In addition to the Leader during the 50’s when I was a kid growing up in West Philly we had the nearby Colonial at 42nd Lancaster; The Casino at 39th Haverford off Lancaster;The Unique at 36th Haverford;The Eureka at 39th Market St;The Fans between 40th and 41st Market;The Commodore at 43rd Walnut. And there was always 52nd street area with a lot of movie houses. Life was good, before TV.
I used to live a block away on Preston Street. Went here many times in 40’s and 50’s. Remember seeing The Blackboard Jungle here and when Rock around the Clock came on, the kids got up and danced in the aisles. Saw live stage shows here, one thaT COMES TO MIND WAS fRANKIE lYMAN AND THE jUNIORS IN 1956. They used to run Looney Tune cartoon festivals on Saturday afternoons for 25 cents many hours of cartoons. Remember when admission price was 16 cents for kids under 12. Used to sneak up on the balcony as it was normally closed. At Halloween they would run a triple feature of Frankenstein…Dracula…The Wolfman all original Universal classics. Had good memories of the place. Went back recently. From the front you would never know it was once a movie theater, but if you go around on 41st street the original bldg stillstands as does the rear, complete with the emergency fire escapes at balcony level.
In addition to the Leader during the 50’s when I was a kid growing up in West Philly we had the nearby Colonial at 42nd Lancaster; The Casino at 39th Haverford off Lancaster;The Unique at 36th Haverford;The Eureka at 39th Market St;The Fans between 40th and 41st Market;The Commodore at 43rd Walnut. And there was always 52nd street area with a lot of movie houses. Life was good, before TV.
I used to live a block away on Preston Street. Went here many times in 40’s and 50’s. Remember seeing The Blackboard Jungle here and when Rock around the Clock came on, the kids got up and danced in the aisles. Saw live stage shows here, one thaT COMES TO MIND WAS fRANKIE lYMAN AND THE jUNIORS IN 1956. They used to run Looney Tune cartoon festivals on Saturday afternoons for 25 cents many hours of cartoons. Remember when admission price was 16 cents for kids under 12. Used to sneak up on the balcony as it was normally closed. At Halloween they would run a triple feature of Frankenstein…Dracula…The Wolfman all original Universal classics. Had good memories of the place. Went back recently. From the front you would never know it was once a movie theater, but if you go around on 41st street the original bldg stillstands as does the rear, complete with the emergency fire escapes at balcony level.