I am not sure of the opening date listed for the Denver Theater. The theater was built during the latter part of 1926, and was listed in the 1927 City Directory as the Metropolitan in April 1927. This might be the date on which the theater was renamed. It was a Publix theater, built by Paramount, before becoming a Warner theater.
I would be interested in receiving more information about this theater. I have been researching theaters in Denver prior to 1920, and have some knowledge of latter ones. A friend in Sante Fe sent me a layout of this theater from a German book, but I have never heard of it before, and it is not listed in the City Directories.
Monty-Denver – What can I help you with. I have a good collection of photos, both hardcopy and in jpg. format of most of Denver’s early theaters. Most were obtained from the Denver Public Library and the Colorado Historical Society. I can be contacted by email at or phone at (303) 692-1137. If you live in the Denver area I would be happy to show you what I have and share anything I can. I live at Leetsdale & Quebec in Denver and am home most days of the week. So you can send my an email or give me a call (just leave a message if I am not home) and I will get in contact with you.
I have just completed by profile of the Isis Theater at 1724 Curtis Street. It contains all the information I have been able to gather about the theater from it’s opening in May 1913 thru the early 1920s, taken from local newspapers, trade magazines, etc. It contains a list of all the photos I have been able to identify, a list of employees taken from the City Directories, etc. If anyone would like a copy of this profile, I can provide it in either Word or PDF format. The file is about 650kb. This is one of five profiles of the movie theaters in the 1700 Block of Curtis Street that I can provide. If interested please contact me at and I will email it to you.
I am not sure where the Colorado State Register obtained its information concerning the Thompson/Bluebird Theater, but it is inaccurate. The 600 seat Thompson Theater opened on September 11, 1915 and was far from being the “first Denver theater designed specifically for the exhibiton of movies.” The first “movie” theater opened in Denver was the Princess Theater (1620 Curtis Street) which opened on October 11, 1910 and sat 1,300. The next was the Paris/Rivoli Theater (1751 Curtis Street) which opened on October 5, 1912 and sat 2,300. This was followed by the New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street) which opened on May 1, 1913 and sat 2,200; and the United States/Rialto Theater (1544 Curtis Street) which opened on February 12, 1914 and sat 1,200. All of these downtown theaters opened before the Thompson/Bluebird and were larger theaters.
In addition there were three smaller (450 seat) theaters opened outside the downtown area before the Thompson/Bluebird. The Royal Theater (243 Broadway) was in the Schomberg Theater Building and opend in June 1910. The Rex/Queen Theater (110-112 Broadway) was opened on April 1, 1911 on the site of the present Mayan Theater. The York Theater (2221 East Colfax Avenue) was opened on September 1, 1911.
The Thompson/Bluebird Theater is the oldest theater site still operating as a theater in Denver. However, they have not shown films at the theater for several years and the projectors have been removed. The building that housed the York Theater is still standing, but is a watch repair store. All of the other building have been torn down.
The photo at http://tinyurl.com/qqdse is in fact a different theater on the same block as the Isis. The theater at 1751 Curtis Street was originally opened as the Paris Theater (seating 2,300)in October 1912, just a few month before the Isis opened at 1724 Curtis. The Paris went thru several changes of ownership in the teens before coming under the control of Brown & Megahan, who changed the name to the Rivoli. In September, 1919 they sold the Rivoli, Isis, Strand (1632 Curtis)and Plaza (1717 Curtis) to Fox. At some time in the 1930s the Rivoli was renamed the Tivoli (just for confusions sake). The Denver Public Library has a good collection of photos of these theaters on their website (http://www.denver.lib.co.us/index.html).
The call numbers for photos of the Isis Theater are – X-24670, X-24671, X-24672, X-24673, X-24674, X-24679, X-24853, X-22628 and CHSX5351. Photos of the Paris Theater include: X-22624, CHSX5351 and CHSX8409. Photos of the Rivoli include: MCC-332, MCC-3353, X-23924, X-24721, X-24730, X-24731, X-24732 and X-24733. I have a hard copy photo of the Tivoli and Plaza theaters from the 1930, but don’t have a call number for the online version. I hope all this is helpful.
The photo in the link http://tinyurl.com/qsgu7 shows the 1600 and 1500 blocks of Curtis Street in the mid 1920s. The State Theater (1630 Curtis Street) is on the site of the original Isis Theater (1632 Curtis Street). The Isis was torn town in 1914 and a new theater (the Strand) was opened on the site in September 1915. The bulding was renovated and reopend as the State in September 1925. The photo at http://tinyurl.com/f64on shows the original Isis Theater in 1911 shortly after the opening of the Princess Theater at 1620 Curtis. The Isis Theater in photos k58v8, qnxwn and nfbf8 is technically the New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street)that opened in May 1913. Both Isis theaters were originally owned by Samuel L. Baxter of Denver. The New Isis became a Fox theater in 1919.
The other theaters in the photo at qsgu7 are: the Victory at 1620 Curtis (the former Princess, renamed in 1924); the Colonial at 1629 Curtis (dating from 1911); the Empress at 1625 Curtis (dating from 1907); the America on the ne corner of 16th and Curtis (built in 1917); the Colorado on the nw corner of 16th and Curtis (the renovated and remodeled Tabor Grand Opera House; and, the Rialto at 1544 Curtis Street (originally opened as the United States Theater in 1913).
I have been working on a history of Denver’s early movie theater and have a large database of information and photos I would be happy to share with anyone interested. You can contact be directly at
The York Theater (2221 East Colfax Avenue) opened in September 1913. It was a movie theater up through 1919. The original building is still in existence and is a Seiko Watch Repair store.
The Paris Theater opened on October 5, 1912 with a seating capacity of over 2,000. It came under the control of Brown & Megahan (owners of the Strand and Isis theaters) in November 1918, and the name was changed to the Rivoli Theater. The Rivoli became a Fox theater in September 1919 when Brown & Megahan sold their theaters to the Fox Film Corp.
The Orpheum Theater (1513 Welton Street) opened on October 5, 1903 as Denver’s premier vaudeville house. It was remodeled several times and became a movie house in the 1920, and part of the RKO chain about 1930. There are a number of good photos of the Orpheum available in the Western History Collection of the Denver Public Libray. They can be accessed online through the DPL’s website. There was an earlier Orpheum Theater (1746 Curtis Street) in Denver in the 1890s, but it there was no connection with the Orpheum theaters run by Martin Beck. Prior to the opening of the Orpheum Theater on Welton Street, Orpheum vaudeville was presented at the Empire Theater at 1717 Curtis Street in 1902.
The Ogden Theater (935 East Colfax Avenue) was opened in 1917 by John Thompson, who also ran the Thompson (later Bluebird) Theater at 3317 East Colfax. There is a very good description of the interior of the Ogden in the July 5, 1919 (p. 89) issue of the Moving Picture World. For a time in the 1970s and 1980s the Ogden was part of the Landmark chain and ran double features several times a week.
The New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street) was opened on May 1, 1913. The original owner was Samuel L. Baxter who had been running the Isis Theater at 1632 Curtis Street since the beginning of 1909. He was also the owner of a nickelodeon,the Denver Theater at 1015 17th Street, since the summer of 1907. Baxter sold the New Isis to the firm of Brown & Megahan at the end of 1918. Brown & Megahan also ran the Strand Theater (1640 Curtis Street) built on the site of the old Isis Theater. Brown & Megahan sold the Isis (as well as the Strand, the Plaza [1721 Curtis Street] and the Rivioli [1751 Curtis Street] to the Fox Film Corporation in September 1919. As far as I know the D&R firm were never connected with either the old Isis or the new Isis. They did control the Princess/Victory Theater at 1620 Curtis Street and the Rialto Theater at 1544 Curtis Street in the late teens and early twenties, as well as several redidential theaters. I had the please of knowing Frank Ricketson in the 1980 when I worked at the Denver Center Cinema (Frank Ricketson Theater) when it was part of the Denver Center for the Performing arts.
The Bluebird Theater was originally opened on September 11, 1915 as the Thompson Theater. The owner (John Thompson)also owned and operated the Ogden Theater (1917) at 935 East Colfax Avenue. Thompson sold his theaters in 1920, and the Thompson Theater became the Bluebird Theater in 1922. Sometime before 1925, the Bluebird came under the control of Harry Huffman, who also ran the Bide-A-Wee Theater at 1036 West Colfax Avenue (next door to his Pharmacy) and later built the Aladdin Theater at 2010 East Colfax Avenue.
I am not sure of the opening date listed for the Denver Theater. The theater was built during the latter part of 1926, and was listed in the 1927 City Directory as the Metropolitan in April 1927. This might be the date on which the theater was renamed. It was a Publix theater, built by Paramount, before becoming a Warner theater.
This is a photo taken from the parking lot across 16th street, the former site of the Denver Theater
I would be interested in receiving more information about this theater. I have been researching theaters in Denver prior to 1920, and have some knowledge of latter ones. A friend in Sante Fe sent me a layout of this theater from a German book, but I have never heard of it before, and it is not listed in the City Directories.
Monty-Denver – What can I help you with. I have a good collection of photos, both hardcopy and in jpg. format of most of Denver’s early theaters. Most were obtained from the Denver Public Library and the Colorado Historical Society. I can be contacted by email at or phone at (303) 692-1137. If you live in the Denver area I would be happy to show you what I have and share anything I can. I live at Leetsdale & Quebec in Denver and am home most days of the week. So you can send my an email or give me a call (just leave a message if I am not home) and I will get in contact with you.
I have just completed by profile of the Isis Theater at 1724 Curtis Street. It contains all the information I have been able to gather about the theater from it’s opening in May 1913 thru the early 1920s, taken from local newspapers, trade magazines, etc. It contains a list of all the photos I have been able to identify, a list of employees taken from the City Directories, etc. If anyone would like a copy of this profile, I can provide it in either Word or PDF format. The file is about 650kb. This is one of five profiles of the movie theaters in the 1700 Block of Curtis Street that I can provide. If interested please contact me at and I will email it to you.
I am not sure where the Colorado State Register obtained its information concerning the Thompson/Bluebird Theater, but it is inaccurate. The 600 seat Thompson Theater opened on September 11, 1915 and was far from being the “first Denver theater designed specifically for the exhibiton of movies.” The first “movie” theater opened in Denver was the Princess Theater (1620 Curtis Street) which opened on October 11, 1910 and sat 1,300. The next was the Paris/Rivoli Theater (1751 Curtis Street) which opened on October 5, 1912 and sat 2,300. This was followed by the New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street) which opened on May 1, 1913 and sat 2,200; and the United States/Rialto Theater (1544 Curtis Street) which opened on February 12, 1914 and sat 1,200. All of these downtown theaters opened before the Thompson/Bluebird and were larger theaters.
In addition there were three smaller (450 seat) theaters opened outside the downtown area before the Thompson/Bluebird. The Royal Theater (243 Broadway) was in the Schomberg Theater Building and opend in June 1910. The Rex/Queen Theater (110-112 Broadway) was opened on April 1, 1911 on the site of the present Mayan Theater. The York Theater (2221 East Colfax Avenue) was opened on September 1, 1911.
The Thompson/Bluebird Theater is the oldest theater site still operating as a theater in Denver. However, they have not shown films at the theater for several years and the projectors have been removed. The building that housed the York Theater is still standing, but is a watch repair store. All of the other building have been torn down.
The photo at http://tinyurl.com/qqdse is in fact a different theater on the same block as the Isis. The theater at 1751 Curtis Street was originally opened as the Paris Theater (seating 2,300)in October 1912, just a few month before the Isis opened at 1724 Curtis. The Paris went thru several changes of ownership in the teens before coming under the control of Brown & Megahan, who changed the name to the Rivoli. In September, 1919 they sold the Rivoli, Isis, Strand (1632 Curtis)and Plaza (1717 Curtis) to Fox. At some time in the 1930s the Rivoli was renamed the Tivoli (just for confusions sake). The Denver Public Library has a good collection of photos of these theaters on their website (http://www.denver.lib.co.us/index.html).
The call numbers for photos of the Isis Theater are – X-24670, X-24671, X-24672, X-24673, X-24674, X-24679, X-24853, X-22628 and CHSX5351. Photos of the Paris Theater include: X-22624, CHSX5351 and CHSX8409. Photos of the Rivoli include: MCC-332, MCC-3353, X-23924, X-24721, X-24730, X-24731, X-24732 and X-24733. I have a hard copy photo of the Tivoli and Plaza theaters from the 1930, but don’t have a call number for the online version. I hope all this is helpful.
The photo in the link http://tinyurl.com/qsgu7 shows the 1600 and 1500 blocks of Curtis Street in the mid 1920s. The State Theater (1630 Curtis Street) is on the site of the original Isis Theater (1632 Curtis Street). The Isis was torn town in 1914 and a new theater (the Strand) was opened on the site in September 1915. The bulding was renovated and reopend as the State in September 1925. The photo at http://tinyurl.com/f64on shows the original Isis Theater in 1911 shortly after the opening of the Princess Theater at 1620 Curtis. The Isis Theater in photos k58v8, qnxwn and nfbf8 is technically the New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street)that opened in May 1913. Both Isis theaters were originally owned by Samuel L. Baxter of Denver. The New Isis became a Fox theater in 1919.
The other theaters in the photo at qsgu7 are: the Victory at 1620 Curtis (the former Princess, renamed in 1924); the Colonial at 1629 Curtis (dating from 1911); the Empress at 1625 Curtis (dating from 1907); the America on the ne corner of 16th and Curtis (built in 1917); the Colorado on the nw corner of 16th and Curtis (the renovated and remodeled Tabor Grand Opera House; and, the Rialto at 1544 Curtis Street (originally opened as the United States Theater in 1913).
I have been working on a history of Denver’s early movie theater and have a large database of information and photos I would be happy to share with anyone interested. You can contact be directly at
The York Theater (2221 East Colfax Avenue) opened in September 1913. It was a movie theater up through 1919. The original building is still in existence and is a Seiko Watch Repair store.
The Paris Theater opened on October 5, 1912 with a seating capacity of over 2,000. It came under the control of Brown & Megahan (owners of the Strand and Isis theaters) in November 1918, and the name was changed to the Rivoli Theater. The Rivoli became a Fox theater in September 1919 when Brown & Megahan sold their theaters to the Fox Film Corp.
The Orpheum Theater (1513 Welton Street) opened on October 5, 1903 as Denver’s premier vaudeville house. It was remodeled several times and became a movie house in the 1920, and part of the RKO chain about 1930. There are a number of good photos of the Orpheum available in the Western History Collection of the Denver Public Libray. They can be accessed online through the DPL’s website. There was an earlier Orpheum Theater (1746 Curtis Street) in Denver in the 1890s, but it there was no connection with the Orpheum theaters run by Martin Beck. Prior to the opening of the Orpheum Theater on Welton Street, Orpheum vaudeville was presented at the Empire Theater at 1717 Curtis Street in 1902.
The Ogden Theater (935 East Colfax Avenue) was opened in 1917 by John Thompson, who also ran the Thompson (later Bluebird) Theater at 3317 East Colfax. There is a very good description of the interior of the Ogden in the July 5, 1919 (p. 89) issue of the Moving Picture World. For a time in the 1970s and 1980s the Ogden was part of the Landmark chain and ran double features several times a week.
The New Isis Theater (1724 Curtis Street) was opened on May 1, 1913. The original owner was Samuel L. Baxter who had been running the Isis Theater at 1632 Curtis Street since the beginning of 1909. He was also the owner of a nickelodeon,the Denver Theater at 1015 17th Street, since the summer of 1907. Baxter sold the New Isis to the firm of Brown & Megahan at the end of 1918. Brown & Megahan also ran the Strand Theater (1640 Curtis Street) built on the site of the old Isis Theater. Brown & Megahan sold the Isis (as well as the Strand, the Plaza [1721 Curtis Street] and the Rivioli [1751 Curtis Street] to the Fox Film Corporation in September 1919. As far as I know the D&R firm were never connected with either the old Isis or the new Isis. They did control the Princess/Victory Theater at 1620 Curtis Street and the Rialto Theater at 1544 Curtis Street in the late teens and early twenties, as well as several redidential theaters. I had the please of knowing Frank Ricketson in the 1980 when I worked at the Denver Center Cinema (Frank Ricketson Theater) when it was part of the Denver Center for the Performing arts.
The Bluebird Theater was originally opened on September 11, 1915 as the Thompson Theater. The owner (John Thompson)also owned and operated the Ogden Theater (1917) at 935 East Colfax Avenue. Thompson sold his theaters in 1920, and the Thompson Theater became the Bluebird Theater in 1922. Sometime before 1925, the Bluebird came under the control of Harry Huffman, who also ran the Bide-A-Wee Theater at 1036 West Colfax Avenue (next door to his Pharmacy) and later built the Aladdin Theater at 2010 East Colfax Avenue.