Comments about Towne Theatre in St. Louis, MO

DavidZornig on March 20, 2018 at 4:37 pm

Three circa 1979 photos added via Emir Tutundzic.

Joe Vogel on December 15, 2017 at 2:11 pm

Here is an item from the May 27, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World about the new owner of the Ritz Theatre and his plans for the house. The house had reopened as the Royal on May 7.

“CORNELIUS BUYS THE RITZ. Theater on Sixth and Olive Will be Called the Royal.

“St. Louis, Mo.—J. W. Cornelius, proprietor and manager of the two Lyric theaters and the Lyric Skydome, has added another theater to his string of amusement houses. The Ritz, on Sixth near Olive street, has just passed into the Cornelius management, and opened on Sunday, May 7. The name of the theater has been changed to Royal, and will be known as the downtown home of Paramount pictures, with the price of admission ten and twenty cents.

“The house, which is practically new, has been closed for the past two weeks, undergoing a general brightening up with paint and decorations, and some attractive hangings. One of the finest orchestras in the city, composed of seven pieces with harp and organ accompaniment furnishes the music for the entertainment. The same brand of efficiency prevails at the Royal that has made the Lyric theaters noted for the high quality of their programs, and the excellent deportment of the attendants.

“All the houses under the Cornelius management run with a smoothness and watchful care of detail that speaks for a high degree of study and thought on the business on operating a theater. Mr. Cornelius was one of the first exhibitors in St. Louis to put on high class films In his theaters, and to cater to the better class of patrons. All his houses enjoy a regular clientele of patrons who go to see each bill as it is put on, and the downtown Lyric, which changes program every day, has perhaps the greatest number of these regular patrons.”

rivest266 on February 20, 2016 at 3:28 pm

November 19th, 1922 grand opening ad as Rivoli in photo section.

Joe Vogel on January 18, 2012 at 2:46 am

An article in The Moving Picture World of January 1, 1916, said that the St. Louis Amusement Company had opened the Ritz theater at 208-210 N. 6th Street as an all-picture house on December 11, 1915. The Ritz operated from eleven o'clock each morning until eleven o'clock at night, with the admission price being ten cents at all times.