American Theatre
530 E. Main Street,
Ventura,
CA
93001
530 E. Main Street,
Ventura,
CA
93001
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The American Theatre was opened prior to 1923 when it was listed with 800 seats. By 1941 it was operated by Principal Theaters Corp. of America. It was closed on July 4, 1950 with Audie Murphy in “The Kid From Texas” & Alan Ladd in “Chicago Deadline”.
In August 1950 it became a church. In 1952 it went over to retail use as a stationary store.
Contributed by
Ken Roe
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The American Theatre was in operation by 1923, when this brief notice appeared in the September 8 issue of The Moving Picture World: “The Apollo Theatre will be opened shortly at Ventura, Cal., by the owners of the American Theatre.”
The principal owner of the American was Charles Corcoran, later a local partner with West Coast Theatres in the Ventura Theatre. The partnership predated the construction of the Ventura, as noted in this item from MPW for March 6, 1926:
The American Theatre’s final showing fittingly was on July 4, 1950 with “The Kid from Texas” and “Chicago Deadline.” In August of 1950, the theatre was home to Ventura for Christ Church. In 1952, the theatre was retrofitted for retail becoming home to a stationery store.