Originally opened as the Adolphus Theater on 27th November 1911. It was essentially a vaudeville theater but did screen a first run motion picture after the interval as the 2nd part of the show. It was fitted with a Moller 3Manual/14Rank theater pipe organ which accompanied the motion picture.
It was re-named Hippodrome Theater from 31st August 1913 and continued until closing in the late 1940’s. The reinforced concrete constructed auditorium was demolished in the late 1940’s and became a car parking lot, but the frontage and the 60feet long outer lobby were retained. This became used as the Main St Gymnasium on the 2nd floor for many year, until even this part of the theater was finally demolished.
I went by the site a couple of years ago and it was still a vacant lot.
There is a listing for a Main Theater, 438 S. Main St on CinemaTour.com which could have been the Admiral, aka Rector’s Admiral you mention. I have no record of an Admiral in my listings 1941, 1950, 1952, apart from the Admiral (later Vine) on Hollywood Blvd.
If the Main was at #438, the Regent at # 448 and the Banner at #458, that is 3 theaters on the 400 block (E side of S. Main St).
The Banner Theater has that name through the 1940’s, ‘50’s and as a porn cinema in the 1970’s.
I was on S. Main taking photo’s of the Regent Theater a few years ago when it was operating as a Spanish language ‘straight’ porn cinema. A black street guy saw me and hollered across the street ‘Hey! You mother fu…. white honky, wot u taking pictures of me for’! I made a swift exit as he started to cross the street towards me, but got the photos of the Regent ok.
The Avalon Theater opened on 29th May 1929, with the attraction on screen; Douglas Fairbanks production “The Iron Mask”.
The theater is located on the first floor of the Casino Building, which has the 2,000 dancers capacity, Casino Ballroom above.
The Casino Building was built at a cost of $2m by William Wrigley Jnr, multi-millionaire and founder of the Wrigley chewing gum company. It is still owned by the Wrigley family under a company known as the Santa Catalina Island Company and they embarked on a $1,535,000 renovation of the building commencing in 1988. The beautiful murals on the exterior of the building and in the Avalon Theater auditorium were by John Gabriel Beckman and these were fully restored in 1994.
The theater was equipped from its opening with a Page theater pipe organ, which is still in use today to entertain the movie-going audience at weekends. Manufactured by Page organs of Lima, Ohio, it has 4Manuals and 16Ranks and was the largest organ manufactured by Page.
Santa Catalina Island is located 22 miles off the California coast and can be reached by ferry boat from Long Beach. It is well worth the trip to view the island and the stunning Avalon Theater, Casino Ballroom & Building.
Many thanks for posting (what is currently) the 1st cinema on this site in the country of South Africa. S.A is certainly under-researched and documented (are there any books published on S.A cinemas?) I am sure it had (even has) many wonderful cinema theatre buildings. Please add more if you know details of them.
Thanks again.
There is a photo and more details of Russell McCullough and the Cinemiracle test projection set up that was installed in the Melrose Theatre at this link: View link
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 gives a seating capacity for the New Arcata Theater as 476. In the 1952 edition of FDY the Arcata Theater is listed as having 450 seats and the street address is given as 1020 G Street. Has there been re-numbering over the years?
Ron;
Thanks for posting those details, it is always good to piece together another slice of the history, especially when it comes from ‘the horses mouth’.
I have a gay guide book for Boston (published in 1977) in which the Symphony II Theater is listed at a street address 252 Huntington Avenue screening gay male porn movies.
Joe;
Thanks for confirming those details. I agree too, that the Casino was ever a movie theatre, it doesn’t even look like one in the picture you attached. A town the size of San Clemente could never have supported two theaters.
Thanks for that MagicLantern, I will still investigate further!
The exterior of the Tomkat has always looked pretty smart and it looks even better at night, outlined in purple neon.
In the auditorium there isn’t too much in the way of architectural detail to be seen as it’s painted black (nowadays it has video projection so it’s much darker than in the days of carbon arc projection). The ramp in the center orchestra stalls off the stage (used for ‘live’ shows when it was a Pussycat) is still in place.
Is the policy going ‘straight’ again instead of ‘gay’? I can see no reason to reveal the Pussycat Girl to the current clientel, unless they are planning to swing the other way and screen ‘lesbian’ movies.
I am planning to attend the Tomkat while I am in W. Hollywood and will invertigate further.
It is a building that had cinema seats, projectors, film, a screen, and customers who entered…. departing satisfied. To me, thats a cinema.
I mean…Is a screen set up in a field with a projection booth and concession stand in the middle, but no walls, ceiling or seating…. a cinema? A drive-in cinema type is included on Cinema Treasures, so why not a porn cinema
Jack Liebenberg was not the original architect of the Egyptian, he was responsible (with his partner Seeman Kaplan) for the 1938 re-modelling of the theatre.
A seating capacity of 654 is given in the Film Daily Yearbook, 1941.
In the FDY,1950 the capacity is given as 970 with a street address at 829 Davis Street.
I have the Madison listed in the 1930 Film Daily Yearbook, so it was opened prior to then.
The 1950 FDY has it listed as the Azteca with a seating capacity of 530. Stangely, by the time the 1957 FDY was published it is again listed as the Madison, but showing no seating capacity, which leads me to believe that it had just closed and the owners hadn’t contacted FDY with their annual update.
Theaters in the FDY without a seating capacity tend to be ones just opened (or about to open as FDY went to press) so are without their full details, or for the reason I mention above.
I have just found the programme that was handed out on my first ever visit to the RCMH.
Here are the details:
Week beginning Thursday November 11, 1976
Music Hall Grand Organ – Raymond Bohr, John Destroy
“The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella” Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven.
“The Nativity” Rebecca Alford, Soloist. Entire Music Hall Ensemble
“Snowflakes” Produced and Directed by Peter Gennaro
A. “Build a Snowman"
B. "All Skating, All Singing” Barry Busse, The Caroleers & The Skaters
C. “The Penguin Ho-Down"
D. "March of the Wooden Soldiers” The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes
(Choreography by Russell Markett) (Directed by Violet Holmes)
E. “Santa” featuring Barry Busse
F. Finale: “The Christmas Tree” The Entire Company
As I stated in a previous posting on here, I stayed in to see the show twice, I was amazed and had never seen such a spectacle or use of stage facilities in my life! Two organ consoles playing together, an orchestra pit which rose up onto the stage and ‘disappeared’ into the flys, to be replaced by a real ice rink and skaters on stage. Those wonderful Rockettes and even real-live camels, sheep and donkeys too! Pity about the crap movie. I normally keep ticket stubs as a souvenir, but up to now I haven’t located it, but I’m sure it was not more than $4 admission.
Also on offer was the Rockerfeller Center Guided Tour
Adults: $2.15 Children: $1.35
Daily tours from 9:30am – 5:30pm at frequent intervals
‘This one hour guided tour of the 21-building business and entertainment complex, covers the Center’s history, its principle skyscrapers, its open plazas and rooftop gardens, its maze of shops underground and on street level, its comprehensive artwork and a glimpse backstage of the famous RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL.
Among the sites are the props and sets, the giant motion-picture screen and the massive stage elevators, a marvel of theatrical engineering.
Every tour terminates on the OBSERVATION DECK atop the 70-storey RCA building and you are invited to remain there at your leisure after the tour'.
I decided not to take the tour on this occassion, after all, I had seen the film, the show and the theatre. It must have been in later years when the tour concentrated on the RCMH totally and I have done this one several times.
The opening attraction at the Palmetto Theatre in late 1940 (sorry, I don’t have an exact date) was Ann Shirley in “West Point Widow” with Richard Carlson and Richard Denning as supporting actors.
The headers for the Palmetto Theatre need ammending to:
Status: Closed/Demolished
Style: Art Moderne
Seats: 850
Architect: Earl G. Stilwell
When first opened it had a seating capacity of 850, which included a special ‘coloured’ only section in the rear of the balcony.
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives the address as 172 E. Main Street, the prime location being on the NW corner of E. Main Street and N. Liberty Street. A seating capacity of 818 is given in the year 1950.
During it last years of operation it survived on a diet of karate and X-rated movies. It was torn down in June 2003.
Originally opened as the Adolphus Theater on 27th November 1911. It was essentially a vaudeville theater but did screen a first run motion picture after the interval as the 2nd part of the show. It was fitted with a Moller 3Manual/14Rank theater pipe organ which accompanied the motion picture.
It was re-named Hippodrome Theater from 31st August 1913 and continued until closing in the late 1940’s. The reinforced concrete constructed auditorium was demolished in the late 1940’s and became a car parking lot, but the frontage and the 60feet long outer lobby were retained. This became used as the Main St Gymnasium on the 2nd floor for many year, until even this part of the theater was finally demolished.
I went by the site a couple of years ago and it was still a vacant lot.
Joe;
There is a listing for a Main Theater, 438 S. Main St on CinemaTour.com which could have been the Admiral, aka Rector’s Admiral you mention. I have no record of an Admiral in my listings 1941, 1950, 1952, apart from the Admiral (later Vine) on Hollywood Blvd.
If the Main was at #438, the Regent at # 448 and the Banner at #458, that is 3 theaters on the 400 block (E side of S. Main St).
The Banner Theater has that name through the 1940’s, ‘50’s and as a porn cinema in the 1970’s.
I was on S. Main taking photo’s of the Regent Theater a few years ago when it was operating as a Spanish language ‘straight’ porn cinema. A black street guy saw me and hollered across the street ‘Hey! You mother fu…. white honky, wot u taking pictures of me for’! I made a swift exit as he started to cross the street towards me, but got the photos of the Regent ok.
The Avalon Theater opened on 29th May 1929, with the attraction on screen; Douglas Fairbanks production “The Iron Mask”.
The theater is located on the first floor of the Casino Building, which has the 2,000 dancers capacity, Casino Ballroom above.
The Casino Building was built at a cost of $2m by William Wrigley Jnr, multi-millionaire and founder of the Wrigley chewing gum company. It is still owned by the Wrigley family under a company known as the Santa Catalina Island Company and they embarked on a $1,535,000 renovation of the building commencing in 1988. The beautiful murals on the exterior of the building and in the Avalon Theater auditorium were by John Gabriel Beckman and these were fully restored in 1994.
The theater was equipped from its opening with a Page theater pipe organ, which is still in use today to entertain the movie-going audience at weekends. Manufactured by Page organs of Lima, Ohio, it has 4Manuals and 16Ranks and was the largest organ manufactured by Page.
Santa Catalina Island is located 22 miles off the California coast and can be reached by ferry boat from Long Beach. It is well worth the trip to view the island and the stunning Avalon Theater, Casino Ballroom & Building.
Marnuse;
Many thanks for posting (what is currently) the 1st cinema on this site in the country of South Africa. S.A is certainly under-researched and documented (are there any books published on S.A cinemas?) I am sure it had (even has) many wonderful cinema theatre buildings. Please add more if you know details of them.
Thanks again.
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives the Florida Theatre a seating capacity of 1,000.
There is a photo and more details of Russell McCullough and the Cinemiracle test projection set up that was installed in the Melrose Theatre at this link: View link
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 gives a seating capacity for the New Arcata Theater as 476. In the 1952 edition of FDY the Arcata Theater is listed as having 450 seats and the street address is given as 1020 G Street. Has there been re-numbering over the years?
Ron;
Thanks for posting those details, it is always good to piece together another slice of the history, especially when it comes from ‘the horses mouth’.
I have a gay guide book for Boston (published in 1977) in which the Symphony II Theater is listed at a street address 252 Huntington Avenue screening gay male porn movies.
The seating capacity for the Empress Theatre given in the Film Daily Yearbook, 1941 is 1,385. In the 1950 edition it it was slightly reduced to 1,313.
The Film Daily Yearbok, 1941 gives a seating capacity of 800 for the Savoy Theater. In the 1950 edition it had reduced slightly to 761.
Joe;
Thanks for confirming those details. I agree too, that the Casino was ever a movie theatre, it doesn’t even look like one in the picture you attached. A town the size of San Clemente could never have supported two theaters.
Thanks for that MagicLantern, I will still investigate further!
The exterior of the Tomkat has always looked pretty smart and it looks even better at night, outlined in purple neon.
In the auditorium there isn’t too much in the way of architectural detail to be seen as it’s painted black (nowadays it has video projection so it’s much darker than in the days of carbon arc projection). The ramp in the center orchestra stalls off the stage (used for ‘live’ shows when it was a Pussycat) is still in place.
Is the policy going ‘straight’ again instead of ‘gay’? I can see no reason to reveal the Pussycat Girl to the current clientel, unless they are planning to swing the other way and screen ‘lesbian’ movies.
I am planning to attend the Tomkat while I am in W. Hollywood and will invertigate further.
It is a building that had cinema seats, projectors, film, a screen, and customers who entered…. departing satisfied. To me, thats a cinema.
I mean…Is a screen set up in a field with a projection booth and concession stand in the middle, but no walls, ceiling or seating…. a cinema? A drive-in cinema type is included on Cinema Treasures, so why not a porn cinema
The street address of the Paradise/Capri Theatre is 2027 W. Broadway, Minneapolis, MN.
It opened in 1931 and closed in the 1960’s. The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives a seating capacity of 807.
The architect of the Edina Theater was Jack Liebenberg (Seeman Kaplan his partner was the busnessman and engineer in the practice).
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives a seating capacity for the Norshor Theater as 1,202.
A correction to my posting on Dec 21, 2004.
Jack Liebenberg was not the original architect of the Egyptian, he was responsible (with his partner Seeman Kaplan) for the 1938 re-modelling of the theatre.
As per my message dated Nov 13, 2004, the headers need to be updated for the Publix Theatre.
Seats: 1,700
Architect: Clarence H. Blackall
A seating capacity of 654 is given in the Film Daily Yearbook, 1941.
In the FDY,1950 the capacity is given as 970 with a street address at 829 Davis Street.
I have the Madison listed in the 1930 Film Daily Yearbook, so it was opened prior to then.
The 1950 FDY has it listed as the Azteca with a seating capacity of 530. Stangely, by the time the 1957 FDY was published it is again listed as the Madison, but showing no seating capacity, which leads me to believe that it had just closed and the owners hadn’t contacted FDY with their annual update.
Theaters in the FDY without a seating capacity tend to be ones just opened (or about to open as FDY went to press) so are without their full details, or for the reason I mention above.
I have just found the programme that was handed out on my first ever visit to the RCMH.
Here are the details:
Week beginning Thursday November 11, 1976
Music Hall Grand Organ – Raymond Bohr, John Destroy
“The Slipper and the Rose: The Story of Cinderella” Richard Chamberlain, Gemma Craven.
“The Nativity” Rebecca Alford, Soloist. Entire Music Hall Ensemble
“Snowflakes” Produced and Directed by Peter Gennaro
A. “Build a Snowman"
B. "All Skating, All Singing” Barry Busse, The Caroleers & The Skaters
C. “The Penguin Ho-Down"
D. "March of the Wooden Soldiers” The Radio City Music Hall Rockettes
(Choreography by Russell Markett) (Directed by Violet Holmes)
E. “Santa” featuring Barry Busse
F. Finale: “The Christmas Tree” The Entire Company
As I stated in a previous posting on here, I stayed in to see the show twice, I was amazed and had never seen such a spectacle or use of stage facilities in my life! Two organ consoles playing together, an orchestra pit which rose up onto the stage and ‘disappeared’ into the flys, to be replaced by a real ice rink and skaters on stage. Those wonderful Rockettes and even real-live camels, sheep and donkeys too! Pity about the crap movie. I normally keep ticket stubs as a souvenir, but up to now I haven’t located it, but I’m sure it was not more than $4 admission.
Also on offer was the Rockerfeller Center Guided Tour
Adults: $2.15 Children: $1.35
Daily tours from 9:30am – 5:30pm at frequent intervals
‘This one hour guided tour of the 21-building business and entertainment complex, covers the Center’s history, its principle skyscrapers, its open plazas and rooftop gardens, its maze of shops underground and on street level, its comprehensive artwork and a glimpse backstage of the famous RADIO CITY MUSIC HALL.
Among the sites are the props and sets, the giant motion-picture screen and the massive stage elevators, a marvel of theatrical engineering.
Every tour terminates on the OBSERVATION DECK atop the 70-storey RCA building and you are invited to remain there at your leisure after the tour'.
I decided not to take the tour on this occassion, after all, I had seen the film, the show and the theatre. It must have been in later years when the tour concentrated on the RCMH totally and I have done this one several times.
The opening attraction at the Palmetto Theatre in late 1940 (sorry, I don’t have an exact date) was Ann Shirley in “West Point Widow” with Richard Carlson and Richard Denning as supporting actors.
The headers for the Palmetto Theatre need ammending to:
Status: Closed/Demolished
Style: Art Moderne
Seats: 850
Architect: Earl G. Stilwell
When first opened it had a seating capacity of 850, which included a special ‘coloured’ only section in the rear of the balcony.
The Film Daily Yearbook, 1950 gives the address as 172 E. Main Street, the prime location being on the NW corner of E. Main Street and N. Liberty Street. A seating capacity of 818 is given in the year 1950.
During it last years of operation it survived on a diet of karate and X-rated movies. It was torn down in June 2003.