Fairfax Theatre
211 S. Main Street,
East Point,
GA
30344
211 S. Main Street,
East Point,
GA
30344
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The Fairfax Theatre was a property of Fred Coleman who also developed two other venues in South Atlanta, the Fulton Theatre in Hapeville and a drive-in on Moreland Avenue, which later became known as the Starlight Drive-In.
The Fairfax Theatre was opened September 28, 1926 with Ford Sterling in “Stepping Out”. It was destroyed by fire sometime during the mid to late-1950’s.
Contributed by
Jack Coursey
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Don – For some reason I don’t remember the Capitol Theater. When growing up most of my movie going was to one of the three theaters in East Point. When I did go to one in downtown Atlanta, it was usually to the Paramount, the Loew’s Grand, or the Fox. Those were my three favorites.I can remember seeing Gone With the Wind sometime during the mid ‘40s at either the Loew’s or Paramount.
Dave – GONE WITH THE WIND always played at the Loew’s Grand, which had exclusive first runs and prestige reissues of Metro Goldwyn Mayer pictures. “Loew’s, Inc.” was the “Metro” in MGM. The Paramount and the Fox were also my great favorites of mine when I was growing up in the 1950’s. Since the Capitol closed about 1948, it was before my time.
The Fairfax Theatre opened the week of September 26, 1926. Alpha Fowler was the manager and also operated the Palace, West End, and Tenth Street theatres, which were other neighborhood houses in the Atlanta area. By 1929 Lucus and Jenkins had gained control of these theatres
Here is an archive photo of the Fairfax Theatre.
Here is a link to a photo of the East Point,including The Fairfax, from The Atlanta History Center Collection:
View link
About three months after opening the Fairfax Theatre, Oscar Oldknow sold a half interest in the house to Universal, according to an item in the January 7, 1927, issue of Motion Picture News. Oldknow was a Vice President of Universal at this time. Oscar’s father, William Oldknow, had been an executive of the Universal Film Corporation in 1915, and Oscar’s son, William Oldknow II, later moved to Los Angeles and in 1949 married Constantina Skouras, niece of Fox West Coast Theatres head Charles Skouras. Oscar Oldknow himself had become associated with Fox Theatres by 1930, probably through the Fox-affiliated Lucas & Jenkins circuit which had taken over the Fairfax by that time.
The 1927 MPN item had a bit more information about Universal’s Atlanta area expansion plans:
The house on Flat Shoals Avenue must have been the Madison Theatre. The house under construction on Ponce de Leon Avenue was most likely the DeKalb Theatre in Decatur, which opened on August 8, 1927.Great post, Joe! It’s almost certain that the location on Ponce de Leon near Boulevard was for the Ponce de Leon Theatre. My dad used to take me to see westerns there in the 1950’s. The Ponce de Leon closed in the mid ‘50’s and stood vacant for close to 20 years.
Thanks for the information, Don. I totally missed the Ponce de Leon Theatre in my search.
This opened on September 28tth, 1926. Its grand opening ad can be found in the photo section.
Circa 1958 photo added, original source unknown.