The Main Street Theatre was in operation before 1938. This item is from the April 8, 1937 issue of The Film Daily:
“Paris, Mo. — T. J. Bankead is closing the Roxy Theater here. Moss Major, operator of the Main Street Theater in Paris, now owns the lease and will keep the house dark for the present.”
A bit of information about the early days of the Strand appears in this item from The Moving Picture World of December 4, 1920:
“Stage Settings Changed Weekly
“Weekly changes in the stage settings of the new Mark Strand Theatre, at Albany, N. Y., opened November 9, have been decided upon. A dozen or so drops which have been used in the past at the Strand Theatre in New York, will again be used in the Albany Theatre. This week the stage setting includes a view of Holland, while last week Lake Como was used. Prologues will find a place on the program from time to time. Albany audiences have shown themselves responsive to scenics and these will also be featured. Local soloists, who measure up to Strand requirements, have been impossible to discover thus far with the result that New York vocalists are being used from week to week. Mary Mitchell will be featured in the vocal part of the program during the week of November 29.”
The December 4, 1920 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item:
“Frank A. Keeney added a second house — the Grand — to his holdings in Williamsport, Pa., and after renovation opened it as Keeney’s Grand. The other house plays vaudeville and pictures with the Grand as a straight picture house.”
This answer to jthackworth’s question is over eight years late, but the December 4, 1920 issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[t]he Broadway Theatre opened in Danville, Va., Monday, November 15. It is owned and operated by the Southern Amusement Company, has a seating capacity of 750, and is said to be luxuriously appointed.”
The July 18, 1960 issue of Boxoffice noted that Sidney Harp, operator of the Grand Theatre at Donaldsonville, as well as the Grand at Thibodaux, had been a visitor at the Theatre Services office in New Orleans. Other sources indicate that Harp had used Theatre Services Company as the booking agent for these houses and the Baby Grand at Thibodaux from at least as early as 1953.
Motion Picture Herald of February 15, 1947 said “The new Dixie at Thibodaux opened last Wednesday. This house was built by the Conrad Theatres.” February 15 was a Saturday, so (assuming the item was published in a timely manner) “last Wednesday” would have been February 12.
Boxoffice of February 18, 1963 mentions George Conrad of the Dixie, Thibodaux, as a recent visitor to Film Row in New Orleans. The issue of June 20, 1964 mentioned George Conrad’s Dixie as one of the houses in the region that had lately gone dark, but this closure was temporary. The August 12 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor said that the Dixie had reopened after a few weeks. I’ve been unable to find any later mentions of Conrad or the Dixie in the trade publications.
An item dateline Thibodaux in the July 3, 1922 issue of The Film Daily said that “[t]he Grand, costing $30,000, has been opened. It seats 750 and is under the management of Charles Delas.”
Here is an item from The Film Daily of July 2, 1940:
:“Oakland’s Esquire Burns
“Oakland, Calif. — Esquire theater, recently reopened after a $30,000 remodeling job, is again dark, following a balcony fire. Franklin theater has reopened, taking over the Esquire bookings.”
An article about the opening of the Alhambra Theatre was published in the Torrington Register on January 4, 1916, but the article itself is not available online. An article about the demolition of the building (or its remains) was published on July 11, 1951. The house appears to have been closed through most of its later years.
An article in Film Daily of July 29, 1940 said that the house had been leased to a subsidiary of Brandt Theatres. This deal apparently fell through, but the article said that leaseholders Warner Bros. had kept the house dark for many years, with only one period “about two years ago” when it opened for a while, and more recent opening for showings of “Gone With the Wind.” An article in the professional journal Fire Engineering about the December, 1949 fire said that the house had not been in use since 1940, and had still been under lease to Warner Bros. at the time of the fire.
Though I’ve been unable to discover when the Osage Theatre closed, I did find a reminiscence by someone who saw the 1964 release “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” there. It seems likely that the Osage would have managed to hang on at least until after the Eastland Twin opened in 1968.
This item is found in the July 9, 1940 issue of Film Daily:
“ The New Colony, formerly the Cinema, was opened by Adolph C. Johnson, of the Strand, Hamden, and Albert Poulton, for showing of exploitation pictures. ‘Ecstasy’ is being held a second week.”
The July 2, 1940 issue of The Film Daily said that the Beck circuit had closed the Pastime Theatre in the Loop for wrecking, but intended to replace it with a new house. It didn’t say where the new theater would be located.
The Neighborhood Theaters circuit took over operation of the Eaco and Lee theaters in 1940, according to an item in the July 11 issue of The Film Daily that year. The September 6 issue of the same journal said that “[t]he remodeled Eaco Theater will reopen this month under the name of State. Russell Williams is manager for Neighborhood Theater, Inc.”
Here is an item from the July 11, 1940 issue of The Film Daily:
Neighborhood Theaters Gets Farmville Houses
“Farmville, Va. — William Rippard, manager and partner in the Eaco and Lee Theaters, has announced that Neighborhood Theaters, Inc., with home office in Richmond, will take over the two theaters Aug. 1. Russell Williams, of Pulaski, will be resident manager for the circuit.”
The 1942 fire was the second major conflagration in the Princess’s history. The July 6, 1918 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the house had burned to the ground on Monday, June 10. A booth fire was the cause, and though the projectionist was burned slightly, the audience filed out calmly and no one else was injured. The loss to building and equipment was estimated at $17,000.
A second item in the same issue of MPW said that the Crescent Amusement Company, operators of the house, had moved scheduled shows to their second Hopkinsville house, the Rex Theatre, and that the owner of the building, L.H. Davis, said tat the Princess would be rebuilt immediately, and that Crescent would continue as operators when it reopened.
A March 4, 1950 Boxoffice article about the Strand said that the recent rebuilding of the house had been so extensive that only two walls of the original building remained. The owner of the theater, Nick Johnson, had come to Manitowoc in 1935 to manage the Strand for Fox Wisconsin Theatres, and had taken over the house as an independent operator in 1945. The rebuilding included removing a stage, so the theater probably dated from the 1920s at the latest.
The building is now occupied by a place called Strand Adventures, which bills itself as a “family entertainment complex,” featuring a rock climbing wall, a laser tag arena, batting cages, a room full of bounce houses, a toddler area, something they call a “ninja gym” and a section of arcade games. Judging from photos on their web site, nothing remains of the theater’s interior.
Paramount subsidiary Florida State Theatres controlled the Beach Theatre under a lease from 1941 until 1950, according to an item in the March 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice. The Item said that FST had just cancelled the 10-year lease and that operation of the house would be taken over by the building’s owner, Stephen S. Girard.
This article about the Beach Theatre says that the house was only active intermittently during the 1940s, so it seems likely that FST leased the place primarily in order to prevent a competitor from getting control of it.
During the 1940s the Ninth Street Theatre was operated by Florida State Theatres, who bought the house in 1946 after leasing it for several years, according to Boxoffice of March 4, 1950. They disposed of the theater in 1950, selling it to the independent operators who would later rename it the Sun Theatre. It had been closed for several months at the time of the sale. Florida State also gave up their lease on the Beach Theatre at the same time.
The March 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice ran a short article about the Village Theatre, saying it had opened recently. The house featured a stage, orchestra pit, Hammond organ with chimes, and two pianos, one on the stage and one in the pit. Management intended to present vaudeville as well as movies.
The article is on page 68 of this issue of the magazine.
The Globe Theatre was originally opened by Herman Fichtenberg, whose theater chain merged with the smaller Saenger chain in 1917. Fichtenberg was actually the largest single shareholder in the new Saenger Amusements Company, but the two Saenger brothers each owned slightly more than half as much stock as Fichtenerg and so together had the larger stake. The February 3, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item about the Globe:
“Recently another Fichtenberg house was opened in New Orleans, the Globe being added to the Dreamland, Alamo, Picto and Plaza. To celebrate the opening a four-page special supplement was gotten out by one of the Sunday papers. There was plenty about the house and a lot of advertising from those who had supplied material for the building. The sheet has red ink ears and tabbed ‘Fichtenberg Section’ and there is more stuff in the regular motion picture section.”
The Globe’s neighbor, the Tudor Theatre, was originally owned by Fichtenberg’s principal competitor in the New Orleans market, J. Eugene Pearce.
The Brooklyn Opera House is open, at least intermittently. Here is the official web site, although it is not updated as frequently as their Facebook page. Upcoming events include a production of “The Odd Couple” and the last two entries in their summer movie series, for which there is no admission charge.
The October 30, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World has an item datelined Alameda saying “[t]he Bay Station theater has been renovated throughout and several new features added.”
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory does not list a theater at this address, which makes 1915 the most likely opening year for this house.
The new Illiopolis Theatre opened in 1951 was designed by the Decatur firm Burgener-Chastain & Associates (Harry J. Burgener and Homer L. Chastain) as noted in the August 6, 1951 issue of The Decatur Daily Review.
From 1945 until closing in 1963, the Illiopolis Theatre was operated by Ed and Louella Griesheim, who from 1959 on also operated a drive-in restaurant in Illiopolis, according to an article in the August 23, 1982 issue of the Decatur Herald and Review. The theater building was later converted into medical offices, but I’ve been unable to discover if it is still standing or, if so, what it now is used for.
The Opera House at Hopkinsville was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, with the cryptic notation “Box 280.” A mailing address, perhaps?
According to a history of Kentucky published in 1922, R. H. Holland retired in 1916 and ceased renting the Opera House for performances. It doesn’t say why. He still owned the place in 1922.
The Main Street Theatre was in operation before 1938. This item is from the April 8, 1937 issue of The Film Daily:
A bit of information about the early days of the Strand appears in this item from The Moving Picture World of December 4, 1920:
The December 4, 1920 issue of The Moving Picture World had this item:
This answer to jthackworth’s question is over eight years late, but the December 4, 1920 issue of The Moving Picture World said that “[t]he Broadway Theatre opened in Danville, Va., Monday, November 15. It is owned and operated by the Southern Amusement Company, has a seating capacity of 750, and is said to be luxuriously appointed.”
The July 18, 1960 issue of Boxoffice noted that Sidney Harp, operator of the Grand Theatre at Donaldsonville, as well as the Grand at Thibodaux, had been a visitor at the Theatre Services office in New Orleans. Other sources indicate that Harp had used Theatre Services Company as the booking agent for these houses and the Baby Grand at Thibodaux from at least as early as 1953.
Motion Picture Herald of February 15, 1947 said “The new Dixie at Thibodaux opened last Wednesday. This house was built by the Conrad Theatres.” February 15 was a Saturday, so (assuming the item was published in a timely manner) “last Wednesday” would have been February 12.
Boxoffice of February 18, 1963 mentions George Conrad of the Dixie, Thibodaux, as a recent visitor to Film Row in New Orleans. The issue of June 20, 1964 mentioned George Conrad’s Dixie as one of the houses in the region that had lately gone dark, but this closure was temporary. The August 12 issue of Motion Picture Exhibitor said that the Dixie had reopened after a few weeks. I’ve been unable to find any later mentions of Conrad or the Dixie in the trade publications.
An item dateline Thibodaux in the July 3, 1922 issue of The Film Daily said that “[t]he Grand, costing $30,000, has been opened. It seats 750 and is under the management of Charles Delas.”
Here is an item from The Film Daily of July 2, 1940:
An article about the opening of the Alhambra Theatre was published in the Torrington Register on January 4, 1916, but the article itself is not available online. An article about the demolition of the building (or its remains) was published on July 11, 1951. The house appears to have been closed through most of its later years.
An article in Film Daily of July 29, 1940 said that the house had been leased to a subsidiary of Brandt Theatres. This deal apparently fell through, but the article said that leaseholders Warner Bros. had kept the house dark for many years, with only one period “about two years ago” when it opened for a while, and more recent opening for showings of “Gone With the Wind.” An article in the professional journal Fire Engineering about the December, 1949 fire said that the house had not been in use since 1940, and had still been under lease to Warner Bros. at the time of the fire.
Though I’ve been unable to discover when the Osage Theatre closed, I did find a reminiscence by someone who saw the 1964 release “Hush, Hush Sweet Charlotte” there. It seems likely that the Osage would have managed to hang on at least until after the Eastland Twin opened in 1968.
From The Film Daily, July 17, 1940:
This item is found in the July 9, 1940 issue of Film Daily:
The July 2, 1940 issue of The Film Daily said that the Beck circuit had closed the Pastime Theatre in the Loop for wrecking, but intended to replace it with a new house. It didn’t say where the new theater would be located.
The Neighborhood Theaters circuit took over operation of the Eaco and Lee theaters in 1940, according to an item in the July 11 issue of The Film Daily that year. The September 6 issue of the same journal said that “[t]he remodeled Eaco Theater will reopen this month under the name of State. Russell Williams is manager for Neighborhood Theater, Inc.”
Here is an item from the July 11, 1940 issue of The Film Daily:
The 1942 fire was the second major conflagration in the Princess’s history. The July 6, 1918 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the house had burned to the ground on Monday, June 10. A booth fire was the cause, and though the projectionist was burned slightly, the audience filed out calmly and no one else was injured. The loss to building and equipment was estimated at $17,000.
A second item in the same issue of MPW said that the Crescent Amusement Company, operators of the house, had moved scheduled shows to their second Hopkinsville house, the Rex Theatre, and that the owner of the building, L.H. Davis, said tat the Princess would be rebuilt immediately, and that Crescent would continue as operators when it reopened.
A March 4, 1950 Boxoffice article about the Strand said that the recent rebuilding of the house had been so extensive that only two walls of the original building remained. The owner of the theater, Nick Johnson, had come to Manitowoc in 1935 to manage the Strand for Fox Wisconsin Theatres, and had taken over the house as an independent operator in 1945. The rebuilding included removing a stage, so the theater probably dated from the 1920s at the latest.
The building is now occupied by a place called Strand Adventures, which bills itself as a “family entertainment complex,” featuring a rock climbing wall, a laser tag arena, batting cages, a room full of bounce houses, a toddler area, something they call a “ninja gym” and a section of arcade games. Judging from photos on their web site, nothing remains of the theater’s interior.
Paramount subsidiary Florida State Theatres controlled the Beach Theatre under a lease from 1941 until 1950, according to an item in the March 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice. The Item said that FST had just cancelled the 10-year lease and that operation of the house would be taken over by the building’s owner, Stephen S. Girard.
This article about the Beach Theatre says that the house was only active intermittently during the 1940s, so it seems likely that FST leased the place primarily in order to prevent a competitor from getting control of it.
During the 1940s the Ninth Street Theatre was operated by Florida State Theatres, who bought the house in 1946 after leasing it for several years, according to Boxoffice of March 4, 1950. They disposed of the theater in 1950, selling it to the independent operators who would later rename it the Sun Theatre. It had been closed for several months at the time of the sale. Florida State also gave up their lease on the Beach Theatre at the same time.
The March 4, 1950 issue of Boxoffice ran a short article about the Village Theatre, saying it had opened recently. The house featured a stage, orchestra pit, Hammond organ with chimes, and two pianos, one on the stage and one in the pit. Management intended to present vaudeville as well as movies.
The article is on page 68 of this issue of the magazine.
The Globe Theatre was originally opened by Herman Fichtenberg, whose theater chain merged with the smaller Saenger chain in 1917. Fichtenberg was actually the largest single shareholder in the new Saenger Amusements Company, but the two Saenger brothers each owned slightly more than half as much stock as Fichtenerg and so together had the larger stake. The February 3, 1917 issue of The Moving Picture World ran this item about the Globe:
The Globe’s neighbor, the Tudor Theatre, was originally owned by Fichtenberg’s principal competitor in the New Orleans market, J. Eugene Pearce.The Brooklyn Opera House is open, at least intermittently. Here is the official web site, although it is not updated as frequently as their Facebook page. Upcoming events include a production of “The Odd Couple” and the last two entries in their summer movie series, for which there is no admission charge.
The October 30, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World has an item datelined Alameda saying “[t]he Bay Station theater has been renovated throughout and several new features added.”
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory does not list a theater at this address, which makes 1915 the most likely opening year for this house.
The new Illiopolis Theatre opened in 1951 was designed by the Decatur firm Burgener-Chastain & Associates (Harry J. Burgener and Homer L. Chastain) as noted in the August 6, 1951 issue of The Decatur Daily Review.
From 1945 until closing in 1963, the Illiopolis Theatre was operated by Ed and Louella Griesheim, who from 1959 on also operated a drive-in restaurant in Illiopolis, according to an article in the August 23, 1982 issue of the Decatur Herald and Review. The theater building was later converted into medical offices, but I’ve been unable to discover if it is still standing or, if so, what it now is used for.
The Opera House at Hopkinsville was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, with the cryptic notation “Box 280.” A mailing address, perhaps?
According to a history of Kentucky published in 1922, R. H. Holland retired in 1916 and ceased renting the Opera House for performances. It doesn’t say why. He still owned the place in 1922.