ve concluded that this must have been Manfred Mancusi-Ungaro, a fairly well known Miami modernist in his time, best known for designing many single family houses and small apartment buildings. I’ve found no other theaters among his works.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that the Normandie Twin Outdoor Theatre had recently opened at Jacksonville. In addition to accommodating over 1,000 cars, the facility had outdoor seating areas near the refreshment stands for about 400 walk-in customers.
The May 14, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said that the Georgia Theatre Company’s 350-car Athens Drive-In had been opened on a 50-acre site. It was the first Drive-In theater in Athens.
Google satellite view shows that this entire block of buildings along Avenue J has now been demolished. An earlier street view from 2007 shows the buildings at the end of the block still standing, and I’m inclined to agree that one of them was the neighboring building we see a sliver of in the vintage photo of the theater.
The photo was taken in January, 1939 by Marion Post Walcott for the Farm Security Administration. Boxoffice of May 29, 1937 had said that the New Glades Theatre had been opened that month by Mrs. Mary Kay Davis. The building looked rather older than that in the 1939 photo, so I suspect it was either an old theater that had been reopened or an old commercial building that had just been converted into a theater.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that construction had begun at Moore Haven on a new theater to replace one that had been destroyed by a fire. It was to be a quonset structure behind a store building that would contain a foyer providing access to the new auditorium. I don’t think the new theater was at the same location as the old one, though the article didn’t say so.
There is currently a quonset building as described in the article at 134 Avenue J, and it even has a second-floor structure at one end of the quonset that is perfectly positioned to have been a projection booth. In the current Google street view it is occupied by a dance studio, though earlier it was a cabinet maker’s shop. I strongly suspect that this building was the replacement theater built in 1949.
I’m pretty sure this theater has been demolished. The grand opening ad said that it was across the street from the high school. This was not the current Petal High School, which is quite a way east of the old downtown and looks to have been built no earlier than the 1980s, but an earlier campus that can be seen on the north side of East Central Avenue east of Main Street in a 1960 aerial view of Petal.
The aerial shows a row of commercial structures on the south side of Central, two of which were about the right size to have housed a 329 seat theater. The entire neighborhood has been redeveloped, and Central Avenue realigned, but the buildings were approximately where a modern mini-mall stands, at 114 E. MS Hwy 42.
Boxoffice of May 14, 1949 said that “E. B. Hand has opened his Hand Drive-In in Minden, La., making two drive-ins in the town of 6,677 persons. There are three other theatres there.”
The Yazoo Theatre was being operated by Dixie Theatres Corporation when Boxofficeof May 14, 1949 reported that the house had recently reopened following an extended closure to repair fire damage.
The comment I just left did not post correctly. Mr. Lacy’s initials were W. V.
An item datelined Newton, N.C. in the May 14, 1949 issue of Boxoffice said “[t]he Catawba Theatre here was completely destroyed by fire last week. It had been operated by Everett Enterprises.”
As the façade of the building at this address looks to date from the late 19th or early 20th century, at least part of the structure clearly survived (though the roof might have collapsed– it’s impossible to tell just from seeing the current front) so “completely destroyed” probably referred to all the theater’s furnishings and equipment.
A house called the Star Theatre was one of the five movie houses listed at Lincoln in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. As the Directory doesn’t provide its address, I can’t be positive that it was the same theater that later became the Vogue.
The Broadway must have reopened by 1914, as it was one of five movie houses at Lincoln listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The Empire Theatre, 119 Kickapoo Street, was one of five movie houses listed at Lincoln in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The entire block it was on, facing the west side of the courthouse in the town square, consists of beautifully restored and well maintained 19th century commercial buildings with retail shops on their ground floors.
I found a note saying that construction on the Martin Theatre in Americus began on April 17, 1941. I’ve been unable to find anything about when it was completed. The note also said that the architect was named McArchen and was from Valdosta, but I’ve been unable to find anything about an architect of that name, so I think it might have been a typo.
The item I cited above also said that the new Martin drive-in at Phenix City Alabama would open that week, but our photo page for the Phenix Drive-In has a grand opening ad dated March 24. I suspect that Boxoffice was tardy in publishing the announcement, so it’s likely that the Sunset was also already open by the time the issue came out.
The April 1, 1950 issue of Boxoffice said that Martin’s new drive-in at Americus would open that week.
As far as I’ve been able to determine, the only opera house in Americus was the one that opened on January 27, 1882 as Glover’s Opera House. Cahn guides list it as an 800-seat, second floor theater with a stage 27 feet from footlights to back wall and 56 feet between side walls. Though the theater upstairs has long been dark, the Opera House building is still standing at 111 W. Forsyth Street, its ground floor currently occupied by a medical services lab providing ultrasound.
The Opera House began showing movies fairly early, but does not appear to have remained a movie theater consistently. It was not listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, unless it was operating under one of the two theater names listed in that publication, the Alcazar and the Grand. But as early as 1907 it was operating as a movie house, as noted in this item from The Moving Picture World in November that year:
References to the Opera House in the later 1900s and early 1910s were to live performances, especially vaudeville shows. But by the late 1910s Americus had more modern picture theaters, augmented in the early 1920s by the Rylander, and the old Opera House seems not to have been able to compete with them, as I don’t find any more references to it in the trade publications. Around 2016 a book store and restaurant called BitterSweet opened in the building, apparently just on the ground floor, but it closed in 2017. Aside from that, the history of the Opera House since the early 1920s remains dark.There is no Main Street in Great Falls. The Capitol Theatre was on Central Avenue.
The Grand Theatre opened as the Great Falls Opera House on January 4, 1892. In style it was a slightly awkward combination of Romanesque and Queen Anne Revival, and was designed by Chicago theater architect Oscar Cobb. It was the leading entertainment venue for Great Falls for many years, still quite popular when Al Jolson made an appearance there on August 31, 1915, by which time it was known as the Grand Opera House.
But after more than a quarter of a century the Opera House was in need of updating, and in 1920 a $50,000 renovation was undertaken. Nothing was changed in the auditorium, which was merely refreshed, as it was blessed with excellent acoustics, but the lobby, lounges, offices, and stage were modernized. After this it was known as the Grand Theatre, though for some years, some high-toned events were still advertised as appearing at the Grand Opera House. I’ve been unable to discover when it became predominantly a movie house.
The Grand also had a life after its years as a movie theater. I found an obituary for a woman who met her husband while they were both working scenery at the Grand in 1946. I’ve also found records of wrestling matches taking place at the Grand in 1947 and 1948.
Sadly, the Grand Theatre was demolished in 1955. I’ve been unable to find the address of the Grand, but it was located on Third Street near Second Avenue North.