The December 26, 1935 issue of The Grand Saline Sun reported that S. G. Fry had purchased the Palace Theatre from W. H. Spencer and planned to close the house for extensive remodeling after the end of December. The Palace was listed in the 1926 FDY with 230 seats. The only theater listed at Grand Saline in the 1914-1915 AMPD was called the Princess, and was at 19 W. Frank Street.
The May 16, 1930 issue of the The Canton Herald from Canton, Texas, had an ad announcing the re-opening of Fry’s Victor Theatre “with the very latest talkie movie equipment.” I haven’t seen any theaters other than the Royal (in Canton) and the Majestic (in Wills Point) advertised earlier in 1930 or in 1928. The local newspapers from 1929 are not available, but the theater was most likely opened no earlier than that year, when the town underwent an oil-related boom. It would almost certainly have been located on Main Street, which remains the only commercial street in town to this day.
The October 11, 1924 Exhibitor’s Trade Review had this brief (and late) item about an Orpheum theatre in Mexico. As the Grand presented Orpheum vaudeville, might it have used the circuit name as an aka? “The Orpheum Theatre, Mexico, Mo., opens Saturday September 27, and will show pictures and vaudeville. Putney & Clay are the owners.”
The Grand had been mentioned in the September 13 issue of the same journal that year, in an item saying that Buddy Paul planned to reopen the house on Labor Day (this announcement was also late, as Labor Day is the first Monday of September) “…with feature pictures and tab musical sets.”
The October 4, 1924 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review had this item about the project that would become the Venetian Theatre: “Hugh McCredie of Portland has plans for a $65,000 suburban house and store building. The theatre will be of Italian architecture and will seat 750. It will be of concrete construction with tile and stucco exterior. Edward Miller is architect.”
The Venetian Theatre opened on March 14, 1925. It was renamed St. Johns Theatre by a new owner in 1936.
Multiple sources indicate that Geller’s Theatre was designed by architect Edward A. Miller. Geller’s theatre opened on Dec 25, 1927 and operated under its original name through Dec 31, 1934. Since then it has been known as the Aladdin.
Maybe my post was not clear enough. The Colonial Theatre, not the Roxy, was at 1650 S. Broad Street. The Roxy was somewhere in the 1600 block of Elm Street, which is across the railroad tracks from the Colonial’s location on Broad Street.
When the Roxy was first listed in the FDY, in 1935, it had only 275 seats, but in 1937 it began to be listed with 400.
The 1922 and 1932 Sanborn maps of Commerce show a movie theater, the Colonial, at 1650 S. Broad Street. In the early to mid 1930s, the new Roxy Theatre was built into a former livery stable building on S. Elm Street, which is actually the other half of Broad Street, on the other side of the railroad tracks that divide them two names.
I have a suspicion (but only circumstantial evidence) that Ritz was simply a new name for the re-opened Colonial Theatre. The Colonial was last listed in the 1934 FDY with 250 seats. The 1935 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Cynderella and the 275-seat Roxy. The same listings appear in 1936, and the name Ritz first appears in 1937, when it still has 250 seats. The Roxy is later listed (by 1938) with 400 seats, but I think the 250-seat Colonial, Cynderella and Ritz are all the same house with name changes.
1650 Broad Street is the center bay of three in an impressive brick building that was built in 1907 with an Opera House on its upper floor. An early photo, probably from the 1910s judging from the parked cars, shows the storefront theater in the center bay. Either the Opera House, or the storefront show (maybe both) was called the Ellida Theatre, and was listed in the 1914-1915 AMPD. The Ellida was also listed in the 1914 Gus Hill guide, with 800 seats, which is why I suspect it was the upstairs Opera House. The storefront was just too small. The name Colonial was in use for the storefront house by 1921.
A rather confusing blog post about Commerce reveals that the Roxy Theatre was on S. Elm Street, but the exact location is not made clear. As near as I can puzzle out it was between Pine Street and Central Avenue, which would place it roughly across the street from the Colonial Theatre on S. Broad Street (Elm and Broad are the same street, with a railroad running down the middle and different names for each side of the street.) I believe the Colonial was at modern address 1650 S. Broad, a space which is now occupied by a bar and grill. The Colonial appears on both the 1922 1and 1932 Sanborn maps of Commerce.
This house was mentioned in the February 12, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World: “The Central opera house at McHenry, Ill., has been running moving pictures only on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.”
This item appears in the May 28, 1927 Moving Picture World: “A. R. Langston has opened the Langston Theatre at Arcola, Ill., and the house is one of the finest little theatres in that territory.” I don’t know if it had anything to do with the Ritz, but I’m putting it on this page to see if anyone knows anything about it.
The May 28, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World ran a brief notice that the Miner Theatre at St. Cloud was being remodeled by Finkelstein and Ruben for use by roadshows.
The Alhambra Theatre started at 3215 Penn and in 1927 moved into a new building next door. News that architect O. K. Westphal had designed the new house for theater owner Harry Dickerman appeared in the May 28, 1927 issue of Motion Picture Herald. The permit for construction had just been issued.
The People’s Theatre at Crosby was mentioned in the May 28, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World. Owner George Thorpe and his son Harvey were planning to build a stage at the house to accomodate vaudeville and road shows. They also operated the Orpheum Theatre at Ironton, and planned to build a new 400-seat house in that town.
The May 28, 1927 issue of Motion Picture Herald said that “C. H. Sevatius, owner of the Casino in Milaca, Minn., is making extensive improvements on the theatre.”
This theater was mentioned in the “Illinois Theatre Changes” column of Moving Picture World for October 21, 1916: “Oneida, Ill. The Park Theater opened September 27 with the ‘Eternal City.; The music is furnished by a five piece orchestra.” The house might have been a seasonal operation in its early years, or this might have been when it began operating as a movie house.
The April 22, 1916 issue of MPW mentioned “Paul Ericson’s Cozy theater” at Oneida. I don’t know if this was a second house or only an aka for the Park.
I am wondering if the Del Rio might have been a reopening of the old Star Theatre, which vanished from the FDY after 1929? The Star was last listed with 300 seats, and the Del Rio first appeared in the 1931 edition with 360 seats. The Del Rio was listed as a Fox house from the beginning. The Star was last listed as owned by K&F Theatres of Denver, who were also running the Rio Grande in 1929. Fox probably took control of both of K&F’s Las Cruces houses at the same time. In the economic conditions of the period, would Fox have been more likely to build a new house or just gussie up an old one that was still serviceable?
From the October 28, 1933 Film Daily: “Las Cruces, N. M.—The rebuilt Rio Grande, Foxwesco house destroyed by fire several months ago, will be opened Nov. 1. It will replace the Del Rio, which was reopened at the time of the fire.”
Aside from the news that the Rio Grande had a major fire, this brief item reveals that Fox West Coast was running the house early on.In fact the 1930 FDY lists it as owned by Wesco Corporation, headquartered at Washington and Vermont in Los Angeles, which was Fox-West Coast’s Boulevard Theatre. The 1929 FDY had listed the Rio and the Star as owned by Denver-based K&F Theatres.
The Capitol was a new house in 1923. This item is from the November 10 issue of Moving Picture World that year: “K. Kelty, formerly manager of the Strand Theatre, Yarmouth, N. S., has been appointed manager of the Capitol Theatre, a new theatre at Kentville, N. S., owned by F. G. Spencer.”
Two theater projects for Kentville were mentioned in the January 16, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World: “Fine New House for Kentville. Kentville, N. S.-With a population of but 2,400, Kentville is to be as well supplied with high-class moving picture theaters as any town its size in the dominion. Clark and Hiltz, who are now running the Nickelette are building a new theater, that is to have a seating capacity of 900 people, and R. W. Seliz, proprietor of the Arena, a summer theater, has purchased land and will start work in May on a house of almost equal size.”
I’ve been unable to discover if both or either of these theaters got built, or anything about them if they were.
Was this house entirely new in 1948, or was it an older theater that was remodeled? It’s the only house listed on Wyandotte E., which was where the May, 1917 issue of the trade journal Construction said an unnamed theater was to be altered: “Windsor, Ont.-Architect J. C. Pennington, Labelle Building, is preparing plans for an addition to a theatre on Wyandotte street east to cost $5,000; M. D. Armaby, 152 Wyandotte street east, is the owner.”
Here is an item from the May, 1917 issue of the Canadian trade journal Construction: “Trail. B.C. - Victor Blanci and Rod McDonald have been awarded the general contract for the erection of a theatre for the Trail Opera House Company, Limited, to cost $15,000.”
The New Tackett Theatre would open on Monday, September 17, 1928, according to the previous Saturday’s issue of the Coffeyville Daily Journal.
I wonder if the Van was a new name for the Victor? FDY was known to double-list theaters that had changed names, sometimes for many years.
Owner S. G. Fry had installed a wide screen at the Grand Theatre, and had the house repainted inside and out, according to Boxoffice of May 15, 1954.
The December 26, 1935 issue of The Grand Saline Sun reported that S. G. Fry had purchased the Palace Theatre from W. H. Spencer and planned to close the house for extensive remodeling after the end of December. The Palace was listed in the 1926 FDY with 230 seats. The only theater listed at Grand Saline in the 1914-1915 AMPD was called the Princess, and was at 19 W. Frank Street.
The May 16, 1930 issue of the The Canton Herald from Canton, Texas, had an ad announcing the re-opening of Fry’s Victor Theatre “with the very latest talkie movie equipment.” I haven’t seen any theaters other than the Royal (in Canton) and the Majestic (in Wills Point) advertised earlier in 1930 or in 1928. The local newspapers from 1929 are not available, but the theater was most likely opened no earlier than that year, when the town underwent an oil-related boom. It would almost certainly have been located on Main Street, which remains the only commercial street in town to this day.
The October 11, 1924 Exhibitor’s Trade Review had this brief (and late) item about an Orpheum theatre in Mexico. As the Grand presented Orpheum vaudeville, might it have used the circuit name as an aka? “The Orpheum Theatre, Mexico, Mo., opens Saturday September 27, and will show pictures and vaudeville. Putney & Clay are the owners.”
The Grand had been mentioned in the September 13 issue of the same journal that year, in an item saying that Buddy Paul planned to reopen the house on Labor Day (this announcement was also late, as Labor Day is the first Monday of September) “…with feature pictures and tab musical sets.”
The October 4, 1924 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review had this item about the project that would become the Venetian Theatre: “Hugh McCredie of Portland has plans for a $65,000 suburban house and store building. The theatre will be of Italian architecture and will seat 750. It will be of concrete construction with tile and stucco exterior. Edward Miller is architect.”
The Venetian Theatre opened on March 14, 1925. It was renamed St. Johns Theatre by a new owner in 1936.
Multiple sources indicate that Geller’s Theatre was designed by architect Edward A. Miller. Geller’s theatre opened on Dec 25, 1927 and operated under its original name through Dec 31, 1934. Since then it has been known as the Aladdin.
Maybe my post was not clear enough. The Colonial Theatre, not the Roxy, was at 1650 S. Broad Street. The Roxy was somewhere in the 1600 block of Elm Street, which is across the railroad tracks from the Colonial’s location on Broad Street.
When the Roxy was first listed in the FDY, in 1935, it had only 275 seats, but in 1937 it began to be listed with 400.
The 1922 and 1932 Sanborn maps of Commerce show a movie theater, the Colonial, at 1650 S. Broad Street. In the early to mid 1930s, the new Roxy Theatre was built into a former livery stable building on S. Elm Street, which is actually the other half of Broad Street, on the other side of the railroad tracks that divide them two names.
I have a suspicion (but only circumstantial evidence) that Ritz was simply a new name for the re-opened Colonial Theatre. The Colonial was last listed in the 1934 FDY with 250 seats. The 1935 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Cynderella and the 275-seat Roxy. The same listings appear in 1936, and the name Ritz first appears in 1937, when it still has 250 seats. The Roxy is later listed (by 1938) with 400 seats, but I think the 250-seat Colonial, Cynderella and Ritz are all the same house with name changes.
1650 Broad Street is the center bay of three in an impressive brick building that was built in 1907 with an Opera House on its upper floor. An early photo, probably from the 1910s judging from the parked cars, shows the storefront theater in the center bay. Either the Opera House, or the storefront show (maybe both) was called the Ellida Theatre, and was listed in the 1914-1915 AMPD. The Ellida was also listed in the 1914 Gus Hill guide, with 800 seats, which is why I suspect it was the upstairs Opera House. The storefront was just too small. The name Colonial was in use for the storefront house by 1921.
A rather confusing blog post about Commerce reveals that the Roxy Theatre was on S. Elm Street, but the exact location is not made clear. As near as I can puzzle out it was between Pine Street and Central Avenue, which would place it roughly across the street from the Colonial Theatre on S. Broad Street (Elm and Broad are the same street, with a railroad running down the middle and different names for each side of the street.) I believe the Colonial was at modern address 1650 S. Broad, a space which is now occupied by a bar and grill. The Colonial appears on both the 1922 1and 1932 Sanborn maps of Commerce.
This house was mentioned in the February 12, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World: “The Central opera house at McHenry, Ill., has been running moving pictures only on Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.”
The Fairy Theatre was one of three houses listed at Granville in the 1914-1915 AMPD. The others were the Majestic and the New Star.
The November, 1913 Sanborn map of Henry shows the Opera House at what is now addresses 316-318 Edward Street.
This item appears in the May 28, 1927 Moving Picture World: “A. R. Langston has opened the Langston Theatre at Arcola, Ill., and the house is one of the finest little theatres in that territory.” I don’t know if it had anything to do with the Ritz, but I’m putting it on this page to see if anyone knows anything about it.
The May 28, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World ran a brief notice that the Miner Theatre at St. Cloud was being remodeled by Finkelstein and Ruben for use by roadshows.
The Alhambra Theatre started at 3215 Penn and in 1927 moved into a new building next door. News that architect O. K. Westphal had designed the new house for theater owner Harry Dickerman appeared in the May 28, 1927 issue of Motion Picture Herald. The permit for construction had just been issued.
The People’s Theatre at Crosby was mentioned in the May 28, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World. Owner George Thorpe and his son Harvey were planning to build a stage at the house to accomodate vaudeville and road shows. They also operated the Orpheum Theatre at Ironton, and planned to build a new 400-seat house in that town.
The May 28, 1927 issue of Motion Picture Herald said that “C. H. Sevatius, owner of the Casino in Milaca, Minn., is making extensive improvements on the theatre.”
This theater was mentioned in the “Illinois Theatre Changes” column of Moving Picture World for October 21, 1916: “Oneida, Ill. The Park Theater opened September 27 with the ‘Eternal City.; The music is furnished by a five piece orchestra.” The house might have been a seasonal operation in its early years, or this might have been when it began operating as a movie house.
The April 22, 1916 issue of MPW mentioned “Paul Ericson’s Cozy theater” at Oneida. I don’t know if this was a second house or only an aka for the Park.
I am wondering if the Del Rio might have been a reopening of the old Star Theatre, which vanished from the FDY after 1929? The Star was last listed with 300 seats, and the Del Rio first appeared in the 1931 edition with 360 seats. The Del Rio was listed as a Fox house from the beginning. The Star was last listed as owned by K&F Theatres of Denver, who were also running the Rio Grande in 1929. Fox probably took control of both of K&F’s Las Cruces houses at the same time. In the economic conditions of the period, would Fox have been more likely to build a new house or just gussie up an old one that was still serviceable?
From the October 28, 1933 Film Daily: “Las Cruces, N. M.—The rebuilt Rio Grande, Foxwesco house destroyed by fire several months ago, will be opened Nov. 1. It will replace the Del Rio, which was reopened at the time of the fire.”
Aside from the news that the Rio Grande had a major fire, this brief item reveals that Fox West Coast was running the house early on.In fact the 1930 FDY lists it as owned by Wesco Corporation, headquartered at Washington and Vermont in Los Angeles, which was Fox-West Coast’s Boulevard Theatre. The 1929 FDY had listed the Rio and the Star as owned by Denver-based K&F Theatres.
The Capitol was a new house in 1923. This item is from the November 10 issue of Moving Picture World that year: “K. Kelty, formerly manager of the Strand Theatre, Yarmouth, N. S., has been appointed manager of the Capitol Theatre, a new theatre at Kentville, N. S., owned by F. G. Spencer.”
Two theater projects for Kentville were mentioned in the January 16, 1916 issue of Moving Picture World: “Fine New House for Kentville. Kentville, N. S.-With a population of but 2,400, Kentville is to be as well supplied with high-class moving picture theaters as any town its size in the dominion. Clark and Hiltz, who are now running the Nickelette are building a new theater, that is to have a seating capacity of 900 people, and R. W. Seliz, proprietor of the Arena, a summer theater, has purchased land and will start work in May on a house of almost equal size.”
I’ve been unable to discover if both or either of these theaters got built, or anything about them if they were.
Was this house entirely new in 1948, or was it an older theater that was remodeled? It’s the only house listed on Wyandotte E., which was where the May, 1917 issue of the trade journal Construction said an unnamed theater was to be altered: “Windsor, Ont.-Architect J. C. Pennington, Labelle Building, is preparing plans for an addition to a theatre on Wyandotte street east to cost $5,000; M. D. Armaby, 152 Wyandotte street east, is the owner.”
Here is an item from the May, 1917 issue of the Canadian trade journal Construction: “Trail. B.C. - Victor Blanci and Rod McDonald have been awarded the general contract for the erection of a theatre for the Trail Opera House Company, Limited, to cost $15,000.”