As Jail Bait was made in 1954, this could be one of the last photos of the Monterey’s auditorium taken before the proscenium end of the house was remodeled to accommodate a CinemaScope screen. I’m pretty sure that was done before the end of 1954.
I’m guessing that the photos TomBlackwell uploaded to this page are from the Movie Jail Bait. While the other two photos of the theater both do appear to depict the Monterey, this photo does not. I don’t recognize the theater in this photo, but it isn’t the Monterey, which had no back wall such as this, there being a stadium section in that part of the house. Wood must have used some other theater for this shot, but left it uncredited.
I went to this theater once, not too long after it opened, though I don’t recall what movie we saw. I believe we were in the smallest of the three auditoriums, and it was a fairly good size— certainly larger than any of the four auditoriums at the AMC multiplex built in Rosemead about ten years earlier.
It was opened when Monterey Park was already well on its way to being a predominantly east Asian community, and the shopping center in which the cinema was located had mostly Asian businesses in it. When this house opened, the much older Monterey Theatre, which I believe had been the first house Jimmy Edwards ever operated, was sublet to an Asian operator who ran Chinese language movies.
Two trade publications noted the opening of the Rose Theatre in Morton. The first of three items to appear in The Exhibitor was this one from the August 9 issue:
“T. J. Simpson, formerly of Levelland, Tex., has been named manager, new Rose, Morton, Tex., owned and operated the Wallace Blankenship Circuit. The house seats 900.”
A second item appeared in the issue of August 23:
“Rose Makes Debut In Texas
“Morton, Tex.— The opening of the new Rose here recently was attended by an enthusiastic crowd who welcomed its luxurious modernity. An L-shaped foyer introduces the decorative scheme of the auditorium by presenting a colorful carpet and distinctive pastel wall colors
“A sloping stadium, rising at a sharper angle than the bowl section, permits full utilization of the entire length of the viewing room.”
The third mention, in the September 23 issue, was part of an item about the Blankenship circuit:
“Three new theatres have been opened by the Wallace Blankenship Theatre Circuit, the 900-seat Rose, Morton, Tex.; the 850-seat Rose, Andrews, Tex., and a 350-car drive-in, Tahoka, Tex. T. J. Simpson is the manager at Morton, A. J. Burleson at Andrews, and L. P. Flood at Tahoka. The new theatres bring the total of the circuit to 21, with five more under construction.”
A brief item in the August 2 issue of Variety also noted the opening. The Rose was the second house at Morton for Wallace Blankenship, the Wallace Theatre there having been opened in 1935.
The American Theatre is either not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, or is an aka for one of the other theaters we have listed at Sterling. If it was an aka, it must have been for the Rialto, as the Princess vanished in the 1920s. A reminiscence of life in Stirling in the mid-1950s by Don Lechman, published in the Daily Breeze on February 14, 2012, mentions the two theaters then operating in the town: “It was 9 cents at the American Theatre and about 12 at the ritzier Fox. Usually, they showed a double feature, a newsreel and a cartoon.”
This item is from the January 15, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
“W. F. Ruffin will rebuild his Palace Theatre at Newbern that was destroyed by fire January 2. The house was owned and operated by the Ruffin Amusement Co., Covington. ”
I’m not sure what to make of this item from Boxoffice of January 15, 1939. Perhaps the magazine conflated the Lincoln with the “New Colored Theatre,” and the item was actually about the latter house?
“The new Lincoln Theatre for colored people in Aiken, South Carolina’s winter resort city, was opened last week by I. Efron. E. A. Rosenblatt of the Sound Engineering Service Co., which installed the sound equipment, says the Lincoln is one of the most modern theatres for colored people in the Carolinas. The National Theatre Supply Co., equipped the house. A special box section is reserved for chauffeurs and other servants of tourists and resort vacationists from the north.”
In any case, find it a bit odd that the management would shift to a whites-only policy without changing the name of the theater. Lincoln is not a greatly admired name among southern whites.
Here is an item from Boxoffice of January 15, 1939:
“Old Columbia Closes
“Columbia, S. C. — The old Columbia Theatre, more recently known as the Carolina, has closed to make way for the new $1,000,000 Wade Hampton Hotel. It was built in 1900 as a part of the old city hall.”
Here is an item from the February 25, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
“Waldo’s new WaKea Theatre opened last week to a packed house. Mr. and Mrs. T. F. Keasler, Hughes Springs, Tex., and Mr. and Mrs. L. W. Watts, Oil City, Pa., owners of the new house, were present for the opening. The new house cost $15,000 and is modern in every respect.”
This item is from the January 9, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
“McNatt Buys Village
“Naples, Tex. — W. W. McNatt, owner of the Inez Theatre here and the Morris at Daingerfield, has purchased, with his son-in-law, W. O. Irwin jr,, the Village Theatre at Hughes Springs from Frank Keasler.”
The January 15, 1938 issue of The Film Daily said that the Strand Theatre in Hughes Springs had been transferred to J. M. Stacey. I’ve been unable to discover if the Strand was another theater or an earlier name of the Village. There was a movie theater at Hughes Springs at least as early as 1921. It was mentioned in a July issue of Motion Picture News, but the item didn’t give the name of the house.
Although there was hope that the Chateau Theatre would be brought back to life as a performance venue, in May, 2019 the City of Rochester decided that it would be renovated primarily as a space for traveling exhibits, with some additional space devoted to a cafe, retail stores, and small areas for live music. The Chateau will reopen on November 23, 2019, with “The Magical History Tour: A Beatles Memorabilia Exhibition.”
On November 14, the Rochester Post-Bulletin posted this photo gallery featuring 57 photos of the Chateau Theatre at various stages of its history, including its time as a book store and during the recent renovation project.
There is conflicting information about John Wick’s 1913 theater project in various construction journals of the period. The February 1 issue of Engineering Record says that John Wick would receive bids for construction of an opera house designed by local architect O. C. Rearick. A February 22 article in The American Contractor also notes the project, but gives the architect’s name as O. C. Rairigh. By March 1, American Contractor is saying that Wick’s theater project is a movie house being designed by Pittsburgh architect Joseph L. Neal. The later AC items also say the theater is to be one story, and 47 feet wide, rather than the 2 stories and 52 feet wide reported in the earlier items. Did John Wick build two theaters in 1913, or simply switch architects and have the plans of his one theater modified? The Internet gives no answer.
Fortunately, the trade publications are clearer about the change of name from Wick Opera House to Columbia Theatre. This item is from The Moving Picture World of August 6, 1921:
“Mr. Brown, of the new Columbia Theatre, Kittanning, Pa., has about put the finishing touches to this beautiful playhouse. This theatre was formerly Wick’s Opera House for quite a number of years, but has been completely remodeled and it certainly presents an up-to-date appearance as it now stands. This house seats a few less than a thousand, including both balcony and main floor. Mr. Brown is living temporarily on the second floor apartment over the theatre.”
The State Theatre was in operation by 1933, and was still open at least as late as 1979. I’ve been unable to find an address for it, but a 1967 advertisement for Erdos Bros. Furniture Co. gave their address as 335 Market Street, “next door to the State Theatre.” Thus, the narrow alley in the vintage photo of the State must be McKean Way, and the theater was on the odd-numbered west side of the street, so at the northwest corner of Market and McKean. The number was probably about 325 Market. The location is now a parking lot.
The Lyceum Theatre was in operation by 1908, and is listed in the 1908-1909 edition of the Cahn guide as a 771-seat ground floor house. The Lyceum is listed at 213 Market Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Two other movie houses were listed at Kittanning; The Electric Theatre, also on Market Street, and the Grand Theatre, no location given. The Lyceum was the subject of this item in the September 30, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World:
“Kittanning’s Lyceum Reopens.
“Kittanning, Pa.—After undergoing an extensive remodeling process, the Lyceum theater, Kittanning, Pa., has been reopened to the public with high class feature pictures exclusively. The improvements to the house cost $15,000 and include much new equipment of the latest type, In addition to beautiful decorations throughout. A more convenient and up-to-date seating arrangement has been installed and the gallery removed. The theater was formally opened under very auspicious circumstances and all indications point to a successful business. Andrew Condoleon is the owner and W. J. Marrian, a well known Pittsburgh man, is house manager of the Lyceum.”
It seems likely that the opening of the new Wick Opera House in 1913 forced the Lyceum, formerly a stage house, to reorient its programming to moving pictures.
History of the City of Batavia by Ruth M. McEvoy says that the Family Theatre was originally designed by local architect Frank Homelius, and that it opened on January 16, 1913.
A document listing events in Genesee County says that the groundbreaking for the Dipson Theatre at Batavia took place in 1946. The month is not given, so the house might have opened in either 1946 or 1947.
This item is from the September 11, 1920 issue of Exhibitors Herald:
“New House at Cynthiana
“FRANKFORT, IND., Aug. 31.— Herman Rohs, for many years a jeweler in this city, has just completed the erection of a motion picture theater at Cynthiana, Ky., according to information received here. The new theater will run pictures and vaudeville and will be under the management of Karl Rohs, son of Herman Rohs.”
Herman Rohs was not only a jeweler, though. Various issues of The Billboard in 1908 mention H. A. Rohs as the manager of the Rohs Opera House. The Rohs Opera House is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, so that upstairs theater, opened in 1871 as Aeolian Hall, also ran movies for a while. In 1941 the Rohs family added a new ground floor theater to the back of the Opera House building, and it opened that year as the New Rohs Opera House.
Other early Cynthiana theaters named in the trades were the Electric Theatre (1908,) the Cinema Theatre (1914 and 1916,) the Royal Theatre 1916 and 1922,) and the Montgomery Theatre (1923.) As the manager of the Royal in 1916 was named Alva Montgomery, the Montgomery Theatre might have been the Royal renamed.
I’ve been unable to discover when the Rohs Theatre closed, but the Rohs Opera House was still showing movies into the 21st century, and is still intact and equipped to show them, but does so only occasionally.
It turns out that the building collapsed in March, 2018, following a heavy snowfall. According to this article it was no longer occupied by Spilly’s. Two adjacent buildings on Rue de l'Église, which must have been those between the Star and the Capitol, had burned down six years earlier.
The Casino Theatre in Edmundston was mentioned in the December 18, 1926 issue of Exhibitors Herald. The 1960-61 Film Weekly Year
Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry lists the Capitol Theatre, operated by B&L Theatres, with 480 seats.
This web page about the former Star Theatre building says that it was built around 1900 and converted into the Star Theatre in 1927. It says that the Star operated for “…more than 40 years….” Today the building, listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places since 2008, is occupied by a dining and drinking establishment, Spilly’s Resto-Bar.
If that page is correct about the 1927 opening year, then there must have been an earlier Star Theatre at another location in Edmunston, as a house of that name was mentioned in the May 5, 1923 issue of The Moving Picture World. The owner of the house in 1923 was named Charles T. Johnson. The historic listing page says the Star was owned by two lawyers named John Stevens and Aaron Lawson. The 1960-61 Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry lists the Star Theatre, operated by Mrs. H. M. Nesbitt, with 560 seats.
The May 21, 1952 issue of The Exhibitor said “Larry Tyler opened his new 200-car Sundown Drive-In at Los Molinos, Cal.”
AsJail Bait was made in 1954, this could be one of the last photos of the Monterey’s auditorium taken before the proscenium end of the house was remodeled to accommodate a CinemaScope screen. I’m pretty sure that was done before the end of 1954.
I’m guessing that the photos TomBlackwell uploaded to this page are from the Movie Jail Bait. While the other two photos of the theater both do appear to depict the Monterey, this photo does not. I don’t recognize the theater in this photo, but it isn’t the Monterey, which had no back wall such as this, there being a stadium section in that part of the house. Wood must have used some other theater for this shot, but left it uncredited.
I went to this theater once, not too long after it opened, though I don’t recall what movie we saw. I believe we were in the smallest of the three auditoriums, and it was a fairly good size— certainly larger than any of the four auditoriums at the AMC multiplex built in Rosemead about ten years earlier.
It was opened when Monterey Park was already well on its way to being a predominantly east Asian community, and the shopping center in which the cinema was located had mostly Asian businesses in it. When this house opened, the much older Monterey Theatre, which I believe had been the first house Jimmy Edwards ever operated, was sublet to an Asian operator who ran Chinese language movies.
I forgot to put the year in that comment. The trade journal items were all published in 1950.
Two trade publications noted the opening of the Rose Theatre in Morton. The first of three items to appear in The Exhibitor was this one from the August 9 issue:
A second item appeared in the issue of August 23:The third mention, in the September 23 issue, was part of an item about the Blankenship circuit:A brief item in the August 2 issue of Variety also noted the opening. The Rose was the second house at Morton for Wallace Blankenship, the Wallace Theatre there having been opened in 1935.The American Theatre is either not yet listed at Cinema Treasures, or is an aka for one of the other theaters we have listed at Sterling. If it was an aka, it must have been for the Rialto, as the Princess vanished in the 1920s. A reminiscence of life in Stirling in the mid-1950s by Don Lechman, published in the Daily Breeze on February 14, 2012, mentions the two theaters then operating in the town: “It was 9 cents at the American Theatre and about 12 at the ritzier Fox. Usually, they showed a double feature, a newsreel and a cartoon.”
This item is from the January 15, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
I’m not sure what to make of this item from Boxoffice of January 15, 1939. Perhaps the magazine conflated the Lincoln with the “New Colored Theatre,” and the item was actually about the latter house?
In any case, find it a bit odd that the management would shift to a whites-only policy without changing the name of the theater. Lincoln is not a greatly admired name among southern whites.Here is an item from Boxoffice of January 15, 1939:
Here is an item from the February 25, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
This item is from the January 9, 1939 issue of Boxoffice:
The January 15, 1938 issue of The Film Daily said that the Strand Theatre in Hughes Springs had been transferred to J. M. Stacey. I’ve been unable to discover if the Strand was another theater or an earlier name of the Village. There was a movie theater at Hughes Springs at least as early as 1921. It was mentioned in a July issue of Motion Picture News, but the item didn’t give the name of the house.Although there was hope that the Chateau Theatre would be brought back to life as a performance venue, in May, 2019 the City of Rochester decided that it would be renovated primarily as a space for traveling exhibits, with some additional space devoted to a cafe, retail stores, and small areas for live music. The Chateau will reopen on November 23, 2019, with “The Magical History Tour: A Beatles Memorabilia Exhibition.”
This is the Chateau’s official web site.
On November 14, the Rochester Post-Bulletin posted this photo gallery featuring 57 photos of the Chateau Theatre at various stages of its history, including its time as a book store and during the recent renovation project.
There is conflicting information about John Wick’s 1913 theater project in various construction journals of the period. The February 1 issue of Engineering Record says that John Wick would receive bids for construction of an opera house designed by local architect O. C. Rearick. A February 22 article in The American Contractor also notes the project, but gives the architect’s name as O. C. Rairigh. By March 1, American Contractor is saying that Wick’s theater project is a movie house being designed by Pittsburgh architect Joseph L. Neal. The later AC items also say the theater is to be one story, and 47 feet wide, rather than the 2 stories and 52 feet wide reported in the earlier items. Did John Wick build two theaters in 1913, or simply switch architects and have the plans of his one theater modified? The Internet gives no answer.
Fortunately, the trade publications are clearer about the change of name from Wick Opera House to Columbia Theatre. This item is from The Moving Picture World of August 6, 1921:
The State Theatre was in operation by 1933, and was still open at least as late as 1979. I’ve been unable to find an address for it, but a 1967 advertisement for Erdos Bros. Furniture Co. gave their address as 335 Market Street, “next door to the State Theatre.” Thus, the narrow alley in the vintage photo of the State must be McKean Way, and the theater was on the odd-numbered west side of the street, so at the northwest corner of Market and McKean. The number was probably about 325 Market. The location is now a parking lot.
The Lyceum Theatre was in operation by 1908, and is listed in the 1908-1909 edition of the Cahn guide as a 771-seat ground floor house. The Lyceum is listed at 213 Market Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Two other movie houses were listed at Kittanning; The Electric Theatre, also on Market Street, and the Grand Theatre, no location given. The Lyceum was the subject of this item in the September 30, 1916 issue of The Moving Picture World:
It seems likely that the opening of the new Wick Opera House in 1913 forced the Lyceum, formerly a stage house, to reorient its programming to moving pictures.It’s possible that a grand opening ad was placed in the popular local suburban paper, The South Bay Daily Breeze.
History of the City of Batavia by Ruth M. McEvoy says that the Family Theatre was originally designed by local architect Frank Homelius, and that it opened on January 16, 1913.
The Dreamland Theatre opened in 1906, according to a list of events in Genesee County.
A document listing events in Genesee County says that the groundbreaking for the Dipson Theatre at Batavia took place in 1946. The month is not given, so the house might have opened in either 1946 or 1947.
This item is from the September 11, 1920 issue of Exhibitors Herald:
Herman Rohs was not only a jeweler, though. Various issues of The Billboard in 1908 mention H. A. Rohs as the manager of the Rohs Opera House. The Rohs Opera House is listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, so that upstairs theater, opened in 1871 as Aeolian Hall, also ran movies for a while. In 1941 the Rohs family added a new ground floor theater to the back of the Opera House building, and it opened that year as the New Rohs Opera House.Other early Cynthiana theaters named in the trades were the Electric Theatre (1908,) the Cinema Theatre (1914 and 1916,) the Royal Theatre 1916 and 1922,) and the Montgomery Theatre (1923.) As the manager of the Royal in 1916 was named Alva Montgomery, the Montgomery Theatre might have been the Royal renamed.
I’ve been unable to discover when the Rohs Theatre closed, but the Rohs Opera House was still showing movies into the 21st century, and is still intact and equipped to show them, but does so only occasionally.
Actually the Capitol building itself must have been one of the two that burned in 2012.
It turns out that the building collapsed in March, 2018, following a heavy snowfall. According to this article it was no longer occupied by Spilly’s. Two adjacent buildings on Rue de l'Église, which must have been those between the Star and the Capitol, had burned down six years earlier.
The Casino Theatre in Edmundston was mentioned in the December 18, 1926 issue of Exhibitors Herald. The 1960-61 Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry lists the Capitol Theatre, operated by B&L Theatres, with 480 seats.
This web page about the former Star Theatre building says that it was built around 1900 and converted into the Star Theatre in 1927. It says that the Star operated for “…more than 40 years….” Today the building, listed on the Canadian Register of Historic Places since 2008, is occupied by a dining and drinking establishment, Spilly’s Resto-Bar.
If that page is correct about the 1927 opening year, then there must have been an earlier Star Theatre at another location in Edmunston, as a house of that name was mentioned in the May 5, 1923 issue of The Moving Picture World. The owner of the house in 1923 was named Charles T. Johnson. The historic listing page says the Star was owned by two lawyers named John Stevens and Aaron Lawson. The 1960-61 Film Weekly Year Book of the Canadian Motion Picture Industry lists the Star Theatre, operated by Mrs. H. M. Nesbitt, with 560 seats.