Lost Memory: I drove through Texarkana only once (+/– 1989) and stopped to admire a VERY handsome downtown movie theatre – the Paramount. It had been tri-plexed and was showing current fare. It was too early in the day to be open and I could only peer in the front doors. The lobby had been meticulously restored and the exterior was sparkling clean. Wonder if that’s the same hall as this?
In a 1920 Knoxville Journal Tribune newspaper ad I find this hall listed as the Central Threatre. “Knoxville’s only suburban theatre.” The name Joy is particularly appropriate: the neighborhood is known as Happy Hollar (“Hollow” or valley for those who don’t speak Southern). Happy Hollar was fairly notorious for being THE place in Knoxille to get moonshine during (and after) prohibition.
The Gay Theatre (3811 McCalla Ave) was located in one of Knoxville’s most interesting suburb – a genuine small-scale 2nd downtown several miles east of the actual city center. The area, Burlington, stands near the city’s large “street car park” and was home to a large blue-collar population. Unfortunately, the neighborhood declined and practically every business and church closed or moved away. The Gay stood in the row of shabby, one-and-two-story storefronts and weed-strewn empty lots until the late 1990’s.
The Gay was a long narrow hall, barely 25 feet wide and over 150 long. The height at the street was less than 20 feet. The auditorium floor sloped down away from the lobby, conveniently following the contour of the land. There was a tiny triangle-shaped, neon-edged marquee and a little vertical sign of budget Art Deco design. When I saw it, the floor had been leveled (with wood) and the building had been used as a bar. That business too had long gone – along with the roof.
At the time, being a dreamer, I had kept my fingers crossed that I would one day be able to buy and renovate the hall – possibly piggy-backing a new roof-top loft/living space above the auditorium. Silly dreams maybe, but it kept me smiling while in architecture school dealing with the Bauhaus and Frank Gehry.
It was with real sadness that one Sunday morning I drove past the theatre and found the front had collapsed into the street. MLK Boulevard was closed and the block roped off. The marquee and vertical sign were still visible, under several tons of brick. The roof was sagging and the side walls bulging outward. That afternoon, bulldozers pushed down the remains. By the end of the week, there was no indication that a theatre had ever been there.
Efforts are underway to revitalize Burlington, but to date, very little has been achieved.
Thanks to tntim: this theatre was built as the Gay Theatre (known to have been operating in 1914 from newspaper ads). It was remodeled and renamed Strand to compete with the luxurious new Riviera across the street.
LuisV, You’re spot on with your comments. When I saw the hall several years ago the exterior was definately looking shabby and the exhibition hall interior looked like it hadn’t had much attention for decades.
The inside of the Paramount had been renovated – I actually got to meet the renovation architect at Aida, see my note above – but it was not a full blown multi-million dollar rehab that the building deserves. It was more of a well done, heavy maintenance project.
On my trip through New Jersey that year I also visited the celebrated Ocean Grove community – block after block of high victorian jewels and the AMAZING Methodist summer-meeting auditorium there. I didn’t see a single commemorative plaque or sign. So I don’t know that sad, seedy Asbury Park would be able to do any better.
The park/plaza which fronts the Asbury Park Paramount is (uh – well, could be) among the nicest public spaces I’ve run across anywhere in the eastern US. The potential there is as vast as the park itself. The money to achieve the potential seems not to have materialized yet. Very sad.
The Queen Theatre opened on July 7, 1914. The address, 513 South Gay Street, put it right in the middle of Knoxville’s busiest retail district. The first film at the Queen was the Lasky feature “The Only Son.” Feature films with a twice weekly change were to be the policy for many years. Show times were 2:00, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00 and 8:30.
In the weeks preceding the opening, several newspaper articles describe the building in glowing terms. (Except for one postcard, no photos have yet surfaced as of this writing).
The Knoxville Journal Tribune for Tuesday July 7, 1914 -opening day- says:
“A large force of men worked all night last night putting the finishing touches on the new Queen Theatre which opens this afternoon at 2 o'clock. The brilliant electric sign with its revolving crown and the dazzling illumination of the front, which were tested out last evening, caused everyone passing down Gay Street to stop and look.”
The following day, the Journal Tribune said “The theater is uniquely and tastefully arranged. Unlike other theaters in Knoxville, and the usual plan of theaters generally, the Queen is arranged so that the audience faces the entrance. Instead of the picture screen being at the rear of the building, it is in the front, and the patrons pass to the rear to take their seats. This arrangement is an original idea of manger G.W. Shorey’s and has proven successful wherever it has been tried. It gives a larger seating space and additional exits…
“The theatre is equipped with the latest cooling plant, and many electric fans send out cooling air over ice blocks in the cooling plant. The rear wall is also cut into apartments, through which fresh air is brought into the building.
“The eight hundred seats on the first floor and on the mezzanine floor are comfortable, and are placed far enough apart for every one to have ample room.
“The walls of the building are lined with handsome columns, and on the walls hang mirrows (sic) and handsome paintings…”
Sadly, except for one mention of “preparing the music” I have found nothing to indicate who provided the music or on what sort of instrument. Surely there was more than a piano, but there is no record of a pipe organ or photoplayer installed here.
There were, at the time, two legitimate theatres in Knoxville, the Bijou and the Staub (later known as the Lyric q.v.) and three nickelodeons, the Rex, the Majestic and the Gay. The Queen seems to have been the first in the series of purpose-built movie theatres that would each attempt to surpass the previous ones in grandure and opulance. This culminated in 1928 with the opening of Paramount Publix’s magnificent Tennessee Theatre.
The audience-facing-the-entrance design is something I’ve seen only twice elsewhere: the Old Daisy Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee and the First Baptist Church, Bowling Green Kentucky (since re-configured). I can’t image what they were thinking, as any movement at the auditorium front is an immediate distraction. With the stiff competition the Queen faced in later years from the Strand, the Riviera and the Tennessee, this might have contributed to its very short life – I have found no mention of the Queen Theatre after the Great Depression.
And of course, it really should be noted what a pity it is that this hall didn’t survive. If for no other reason, how many towns could boast of having a Queen Theatre on Gay Street?
I have a single memory of the MALCO Theatre. In 1983 I drove through Jackson and stopped to admire the two movie theatres* on the town square. The MALCO was obviously an older vaudeville hall or small town opera house from the late 19th or early 20th century: very ornate terra-cotta facade. The marquee had been fairly ornate too. When I saw it, middle of the day, it was unlit and in serious need of repair and cleaning. The movie advertised on the letter boards was something current.
Looking inside the MALCO (and I believe it should be spelled with all capital letters as it is an acronym for Morris Aaron Lightman Company) revealed a completely stripped and curtained hall. MALCO did this to every old theatre they owned I believe – fortunately with the exception of the Rapp and Rapp designed Orpheum in Memphis. Their philosophy had something to do with “strip it to the bare bricks and hang curtains over the walls.” Possibly it was a matter of getting the number of seats up. I guess we’ll never know.
About a year later, I aquired what I believe to be a mirror from the Jackson TN MALCO theatre’s lobby. It is Louis XIV-esque – supply house baroque. The mirror was reportedly found in the theatre’s basement and was – ahem – liberated before demolition. With the mirror and the ornate facade I can’t help but think that this hall was part of the Wells Bijou chain which I do know operated for a time in Jackson. Also, Keith Vaudeville had a hall in Jackson, which I suspect, but have no proof of, operated in this venue too.
I have a single memory of the Paramount Theatre. In 1983 I drove through Jackson and stopped to admire the two movie theatres on the town square. The MALCO was obviously an older vaudeville hall or small town opera house from the late 19th or early 20th century: very ornate terra-cotta facade. The marquee had been fairly ornate too. When I saw it, middle of the day, it was unlit and in serious need of repair and cleaning. The movie advertised on the letter boards was something current: certainly first run. The Paramount was almost directly next door. A small storefront or two stood between the two theatres. The Paramount’s facade was much simpler, cleaner and all in good repair. The pink neon lights edging the marquee were flashing. The sign boards were lit. Strangely though, the single word on the Paramount’s marquee was “CLOSED.”
Chuck and Jack – regarding the Bijou being a “negro” theatre: Memphis has long suffered from segregation. For much of the 20th century the area of downtown south of Beale catered to African Americans. A theatre at 275 South Main would be in the appropriate area to be listed as a “negro” theatre. (Just for reference, the Orpheum is at the southwest corner of Main and Beale, the address is 195-197 South Main).
I notice that on CT there is not a listing in Memphis for the Lyceum Theatre. I wonder if the theatre listed here as the Bijou might be the Lyceum renamed by Jake Wells for his performances.
The Lyceum was a large handsom hall, built as a legit house around 1893, to go into competition with the Grand Opera House. I believe the Lycem was torn down in the mid-to-late 1930’s.
I’ve never known the address of the Lyceum, but do remember that it was briefly leased by Loew’s (and was advertised as Loew’s Lyceum) as Loew’s prepared to build the two palatial theatres: Loew’s State and Loew’s Palace. (q.v.) That would have had the Loew’s Lyceum operating around 1918 – 1919.
With a long list of friends interested in Memphis theatre history I remain surprised that none have ever heard of this hall, especially considering its very prominent address and size.
The Film Daily year book for 1935 lists this as Loew’s Strand. The big theatres in downtown Memphis changed hands a good deal during the ‘30’s. Loew’s Palace went to Paramount for a while and then to MALCO. Apparently Lowe’s operated the Strand right next door to their magnificent State for a while. Loew’s got the Palace back around 1940 when MALCO got the RKO Orpheum. As an old theatre manager friend said of that time: “the employees in the downtown theatres didn’t know who they were working for from day to day.”
The Bijou opened under the management of Jake Wells and was (at least briefly) known as Wells' Bijou. Refer to the link listed just above from the East Tennessee Paranormal Society. Wells also operated the Bijou Theatre in Memphis Tennessee.
Recent acquisition is a playbill from Wells' Bijou, Memphis, Tennessee for the week beginning Monday October 8 1906. It lists the following performance:
A. H. Woods presents
America’s Foremost Comedians
Bickle, Watson and Wrothe
in the musical concoction
TOM DICK and HARRY
The cast list is as follows:
George Bickel, Harry Watson, Ed Lee Wrothe, Harrison Steadman, Walter Pearson, James Williams, Cyrus Gould, Harry Hewitt, R.C. Mudge, Roy Waddles, Jenne LaBeau, Fanny Thatcher, Louise Auber.
The following are listed as “Our Kittens"
Mayme Harrison, Marie Melville, Ethel Dunbar, Kitty Nelson, Velda Russel, Florrie Allen, Dority Phelps, Mable Zeere, Garr Sideman, Nettie Coleman.
The “Show Girls” are
Maude Stanley, Evelyn Leroy, Florence Bernard, Josephine Carter, Ethely Curtis, Josie COlman, Bertina Wells, Mattie Williams.
The “West Point Cadets” are
Willaim Blair, Clay Price, Harry Hewitt, John Costello, Walter Webber, Geroge Flamer, Frank Perry.
The show was in two acts with a total of 14 songs in various combinations of solos, duets and choruses.
Following TOM DICK and HARRY was a musical programme with Paul Schneider listed as “leader.” (This is apparently an after piece.) There were six songs by different popular composers of the day including “The Governor’s Son Medley Selection” by G.M. Cohan.
Also listed in the program is this note: Evening performances at the Bijou Theater begin promptly at 8:15. The Matinees, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays begin at 2:15. The box office is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
The next show was to be Sidney Toler in the charming musical drama HOW BAXTER BUTTED IN.
The program is 16 pages long, every page – including front and back covers – is covered in advertising. The implication from the quality of the playbill and the size of the cast is that this is a busy legitimate theatre. Jake Wells had Bijou Theatres in several other cities, including Knoxville (q.v.)
My old friends and long-time theatre history fans know nothing of this hall. Again, the implication is that it must have be taken down a long long time ago.
Jack et al, I think the Fifth Avenue theatre building is gone. A quick look at Google Earth and the map link above show 218 North Fifth at the north east corner of Fifth and Church. This would put it directly across the street from the famous Eqyptian Revival Downtown Presbyterian Church (formerly 1st Presbyterian) and that corner is now occupied by a large skyscraper with a deep fore-court built in the mid 1980’s.
Here’s a link to a Nashville Tennessean newspaper article about the Park Theatre in McMinnville. The description sounds interesting, though using the title “movie palace” for this hall seems a little overly generous.
PC, I was never in the Loew’s State, but know it was very similar in style (Thomas Lamb’s “Loew’s Anywhere Adam”)to the Loew’s Palace around the corner on Union. The LP had a faux fireplace in the women’s smoker. There was a steam radiator behind a grill, then grill fit inside what normally would be the firebox, a traditional mantle finished out the effect. The mantle found its way into a friend’s dining room shortly after the LP was torn down.
It’s nice to know that the State was similarly equipped.
LM, thanks for the photo links. Any ideas about the brick facade on the Prytania? I don’t remember it looking like that at all, but the last time I was there was in 1989. Has this little operation been so successful that they could afford a whole new (and rather nice looking) exterior? Or is my memory lost too?
In re-reading the notes above, I come across something of an in-consistancy. In Jim’s opening description he mentions stadium seating and the possibility of moving between orchestra and balcony without going back to the lobby.
the side view of the auditorium looks very much like a standard orchestra/balcony arrangement.
Jim’s research is always meticulous. If he says stadium, I believe stadium. But it also leads me to wonder if there was a more complex plan than is visible in the somewhat cropped side view.
Also, what happened to the auditorium and balcony during the years as a furniture store?
Last question: what is behind the windows visible above – and to the sides of – the marquee? Did they open into the main lobby? Mezzanine space? Offices?
The Venetian may not be long for this world: your memories of this building, recorded on this site, may soon be the only record of this once lovely facility.
The Fox was a single screen box built as the downtown theatres ended their careers: late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It still stands, as a retail space, the exterior covered in E.I.F.S. and wedding dresses of questionable taste hanging in what once was the lobby.
Jack thanks for the photo (and for the one of the Princess in Lebanon). Notice the storefront immediately to the left of the marquee. The theatre’s steel facade decor and part of the marquee once covered the upper story of the storefront (see my note above 4/9/2004). Above the retail shop was a suite of offices for the theatre: a dead-end hallway ran from the balcony corridor back toward the street with office doors opening off the left (west) side. It was quite a surprise to open the doors, because not only had offices never been used, there was no floor in them!!! Opening one of those doors – I think there were three of them – let you see down to the ceiling of the Western Auto store below. How did they EVER got that past the codes even back in 1956???
Jack, thanks for the photo. I notice the dates 1945-1955 on the image. Are these the operating dates of the Princess? Grandma might have been wrong about which theatre she saw films in. Or maybe this building replaced an earlier one. Grandma has been gone for many years now, too late to ask for additional details.
Joe, thanks for the post. The Tivoli is a jewel and Chattanooga is lucky to still have it and have it in such good condition.
I am a little surprised by the comment about air conditioning, not that the Tivoli was retro-fitted in 1931, that sounds about right, but the comment, “and one of the first in the nation.” Many southern “public” buildings had air conditioning. Two of Tennessee’s four surviving movie palaces, (Memphis’s Orpheum and Knoxville’s Tennessee both) opened in October 1928 with mechanical air conditioning. (The Orpheum’s old machinery is still in the basement, too big to remove). I could cite many others.
Forgive me for sounding like an obsessive, that’s not my intention at all. But as they say, the devil is in the details, or is it god is in the details, either way, the utterly unimportant detail is that it might have been Chattanooga’s first airconditioned public building, but certainly not the country’s.
Hope you can come to Knoxville and visit the lovely Tennessee some day. It’d be worth the trip.
Lost Memory: I drove through Texarkana only once (+/– 1989) and stopped to admire a VERY handsome downtown movie theatre – the Paramount. It had been tri-plexed and was showing current fare. It was too early in the day to be open and I could only peer in the front doors. The lobby had been meticulously restored and the exterior was sparkling clean. Wonder if that’s the same hall as this?
In a 1920 Knoxville Journal Tribune newspaper ad I find this hall listed as the Central Threatre. “Knoxville’s only suburban theatre.” The name Joy is particularly appropriate: the neighborhood is known as Happy Hollar (“Hollow” or valley for those who don’t speak Southern). Happy Hollar was fairly notorious for being THE place in Knoxille to get moonshine during (and after) prohibition.
Let’s raise a glass to the Joy!
The Gay Theatre (3811 McCalla Ave) was located in one of Knoxville’s most interesting suburb – a genuine small-scale 2nd downtown several miles east of the actual city center. The area, Burlington, stands near the city’s large “street car park” and was home to a large blue-collar population. Unfortunately, the neighborhood declined and practically every business and church closed or moved away. The Gay stood in the row of shabby, one-and-two-story storefronts and weed-strewn empty lots until the late 1990’s.
The Gay was a long narrow hall, barely 25 feet wide and over 150 long. The height at the street was less than 20 feet. The auditorium floor sloped down away from the lobby, conveniently following the contour of the land. There was a tiny triangle-shaped, neon-edged marquee and a little vertical sign of budget Art Deco design. When I saw it, the floor had been leveled (with wood) and the building had been used as a bar. That business too had long gone – along with the roof.
At the time, being a dreamer, I had kept my fingers crossed that I would one day be able to buy and renovate the hall – possibly piggy-backing a new roof-top loft/living space above the auditorium. Silly dreams maybe, but it kept me smiling while in architecture school dealing with the Bauhaus and Frank Gehry.
It was with real sadness that one Sunday morning I drove past the theatre and found the front had collapsed into the street. MLK Boulevard was closed and the block roped off. The marquee and vertical sign were still visible, under several tons of brick. The roof was sagging and the side walls bulging outward. That afternoon, bulldozers pushed down the remains. By the end of the week, there was no indication that a theatre had ever been there.
Efforts are underway to revitalize Burlington, but to date, very little has been achieved.
Thanks to tntim: this theatre was built as the Gay Theatre (known to have been operating in 1914 from newspaper ads). It was remodeled and renamed Strand to compete with the luxurious new Riviera across the street.
LuisV, You’re spot on with your comments. When I saw the hall several years ago the exterior was definately looking shabby and the exhibition hall interior looked like it hadn’t had much attention for decades.
The inside of the Paramount had been renovated – I actually got to meet the renovation architect at Aida, see my note above – but it was not a full blown multi-million dollar rehab that the building deserves. It was more of a well done, heavy maintenance project.
On my trip through New Jersey that year I also visited the celebrated Ocean Grove community – block after block of high victorian jewels and the AMAZING Methodist summer-meeting auditorium there. I didn’t see a single commemorative plaque or sign. So I don’t know that sad, seedy Asbury Park would be able to do any better.
The park/plaza which fronts the Asbury Park Paramount is (uh – well, could be) among the nicest public spaces I’ve run across anywhere in the eastern US. The potential there is as vast as the park itself. The money to achieve the potential seems not to have materialized yet. Very sad.
The Queen Theatre opened on July 7, 1914. The address, 513 South Gay Street, put it right in the middle of Knoxville’s busiest retail district. The first film at the Queen was the Lasky feature “The Only Son.” Feature films with a twice weekly change were to be the policy for many years. Show times were 2:00, 3:30, 5:00, 7:00 and 8:30.
In the weeks preceding the opening, several newspaper articles describe the building in glowing terms. (Except for one postcard, no photos have yet surfaced as of this writing).
The Knoxville Journal Tribune for Tuesday July 7, 1914 -opening day- says:
“A large force of men worked all night last night putting the finishing touches on the new Queen Theatre which opens this afternoon at 2 o'clock. The brilliant electric sign with its revolving crown and the dazzling illumination of the front, which were tested out last evening, caused everyone passing down Gay Street to stop and look.”
The following day, the Journal Tribune said “The theater is uniquely and tastefully arranged. Unlike other theaters in Knoxville, and the usual plan of theaters generally, the Queen is arranged so that the audience faces the entrance. Instead of the picture screen being at the rear of the building, it is in the front, and the patrons pass to the rear to take their seats. This arrangement is an original idea of manger G.W. Shorey’s and has proven successful wherever it has been tried. It gives a larger seating space and additional exits…
“The theatre is equipped with the latest cooling plant, and many electric fans send out cooling air over ice blocks in the cooling plant. The rear wall is also cut into apartments, through which fresh air is brought into the building.
“The eight hundred seats on the first floor and on the mezzanine floor are comfortable, and are placed far enough apart for every one to have ample room.
“The walls of the building are lined with handsome columns, and on the walls hang mirrows (sic) and handsome paintings…”
Sadly, except for one mention of “preparing the music” I have found nothing to indicate who provided the music or on what sort of instrument. Surely there was more than a piano, but there is no record of a pipe organ or photoplayer installed here.
There were, at the time, two legitimate theatres in Knoxville, the Bijou and the Staub (later known as the Lyric q.v.) and three nickelodeons, the Rex, the Majestic and the Gay. The Queen seems to have been the first in the series of purpose-built movie theatres that would each attempt to surpass the previous ones in grandure and opulance. This culminated in 1928 with the opening of Paramount Publix’s magnificent Tennessee Theatre.
The audience-facing-the-entrance design is something I’ve seen only twice elsewhere: the Old Daisy Theatre in Memphis, Tennessee and the First Baptist Church, Bowling Green Kentucky (since re-configured). I can’t image what they were thinking, as any movement at the auditorium front is an immediate distraction. With the stiff competition the Queen faced in later years from the Strand, the Riviera and the Tennessee, this might have contributed to its very short life – I have found no mention of the Queen Theatre after the Great Depression.
And of course, it really should be noted what a pity it is that this hall didn’t survive. If for no other reason, how many towns could boast of having a Queen Theatre on Gay Street?
I have a single memory of the MALCO Theatre. In 1983 I drove through Jackson and stopped to admire the two movie theatres* on the town square. The MALCO was obviously an older vaudeville hall or small town opera house from the late 19th or early 20th century: very ornate terra-cotta facade. The marquee had been fairly ornate too. When I saw it, middle of the day, it was unlit and in serious need of repair and cleaning. The movie advertised on the letter boards was something current.
Looking inside the MALCO (and I believe it should be spelled with all capital letters as it is an acronym for Morris Aaron Lightman Company) revealed a completely stripped and curtained hall. MALCO did this to every old theatre they owned I believe – fortunately with the exception of the Rapp and Rapp designed Orpheum in Memphis. Their philosophy had something to do with “strip it to the bare bricks and hang curtains over the walls.” Possibly it was a matter of getting the number of seats up. I guess we’ll never know.
About a year later, I aquired what I believe to be a mirror from the Jackson TN MALCO theatre’s lobby. It is Louis XIV-esque – supply house baroque. The mirror was reportedly found in the theatre’s basement and was – ahem – liberated before demolition. With the mirror and the ornate facade I can’t help but think that this hall was part of the Wells Bijou chain which I do know operated for a time in Jackson. Also, Keith Vaudeville had a hall in Jackson, which I suspect, but have no proof of, operated in this venue too.
*The other theatre was the Paramount (q.v.)
I have a single memory of the Paramount Theatre. In 1983 I drove through Jackson and stopped to admire the two movie theatres on the town square. The MALCO was obviously an older vaudeville hall or small town opera house from the late 19th or early 20th century: very ornate terra-cotta facade. The marquee had been fairly ornate too. When I saw it, middle of the day, it was unlit and in serious need of repair and cleaning. The movie advertised on the letter boards was something current: certainly first run. The Paramount was almost directly next door. A small storefront or two stood between the two theatres. The Paramount’s facade was much simpler, cleaner and all in good repair. The pink neon lights edging the marquee were flashing. The sign boards were lit. Strangely though, the single word on the Paramount’s marquee was “CLOSED.”
Chuck and Jack – regarding the Bijou being a “negro” theatre: Memphis has long suffered from segregation. For much of the 20th century the area of downtown south of Beale catered to African Americans. A theatre at 275 South Main would be in the appropriate area to be listed as a “negro” theatre. (Just for reference, the Orpheum is at the southwest corner of Main and Beale, the address is 195-197 South Main).
I notice that on CT there is not a listing in Memphis for the Lyceum Theatre. I wonder if the theatre listed here as the Bijou might be the Lyceum renamed by Jake Wells for his performances.
The Lyceum was a large handsom hall, built as a legit house around 1893, to go into competition with the Grand Opera House. I believe the Lycem was torn down in the mid-to-late 1930’s.
I’ve never known the address of the Lyceum, but do remember that it was briefly leased by Loew’s (and was advertised as Loew’s Lyceum) as Loew’s prepared to build the two palatial theatres: Loew’s State and Loew’s Palace. (q.v.) That would have had the Loew’s Lyceum operating around 1918 – 1919.
With a long list of friends interested in Memphis theatre history I remain surprised that none have ever heard of this hall, especially considering its very prominent address and size.
Best
Bway, great shot. The Orpheum is also visible to the left.
The Film Daily year book for 1935 lists this as Loew’s Strand. The big theatres in downtown Memphis changed hands a good deal during the ‘30’s. Loew’s Palace went to Paramount for a while and then to MALCO. Apparently Lowe’s operated the Strand right next door to their magnificent State for a while. Loew’s got the Palace back around 1940 when MALCO got the RKO Orpheum. As an old theatre manager friend said of that time: “the employees in the downtown theatres didn’t know who they were working for from day to day.”
The 1930 Film Daily year book list this as the Loew’s Milan. Loew’s was in Milan Tennessee?!?! There’s got to be a story in that.
The Bijou opened under the management of Jake Wells and was (at least briefly) known as Wells' Bijou. Refer to the link listed just above from the East Tennessee Paranormal Society. Wells also operated the Bijou Theatre in Memphis Tennessee.
Recent acquisition is a playbill from Wells' Bijou, Memphis, Tennessee for the week beginning Monday October 8 1906. It lists the following performance:
A. H. Woods presents
America’s Foremost Comedians
Bickle, Watson and Wrothe
in the musical concoction
TOM DICK and HARRY
The cast list is as follows:
George Bickel, Harry Watson, Ed Lee Wrothe, Harrison Steadman, Walter Pearson, James Williams, Cyrus Gould, Harry Hewitt, R.C. Mudge, Roy Waddles, Jenne LaBeau, Fanny Thatcher, Louise Auber.
The following are listed as “Our Kittens"
Mayme Harrison, Marie Melville, Ethel Dunbar, Kitty Nelson, Velda Russel, Florrie Allen, Dority Phelps, Mable Zeere, Garr Sideman, Nettie Coleman.
The “Show Girls” are
Maude Stanley, Evelyn Leroy, Florence Bernard, Josephine Carter, Ethely Curtis, Josie COlman, Bertina Wells, Mattie Williams.
The “West Point Cadets” are
Willaim Blair, Clay Price, Harry Hewitt, John Costello, Walter Webber, Geroge Flamer, Frank Perry.
The show was in two acts with a total of 14 songs in various combinations of solos, duets and choruses.
Following TOM DICK and HARRY was a musical programme with Paul Schneider listed as “leader.” (This is apparently an after piece.) There were six songs by different popular composers of the day including “The Governor’s Son Medley Selection” by G.M. Cohan.
Also listed in the program is this note: Evening performances at the Bijou Theater begin promptly at 8:15. The Matinees, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays begin at 2:15. The box office is open daily from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
The next show was to be Sidney Toler in the charming musical drama HOW BAXTER BUTTED IN.
The program is 16 pages long, every page – including front and back covers – is covered in advertising. The implication from the quality of the playbill and the size of the cast is that this is a busy legitimate theatre. Jake Wells had Bijou Theatres in several other cities, including Knoxville (q.v.)
My old friends and long-time theatre history fans know nothing of this hall. Again, the implication is that it must have be taken down a long long time ago.
Jack et al, I think the Fifth Avenue theatre building is gone. A quick look at Google Earth and the map link above show 218 North Fifth at the north east corner of Fifth and Church. This would put it directly across the street from the famous Eqyptian Revival Downtown Presbyterian Church (formerly 1st Presbyterian) and that corner is now occupied by a large skyscraper with a deep fore-court built in the mid 1980’s.
Here’s a link to a Nashville Tennessean newspaper article about the Park Theatre in McMinnville. The description sounds interesting, though using the title “movie palace” for this hall seems a little overly generous.
View link
jazzland, thanks!
PC, I was never in the Loew’s State, but know it was very similar in style (Thomas Lamb’s “Loew’s Anywhere Adam”)to the Loew’s Palace around the corner on Union. The LP had a faux fireplace in the women’s smoker. There was a steam radiator behind a grill, then grill fit inside what normally would be the firebox, a traditional mantle finished out the effect. The mantle found its way into a friend’s dining room shortly after the LP was torn down.
It’s nice to know that the State was similarly equipped.
I want to hear more about the body in the lower lounge. Sounds like great screen play material.
LM, thanks for the photo links. Any ideas about the brick facade on the Prytania? I don’t remember it looking like that at all, but the last time I was there was in 1989. Has this little operation been so successful that they could afford a whole new (and rather nice looking) exterior? Or is my memory lost too?
In re-reading the notes above, I come across something of an in-consistancy. In Jim’s opening description he mentions stadium seating and the possibility of moving between orchestra and balcony without going back to the lobby.
In TimR’s link
View link
the side view of the auditorium looks very much like a standard orchestra/balcony arrangement.
Jim’s research is always meticulous. If he says stadium, I believe stadium. But it also leads me to wonder if there was a more complex plan than is visible in the somewhat cropped side view.
Also, what happened to the auditorium and balcony during the years as a furniture store?
Last question: what is behind the windows visible above – and to the sides of – the marquee? Did they open into the main lobby? Mezzanine space? Offices?
The Venetian may not be long for this world: your memories of this building, recorded on this site, may soon be the only record of this once lovely facility.
Thoughts?
The Fox was a single screen box built as the downtown theatres ended their careers: late 1960’s or early 1970’s. It still stands, as a retail space, the exterior covered in E.I.F.S. and wedding dresses of questionable taste hanging in what once was the lobby.
Jack thanks for the photo (and for the one of the Princess in Lebanon). Notice the storefront immediately to the left of the marquee. The theatre’s steel facade decor and part of the marquee once covered the upper story of the storefront (see my note above 4/9/2004). Above the retail shop was a suite of offices for the theatre: a dead-end hallway ran from the balcony corridor back toward the street with office doors opening off the left (west) side. It was quite a surprise to open the doors, because not only had offices never been used, there was no floor in them!!! Opening one of those doors – I think there were three of them – let you see down to the ceiling of the Western Auto store below. How did they EVER got that past the codes even back in 1956???
Jack, thanks for the photo. I notice the dates 1945-1955 on the image. Are these the operating dates of the Princess? Grandma might have been wrong about which theatre she saw films in. Or maybe this building replaced an earlier one. Grandma has been gone for many years now, too late to ask for additional details.
Joe, thanks for the post. The Tivoli is a jewel and Chattanooga is lucky to still have it and have it in such good condition.
I am a little surprised by the comment about air conditioning, not that the Tivoli was retro-fitted in 1931, that sounds about right, but the comment, “and one of the first in the nation.” Many southern “public” buildings had air conditioning. Two of Tennessee’s four surviving movie palaces, (Memphis’s Orpheum and Knoxville’s Tennessee both) opened in October 1928 with mechanical air conditioning. (The Orpheum’s old machinery is still in the basement, too big to remove). I could cite many others.
Forgive me for sounding like an obsessive, that’s not my intention at all. But as they say, the devil is in the details, or is it god is in the details, either way, the utterly unimportant detail is that it might have been Chattanooga’s first airconditioned public building, but certainly not the country’s.
Hope you can come to Knoxville and visit the lovely Tennessee some day. It’d be worth the trip.