Bala Theatre
157 Bala Avenue,
Bala Cynwyd,
PA
19004
157 Bala Avenue,
Bala Cynwyd,
PA
19004
7 people
favorited this theater
Showing 26 - 37 of 37 comments
Dodger That would have been about 1958 by which time it was called the Bala. It was indeed a great old house. If I remember correctly at one point in the mid 1950’s or early 1960’s the theater had a a free bus that brought the kids from Wynfield Heights to the theater on Saturday morning and deposited them back home again after the show. The last movie I saw there was a ridiculous Arnold Schartzinager monstrosity about him getting pregnant- I watched it alone in the auditorium as a favor to Constantine to check for any defects in the new print (those were the days!) before it was triplexed. The BX80’s were without a doubt the best theater projectors ever built, better than any of the Simplex models.Powers 6
Powers6 – Wow. I’m sorry I can’t remember any of that. Are you referring to the original Egyptian or the newer Bala? Must be the Bala if your talking about a video store across the street.
To Dodger- I saw my first 35mm projectors in this house, they were Brenkert BX80’s with Peerless lamps. My wife rescued what I believe was one of the two Brenkert heads I saw there when I was ten and I have it put together but with an Ashcraft lamp. Do you remember which Peerless lamp model it was? It would have had to have been one of the two models manufactured that had glass light up name plates on their tops. I remember that booth fairly well- the rewinds were originally in a separate room to the left, I think, and I remember an operator named Mike. Constantine was a great guy despite the fact that he ran a video store across the street!
One of my earliest — and scariest — memories of the old Egyptian Theater dates back to 1948, when I saw “Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein” there at a late afternoon matinee. By the time the movie ended, it was starting to get dark, and I had to walk back home alone, constantly looking over my shoulder for the terrifying Frankenstein Monster, whom I was certain was following me home. Just one of my many fond memories of that great old theater.
A classic series has been held for $5 admit 7 PM Wednesday & Thursday evenings, in one of the 2 side auditoriums. Casablanca April 11-12, Singin in the Rain April 18-19, Sunset Boulevard April 25-26, Citizen Kane May 2-3, Some Like it Hot, May 9-10, West Side Story, May 16-17, Annie Hall May 23-24, Breakfast at Tiffanys, May 30-31. So far, few have attended, likely due to lack of PR in the Philadelphia area media market.
Throughout the 1940s and early 50s, for those of us who grew up in Cynwyd or Bala, the Egyptian Theater (or the “Egg-pit”, as we used to call it) was our beloved neighborhood theater. We went there at least once a week, and for innumerable Saturday matinees. Some time during the early 50s, I worked there part-time as a projectionist’s assistant. I remember, after the movies, we would get penny candy at the little candy store located just to the left of the theater, called “Pops”. So many of my wonderful childhood memories are associated with the old Egyptian Theater. Although the name has been changed, and the interior has been drastically re-configured, a good portion of it is, thankfully, still existent — and still magnificent. Thank you to those who posted pictures. They are greatly appreciated.
It looks like that link doesn’t hold up, for some reason. If you want to to see the pictures, you would have to go to
http://memory.loc.gov/ and enter Bala theater as a search term. Sorry about that.
There are some photos at this link:
View link
2 screens were carved out of the seating on each side of the original screen. The proscenium arch, huge screen, and glorious Egyptian ceiling survive in the middle auditorium. There is a decent sound system.
Upstairs, there is still a furnished lounge before the Men’s Room, though Rob Bender (photos above, he’s our Boyd volunteer webmaster, too) tells me the lounge before the Ladies Room is not there anymore)
This is a surviving 1920’s movie house that shouldn’t be missed!
Howard B. Haas
Recent photos at this link:
View link
Library of congress has great photos:
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/
then type in: HABS, PA,46-BALA,2- in the search box
The Bala name was in use here by the late ‘60s at the latest. At that time the theater mostly ran foreign films; it was booked day-and-date with the Castor in northeast Philadelphia and the Yorktown in Elkins Park.