Cinema

In its reincarnation as the Cinema, its grand opening was Friday, November 22, 1968. The opening feature was the New Castle premiere of 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Hi Joe, Sorry for the delay, I’ve been working on a restoration. This info. (from memory) originally came from an old projection operator who was around at the time. The Warner Bro’s. had been going around Western PA and Eastern Ohio, near their Youngstown home, with a crank projector, a single film and a tent for use when weather or a vacant room were not available. One of the rooms they rented for this special event was part of, or adjacent to a funeral home on New Castle’s E. Washington Street. They borrowed folding chairs from the funeral director and projected the film on a 7 foot mirror. Apparently the response was so good and New Castle was a bustling city with the world’s largest tin mill and many other industries that they decided to experiment with making New Castle a permanent location. The makeshift “theatre” was referred to as the Bijou (little Gem) and The Pioneer. After several months, in 1903, the moved a few doors down E. Washington Street to a more appropriate property and created the Cascade Theatre. The location later became a Neisner 5 and 10 store and is now called the Cascade Center with a lobby display representing the façade of the Cascade Theatre and some vintage projectors. The Cascade was quickly followed by small “nickelodeons” such as the sheet metal-constructed Moravia Theatre, The Nixon (Victor), across the street from the Cascade, The Dome (Cinema), Park (Regent), Star, all on Washington Street and the Baltimore Strand on Long Avenue. In 1904 the Warner’s bought a small film company in Pittsburgh which eventually evolved into the Warner empire. Later, more elaborate theatres included the Capitol (vaudeville) and Penn theatres were constructed.

It would be nice to see a working “model” of the Cascade created. It might show a Warner documentary film, classics, etc as a tourist attraction. Who know, maybe some day…..

establish/renew link

Yes indeed! I was 14 when I started my first job as an usher at the New Castle Victor theatre. Now at 64 I have very fond memories of conversations with projectionists, stage hands and managers in and about the Pittsburgh area. When many of us were in our teens and twenties, these dedicated people where in their fifties and sixties. Nothing was better than sharing a coffee or a beer with one of these people. Their stories of people and events from the early days of theatrical entertainment. It was a right of passage for those of us you still believed in the magic and future of “the business.”

One of my favorite pieces of advice, when I was an Assistant Manager, was from an old projectionist who lectured me in the art of showmanship. He said: …”remember kid, if you don’t want people to think this is second class grind house, ALWAYS close the curtain and bring up the footlights between the trailers and feature.”

When people remember these picture palaces, it’s a shame that the dedicated managers, projectionists and other career folks often get forgotten and unmentioned. Big chains and moneyed people may have built most of the theatres we have all loved; but it was, indeed, the staff and management that brought the magic to life every day.

Never stop believing.

JohnMessick: I’m familiar with the CT name, Norelco though didn’t know or have forgotten that he used to be a projectionist….those are the folks with great theatre memories!

Yes, that is sad. This theater seems to have had its 9 lives, but finally ran out.

And another one bites the dust. Although judging by the photo posted on 10/15/06, I’m not sure if rehab was feasible.

The 1950 edition of Film Daily Yearbook lists a Paramount Theatre at this address with a seating capacity of 335. In the earlier 1941 & 1943 editions of F.D.Y. the Paramount is listed with a seating capacity of 390.

Originally, there were two theatres on Long Avenue in New Castle, The Baltimore Strand and Baltimore State. They were so named because they were built and originally operated by the Baltimore Family. The Strand was an early nickelodeon and never made the transition to “talkies.” The State; however, has survived almost 9 decades and a multitude of owners to, surprisingly, be the last operating theatre from “the good old days. The New Castle Playhouse, with which I was briefly associated in the late 50’s and early 60’s at the Crescent Theatre location, has done a wonderful job of preserving and renovating the theatre and an adjacent second auditorium for theatrical productions.

I happened to be in New Castle this past weekend and had the pleasure of seeing Man Of La Mancha at the Playhouse. Excellently staged with near flameless acting. People interested in preserving classic theatres in other communities would be well advised to look at what the New Castle Playhouse has accomplished at the site of the old State Theatre.

Jack: Thank you for your interesting information and my hat is off to you for having renovated many old stately theatres. And I, too, would love to see a tribute to the original Warner Brothers theatre.

I don’t know, but I would imagine it was named the Castle when it closed. Too bad that the City of New Castle can’t or won’t bring back this theatre as long as the effort is being made to bring back the first silent film theatre built by the Warner Bros. in that city.

Correction! I did see this theatre while in New Castle as I now recall the letter “C” in the middle of the rusting marquee as we left town! I was going to take a picture, but it was just too bad to photograph with weeds growing up along the one exterior wall. It certainly looked like it hadn’t been a theatre in a very long time. And I don’t think the Zambelli name would want to put their time, effort and funds into that one now that I’ve seen it, in person! No where did I see the word “Castle” which is what the “C” must have stood for and not the word “Cinema”.