The July 17, 1934 issue of Film Daily had this item about the Colonial: “Newport, R. I.—The Colonial, M & P.-Publix house, has reopened with pictures and vaudeville. The manager is John Connolly. Elmer Taylor is assisting.” As Gerald A. DeLuca’s comment from 2011 notes the connection between the Colonial and Paramount, it appears that this house was operated as part of the Paramount-Publix chain for much of its history,
The October 19, 1940 issue of Motion Picture Herald had this news about the Sunset Theatre: “W. E. Drumbar has added 150 seats to his Sunset theatre in Knoxville, Tenn.”
An historic timeline of Newport (PDF here), based on items drawn from the local newspapers, says that the building that eventually became the Empire Theatre was built in 1842 as the County jail, but the NRHP registration form for the Downtown Newport Historic District says that the theater’s portion of the building was a later addition, probably from 1850. The timeline cites an April 17, 1913 article saying that “Dr. Cain is remodeling the old jail into a hall where it is intended to have moving pictures.” The timeline’s first use of the name Empire is from November 3, 1916 and refers to the theater’s temporary closure due to the influenza pandemic.
The timeline also notes that the owners of the Empire, Sam D. Lewis and Arthur C. Chadwick, bought the Coniston Theatre in September, 1920. It does not mention the Empire again until February, 1925, when the paper noted that the house was being remodeled for use as a public meeting and recreation hall. This use continued until the entire former jail complex was converted for use as a department store in 1946.
Empire was not one of the two theater names listed at Newport in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Those were the Newport Casino on Belknap Avenue and the Scenic Theatre, no location given. The timeline cites articles from September and October, 1912, saying that the town had rescinded a previous decision and voted to grant L. L. Ransom a license to show movies in a hall recently built for him on Belknap Avenue. That theater began operating in October, and was apparently the first in Newport. The October article refers to this house as a casino, but the name is not capitalized.
A February 12, 1916 Moving Picture World item datelined Newport, N. H. says that “[t]he armory building on Central street has been converted into a moving picture theater by H. Robinson.” The old armory (replaced by a new facility at another location in the 1930s) was destroyed by a fire in 1973, and a newspaper article from that year notes that it once housed a theater, but gives no name for it or any dates of operation. The article said that the armory house was the towns first theater, which might have been mistaken, though it is possible that it had operated as a live venue prior to 1916. The 1926 FDY lists a single 600-seat competitor to the 950-seat Coniston Theatre called the U-Kum, which might have been the armory house or the Casino under a new name. The timeline is silent on the U-Kum, and I can’t bring myself to blame it.
So the Empire was not Newport’s sole theater of the period, and unless it was missed altogether by the AMPD, Scenic Theatre was probably its opening name, and it opened in early 1913, as the town’s second movie house, and it closed sometime after 1920, when its operators bought the larger Coniston Theatre, but certainly by 1925.
The January 10, 1966 issue of Boxoffice contradicts the claim that the Latchis Theatre was destroyed by the fire that struck the Newport House hotel on Christmas eve in 1965. It notes that the auditorium suffered only slight damage and the projection room none at all, so even the print of “Von Ryan’s Express” that was playing when the fire began must have been saved.
The 1949 theater had been in a new structure built behind the historic hotel building. The lobby had been cut through the hotel’s ground floor, and that was the only part of the theater that was destroyed. After the fire a new entrance was built and the auditorium renovated and the house operated until 1980 as the Newport Cinema. A historic timeline of Newport says that the vacant building was sold to a new owner in 1982 and the remains demolished in 1984. The new owner had plans to build a new hotel on the site, but these never came to fruition. The property now serves as a parking lot.
Three was certainly no Dolby Atmos when the Los Angeles was operating as a regular theater, but given that the admission for this 50 to 60-minute walk through, with a shorter show-like event in the auditorium, is seventy bucks, and admission times (for groups, but they don’t say how large) are set every 25 minutes, six hours a day, a total of about thirty days, I’m sure the promoters could afford to install it. Even if they only put 1,000 people a day through the event, that would be 30,000 people at 70 bucks a pop, for over two million total. I’d expect total attendance could be several times that. Oh, there’s also a no-host bar. Kaching.
The Abigail Theatre makes its first appearance in the FDY in 1938, which makes a 1937 opening for the house likely. The 1937 edition lists only the 100-seat Unique Theatre, also listed in 1938 but with 350 seats.
A February 24, 1940 Boxoffice item said that “H. T. Allen, owner of the Abigail at Prestonburg [sic] Ky., has opened the Patti there.” Despite this announcement, I haven’t found a theater called the Patti listed in FDYs through 1945 (I haven’t checked later editions.) The Abigail, Broadway, Princess and (sometimes) the Unique are listed through this period, though all but the Abigail are invariably listed as closed. Prestonsburg is also invariably misspelled by the FDY as Prestonburg, without its second S.
The December 10, 1949 Boxoffice mentions both the Abigail and the Strand, and notes that John Allen, owner of the Strand, is not related to H. T. (Henry) Allen, owner of the Abigail.
In an item datelined Prestonsburg, the January 3, 1942 Showmen’s Trade Review reported that “[t]he Broadway Theatre was destroyed by fire at an estimated loss of $30,000. W. B. Boyd was the operator.” As the house was still being listed in 1950, it was presumably rebuilt.
Boxoffice of December 10, 1949 said that December 27 had been set as the formal opening date for the Strand Theatre in Prestonsburg. The 750-seat house, built by a group of local businessmen headed by John Allen, featured Mohawk carpeting, International chairs, RCA Brenkert sound and projection equipment, and draperies from Knoxville Scenic Studios, all installed by Midwest Theatre Supply Company.
The 1900-1901 Cahn guide lists the Burlew Opera House as a ground floor theater with a large stage, 41 feet from footlights to back wall and 65 feet between side walls. It doesn’t give a breakdown of seating capacities between orchestra, balcony, gallery and boxes.
Multiple sources indicate that the house opened on October 31, 1891. It was designed by Lexington, Kentucky architect Herman L. Rowe (a number of sources mistakenly give his name as H. L. Lowe or H. B. Rowe, but architect Herman L. Rowe is actually listed in the 1891 Lexington City Directory.) In the mid-1880s, Rowe acted as supervising architect for the Lexington Opera House, designed by Oscar Cobb, which likely proved a very useful experience when he came to design the Burlew.
The Burlew was razed in 1921 or 1922, and its bricks were used in the construction of the department store that replaced it. That building is still standing, occupied by a collection of small shops.
The May 10, 1913 issue of The American Contractor had an item about a theater to be built in Bloomfield. The address and name of the theater weren’t given, but the description said that a 2-story building 50x164, was to be built for owner Joseph Green. It was being designed by Newark architect Frank Grad. The size and timing are right for this project to have been the Lincoln, and the details and handling of materials in the original façade certainly call to mind other works of the period designed by Grad.
The address and theater name are not mentioned, but items in May, 1913 issues of The American Contractor must be about the Isis, given the descriptions. The project was a building 120x132 feet, with a 600-seat picture theater and five storefronts, fitting the historic photos of the Isis, which the Kokomo Tribune article I previously cited says was built in 1913. The architect for the project was R. L. Young (Robert Lincoln Young, according to another Tribune article.) The owner of the building was F. D. Miller, a very active local real estate developer.
The latest Google street view shows that the Harrison Theatre building has been demolished, along with its neighbor to the east. The buildings were standing but appeared vacant in the August, 2019 street view, but were gone in the most recent view, from April, 2023, which shows them as a construction site. I’ve been unable to discover the date of demolition, or the purpose of the new construction.
Also gone is the building that once housed the Rialto Theatre just down the block, at 17 E. Gay Street, but it had already been replaced by a new building in the earliest street view available, from August, 2007.
Ads that have been uploaded to the Rialto’s photo page indicate that the house was opened at least by 1916, and probably by 1915. This timing makes it likely that the Rialto was the project for a theater and dance hall to cost $30,000 that was noted in the April 28, 1915 issue of The American Architect. The project was deigned by Wilmington, Delaware architect Roscoe C. Tindall.
It turns out that Center is an aka for the Orpheum. The July 18, 1941 issue of Film Daily had the story: “At Ionia, the 350-seat Orpheum, closed for eight years, is being remodeled and modernized and renamed the Center, to be a companion in Butterfield’s 1,000-seat Ionia, only other theater in town.”
The Orpheum was probably closed longer than eight years, though, as its last appearance in the FDY was 1931. The item’s claim of a seating capacity of 350 for the Orpheum is almost certainly an exaggeration. Its last listing in the FDY gave it only 230 seats. It was likely expanded when remodeled as the Center, but not to 350.
The Lyric was the only theater listed at Strawberry Point in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. It was mentioned in the trade journals a number of times, and was listed in the FDY’s editions from 1926 through 1931.
A 300-seat house called the Orpheum is first listed at Strawberry Point in the 1932 FDY. Prior to that, the only house listed for the town was the 200-seat Lyric. The Orpheum probably replaced the Lyric sometime during 1931, the last year the Lyric was listed. The Orpheum still operated in 1951, when the January 13 issue of Boxoffice reported that Robert Fridley had recently sold the house, which he had bought in late 1949.
The April 24, 1914 issue of American Contractor noted the letting of contracts for a new Elks lodge and theater in Mahanoy City. The three-story, 42x125 foot building had been designed by Reading, Pennsylvania architect Edward Z. Scholl. A couple of sources say that the lodge was dedicated in 1916, but I haven’t found an opening date for the theater.
An article about the new Balboa Theatre in the March 31, 1923 issue of Motion Picture News said that the house had been deigned by Reid Bros., who made it a “…‘rambling’ structure, suggestive of some early California mission….” to fit into its predominantly residential neighborhood. The Balboa was owned by Samuel H. Levin, who operated a number of neighborhood houses in the city, including the Coliseum and the Haight.
The March 24, 1923 issue of Motion Picture Newshad this item about the new Madison Theatre:
“A number of Chicago and Milwaukee exchange men journeyed to Madison, Wisconsin, last Thursday night to attend the opening of Frank Fischer’s new Madison Theatre in that city. They found the theatre fine in architecture and magnificently equipped, and were unanimous in congratulating Manager Fischer on his splendid new cinema palace.”
I’ve found a 1918 Sanborn map of Statesville, and the only theater it shows is the Crescent. 117 Broad street was at that time occupied by a wholesale grocer. The 1911 reference to the Broadway I found (but have now lost track of) must have been to a different Broadway theatre, perhaps some short-lived storefront nickelodeon. The earliest reference to the Broadway I can find now is from the July 2, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Herald, which is one of several capsule movie reviews submitted to the magazine that year by the Broadway’s manager W. D. Van Derbergh. [sic] The description should be altered to say the house was in operation by 1921.
News of the Broadway’s 1923 remodeling appears in the March 10 issue of Motion Picture News, which ran this item:
“Broadway, Statesville, N.C., Being Remodeled
“K. E. Spencer, formerly of Monroe, N. C, has purchased the Broadway, Statesville, N. C, from W. D. Vanderberg. [sic] Mr. Spencer immediately closed the house for extensive alterations. The screen formerly in the front will be put in the rear, and the entire seating plan rearranged to give one hundred more seats.”
I don’t know which spelling of Van Derbergh Mr. Vanderberg (or vice-versa) actually used, but since he probably submitted the capsule reviews to EH in his own hand, and surely could have had any errors he saw in print corrected in later issues, I think Van Derbergh is, though unconventional, more likely correct.
The Organ Historical Society’s Pipe Organ Database says that a 2-manuel instrument made by the Robert-Morton company was installed in the Crescent Theatre at Statesville in 1920. Its fate is unknown.
The current opening line of the description is inaccurate. Construction of the Playhouse began in 1926 and the theater opened on February 19, 1927. Although the opening attraction at the fully-equipped house was a stage play, the theater was also equipped to show movies from the beginning, and was one of the four houses listed at Statesville in the 1928 FDY.
The July 17, 1934 issue of Film Daily had this item about the Colonial: “Newport, R. I.—The Colonial, M & P.-Publix house, has reopened with pictures and vaudeville. The manager is John Connolly. Elmer Taylor is assisting.” As Gerald A. DeLuca’s comment from 2011 notes the connection between the Colonial and Paramount, it appears that this house was operated as part of the Paramount-Publix chain for much of its history,
The October 19, 1940 issue of Motion Picture Herald had this news about the Sunset Theatre: “W. E. Drumbar has added 150 seats to his Sunset theatre in Knoxville, Tenn.”
The Coniston Theatre building was demolished in 1975.
An historic timeline of Newport (PDF here), based on items drawn from the local newspapers, says that the building that eventually became the Empire Theatre was built in 1842 as the County jail, but the NRHP registration form for the Downtown Newport Historic District says that the theater’s portion of the building was a later addition, probably from 1850. The timeline cites an April 17, 1913 article saying that “Dr. Cain is remodeling the old jail into a hall where it is intended to have moving pictures.” The timeline’s first use of the name Empire is from November 3, 1916 and refers to the theater’s temporary closure due to the influenza pandemic.
The timeline also notes that the owners of the Empire, Sam D. Lewis and Arthur C. Chadwick, bought the Coniston Theatre in September, 1920. It does not mention the Empire again until February, 1925, when the paper noted that the house was being remodeled for use as a public meeting and recreation hall. This use continued until the entire former jail complex was converted for use as a department store in 1946.
Empire was not one of the two theater names listed at Newport in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Those were the Newport Casino on Belknap Avenue and the Scenic Theatre, no location given. The timeline cites articles from September and October, 1912, saying that the town had rescinded a previous decision and voted to grant L. L. Ransom a license to show movies in a hall recently built for him on Belknap Avenue. That theater began operating in October, and was apparently the first in Newport. The October article refers to this house as a casino, but the name is not capitalized.
A February 12, 1916 Moving Picture World item datelined Newport, N. H. says that “[t]he armory building on Central street has been converted into a moving picture theater by H. Robinson.” The old armory (replaced by a new facility at another location in the 1930s) was destroyed by a fire in 1973, and a newspaper article from that year notes that it once housed a theater, but gives no name for it or any dates of operation. The article said that the armory house was the towns first theater, which might have been mistaken, though it is possible that it had operated as a live venue prior to 1916. The 1926 FDY lists a single 600-seat competitor to the 950-seat Coniston Theatre called the U-Kum, which might have been the armory house or the Casino under a new name. The timeline is silent on the U-Kum, and I can’t bring myself to blame it.
So the Empire was not Newport’s sole theater of the period, and unless it was missed altogether by the AMPD, Scenic Theatre was probably its opening name, and it opened in early 1913, as the town’s second movie house, and it closed sometime after 1920, when its operators bought the larger Coniston Theatre, but certainly by 1925.
The January 10, 1966 issue of Boxoffice contradicts the claim that the Latchis Theatre was destroyed by the fire that struck the Newport House hotel on Christmas eve in 1965. It notes that the auditorium suffered only slight damage and the projection room none at all, so even the print of “Von Ryan’s Express” that was playing when the fire began must have been saved.
The 1949 theater had been in a new structure built behind the historic hotel building. The lobby had been cut through the hotel’s ground floor, and that was the only part of the theater that was destroyed. After the fire a new entrance was built and the auditorium renovated and the house operated until 1980 as the Newport Cinema. A historic timeline of Newport says that the vacant building was sold to a new owner in 1982 and the remains demolished in 1984. The new owner had plans to build a new hotel on the site, but these never came to fruition. The property now serves as a parking lot.
Three was certainly no Dolby Atmos when the Los Angeles was operating as a regular theater, but given that the admission for this 50 to 60-minute walk through, with a shorter show-like event in the auditorium, is seventy bucks, and admission times (for groups, but they don’t say how large) are set every 25 minutes, six hours a day, a total of about thirty days, I’m sure the promoters could afford to install it. Even if they only put 1,000 people a day through the event, that would be 30,000 people at 70 bucks a pop, for over two million total. I’d expect total attendance could be several times that. Oh, there’s also a no-host bar. Kaching.
The Abigail Theatre makes its first appearance in the FDY in 1938, which makes a 1937 opening for the house likely. The 1937 edition lists only the 100-seat Unique Theatre, also listed in 1938 but with 350 seats.
A February 24, 1940 Boxoffice item said that “H. T. Allen, owner of the Abigail at Prestonburg [sic] Ky., has opened the Patti there.” Despite this announcement, I haven’t found a theater called the Patti listed in FDYs through 1945 (I haven’t checked later editions.) The Abigail, Broadway, Princess and (sometimes) the Unique are listed through this period, though all but the Abigail are invariably listed as closed. Prestonsburg is also invariably misspelled by the FDY as Prestonburg, without its second S.
The December 10, 1949 Boxoffice mentions both the Abigail and the Strand, and notes that John Allen, owner of the Strand, is not related to H. T. (Henry) Allen, owner of the Abigail.
In an item datelined Prestonsburg, the January 3, 1942 Showmen’s Trade Review reported that “[t]he Broadway Theatre was destroyed by fire at an estimated loss of $30,000. W. B. Boyd was the operator.” As the house was still being listed in 1950, it was presumably rebuilt.
Boxoffice of December 10, 1949 said that December 27 had been set as the formal opening date for the Strand Theatre in Prestonsburg. The 750-seat house, built by a group of local businessmen headed by John Allen, featured Mohawk carpeting, International chairs, RCA Brenkert sound and projection equipment, and draperies from Knoxville Scenic Studios, all installed by Midwest Theatre Supply Company.
The 1900-1901 Cahn guide lists the Burlew Opera House as a ground floor theater with a large stage, 41 feet from footlights to back wall and 65 feet between side walls. It doesn’t give a breakdown of seating capacities between orchestra, balcony, gallery and boxes.
Multiple sources indicate that the house opened on October 31, 1891. It was designed by Lexington, Kentucky architect Herman L. Rowe (a number of sources mistakenly give his name as H. L. Lowe or H. B. Rowe, but architect Herman L. Rowe is actually listed in the 1891 Lexington City Directory.) In the mid-1880s, Rowe acted as supervising architect for the Lexington Opera House, designed by Oscar Cobb, which likely proved a very useful experience when he came to design the Burlew.
The Burlew was razed in 1921 or 1922, and its bricks were used in the construction of the department store that replaced it. That building is still standing, occupied by a collection of small shops.
The May 10, 1913 issue of The American Contractor had an item about a theater to be built in Bloomfield. The address and name of the theater weren’t given, but the description said that a 2-story building 50x164, was to be built for owner Joseph Green. It was being designed by Newark architect Frank Grad. The size and timing are right for this project to have been the Lincoln, and the details and handling of materials in the original façade certainly call to mind other works of the period designed by Grad.
The address and theater name are not mentioned, but items in May, 1913 issues of The American Contractor must be about the Isis, given the descriptions. The project was a building 120x132 feet, with a 600-seat picture theater and five storefronts, fitting the historic photos of the Isis, which the Kokomo Tribune article I previously cited says was built in 1913. The architect for the project was R. L. Young (Robert Lincoln Young, according to another Tribune article.) The owner of the building was F. D. Miller, a very active local real estate developer.
The latest Google street view shows that the Harrison Theatre building has been demolished, along with its neighbor to the east. The buildings were standing but appeared vacant in the August, 2019 street view, but were gone in the most recent view, from April, 2023, which shows them as a construction site. I’ve been unable to discover the date of demolition, or the purpose of the new construction.
Also gone is the building that once housed the Rialto Theatre just down the block, at 17 E. Gay Street, but it had already been replaced by a new building in the earliest street view available, from August, 2007.
Ads that have been uploaded to the Rialto’s photo page indicate that the house was opened at least by 1916, and probably by 1915. This timing makes it likely that the Rialto was the project for a theater and dance hall to cost $30,000 that was noted in the April 28, 1915 issue of The American Architect. The project was deigned by Wilmington, Delaware architect Roscoe C. Tindall.
It turns out that Center is an aka for the Orpheum. The July 18, 1941 issue of Film Daily had the story: “At Ionia, the 350-seat Orpheum, closed for eight years, is being remodeled and modernized and renamed the Center, to be a companion in Butterfield’s 1,000-seat Ionia, only other theater in town.”
The Orpheum was probably closed longer than eight years, though, as its last appearance in the FDY was 1931. The item’s claim of a seating capacity of 350 for the Orpheum is almost certainly an exaggeration. Its last listing in the FDY gave it only 230 seats. It was likely expanded when remodeled as the Center, but not to 350.
The Lyric was the only theater listed at Strawberry Point in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. It was mentioned in the trade journals a number of times, and was listed in the FDY’s editions from 1926 through 1931.
A 300-seat house called the Orpheum is first listed at Strawberry Point in the 1932 FDY. Prior to that, the only house listed for the town was the 200-seat Lyric. The Orpheum probably replaced the Lyric sometime during 1931, the last year the Lyric was listed. The Orpheum still operated in 1951, when the January 13 issue of Boxoffice reported that Robert Fridley had recently sold the house, which he had bought in late 1949.
The New Britain Opera House opened on November 24, 1881 with a performance of “Faust.”
The April 24, 1914 issue of American Contractor noted the letting of contracts for a new Elks lodge and theater in Mahanoy City. The three-story, 42x125 foot building had been designed by Reading, Pennsylvania architect Edward Z. Scholl. A couple of sources say that the lodge was dedicated in 1916, but I haven’t found an opening date for the theater.
An article about the new Balboa Theatre in the March 31, 1923 issue of Motion Picture News said that the house had been deigned by Reid Bros., who made it a “…‘rambling’ structure, suggestive of some early California mission….” to fit into its predominantly residential neighborhood. The Balboa was owned by Samuel H. Levin, who operated a number of neighborhood houses in the city, including the Coliseum and the Haight.
The March 24, 1923 issue of Motion Picture Newshad this item about the new Madison Theatre:
I’ve found a 1918 Sanborn map of Statesville, and the only theater it shows is the Crescent. 117 Broad street was at that time occupied by a wholesale grocer. The 1911 reference to the Broadway I found (but have now lost track of) must have been to a different Broadway theatre, perhaps some short-lived storefront nickelodeon. The earliest reference to the Broadway I can find now is from the July 2, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Herald, which is one of several capsule movie reviews submitted to the magazine that year by the Broadway’s manager W. D. Van Derbergh. [sic] The description should be altered to say the house was in operation by 1921.
News of the Broadway’s 1923 remodeling appears in the March 10 issue of Motion Picture News, which ran this item:
I don’t know which spelling of Van Derbergh Mr. Vanderberg (or vice-versa) actually used, but since he probably submitted the capsule reviews to EH in his own hand, and surely could have had any errors he saw in print corrected in later issues, I think Van Derbergh is, though unconventional, more likely correct.The Organ Historical Society’s Pipe Organ Database says that a 2-manuel instrument made by the Robert-Morton company was installed in the Crescent Theatre at Statesville in 1920. Its fate is unknown.
The Crescent was the only theater listed at Statesville in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The current opening line of the description is inaccurate. Construction of the Playhouse began in 1926 and the theater opened on February 19, 1927. Although the opening attraction at the fully-equipped house was a stage play, the theater was also equipped to show movies from the beginning, and was one of the four houses listed at Statesville in the 1928 FDY.