The Orpheum Theatre opened its doors on February 4, 1915 with Max Figman in “Hoosier Schoolmaster” plus a live orchestral concert and a three-manual pipe organ performance. It was closed in November 1953 and demolished in late-February 1957.
The Regent Theatre relaunched as the Geneva Cinema on January 23, 1962, reopening with the unique double-feature of Kaoru Yachigusa in the English dubbed version of “Madame Butterfly” and Barry Fitzgerald in “Broth Of A Boy”. What’s very unique about its early days as the Geneva Cinema is that it originally screened both national and international films at the start of its rebirth marking this very rare for a small New York town of 17,286 at the time.
Unfortunately this format didn’t last long, and by the mid-1960s, the Geneva Cinema screened only American first-run features and remained like that throughout the rest of its normal life. In the early-1980s, the Geneva Cinema was twinned. The Geneva Cinema became a quad when two more screens were added in 1990, followed by one more the following year, lastly operating with five screens. It last operated as the Geneva Cinema 5 before closing in 2005. Towards the end of its operation as a five-plex, it was primarily a first-run house, but it can also screen an international film in rare occasions.
The Strand Cinema opened its doors on November 15, 1972 with “Butterflies Are Free”, and closed for the final time on September 6, 1990 with “Back To The Future Part III” and “Bird Of A Wire”. It was demolished later that same year.
Correction: After the Strand Theatre was destroyed on April 20, 1972, a small one-story concrete block building was immediately built on the site that same exact year. Construction of that theater started around one week later, and the Strand Cinema on the site of the old Strand Theatre opened later that same year on November 15, 1972.
The Ritz closed as a movie theater on May 21, 1999 with “The Out Of Towners”.
50sSNIPES
commented about
Vixenon
Sep 2, 2025 at 11:13 am
I cannot officially confirm if the marquee sign is either repainted blue or coming from an AI error. I also did a colorization scan of its marquee on grand opening that confirming that it was dark red matching the side walls, which is faded green in the scan here.
Actual opening date is June 14, 1957, originally housing 350 cars and a 50x80ft CinemaScope screen. The theater was built by Sanford native Russell Martin.
The Ritz suffered damage by a fire in January 2009, but reopened after renovations that November. Unfortunately after just five years of rebooting, the Ritz closed as a first-run movie theater in 2014.
After sitting abandoned for four years, Royce Eyer of Muncy bought the abandoned Ritz in October 2018. Everything was kept from the outside including its marquee, but the inside was converted into “The Ritz Complex”, which is a sportsplex, cafe, and a reception hall that opened in 2019.
This is what the sign used to look like in color. In the original photo, the cars didn’t appear. Besides, this was supposed to be 1981, not the early-2000s.
The Nashua Mall 1-4 actually started life as the Nashua Mall Cinema I & II, opening by General Cinema on March 29, 1972 with “The Hospital” in Screen 1 and “Winter Comes Early” in Screen 2. Both auditoriums were divided into a quad in the late-1970s, and became the Nashua Mall 1-4.
General Cinema first operated the theater for most of its life until the early-1990s, when the theater was purchased by Canad Cinemas, though retaining the original Nashua Mall 1-4 name. Several years later, Hoyts took over the Nashua Mall 1-4 in December 1997 after Hoyts purchased the Canad chain.
The Orpheum Theatre opened its doors on February 4, 1915 with Max Figman in “Hoosier Schoolmaster” plus a live orchestral concert and a three-manual pipe organ performance. It was closed in November 1953 and demolished in late-February 1957.
Yeah, I finally learned how to use it a few days ago.
The Regent Theatre relaunched as the Geneva Cinema on January 23, 1962, reopening with the unique double-feature of Kaoru Yachigusa in the English dubbed version of “Madame Butterfly” and Barry Fitzgerald in “Broth Of A Boy”. What’s very unique about its early days as the Geneva Cinema is that it originally screened both national and international films at the start of its rebirth marking this very rare for a small New York town of 17,286 at the time.
Unfortunately this format didn’t last long, and by the mid-1960s, the Geneva Cinema screened only American first-run features and remained like that throughout the rest of its normal life. In the early-1980s, the Geneva Cinema was twinned. The Geneva Cinema became a quad when two more screens were added in 1990, followed by one more the following year, lastly operating with five screens. It last operated as the Geneva Cinema 5 before closing in 2005. Towards the end of its operation as a five-plex, it was primarily a first-run house, but it can also screen an international film in rare occasions.
Opened on March 14, 1997.
The Geneva Theatre closed as a first-run house in the late-1970s.
The Strand Cinema opened its doors on November 15, 1972 with “Butterflies Are Free”, and closed for the final time on September 6, 1990 with “Back To The Future Part III” and “Bird Of A Wire”. It was demolished later that same year.
Correction: After the Strand Theatre was destroyed on April 20, 1972, a small one-story concrete block building was immediately built on the site that same exact year. Construction of that theater started around one week later, and the Strand Cinema on the site of the old Strand Theatre opened later that same year on November 15, 1972.
The Ritz closed as a movie theater on May 21, 1999 with “The Out Of Towners”.
I cannot officially confirm if the marquee sign is either repainted blue or coming from an AI error. I also did a colorization scan of its marquee on grand opening that confirming that it was dark red matching the side walls, which is faded green in the scan here.
Actual opening date is June 14, 1957, originally housing 350 cars and a 50x80ft CinemaScope screen. The theater was built by Sanford native Russell Martin.
Closed on January 12, 1986 with “Marie”.
Correction: The “MART” on the Kmart sign is the normal light blue color in the original photo. The red is an AI mistake.
The Ritz suffered damage by a fire in January 2009, but reopened after renovations that November. Unfortunately after just five years of rebooting, the Ritz closed as a first-run movie theater in 2014.
After sitting abandoned for four years, Royce Eyer of Muncy bought the abandoned Ritz in October 2018. Everything was kept from the outside including its marquee, but the inside was converted into “The Ritz Complex”, which is a sportsplex, cafe, and a reception hall that opened in 2019.
This is what the sign used to look like in color. In the original photo, the cars didn’t appear. Besides, this was supposed to be 1981, not the early-2000s.
Opened on June 17, 1965 with Walt Disney’s “Cinderella” and “A Country Coyote Goes Hollywood”.
Definitely a Gandy Goose TerryToon playing with original titles.
Malco parted its ways with the Phoenix on November 28, 1988, after running “Punch Line” in Screen 1 and “Crossing Delancey” in Screen 2.
The Nashua Mall 1-4 actually started life as the Nashua Mall Cinema I & II, opening by General Cinema on March 29, 1972 with “The Hospital” in Screen 1 and “Winter Comes Early” in Screen 2. Both auditoriums were divided into a quad in the late-1970s, and became the Nashua Mall 1-4.
General Cinema first operated the theater for most of its life until the early-1990s, when the theater was purchased by Canad Cinemas, though retaining the original Nashua Mall 1-4 name. Several years later, Hoyts took over the Nashua Mall 1-4 in December 1997 after Hoyts purchased the Canad chain.
It was closed on March 20, 2003.
Now known as “Main Street Performing Arts Campus”.
Closed on February 14, 1976 with “Take A Hard Ride” and “The Terrorist”.
Closed as a first-run theater on August 30, 1994 with “Andre”.
Opened with Walt Disney’s “The Jungle Book” and “Charlie The Lonesome Cougar”.
Opened on July 1, 1970 with “The Adventurers” in Screen 1 and “Patton” in Screen 2.
Once operated by Lesser Theatre Services.
Once operated by Lesser Theatre Services.