Palace Theatre

The Crystal Theatre launched July 16, 1910 with silent movies and illustrated songs. The theatre only lasted a year with the venue becoming a garage. But the Crystal Theatre rematerialized courtesy of new operator Cal Conner on April 22, 1922.

Gano Post #28 of the American Legion took on the Crystal Theatre renaming it as the Legion Theatre beginning on April 13, 1923 with Teddie Gerard starring in “The Cave Girl”. After a refresh, the Legion Theatre became the Palace Theatre on February 7, 1925 opening with Lefty Flynn in “The Uninvited Guest”.

The Palace Theatre stayed with silent films long after most other theatres had installed sound. After an experiment in May of 1931, operator Roy Eakins installed sound beginning with the August 23, 1931 films. Eakins opened his new Royal Theatre nearby beginning on December 8, 1939. For reasons that are not clear, the Palace Theatre continued along with the new Royal Theatre in a two-theatre town that had just 735 people. But the Palace Theatre closed permanently on December 26, 1939 with Johnny Weissmuller in “Tarzan Finds a Son”.

Jack Daughtery of Canton, Oklahoma, purchased the building and razed it for scrap and remnants used in another building in Canton. The long-running Royal Theatre was still in operation in the mid-1960’s in downtown Helena.

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