Elite Theatre

The Elite Theatre was a Northside Pittsburgh movie theater built near the Fort Wayne / Federal Street railroad terminal in a bustling, loud part of the city. The Elite Theatre was neither elitist nor elite constructed for just $7,000 in an existing building on Federal Street in 1912. Contractor D.A. File was game to add iron fortification, moving the entry inward permitting some sidewalk clearance for potential crowds, and a sparse ornamental front to create the Elite Theatre – its name etched as a single word permanently in the structure just below the roof line.

The front of the theatre was devoid of a flashy lit attractor and depictions of the theatres' marketing demonstrated simplicity as window cards were affixed to the sides of the exterior building. The Elite Theatre was an independently-owned movie house showing independent films at its outset. The venue launched June 30, 1912 with these films: Jack Richardson in the just-released “The Evil Inheritance,” Thomas Ince’s “The Colonel’s Peril", “The Actor’s Tent", King Baggot in the newly released “His Other Self", and Comet Film’s “The Wild Rose of the Hills".

The address of 309 Federal Street of the Elite Theatre may have rung a bell for locals as the venue had once housed a Chinese restaurant that had a high-profile murder associated by the press with the Tong War that had peaked during the earlier part of the Century. In fact, there had been no such violence recorded in Pittsburgh in recent memory. The details were also fairly spectacular as a third-party offered the head cook of the Chinese restaurant $200 if he would taint the food of the restaurant to destroy its reputation. And then offered a second option: $400 to kill the owner, display his hatchet skills by cutting up the owner’s body and shipping it in a trunk to San Francisco - apparently a signature of the war in that era. The cook opted for the latter option taking action on April 1, 1911; but apparently, he bungled the job missing with three gunshots and ended up shot four times fatally by the restaurant owner. The owner of the restaurant, Tom Yee, admitted to the murder in self-defence but was then further identified – allegedly - as Ye Chi Lai, wanted in Philadelphia for a grisly hatchet and knife murder there some five years earlier also attributed to the Tong Wars.

Crowds gathered at the restaurant for days. Serving two month’s time in a local jail, Lai / Yee was said to be in good spirits, a model prisoner and claiming no relation the person who committed the Philly murder. As the trial approached, Lai / Yee was found dead in his cell – an apparent suicide that apparently left some locals questioning the events in the lockup. This did end the story in June 1911 and concretized the permanent closure of the restaurant. Hindsight being 20/20, perhaps the cook, Yee Check Yah, should have opted for the $200 tainting of the food. In any event, the storefront was cleared and fitted as the Elite Theatre.

The Elite Theatre was a theatre that had an almost constant revolving door of owners dreaming of big bucks at the venue. But there is ample evidence that the venue struggled in its amazing, nearly 25-year journey in both the silent and sound film era. The first operator appears to be veteran showman and roller rink operator John Tress. Tress would move away from indy films and signing contracts with Universal Films and Red Feather Photoplay for their releases. Robert Carson took over for the retiring Tress in 1916 dropping Red Feather in favor of Triangle Photoplays. Scott Lane and John Fitzgerald took over the venue that Fall. New operators in 1918 and 1922 refreshed the venue. The 1922 refresh reportedly dropped the venue from a cramped 400 seat count to 300. (And if you bought all the outgoing seats, you could have them for 50 cents per unit.) Though the Elite Theatre continued to operate, advertisements were soon discontinued likely in a cost-saving move.

A long-running neighbor, Gates Candy, served as a de facto snack bar with its in-house, fresh made candy counter and soda fountain for before and after movie snacks. But the Gates Candy Factory and Store was a Depression-era victim auctioned off at a constable sale in July of 1930. At the Elite Theatre, things apparently weren’t too much better. However, another new operator added sound to the Elite Theatre for it to remain viable. Unfortunately, that owner, Israel White, committed suicide citing financial woes in 1935. Son-in-law-to-be Sidney Pink resumed operations for the Elite Theatre as its final owner. He had previously served as a projectionist at the venue.

Back on March 16, 1907, the Federal Street business district (pre-Elite) was caught off-guard when a flood caused major damage to the area. Nineteen years and a day later, a more significant flood ended operations permanently at the Elite Theatre on March 17, 1936. Although the 1936 Johnstown Flood is more remembered in Pennsylvania history, the Pittsburgh flood caused over a half billion dollars in damage in 1936 Depression-era money. The Federal Street business district suffered heavy losses. Local reporters covered the Elite Theatre which had a sign from March of 1936 all the way until 1937 that read, “Closed for flood repairs. Opening soon". The reopening never occurred. Pink had moved to Hollywood in 1937 where he would produce 25 films and he would be considered by some as the “Father of 3D films” for producing “Bwana Devil (in 3D)” in 1952.

The former Elite Theatre became a short-lived florist and a long-running furniture store called the Elite Furniture Company. After all, the name was still on the building’s façade. In 1976 and 1977, the Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation teamed up with Pittsburgh’s Bureau of Building Inspections to designate 39 buildings to be razed for a major road construction, highway project. Those who didn’t agree to the Department of Transportation’s plans were simply rung up on violations of city building codes. The Elite Furniture store moved to new digs and both sides of the Federal Street business district would be bulldozed.

At demolition in 1977/8, if reports are accurate, the Elite Theatre auditorium was still intact and razed accordingly as the “former Elite Theatre". Not bad for a long-shuttered, 65 year old venue. The highway plans simply did not mesh with the continuity of the business district or even the new Allegheny Center mall that ostensibly replaced the Fort Wayne Station in 1965. The highway project interrupted local traffic flow in the Federal Street and E. Ohio Street entry and exit into the Northside district. It was likely a sour ending for those who recall the glory days of this bustling Northside business district of the city.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.