The 1921 Fredericksburg city directory lists Pitts Leader Theatre at 915 Main Street. This web page says that Main Street was an aka for Caroline Street, so unless the lots have been renumbered since 1921 the Leader was just a few doors down from the site of the later Colonial Theatre. The only other theater listed in 1921 was the Opera House, corner of Main and Commerce (aka William) Street.
Like all the other theaters built for Century between 1964 and the early 1990s, Century’s Pinole 10 was designed by Vincent G. Raney. The Pinole 10 was very nearly identical to the Century 10 at Noor Avenue and Huntington Avenue in South San Francisco, which opened just a few months after the Pinole house.
The South San Francisco building is still standing, though it has been gutted for a bowling center project that was never completed. Still, Google’s satellite view of it still gives a good idea of what the Pinole multiplex looked like on the outside.
Red’s Showcase Twin Cinemas closed on February 28, 2007, according to this article from that day’s Curry Coastal Pilot. The article says that Thomas took over operation of the house in 1987, some time after the previous owners had twinned it.
I believe this theater was the house scheduled to open as the Pic Theatre on May 14, 1952. The May 13 issue of the Eureka daily newspaper, the Humboldt Times, reported that an early morning blast had occurred at the theatre, ripping a hole in the roof, damaging the marquee, and wrecking the ticket booth. Police suspected a deliberate act of sabotage, either a bomb or sticks of dynamite.
Owner of the Pic, Earl L. Boles, who also operated the Mecca Theatre, said that materials were being rushed to the site to repair the damage quickly so that the theater could open on schedule. The following day’s edition of the paper said that the damage had been estimated at $1,000, but that the 537-seat theater would open that night.
An article in the March 22, 1952 issue of Boxoffice said that operation of the downtown Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles had been taken over by United Paramount Theatres on March 18, at the end of a twenty year lease by Fanchon & Marco. United Paramount would undertake the remodeling job that began later that year.
F&M’s lease on the Hollywood Paramount continued, and though now under separate management, the day-and-date policy at the two houses would also continue. The first movie opened under the new regime was the Paramount release “Something to Live For,” on March 21.
This item from the June 27, 1919 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer is most likely about the Dream Theatre:
“Snoqualmie, Wn-Archt E. W. Houghton, Seattle, is planning a conc. moving picture theatre for this pl. same to be 80x32 ft with timbered truss rf. Modern htg and vent plant will be installed.”
The dimensions of the building in street and satellite views do look to be about 32x80.
Though, for now, Century is still operating this house that the company no longer owns, the likelihood that it will in time be demolished for a new development without a theater in it remains high.
This article is from March, 2017, but the redevelopment proposal it describes is from the current owner of the building, so it seems likely that it will eventually get built in some form.
A brief essay about the Melody Theatre on this web page says that the house opened in March, 1946, and was closed and the building converted into a church in 1952.
The primary cause of the Melody’s short life appears to have been the rivalry of the East Side Theatre, which a 1948 lawsuit alleged had an unfair advantage due to its relationship with distributors, as told in this article from Motion Picture Herald of September 18, 1948:
“Files Trust Suit In Savannah
“Charging there was a conspiracy to force him out of business and to monopolize product for rival Negro theatres, Mose Portman, Melody Theatre Co., and East Broad Investment Co., last week filed a $957,264 anti-trust action in Federal Court at Savannah, Ga. Defendants include: Bijou Amusement Co., Savannah East Side Corp., Dunbar Theatre Corp., Fred G. Weis, president of Savannah East Side; G. T. Bailey, Harold T. Spears, Alfred Starr and Milton Starr of Bijou, and seven major motion picture distributors.
“The distributors named are Paramount, Warners, Columbia, Republic, RKO, Loew’s and United Artists.
“The complaint charges that Savannah East Side built a theatre for Negroes in opposition to Mr. Portman’s Melody, built in 1946, and that Melody Theatre Company was forced to sell the house because the distributors conspired to divert first class product to the opposition theatre interests, thus depriving the Melody of product.”
I haven’t found anything about the outcome of the suit, but given that the Melody closed by 1952 I’m guessing it didn’t help.
The opening of the Bijou was noted in the January 8, 1910 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror:
“SAVANNAH.—BIJOU R. G. Herndon, mgr.) : The new Bijou was auspiciously opened Dec. 25 with a presentation of When We Were Twenty-One: the new theatre is modern in every respect and the management has taken pains to look after every comfort of patrons: the decorations both interior and exterior are very handsome : there are two entrances, one on Broughton and one on Congress street; for the present Schiller’s Stock co. will present standard plays at popular prices.”
The Bijou was listed in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide, and in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Over the years it served as a legitimate theater, a movie house and a vaudeville theater, and was for a time part of the B. F.Keith circuit.
Given the name Bijou it’s possible that the house was originally built for Jake Wells' Bijou circuit, as Wells was planning to build a new theater in Savannah in 1909, according to the June 10 issue of Manufacturers' Record.
The December, 1911 issue of Motography had this news about the Arcadia Theatre:
“The Arcadia theater, recently opened at Savannah by the Savannah Picture Plays Company of that city, is one of the nicest and most up-to-date moving picture houses in the South. The house has a seating capacity of almost 800 and was constructed at a cost of $40,000. The cost of admission is 10 cents.”
The Folly Theatre was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. It was one of five movie houses listed for Savannah, the others being the Bijou, the Odeon and the Princess, all on Broughton Street, and the Pekin Theatre on Broad Street.
The Folly is listed in the FDY through 1929, with 350 seats. It then vanishes, reappearing in 1934 with 500 seats. From 1935 through 1942 it is listed with 600 seats. In 1943 the 600-seat Bandbox Theatre makes its first appearance. The Bandbox is listed through 1947, and in 1948 the Avon first appears.
The SeaVue Theatre was at 816 Peace Portal Drive, in a building now occupied by a business called Hagan’s of Blaine, a shipping and receiving outfit. American Classic Images has photos of the SeaVue from 1980 and from 1987. Although the 1998 newspaper article Seattleprojectionist linked to (the EPA link is dead) said that the building was being demolished for a condo project, Google’s street view shows that it is still standing, as are its neighbors on both sides.
The venerable building was occupied by a theater at least as early as 1907. This house operated under the name Ivan L. Theatre at least into the mid-1930s. This (very long) web page about British Columbia’s movie theaters also has a few bits about theaters on the American side of the border. It says that the SeaVue opened in 1948, and might have been the same house earlier called the AM-BC Theatre and the International Theatre. The 1948 opening is plausible, but I’m a bit skeptical of the aka’s as Blaine did have at least two other theaters at various times, and one of them could have become the AM-BC/International. The Ivan L did vanish from newspaper listings about the time the AM-BC first appeared, though, so it’s possible they were the same house.
The Saban’s web site shows from two to four one-night events a month scheduled over the next several months, mostly baby boomer nostalgia music acts (Peter Cetera, Isley Brothers, Paul Anka, etc.) It would be nice if they could throw in an occasional classic movie, but I don’t know if they even have projection equipment anymore— or a screen, for that matter.
Opened in 1952, the Granada was designed by Gale Santocono using a plan very similar to that of the slightly larger Seavue Theatre at Pacifica, opened the previous year.
From the October 1, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Herald: “COLUMBIA. MO. — Rex Barrett of Pierce City has purchased the Odeon theatre here and renamed it the Cozy.”
There was another remodeling of the Uptown in 1939, according to this item from the January 7 issue of Motion Picture Herald:
“The Commonwealth Amusement Company of Columbia, Mo., headed by Mayor Rex Barrett, recently awarded a contract to the Fleet Building and Repair Company of Kansas City, Mo., for the extensive remodeling of its theatre building in Columbia.”
The 1935 rebuild of the long-closed Cozy involved a considerable enlargement of the theater. The Cozy was listed in FDY’s of the 1920s with 300 seats, while the Uptown was listed in the 1930s with 700. The 1939 project must not have included any further enlargement, as the capacity listed in the early 1940s was still 700.
The Uptown Theatre, aka Bijo Dream, Broadway Odeon, and Cozy, was at 1010 E. Broadway and already has a page at Cinema Treasures. There are comments on that page tracing its history.
As far as I’ve been able to confirm, the house at 1103 E. Broadway was always called the Columbia Theatre from its opening in 1907 until its loss to a fire in 1929, though there is some possibility that it was the theater listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory as the Majestic, the only house at Columbia in that directory for which no address was provided. If the Columbia was not the Majestic then it must not have been operating as a movie house in 1914-1915.
It looks like this house remained open at least a bit longer, after a name change. The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists 10 N. 9th Street as the address of the Gem Theatre. Columbia had three other theaters listed: the Broadway Odeon, the Majestic, and the Star. By 1926 the FDY listed only the Columbia, the Hall, and the Cozy.
This article from Columbia Business Times says there was a Gem Theatre opened at the corner of Walnut and Ninth Streets in 1909. It doesn’t say how long it was in operation. The article mentions the M Theatre, but doesn’t say anything about the name change. Most likely its life as the second Gem was brief and has been forgotten.
The space occupied by the Art Theatre in the vintage photo is now occupied by Limelight Stage + Studios, which the Internet describes as a “[l]ively karaoke joint offering a choice of a public stage or private rooms, plus drinks & appetizers.” The menu is primarily east Asian and photos (and videos of people committing karaoke) on the Internet indicate a predominantly east Asian clientèle.
Interesting that the marquee of the Fox Newsreel in Oakland was so similar to the marquee on the Los Angeles newsreel house that later was also renamed the Globe Theatre. Both featured a globe, which probably suggested the new name after the houses were switched to regular movies. I wonder if there were other Fox newsreel houses that featured globes on their marquees?
The Rialto was advertised in the December 27, 1921 issue of The Union Daily Times. A house called the Grand was also advertised. Either house might have dated back to 1916, when the October 5 issue of Manufacturers Record reported that the contract had been let for a 50x150-foot theater at Union for a Mr. J. Cohen. Local newspapers from around that time should have more information, if someone with access can track it down.
This article posted at the web site of Augusta Magazine on July 31, 2018 says “[o]riginally the Rialto was to open on Wednesday, September 18, [1918] but due to unforeseen problems that the Chronicle never mentioned the opening was delayed until Monday, September 23.”
The article also says that the announcement of the Rialto’s imminent closure appeared in The Augusta Chronicle on January 6, 1956. The house was scheduled to close January 18. The building was then remodeled into an office for Augusta Federal Savings & Loan, then in 1985 was converted into offices for an optometrist, which it remains today.
One inexplicable claim the article makes twice is that the Rialto operated as a movie theater for more than 60 years. By my count, September 23, 1918 to January 18, 1956 is several months short of 38 years.
This 1913 theater building is still in use, now occupied by El Tunel, a bar and restaurant. A new entrance has been cut into the side of the former auditorium, and the restaurant uses a Park Place address. The interior shows no trace of its theatrical history.
A book about Central Valley land baron J. G. Boswell notes the opening of the Lake Theatre, saying that the first movie shown in the new house was “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” which was a 1938 release.
The Kerman Morris Architects link I posted earlier says that Architectural Resources Group (the correct name of the firm) acted as historic preservation consultants on the project. ARG’s own web site has several excellent photographs of the theater.
The 1921 Fredericksburg city directory lists Pitts Leader Theatre at 915 Main Street. This web page says that Main Street was an aka for Caroline Street, so unless the lots have been renumbered since 1921 the Leader was just a few doors down from the site of the later Colonial Theatre. The only other theater listed in 1921 was the Opera House, corner of Main and Commerce (aka William) Street.
Like all the other theaters built for Century between 1964 and the early 1990s, Century’s Pinole 10 was designed by Vincent G. Raney. The Pinole 10 was very nearly identical to the Century 10 at Noor Avenue and Huntington Avenue in South San Francisco, which opened just a few months after the Pinole house.
The South San Francisco building is still standing, though it has been gutted for a bowling center project that was never completed. Still, Google’s satellite view of it still gives a good idea of what the Pinole multiplex looked like on the outside.
Red’s Showcase Twin Cinemas closed on February 28, 2007, according to this article from that day’s Curry Coastal Pilot. The article says that Thomas took over operation of the house in 1987, some time after the previous owners had twinned it.
I believe this theater was the house scheduled to open as the Pic Theatre on May 14, 1952. The May 13 issue of the Eureka daily newspaper, the Humboldt Times, reported that an early morning blast had occurred at the theatre, ripping a hole in the roof, damaging the marquee, and wrecking the ticket booth. Police suspected a deliberate act of sabotage, either a bomb or sticks of dynamite.
Owner of the Pic, Earl L. Boles, who also operated the Mecca Theatre, said that materials were being rushed to the site to repair the damage quickly so that the theater could open on schedule. The following day’s edition of the paper said that the damage had been estimated at $1,000, but that the 537-seat theater would open that night.
An article in the March 22, 1952 issue of Boxoffice said that operation of the downtown Paramount Theatre in Los Angeles had been taken over by United Paramount Theatres on March 18, at the end of a twenty year lease by Fanchon & Marco. United Paramount would undertake the remodeling job that began later that year.
F&M’s lease on the Hollywood Paramount continued, and though now under separate management, the day-and-date policy at the two houses would also continue. The first movie opened under the new regime was the Paramount release “Something to Live For,” on March 21.
This item from the June 27, 1919 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer is most likely about the Dream Theatre:
The dimensions of the building in street and satellite views do look to be about 32x80.Though, for now, Century is still operating this house that the company no longer owns, the likelihood that it will in time be demolished for a new development without a theater in it remains high.
This article is from March, 2017, but the redevelopment proposal it describes is from the current owner of the building, so it seems likely that it will eventually get built in some form.
The Odeon was one of the five movie theaters listed at Savannah in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
A brief essay about the Melody Theatre on this web page says that the house opened in March, 1946, and was closed and the building converted into a church in 1952.
The primary cause of the Melody’s short life appears to have been the rivalry of the East Side Theatre, which a 1948 lawsuit alleged had an unfair advantage due to its relationship with distributors, as told in this article from Motion Picture Herald of September 18, 1948:
I haven’t found anything about the outcome of the suit, but given that the Melody closed by 1952 I’m guessing it didn’t help.The opening of the Bijou was noted in the January 8, 1910 issue of The New York Dramatic Mirror:
The Bijou was listed in the 1912-1913 Cahn guide, and in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. Over the years it served as a legitimate theater, a movie house and a vaudeville theater, and was for a time part of the B. F.Keith circuit.Given the name Bijou it’s possible that the house was originally built for Jake Wells' Bijou circuit, as Wells was planning to build a new theater in Savannah in 1909, according to the June 10 issue of Manufacturers' Record.
The December, 1911 issue of Motography had this news about the Arcadia Theatre:
The Folly Theatre was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. It was one of five movie houses listed for Savannah, the others being the Bijou, the Odeon and the Princess, all on Broughton Street, and the Pekin Theatre on Broad Street.
The Folly is listed in the FDY through 1929, with 350 seats. It then vanishes, reappearing in 1934 with 500 seats. From 1935 through 1942 it is listed with 600 seats. In 1943 the 600-seat Bandbox Theatre makes its first appearance. The Bandbox is listed through 1947, and in 1948 the Avon first appears.
The SeaVue Theatre was at 816 Peace Portal Drive, in a building now occupied by a business called Hagan’s of Blaine, a shipping and receiving outfit. American Classic Images has photos of the SeaVue from 1980 and from 1987. Although the 1998 newspaper article Seattleprojectionist linked to (the EPA link is dead) said that the building was being demolished for a condo project, Google’s street view shows that it is still standing, as are its neighbors on both sides.
The venerable building was occupied by a theater at least as early as 1907. This house operated under the name Ivan L. Theatre at least into the mid-1930s. This (very long) web page about British Columbia’s movie theaters also has a few bits about theaters on the American side of the border. It says that the SeaVue opened in 1948, and might have been the same house earlier called the AM-BC Theatre and the International Theatre. The 1948 opening is plausible, but I’m a bit skeptical of the aka’s as Blaine did have at least two other theaters at various times, and one of them could have become the AM-BC/International. The Ivan L did vanish from newspaper listings about the time the AM-BC first appeared, though, so it’s possible they were the same house.
Photos of four of manager Rex Barrett’s “art fronts” for the Cozy Theatre are featured in this article from Universal Weekly of November 17, 1923.
The Saban’s web site shows from two to four one-night events a month scheduled over the next several months, mostly baby boomer nostalgia music acts (Peter Cetera, Isley Brothers, Paul Anka, etc.) It would be nice if they could throw in an occasional classic movie, but I don’t know if they even have projection equipment anymore— or a screen, for that matter.
Opened in 1952, the Granada was designed by Gale Santocono using a plan very similar to that of the slightly larger Seavue Theatre at Pacifica, opened the previous year.
From the October 1, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Herald: “COLUMBIA. MO. — Rex Barrett of Pierce City has purchased the Odeon theatre here and renamed it the Cozy.”
There was another remodeling of the Uptown in 1939, according to this item from the January 7 issue of Motion Picture Herald:
The 1935 rebuild of the long-closed Cozy involved a considerable enlargement of the theater. The Cozy was listed in FDY’s of the 1920s with 300 seats, while the Uptown was listed in the 1930s with 700. The 1939 project must not have included any further enlargement, as the capacity listed in the early 1940s was still 700.The Uptown Theatre, aka Bijo Dream, Broadway Odeon, and Cozy, was at 1010 E. Broadway and already has a page at Cinema Treasures. There are comments on that page tracing its history.
As far as I’ve been able to confirm, the house at 1103 E. Broadway was always called the Columbia Theatre from its opening in 1907 until its loss to a fire in 1929, though there is some possibility that it was the theater listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory as the Majestic, the only house at Columbia in that directory for which no address was provided. If the Columbia was not the Majestic then it must not have been operating as a movie house in 1914-1915.
It looks like this house remained open at least a bit longer, after a name change. The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory lists 10 N. 9th Street as the address of the Gem Theatre. Columbia had three other theaters listed: the Broadway Odeon, the Majestic, and the Star. By 1926 the FDY listed only the Columbia, the Hall, and the Cozy.
This article from Columbia Business Times says there was a Gem Theatre opened at the corner of Walnut and Ninth Streets in 1909. It doesn’t say how long it was in operation. The article mentions the M Theatre, but doesn’t say anything about the name change. Most likely its life as the second Gem was brief and has been forgotten.
The space occupied by the Art Theatre in the vintage photo is now occupied by Limelight Stage + Studios, which the Internet describes as a “[l]ively karaoke joint offering a choice of a public stage or private rooms, plus drinks & appetizers.” The menu is primarily east Asian and photos (and videos of people committing karaoke) on the Internet indicate a predominantly east Asian clientèle.
Interesting that the marquee of the Fox Newsreel in Oakland was so similar to the marquee on the Los Angeles newsreel house that later was also renamed the Globe Theatre. Both featured a globe, which probably suggested the new name after the houses were switched to regular movies. I wonder if there were other Fox newsreel houses that featured globes on their marquees?
The Rialto was advertised in the December 27, 1921 issue of The Union Daily Times. A house called the Grand was also advertised. Either house might have dated back to 1916, when the October 5 issue of Manufacturers Record reported that the contract had been let for a 50x150-foot theater at Union for a Mr. J. Cohen. Local newspapers from around that time should have more information, if someone with access can track it down.
This article posted at the web site of Augusta Magazine on July 31, 2018 says “[o]riginally the Rialto was to open on Wednesday, September 18, [1918] but due to unforeseen problems that the Chronicle never mentioned the opening was delayed until Monday, September 23.”
The article also says that the announcement of the Rialto’s imminent closure appeared in The Augusta Chronicle on January 6, 1956. The house was scheduled to close January 18. The building was then remodeled into an office for Augusta Federal Savings & Loan, then in 1985 was converted into offices for an optometrist, which it remains today.
One inexplicable claim the article makes twice is that the Rialto operated as a movie theater for more than 60 years. By my count, September 23, 1918 to January 18, 1956 is several months short of 38 years.
This 1913 theater building is still in use, now occupied by El Tunel, a bar and restaurant. A new entrance has been cut into the side of the former auditorium, and the restaurant uses a Park Place address. The interior shows no trace of its theatrical history.
A book about Central Valley land baron J. G. Boswell notes the opening of the Lake Theatre, saying that the first movie shown in the new house was “Mother Carey’s Chickens,” which was a 1938 release.
The Kerman Morris Architects link I posted earlier says that Architectural Resources Group (the correct name of the firm) acted as historic preservation consultants on the project. ARG’s own web site has several excellent photographs of the theater.