Calmar Theatre
Main Street and Maryville Street,
Calmar,
IA
52132
Main Street and Maryville Street,
Calmar,
IA
52132
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Additional Info
Previous Names: Frana Opera House, Olympic Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Frana Opera House was opened on March 23, 1916. In May 1916 it was renamed Olympic Theatre and became a full-time 350-seat movie theatre. It was equipped with a Wurlitzer organ. It converted to sound to remain viable and closed briefly in 1933 for a refresh. In 1944 the seating capacity had been reduced to 280 and it had been renamed Calmar Theatre. It was closed on June 1, 1957 with Esther Williams in “The Unguarded Moment”. The building still stands in 2017, use unknown.
Contributed by
Billy Holcomb / Don Lewis / Billy Smith
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
A photo postcard view of the Calmar Theatre in Calmar.
The new-build Frana Opera House launched March 23, 1916 by L.J. Frana with “As Years Roll On,” a live show starring Al Wilson. The building also housed a drug store. The town already had a movie theater in the Palm Theater’s Movies at Calmar and Frana quickly learned that the townspeople liked movies more than live shows. Frana would briskly reposition the opera house within two months as the movie-centered Olympic Theatre after installing a $3,500 Wurlitzer pipe organ and getting the coveted Paramount Studios exclusive film contract. That would be enough to unseat the Palm Theater.
In 1930, he equipped the Olympic Theatre venue with sound and played his first talkie in “Rio Rita.” Frasna sold the theatre after 29 years of operation to John Ladue in November 1944. After a refresh that included a new sound system and new seating to the count of 280, the venue was rebooted as the Calmar Theatre. It appears that the Calmar Theatre closed June 1, 1957 with Esther Williams in “Unguarded Moment.” So while it was the Calmar Theatre also known as the Olympic Theatre, it was never the Olympia Theatre though it started as the (also known as) Frana Opera House.