In 1921, Harrisburg had a movie house called the Empire Theatre whose owner, one R. M. Parkhurst, sent a few capsule movie reviews to Exhibitors Herald in July and August. By 1926, the only theater listed at Harrisburg in the FDY was called the Pastime.
The Grand Theatre was listed with 270 seats in the 1956-57 Yearbook of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry. Also listed at Creston was the 341-seat Tivoli. The Tivoli was licensed to an L. Johnston, while the Grand was licensed to F. C. Rodgers. Interestingly, F. C. Rodgers had sent capsule movie reviews of films he had shown at the Grand to the trade journal Exhibitor’s Herald in 1924 and 1925.
According to this page at the Creston Museum’s web site, the Rodgers family built the Grand Theatre in 1920, and it replaced a movie theater called the Peekin which had opened the previous year. A link on the museum page leads to an article about the Peekin, which also reveals that the Grand opened in December, 1920.
My mother’s family moved from Phoenix to Culver City when she was about six or seven years old, which would have been 1921 or 1922. She remembered going to both the first and the second Meraltas. As she remembered it, theater owners Pearl Merrill and Laura Peralta were sisters, but she was apparently mistaken about that. Pearl and Laura must have been close friends as well as business partners and a vaudeville duo, as they lived together for many years in an apartment above the second Meralta.
One thing my mom remembered from the Meralta’s Saturday matinees, was that the partners, one of them playing the piano, would lead the audience, mostly children, in community sings.
The Auditorium is listed in the 1906-1907 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 1,439 seats. It is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, though with the address 413 High Street. Then there is this item from the January 27, 1929 issue of Film Daily: “Burlington, N. J.— Jacob B. Fox has opened his new Auditorium here.” Other sources indicate that Fox bought the Auditorium in 1923 and remodeled it that year, when a 2-manual Kimball organ was installed, so I can’t explain the reference to a “new Auditorium” in the 1929 item. Perhaps a more extensive remodeling?
In December, 1944, the Fox Theatre was destroyed by a fire. The December 11 issue of the Trenton Evening Times reported that Presidents Taft and Wilson had been among the many statesmen who had spoken at the Auditorium “…in the course of the past half-century,” so the building probably dated from the 1890s. The newspaper description said that nothing remained of the building bout the walls, so if there was a Fox Theatre at this address in later years it must have been a new house built inside the shell of the old one.
This was the announcement in the January 27, 1929 issue of Film Daily: “Stroudsburg, Pa.— H. A. and Fred F. Scheurmann have opened their Sherman here.”
The Sun must have been rebuilt or moved to a new location in 1929, when the January 27 issue of Film Daily said that “[t]he new Sun Theater will open here soon.” The earlier Sun was mentioned in the September 20, 1924 issue of Moving Picture World, when it was operated by an L. F. Cowger. The only theater listed at Coin in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was called the Gem.
There’s an ad for this theater showing that it had two screens, with “Deliverance” on one screen and “Cries and Whispers” on the other. Both movies are from 1972, so unless it was showing them as revivals it was a twin by then.
The Idle Hour Theatre is listed in the 1913 city directory, but the address was 6524 Hollywood Boulevard, which would be on the south side of the street west of Wilcox Avenue. In the 1914 directory, the same address is listed as the Iris Theatre. As kencmcintyre noted, in the 1915 directory the Iris is listed at 6417 Hollywood.
The March 28, 1914 issue of Southwest Contractor notes a 450-seat theater to be built on Hollywood Boulevard between Cahuenga and Wilcox (the 6400 block) for Miss De Longpre. As the Iris is first listed in the 1915 directory and is the only theater in the 6400 block of Hollywood Boulevard, I think it must have been this project. The item says that plans had been prepared by E. Fossler, who also had the contract to build the house. Other issues of the journal indicate that Fossler was primarily a builder and contractor, not an architect, but it’s possible that in 1914 builders were still allowed to design projects, or his firm, which was quite busy, might have had an architect or engineer on its staff.
The Crescent Theatre was built in 1914. The January 3 issue of Southwest Contractor noted that contracts for the project had been signed in late December, 1913. The architect was Lester S. Moore. The Crescent was first listed in the city directory in 1915, but had undoubtedly been opened in 1914, probably in the spring.
A notice that a permit had been issued to add to a building at 516-520 S. Broadway and remodel it for use as a motion picture theater for J. A. Quinn appeared in the April 18, 1914 issue of Southwest Contractor. The architect for the project was Arthur H. Memmler.
The La Salle Theatre first appears in the city directory in 1914, so was probably the theater designed by Albert C. Martin and built in 1913. The announcement of the recent closing of the Adams Theatre in Boxoffice of February 26, 1955 most likely indicates that business was by then insufficient to justify the expense of converting the theater for CinemaScope, a fate suffered by many old neighborhood movie houses around that time.
The Decatur Theatre was being operated by Storey Theatres in 1953, when the January 17 issue of Boxoffice said “Fred Storey of Storey Theatres is closing the DeKalb Theatre in Decatur, GA., and has installed a Synchro-Screen in the Decatur Theatre.”
This drive-in must have opened before 1955. An item datelined Bonifay, Fla., in the January 17, 1953 issue of Boxoffice said “Al Saunders has installed new Century equipment in his 250-car Al’s Drive-In here”.
The theater in the photo apparently dates from 1948, when the April 24 issue of Boxoffice reported that “A. C. Saunders is planning a June opening for the Bonifay Theatre, currently under construction as a replacement for the theater destroyed by fire in 1945.” Since the fire Saunders had been operating a temporary theater in a store building adjacent to the construction site. The new house was to seat 550.
The August 19, 1963 issue of Boxoffice said that “Dewey Brannon has closed his indoor Bonifay Theatre in Bonifay concurrent with the opening of a new walk-in addition to his Al’s Drive-In, also located in Bonifay.” Brannon was the son-in-law of theater owner Al Saunders.
A Bonifay Theatre was listed in a 1918 Polk directory of Florida, but I don’t know if it was the same house that burned in 1945.
August of 1915 seems rather late for the American Theatre to have opened. Not only was the house listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, which must have gone to press fairly early in 1914, but also in that year’s Chicago Blue Book directory, published in December.
A May 5, 1914 article in the Chicago Tribune reported a contretemps that had taken place at the theater when a non-union landscape artist came to paint the scenic curtain for the house, leading to a walkout by union sign, scene and pictorial painters working on the project. The walkout ended when the landscape painter agreed to join the union. This sort of decorative work is typically undertaken when a theater is fairly close to completion.
Konrad Schiecke’s Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois, 1883-1960 says that the Alma Theatre opened in 1913, was renamed the Cort Theatre in 1948, and closed in 1955. The Alma is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The Glamour Theatre was still in operation at least as late as August 1, 1915, when it was mentioned in that day’s edition of the Chicago Examiner. The owner at that time was an E. A. Rysdon, who had contributed $5 to the Mayor’s fund for the survivors of the S.S. Eastland, a Great Lakes excursion steamer which had capsized at its berth in the Chicago River a few days earlier, leading to the deaths of 844 passengers and crew members. This event remains the deadliest disaster in Chicago’s history and in the history of Great Lakes shipping.
The July 16, 1921 issue of The Commercial and Financial Chronicle had an item about Goldwyn Pictures Corporation which said that the company had acquired an interest in Ascher Bros. Theatres in January, 1920, and over the course of that year six new theaters were added to the 16 already operated by the chain. One of these was the Merrill Theatre in Milwaukee, which the item said had opened on May 15, 1920.
This Facebook post says that the ICON cinema chain has plans to renovate and reopen the Windsor Hills 10. ICON also intended to reopen the old Litchfield-built Kickingbird Cinemas at Edmond, OK, but have missed their announced opening date, so we shall see. They might have overextended themselves. They currently have only three locations, two in New Mexico and one in Colorado.
A list of subscribers to the American Motion Picture League published in the December 20, 1913 issue of Moving Picture World includes the Theato Amusement Co. of Sheffield, Alabama. The Theato is the only movie house listed at Sheffield in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
Clickable link. The LaSalle Theatre is currently in operation as an event venue. Judging from the gallery on their web site, it is most often used for weddings and receptions. The auditorium floor has been leveled into three terraces which can be used for tables, but otherwise the theater appears to be largely intact.
In 1921, Harrisburg had a movie house called the Empire Theatre whose owner, one R. M. Parkhurst, sent a few capsule movie reviews to Exhibitors Herald in July and August. By 1926, the only theater listed at Harrisburg in the FDY was called the Pastime.
The Grand Theatre was listed with 270 seats in the 1956-57 Yearbook of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry. Also listed at Creston was the 341-seat Tivoli. The Tivoli was licensed to an L. Johnston, while the Grand was licensed to F. C. Rodgers. Interestingly, F. C. Rodgers had sent capsule movie reviews of films he had shown at the Grand to the trade journal Exhibitor’s Herald in 1924 and 1925.
According to this page at the Creston Museum’s web site, the Rodgers family built the Grand Theatre in 1920, and it replaced a movie theater called the Peekin which had opened the previous year. A link on the museum page leads to an article about the Peekin, which also reveals that the Grand opened in December, 1920.
My mother’s family moved from Phoenix to Culver City when she was about six or seven years old, which would have been 1921 or 1922. She remembered going to both the first and the second Meraltas. As she remembered it, theater owners Pearl Merrill and Laura Peralta were sisters, but she was apparently mistaken about that. Pearl and Laura must have been close friends as well as business partners and a vaudeville duo, as they lived together for many years in an apartment above the second Meralta.
One thing my mom remembered from the Meralta’s Saturday matinees, was that the partners, one of them playing the piano, would lead the audience, mostly children, in community sings.
The Auditorium is listed in the 1906-1907 Cahn guide as a ground floor house with 1,439 seats. It is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, though with the address 413 High Street. Then there is this item from the January 27, 1929 issue of Film Daily: “Burlington, N. J.— Jacob B. Fox has opened his new Auditorium here.” Other sources indicate that Fox bought the Auditorium in 1923 and remodeled it that year, when a 2-manual Kimball organ was installed, so I can’t explain the reference to a “new Auditorium” in the 1929 item. Perhaps a more extensive remodeling?
In December, 1944, the Fox Theatre was destroyed by a fire. The December 11 issue of the Trenton Evening Times reported that Presidents Taft and Wilson had been among the many statesmen who had spoken at the Auditorium “…in the course of the past half-century,” so the building probably dated from the 1890s. The newspaper description said that nothing remained of the building bout the walls, so if there was a Fox Theatre at this address in later years it must have been a new house built inside the shell of the old one.
This was the announcement in the January 27, 1929 issue of Film Daily: “Stroudsburg, Pa.— H. A. and Fred F. Scheurmann have opened their Sherman here.”
The Sun must have been rebuilt or moved to a new location in 1929, when the January 27 issue of Film Daily said that “[t]he new Sun Theater will open here soon.” The earlier Sun was mentioned in the September 20, 1924 issue of Moving Picture World, when it was operated by an L. F. Cowger. The only theater listed at Coin in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was called the Gem.
There’s an ad for this theater showing that it had two screens, with “Deliverance” on one screen and “Cries and Whispers” on the other. Both movies are from 1972, so unless it was showing them as revivals it was a twin by then.
The Idle Hour Theatre is listed in the 1913 city directory, but the address was 6524 Hollywood Boulevard, which would be on the south side of the street west of Wilcox Avenue. In the 1914 directory, the same address is listed as the Iris Theatre. As kencmcintyre noted, in the 1915 directory the Iris is listed at 6417 Hollywood.
The March 28, 1914 issue of Southwest Contractor notes a 450-seat theater to be built on Hollywood Boulevard between Cahuenga and Wilcox (the 6400 block) for Miss De Longpre. As the Iris is first listed in the 1915 directory and is the only theater in the 6400 block of Hollywood Boulevard, I think it must have been this project. The item says that plans had been prepared by E. Fossler, who also had the contract to build the house. Other issues of the journal indicate that Fossler was primarily a builder and contractor, not an architect, but it’s possible that in 1914 builders were still allowed to design projects, or his firm, which was quite busy, might have had an architect or engineer on its staff.
The Crescent Theatre was built in 1914. The January 3 issue of Southwest Contractor noted that contracts for the project had been signed in late December, 1913. The architect was Lester S. Moore. The Crescent was first listed in the city directory in 1915, but had undoubtedly been opened in 1914, probably in the spring.
A notice that a permit had been issued to add to a building at 516-520 S. Broadway and remodel it for use as a motion picture theater for J. A. Quinn appeared in the April 18, 1914 issue of Southwest Contractor. The architect for the project was Arthur H. Memmler.
The Happy Hour Theatre was still listed in the 1914 city directory, but had closed by the time the 1915 directory was published.
The Academy Theatre at 4811 S. Normandie was first listed in the city directory in 1914, so most likely was opened in 1913.
The La Salle Theatre first appears in the city directory in 1914, so was probably the theater designed by Albert C. Martin and built in 1913. The announcement of the recent closing of the Adams Theatre in Boxoffice of February 26, 1955 most likely indicates that business was by then insufficient to justify the expense of converting the theater for CinemaScope, a fate suffered by many old neighborhood movie houses around that time.
The Decatur Theatre was being operated by Storey Theatres in 1953, when the January 17 issue of Boxoffice said “Fred Storey of Storey Theatres is closing the DeKalb Theatre in Decatur, GA., and has installed a Synchro-Screen in the Decatur Theatre.”
This drive-in must have opened before 1955. An item datelined Bonifay, Fla., in the January 17, 1953 issue of Boxoffice said “Al Saunders has installed new Century equipment in his 250-car Al’s Drive-In here”.
The theater in the photo apparently dates from 1948, when the April 24 issue of Boxoffice reported that “A. C. Saunders is planning a June opening for the Bonifay Theatre, currently under construction as a replacement for the theater destroyed by fire in 1945.” Since the fire Saunders had been operating a temporary theater in a store building adjacent to the construction site. The new house was to seat 550.
The August 19, 1963 issue of Boxoffice said that “Dewey Brannon has closed his indoor Bonifay Theatre in Bonifay concurrent with the opening of a new walk-in addition to his Al’s Drive-In, also located in Bonifay.” Brannon was the son-in-law of theater owner Al Saunders.
A Bonifay Theatre was listed in a 1918 Polk directory of Florida, but I don’t know if it was the same house that burned in 1945.
August of 1915 seems rather late for the American Theatre to have opened. Not only was the house listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, which must have gone to press fairly early in 1914, but also in that year’s Chicago Blue Book directory, published in December.
A May 5, 1914 article in the Chicago Tribune reported a contretemps that had taken place at the theater when a non-union landscape artist came to paint the scenic curtain for the house, leading to a walkout by union sign, scene and pictorial painters working on the project. The walkout ended when the landscape painter agreed to join the union. This sort of decorative work is typically undertaken when a theater is fairly close to completion.
The Alpha Theatre is listed at this address in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
Konrad Schiecke’s Historic Movie Theatres in Illinois, 1883-1960 says that the Alma Theatre opened in 1913, was renamed the Cort Theatre in 1948, and closed in 1955. The Alma is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The Glamour Theatre was still in operation at least as late as August 1, 1915, when it was mentioned in that day’s edition of the Chicago Examiner. The owner at that time was an E. A. Rysdon, who had contributed $5 to the Mayor’s fund for the survivors of the S.S. Eastland, a Great Lakes excursion steamer which had capsized at its berth in the Chicago River a few days earlier, leading to the deaths of 844 passengers and crew members. This event remains the deadliest disaster in Chicago’s history and in the history of Great Lakes shipping.
Cincinnati’s Capitol Theatre was opened by the Ascher Bros. circuit on April 2, 1921.
The July 16, 1921 issue of The Commercial and Financial Chronicle had an item about Goldwyn Pictures Corporation which said that the company had acquired an interest in Ascher Bros. Theatres in January, 1920, and over the course of that year six new theaters were added to the 16 already operated by the chain. One of these was the Merrill Theatre in Milwaukee, which the item said had opened on May 15, 1920.
This Facebook post says that the ICON cinema chain has plans to renovate and reopen the Windsor Hills 10. ICON also intended to reopen the old Litchfield-built Kickingbird Cinemas at Edmond, OK, but have missed their announced opening date, so we shall see. They might have overextended themselves. They currently have only three locations, two in New Mexico and one in Colorado.
A list of subscribers to the American Motion Picture League published in the December 20, 1913 issue of Moving Picture World includes the Theato Amusement Co. of Sheffield, Alabama. The Theato is the only movie house listed at Sheffield in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
Clickable link. The LaSalle Theatre is currently in operation as an event venue. Judging from the gallery on their web site, it is most often used for weddings and receptions. The auditorium floor has been leveled into three terraces which can be used for tables, but otherwise the theater appears to be largely intact.