Whitehouse Theatre

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Uploaded on: February 14, 2017

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Pioneering Milwaukee theatre owner John Rudolf Freuler opened his first theatre in 1905 - the Comique, a Milwaukee nickelodeon. Turning to producing comedy films, he was a founder of Mutual Films and at the picture on the bottom famously signed actor Charlie Chaplin to a lucrative contract.

At the end of his studio career, Frueler returned to his Milwaukee roots purchasing two theatres in the Century and the Whitehouse in 1950. Above, he and his wife are there for opening night of the newly renamed Atlantic Theatre in 1952 (former Whitehouse). This was a departure from the Comique, a business dealing he didn’t even tell his wife about. But this time Frueler badly misjudged the market and both theatres were cataclysmic failures. With taxes mounting up and no buyers for the failing properties, the Atlantic would be demolished within three years to avoid further taxes.