Vernon Theatre
5508 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
5508 Germantown Avenue,
Philadelphia,
PA
19144
2 people
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The rebranded Vernon Theatre launched for Warner on October 25, 1940 with “Brigham Young Frontiersman.” Stanley Warner closed it on May 27, 1951 with Doris Day in “Lullaby of Broadway.” A salvage sale occurred in June and July of 1951 prior to and as the theatre was being razed.
Today, the site remains an empty lot, covered with vegetation.
From “Theatres of Germantown” — by Dennis McGlinchey
Germantown Theatre / Vernon Theatre:
“ … At some point in the 1930s, the theatre was remodeled and re-opened as the Vernon Theatre. The seating capacity was reduced from 1,800 to 1,168 seats. … ”
This timespan is the closest I can come to when the name was changed. Until someone is able to provide a more definitive date, “circa 1930s” will have to suffice. I may be able to get a closer date from Philadelphia’s L & I. If so, I’ll share.
Wow. Thank you Steltz.
I attended the “Grand Opening” of the refurbished Vernon Theater, formerly the Germantown. The movie that played was Brigham Young. So we can pretty well set 1941 as the beginning date for the Vernon.
On page 47 of the Vestal Press’s reprint of the Wurlitzer Unit Organ brochure, there is a fine photo of the Germantown Theatre’s interior (stage view).
I must augment my previous posting about those “three nearby theaters” in 1940s Germantown. There were actually four. I almost forgot about the “Colonial”, one of the larger theaters, on Germantown Ave.
In the mid to late 1940s, my parents used to take me into Germantown on Friday or Saturday nights for dinner and a movie. We would often eat at Horn & Hardart’s Automat on Germantown Ave.(my favorite), or a place called, I think, the “Green Street Tavern”, or “Lackies”. For a special dinner we would sometimes go to the more expensive “Imhof"s” on Chelton Ave.. After dinner we would go to one of the three nearby movie theaters: the “Orpheum” on Chelton Ave; the “Vernon” on Germantown Ave.; or the smallest of the three, the “Band Box” on a little side street off Germantown Ave. I remember seeing “Song of the South” at the Orpheum — which came out in 1946. I hope this info is helpful in dating these wonderful old movie houses.
I was born and raised in Germantown. This theatre closed before my time. Curious about it though. Anybody remember what it looked like inside? Email me at or post what you remember here. Thanks.
I have a picture of the Germantown Theatre (before it was the Vernon)and will upload it once the photo feature is restored here.
This is one that the Philadelphia Architects & Building site is wrong on. This was a large theater built as the Germantown Theatre and the early use was primarily stage shows and vaudeville. I have early press notices from the opening and onward that shows it was an 1,800 seat theatre. Also, people from Germantown are recalling it as the Vernon back in the 1940s. Not sure when it converted over from the Germantown to the Vernon, but it was sooner then 1950. The theatre closed in 1951.