Cort Theater

Joe Vogel on November 15, 2024 at 11:53 am

The only theater listed at Luverne in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory is called the Opera House, which would seem a rather grandiose name for this modest storefront operation. When the Palace Theatre opened in 1915 it was called the New Opera House, implying that Luverne had an old Opera House, and I suppose it could have been this house, inappropos as it might seem, but over the longer term this house came to be known, still rather pretentiously, as the Grand Theatre. It is the only theater at Luverne other than the Palace to be mentioned in trade journals, and it was also named in this article from the March 1, 1918 issue of the Rock County Herald:

“GRAND THEATRE SOLD TO HERMAN JOCHIMS

“Owner of Palace Theatre Acquires Control of Grand and Will Operate Both Places.

“Through the provisions of a sale made Wednesday, Manager Herman Jochims, of the New Palace theatre, also becomes owner and manager of the Grand theatre, Luverne’s exclusive motion picture house. The transfer includes the good will, the equipment, and a two-years’ lease on the building occupied by the Grand, which is owned by C.M. LaDue. (This is the east half of the Arcade Building.)

“Possession will not be given by Manager Willert until next Monday morning, and during the three evenings remaining before he severs his connections with the theatre, he will endeavor to put on especially attractive programs as farewell offerings.

“For the present, at least, Mr. Jochims will continue to operate both amusement places, and will retain much the same bookings at the Grand as Mr. Willert presented. Monday evening’s offering will include a continuation of the serial that was started there a few weeks ago. But it is likely that the Grand will be closed during the middle of the week days, when attendance at theatres is naturally the smallest.

“The retiring manager-owner of the Grand has conducted this theatre for nearly four years, and has been accorded a liberal share of the public’s patronage. As yet he has made no definite arrangements for the future, but expects to engage in the motion picture theatre business elsewhere, and has several propositions under consideration.”

Photos of the building at this address captioned as the Arcade Building can be found on the Internet, so there’s no mistake. The 1926 FDY lists only two theaters at Luverne, and they are the Palace and a 250-seat house called the Cort Theatre. The latter seems most likely to have been a new name for the Grand. The last mention of the Grand I’ve found in trade journals is this item from Moving Picture World of August 2, 1919: “J. P. Coffey has leased the former Grand Theatre building at Luverne, Minnesota, to Glen Duggan, who will open it as a motion picture house in the near future.”

Joe Vogel on November 15, 2024 at 1:24 pm

There is confirmation that the Grand became the Cort Theatre, sometime after Glen Duggan got control of the Grand, noted in the August, 1919 MPW item cited in my previous comment. The evidence is in the Google search results for a page in the Rock County Star Herald which I can’t date as it requires a subscription to access, but the Google results include this: “…Duggan, formerly manager of the Cort theatre….” The Cort was still listed in the 1929 FDY, but I haven’t checked later editions. If the Cort did not close with the onset of the depression, it would surely have closed by the time the Pix opened.