Colvin Theater

The Colvin theatre was opened by Basil theatres on April 9th, 1944.

Basil’s Covin theatre opening 07 Apr 1944, Fri Buffalo Evening News (Buffalo, New York) Newspapers.com

As so many before on this list, I went to Lindberg, Kenmore Jr., Kenmore Sr. High Schools. I was at many Saturday matinee’s. A quarter went a long ways, 14 cents to get in, 6 cents for candy and a nickel for bus fare to get home. I always looked forward to the Cheerio Yo Yo Contests. How about those grab bags for the first 500 of us kids. I’m now 73 years old (todays date July 27, 2015 for reference) and living in Las Vegas.

Anyone remember the Colvin showing 30 cartoons in the late 50’s, early 60’s on saturday afternoons? I counted once and there were less than 30, but by the end we were so bleary eyed no one cared.

I grew up in Kenmore in the 50’s, lived on 72 deumaunt terrace and went to Charles Lindberg. I watched many many or the sci-fi movies at the Colvin including the Blob with Steve Mcqueen. I cried at the Colvin at the end of Ol Yeller. Moved to California in 1960, and herd from a ebay customer of mine in Kenmore the Colvin was torn down. How I remember walking to and from the Colvin, many times in Winter snow. Went to matinees on Saturdays. I remember the A&P next door, and a custurd stand accross the steet, and St.Joes. I saw the film with Ben Gazarra “Buffalo something” and it looked like St. Joes filmed a scene on Wilton Place. Walking to Lindberg on winter days, and shoveling snow, the Colvin were my childhood. No snow in Los angeles, just sunny California and the movies cost a years worth of the Colvin now. That ebay customer said he retieved some kind of light fixture out of the Colvin. I have a vauge recollection of the upstairs part, and didn;t remember they had so many seats. What a shame, replaced by apartments. I’m sure I would not recognize the neighborhood, but a coworker not long ago visited Tonawanda, and took a roll of pictures of my old house and steet for me.

The “Colvin” was located at 1069 Kenmore Ave., between Colvin and Charleston. It was designed by Eli W. Goldstein with 1,000 seats. I have it being razed during the summer of 1984.

I went to the Colvin in the 1960’s and 1970’s when I was a teenager. I lived in Kenmore, so it was easy to get to. Earthquake in Sensurrond was a big deal. I saw it 6 times there. The movie was terrible but the effect was neat. I think I saw every movie that showed there. Back in the 1970’s, some Buffalo shows where still open. I would go to the old shows instead of the multiplexes. The Bailey would show 2 movies for $1.00. What A bargain. I also went to the Kensington, I think it blew up and that was the end of it. We all went to the Showplace, the old Unity. Been in the Ellen Terry, musicians were renting in the 1990’s and it was tore down. I saw Jaws at the Lovejoy, it is now a community swimming pool. The Century was showing 3 movies on Thursdays and Saturdays in the 1970’s. Went there quite a lot. I saw Walking Tall at the Teck, it became horrible looking inside. Remember the Downtown Cinema, across the street from the Buffalo, it was really a small show compared to the big shows in downtown.

Patsy, I lived not too far from both the Colvin and the Granada. I saw the Colvin being demolished…sad! I went to the Granada a couple of times…caught the ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’ there when they went all out with audience participation. They ran it every weekend for several years as I recall. Later Rocky Horror moved to the Amherst, just across from UB with weekend midnight showings. For the longest time after the Granada closed it had ‘for rent’ signs on it. Eventually the marquee was removed and the theater entrance was boarded over. I never went around to the rear to see if the auditorium was still there or had been demolished. I do recall
seeing the comedy and tragedy masks in the stonework above the
entrance, though

The listing for the Colvin theater’s address is inaccurate. It was on Kenmore Ave, east of Colvin Blvd in Kenmore NY. The dividing line between the city of Buffalo and Kenmore runs down the middle of Kenmore Av and the theater was on the Kenmore side. Around the time that it closed, there was an article about the theater in one of the local papers about the family that built it and it’s unique upstairs apartment with the window overlooking the auditorium as well as the crying room downstairs. The group that built the senior’s hi rise at the corner of Colvin and Kenmore Av. extended their holdings and built a 2nd seniors complex on the theater site.

“I think the neighborhood theaters closed in the 1950’s. There are MANY in Buffalo. Perhaps I will look them up in one of my old city directories. The only one left is the North Park on Hertel. In the late ‘70’s I used to go to the Colvin, which is now gone. It was a Basil Brothers theater. The Granada was on Main Street near our city house. The back (house) was demolished, but the front entrance still faces Main St. and it has the "comedy” and “tragedy” masks carved in the stone above the entrance. In college I saw Rocky Horror there.“ The above quoted information was sent to me from a friend via email. He mentions The Granada, but I don’t see it on the cinema treasures website NY list. My friend mentions the Colvin though so I will ask him about this theatre with a 'window’.

I remember watching “Earthquake” in Sensurround there. I saw that apartment—it had beautiful deco lines and did indeed have a large window looking out to the movie screen.