The Ritz Theatre launched May 15, 1934 with architect of the project listed as Gates Corgan and operated by Jack L. Johnson formerly of the Robb & Rowley Circuit in Dallas. Almost immediately, the Ritz rankled the competing Helstrom Theatre with a Bank Night promotion that led to a lawsuit. The bank night would stop but the Ritz then introduced Depression-ware dinnerware give-aways to McPherson which proved popular. George Baker of Baker Enterprises took over the Ritz and, next, the Helstrom.
The Ritz became the Spiral Theatre. The Spiral played a world premiere of a 19-minute documentary called, “The General with the Cockeyed Id” on October 26, 1965. In 1973, the Spiral experimented with late-night XXX and X rated adult films. The venue lasted to the video age with mainstream audience films. But on March 16, 1988, the gas furnace overheated after closing for the night destroying the theatre and ending its 53-year run.
The Haight Building was constructed in 1897/8 at 103 N. Third Street. During the show-store era of quickly-created nickelodeons, Burlington’s first moving picture show was the Electric Theatre in the Haight launching on May 6, 1908. Residents were intrigued by films including news footage of the Kansas City flood that year and the Electric needed more space. The improved and expanded Electric moved to 118 Neosho Street. A choral hall moved into the former Electric space within the Haight in 1909 until 1911.
In March of 1911, J.W. Richards decided to built an even larger, 350-seat theatre back into the Haight called the Berlin Theatre. Two months later, John J. “Newk” Newcomb purchased the Berlin and changed it to Newk’s Theatre relaunching May 11, 1911. Newk operated a hotel, a cigar factory and a bill poster plant as well as his long-running theatre. For more than 30 years, J.J. Newcomb entertained locals before his death on December 6, 1941. The Dickinson Circuit took over operation of the Newk’s Theatre before closing it years later and the space being retrofitted for other purposes.
The Film Yearbook is inaccurate. John Herman “Tommy” Thompson opened this theatre on August 9, 1948 to replace the Princess Theatre. Thompson started his career at the Old Mill Theatre in Dallas and took over the Thompson’s predecessor in 1931 which he remodeled and expanded as the Princess. The Martin & Thompson Circuit headquarters were located within the building.
On February 11, 1947, the Princess Theatre burned down in a $125,000 explosion that led to the demolition of the property and damaged neighboring businesses. Thompson made changes to Hawkinsville’s City Auditorium to allow him to continue bookings and carry on the business of the Martin and Thompson Circuit. The theater that replaced the Princess was the Thompson Theatre that launched on August 9, 1948. The City Auditorium would be discontinued for film use but lived on in a massive $1.7 million renovation becoming known as the Hawkinsville Opera House,
Two reports said that George B. Purvis had drawn the plans for the Dolan-Ripley / D & R Theatre in Aberdeen in 1923 and the theater at opening appears to have deviated little from those plans.
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Sanguinet launched Alamogordo’s first drive-in, the $50,000 Starlite Outdoor Theatre on December 9, 1949. The Starlite was located on Highway 70 two miles southwest of the city. In 1952, Sanguinet would begin building the Yucca Drive-In north of the city. Later that season in August, Sanguinet sold the Starlite.
The New Olympic Theatre at 1511 4th Avenue in Canyon replaced its long-running predecessor on September 29, 1926 with “Brown of Harvard” as the first film. W.J. Wooten had purchased the original Olympic and extended it in 1919. In 1926, Harry Bradford convinced Wooten and the town’s local newspaper to relocate in a downtown renewal project on the town’s north side of the square. The newly built four buildings also gave the Olympic two businesses to its immediate left and right including a long-running barber shop.
At opening, the new Olympic seated 750 and its best features may have been the Arctic New Air cooling system and the pipe organ that was common to Amarillo movie-goers but not in Canyon. Films stopped in 1973 at the Olympic with sporadic live events occurring into 1981. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Swanson had considered reopening the Olympic for films in 1976 but concentrated on reopening the Canyon Drive-In which they did.
The Harris-Dubois Theatre launched on October 27, 1937. It changed names to match the hotel as the General Pershing Theatre. On May 28, 1968, the Pershing Theatre became the DuBois Playhouse launching with “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and playing a heavy mix of R-rated New American movies and some porno chic single X-rated films.
New operators came in repositioning the Dubois Playhouse to more family centric offerings. The theater returned to X-rated fare in 1979 and 1980 if not longer (ads aren’t published post-1980). After a period of inactivity, the Dubois Playhouse was upgraded and tried live plays from July through December of 1988. That appears to end the Dubois Playhouse run.
The architect was Clarence Vogel. The $50,000 theatre was built at the former Rolloway Rink was demolished. I’m guessing that the theatre didn’t reopen after a minor fire on June 10, 1962 as ads are discontinued. The furnishings were sold on March 25, 1966 with the marquee removed and the building sold at auction for $3,600 in 1968.
1937 opening shot in photos. The New Bandon Theatre replaced the Hartman Theatre which was destroyed along with most of the city in a catastrophic September 1936 fire.
Albert E. Davis architected the Peerless Theatre launching in the Bronx in 1923 with 600 seats for the N & P Amusement Company. The $50,000 Greek Revival two-story house was bathed in olive green, gold and Pompeii red. The Peerless had Typhoon fans for cooling and Powers 6-B projectors at its opening.
J.J. Marshall has his grand opening of the Marshall Theatre on December 6, 1909 with the 3-act play of “Girls.” It had a seating capacity of 1,100. In May of 1921, Glen W. Dickinson bought the theatre. It was converted in 1961 to a J.C. Penney’s department store.
Grand opening was September 16, 1922. A fire on November 26, 1950 just after a busy Sunday show destroyed the auditorium including the stage and screen. The theater never reopened.
Six-screen theatre opened at 635 Haywood Road in Greenville, SC on October 7, 1988 and closed November 30, 2001. Opened with an arcade on the second level for the gaming portion and a discount house from beginning to closing. Received a $20,000 upgrade to become the Redemption World Outreach Center launching in 2003. It then became the fitness venue called the Imagine Center thereafter.
Charles Garing began the silent-era Garing Theatre at 115 North Main Street in 1915. The theater closed for repairs in 1920 after a fire. It became part of the Southern Enterprises Circuit. It closed August 4, 1925 after fire gutted the projection booth and flooded the auditorium. Southern Enterprises had recently opened the Rivoli and announced that the Garing space would be retrofitted for other retail operations which appeared to happen in 1926. The space was used to advertise other theaters in the interim. The former theater’s building burned down in 1938. Demolished.
The Lewis Plaza Shopping Center was developed by R.M. Caine in 1948 as a shopper’s village. The architects of the Plaza Theatre were Beacham Associates built by Triangle Construction. First film was February 28, 1949 with “Romance on the High Sea”. The theatre was the third of the Star Theaters Circuit based in Greenvillle which was bought out by the Fuqua Circuit in 1972 along with the Astro. It closed at the beginning of 1978 just shy of its 30th anniversary.
The Ritz Theatre launched May 15, 1934 with architect of the project listed as Gates Corgan and operated by Jack L. Johnson formerly of the Robb & Rowley Circuit in Dallas. Almost immediately, the Ritz rankled the competing Helstrom Theatre with a Bank Night promotion that led to a lawsuit. The bank night would stop but the Ritz then introduced Depression-ware dinnerware give-aways to McPherson which proved popular. George Baker of Baker Enterprises took over the Ritz and, next, the Helstrom.
The Ritz became the Spiral Theatre. The Spiral played a world premiere of a 19-minute documentary called, “The General with the Cockeyed Id” on October 26, 1965. In 1973, the Spiral experimented with late-night XXX and X rated adult films. The venue lasted to the video age with mainstream audience films. But on March 16, 1988, the gas furnace overheated after closing for the night destroying the theatre and ending its 53-year run.
The Haight Building was constructed in 1897/8 at 103 N. Third Street. During the show-store era of quickly-created nickelodeons, Burlington’s first moving picture show was the Electric Theatre in the Haight launching on May 6, 1908. Residents were intrigued by films including news footage of the Kansas City flood that year and the Electric needed more space. The improved and expanded Electric moved to 118 Neosho Street. A choral hall moved into the former Electric space within the Haight in 1909 until 1911.
In March of 1911, J.W. Richards decided to built an even larger, 350-seat theatre back into the Haight called the Berlin Theatre. Two months later, John J. “Newk” Newcomb purchased the Berlin and changed it to Newk’s Theatre relaunching May 11, 1911. Newk operated a hotel, a cigar factory and a bill poster plant as well as his long-running theatre. For more than 30 years, J.J. Newcomb entertained locals before his death on December 6, 1941. The Dickinson Circuit took over operation of the Newk’s Theatre before closing it years later and the space being retrofitted for other purposes.
Grand opening was August 27, 1912. Architect was William F. Wise.
The Film Yearbook is inaccurate. John Herman “Tommy” Thompson opened this theatre on August 9, 1948 to replace the Princess Theatre. Thompson started his career at the Old Mill Theatre in Dallas and took over the Thompson’s predecessor in 1931 which he remodeled and expanded as the Princess. The Martin & Thompson Circuit headquarters were located within the building.
On February 11, 1947, the Princess Theatre burned down in a $125,000 explosion that led to the demolition of the property and damaged neighboring businesses. Thompson made changes to Hawkinsville’s City Auditorium to allow him to continue bookings and carry on the business of the Martin and Thompson Circuit. The theater that replaced the Princess was the Thompson Theatre that launched on August 9, 1948. The City Auditorium would be discontinued for film use but lived on in a massive $1.7 million renovation becoming known as the Hawkinsville Opera House,
Two reports said that George B. Purvis had drawn the plans for the Dolan-Ripley / D & R Theatre in Aberdeen in 1923 and the theater at opening appears to have deviated little from those plans.
Grand opening shot as the, then, Ray Theatre, in photos.
The Yucca Drive-in opened on February 2, 1954. Ads go through 1970 and flea market listings thereafter.
Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Sanguinet launched Alamogordo’s first drive-in, the $50,000 Starlite Outdoor Theatre on December 9, 1949. The Starlite was located on Highway 70 two miles southwest of the city. In 1952, Sanguinet would begin building the Yucca Drive-In north of the city. Later that season in August, Sanguinet sold the Starlite.
aka Liberty Art Theatre from 1961-1970 as it became an art house theater.
Launched February 23, 1923 with the film, “The Man Who Played God”
The New Olympic Theatre at 1511 4th Avenue in Canyon replaced its long-running predecessor on September 29, 1926 with “Brown of Harvard” as the first film. W.J. Wooten had purchased the original Olympic and extended it in 1919. In 1926, Harry Bradford convinced Wooten and the town’s local newspaper to relocate in a downtown renewal project on the town’s north side of the square. The newly built four buildings also gave the Olympic two businesses to its immediate left and right including a long-running barber shop.
At opening, the new Olympic seated 750 and its best features may have been the Arctic New Air cooling system and the pipe organ that was common to Amarillo movie-goers but not in Canyon. Films stopped in 1973 at the Olympic with sporadic live events occurring into 1981. Mr. and Mrs. Harry Swanson had considered reopening the Olympic for films in 1976 but concentrated on reopening the Canyon Drive-In which they did.
The Harris-Dubois Theatre launched on October 27, 1937. It changed names to match the hotel as the General Pershing Theatre. On May 28, 1968, the Pershing Theatre became the DuBois Playhouse launching with “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” and playing a heavy mix of R-rated New American movies and some porno chic single X-rated films.
New operators came in repositioning the Dubois Playhouse to more family centric offerings. The theater returned to X-rated fare in 1979 and 1980 if not longer (ads aren’t published post-1980). After a period of inactivity, the Dubois Playhouse was upgraded and tried live plays from July through December of 1988. That appears to end the Dubois Playhouse run.
Last call: The Grand Theatre ends its cinema run with “Olympic Elk” and “Son of Paleface” following a Three Stooges short on April 10, 1955
The architect was Clarence Vogel. The $50,000 theatre was built at the former Rolloway Rink was demolished. I’m guessing that the theatre didn’t reopen after a minor fire on June 10, 1962 as ads are discontinued. The furnishings were sold on March 25, 1966 with the marquee removed and the building sold at auction for $3,600 in 1968.
1937 opening shot in photos. The New Bandon Theatre replaced the Hartman Theatre which was destroyed along with most of the city in a catastrophic September 1936 fire.
Albert E. Davis architected the Peerless Theatre launching in the Bronx in 1923 with 600 seats for the N & P Amusement Company. The $50,000 Greek Revival two-story house was bathed in olive green, gold and Pompeii red. The Peerless had Typhoon fans for cooling and Powers 6-B projectors at its opening.
Grand opening was October 11, 1920 with DW Griffith’s “The Idol Dancer” and Harold Lloyd’s “High and Dizzy”
J.J. Marshall has his grand opening of the Marshall Theatre on December 6, 1909 with the 3-act play of “Girls.” It had a seating capacity of 1,100. In May of 1921, Glen W. Dickinson bought the theatre. It was converted in 1961 to a J.C. Penney’s department store.
Grand opening was September 16, 1922. A fire on November 26, 1950 just after a busy Sunday show destroyed the auditorium including the stage and screen. The theater never reopened.
Correction: Rodney Bush (not Brush).
Grand opening was March 15, 1935 with the film, “The Whole Town is Talking.”
Letterhead as the Apollo Theatre circa 1922 – its third year of operation.
Six-screen theatre opened at 635 Haywood Road in Greenville, SC on October 7, 1988 and closed November 30, 2001. Opened with an arcade on the second level for the gaming portion and a discount house from beginning to closing. Received a $20,000 upgrade to become the Redemption World Outreach Center launching in 2003. It then became the fitness venue called the Imagine Center thereafter.
Charles Garing began the silent-era Garing Theatre at 115 North Main Street in 1915. The theater closed for repairs in 1920 after a fire. It became part of the Southern Enterprises Circuit. It closed August 4, 1925 after fire gutted the projection booth and flooded the auditorium. Southern Enterprises had recently opened the Rivoli and announced that the Garing space would be retrofitted for other retail operations which appeared to happen in 1926. The space was used to advertise other theaters in the interim. The former theater’s building burned down in 1938. Demolished.
The Lewis Plaza Shopping Center was developed by R.M. Caine in 1948 as a shopper’s village. The architects of the Plaza Theatre were Beacham Associates built by Triangle Construction. First film was February 28, 1949 with “Romance on the High Sea”. The theatre was the third of the Star Theaters Circuit based in Greenvillle which was bought out by the Fuqua Circuit in 1972 along with the Astro. It closed at the beginning of 1978 just shy of its 30th anniversary.