Greenway Theatre

Located on Greenway Avenue in the Kingsessing district to the west of the city. The Broadway Theatre was opened on June 22, 1914. It was refurbished on October 15, 1926 and renamed Cameo Theatre. It was taken over by the Stanley Theatres circuit in 1930 although was operated by Eli Resnick who renamed it Greenway Theatre in the late-1930’s. He operated it until his death in 1952. It was the place to go on a Saturday afternoon. They had the “chapters”, which always ended with cliff-hangers. It was taken over by Paul & Samuel Resnick and closed on October 19, 1952 with Jeff Chandler in “Iron Man” & Donald O'Connor in “Double Crossbones”.

It became offices and a warehouse. By 2019 it is the Grace Tabernacle Christian Church

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

Joe Vogel on June 14, 2012 at 8:50 pm

I believe this theatre was most likely in the building that is now the Grace Tabernacle Christian Church, currently using the address 5122 Greenway Avenue. It is probably also the unnamed theater mentioned in the September 16, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World:

“PHILADELPHIA, PA.—John C. Conner has taken title to the one-story brick moving picture theater at 5124-26-28 Greenway avenue. The building is situated on a lot 52 by 140 feet and is assessed at $15,000.”

The current building looks deeper than 140 feet, though, so the theater might have been rebuilt sometime after 1916, but it’s more likely that it was just expanded.

dallasmovietheaters on February 14, 2022 at 1:34 am

John C. Conner opened the Greenway in 1916. He sold it in 1919 to M. Seltzer who sold it to Eli Resnick in 1921. Stanley Circuit took on the Greenway Theatre in 1930 but Resnick operated the theatre until his death in 1952. It appears that Paul and Samuel Resnick took on the operation and it may have exited after the October 19, 1952 showing of “The Iron Man” and “Double Crossbones.” However, they may have continued operations without advertising. Either way, it became a long-running church that was still operating in the 21st Century.

mtkane209 on February 3, 2023 at 1:21 am

I went there every Saturday as a child. I distinctly remember the chapters. Next door was a little shed where candy was sold.