The Towne Theatre opened its doors by the Fox Theatres (Reading) chain on June 14, 1954 with Marilyn Monroe in “River Of No Return” with no extra shorts, but before the show comes along with a special stage show that featured three acts, and after the acts comes an opening statement by Fox Theatres (Reading) president Melvin J. Fox.
The first act was named “The Hollys” featuring Vaughn Monroe who had then-recently returned from a tour. The second act contains a male instrumental group called “The Buck Trio” that remakes then-recent Top 40 hits including “You Can’t Make Your Heart Stop Loving” and “Chapel In The Valley”, and the third act is an unnamed vocalist who would later perform with the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra the following month.
The Towne Theatre was first managed by Mrs. Mary E. Hawkins, who was also the secretary to James H. Carmine, the vice-president of the Philco Corporation for 16 years. She operated the Towne Theatre for a short time, and by the following year, the theater was taken over by George Mest of Levittown, who had a really dark story later in his life shown below.
Shortly before 11:00 AM on September 29, 1958, an unexpectedly tragedy happened inside the theater when the manager of the theater, then-32-year-old George Mest, attempted to hang himself by leaping out of a ladder and hang from a girder rope in the Towne Theatre’s lobby which at the time was advertising its scheduled showing of the Lewis-Martin comedy “Scared Stiff” and James Stewart’s “Spirit Of St. Louis”.
Fortunately that failed when Mest’s 230-pound body broke the rope and fell to the ground. Tullytown Police Chief John B. Walterick arrived on scene but Mest shouted “CHIEF! ARREST ME! I TRIED TO HANG MYSELF!!” Walterick rushed downstairs from the police station and saw Mest collapsed in the ground as he reached towards him. He was conscious but replied again to the officer that he attempted to hang himself. Mest was taken by Bucks County Rescue Squad to the Lower Bucks County Hospital for treatment.
Authorities reported that Walterick went back inside the theater and found a 3⁄8-inch of manila hemp measuring around 20ft long laying on the floor near the projection room. Walterick then replied that the girder measures 12ft from the ground and Mest had a severe red mark on Mest’s neck when he collapsed in front of the Tullytown police station for questioning before picking up Mest and carried him upstairs to a chair. It was eventually reported that he attempted suicide after three separate incidents, in which his camera was stolen, Mest’s house was burned to the ground, and $1,142.63 being stolen in his office at the Towne Theatre after escaping from police custody in Tullytown, all-in-one the previous day.
According to authorities, two Levittown boys (one from U.S. Army’s AWOL in Fort Dix, New Jersey), 16-year-old Ronald Jackson and 17-year-old Michael Buck, were arrested in Philadelphia during a traffic stop between an officer and their 1941 Ford. Police said that the boys who had parked their car in the Stonybrook section of Levittown near the Towne Theatre were walking to the theater when a Tullytown Police car came up on scene, and circled the area near the theater several times. The youths were able to hide in a small building adjacent to the theater. During questioning, Jackson said that once the police car left, he and Buck used a ladder on the side of the building and were able to climb to the roof of the theater.
Buck, the one from the Army, got into the theater by a single way of an unlocked trapdoor on the roof and then let Jackson in by a side door. The boys said that they removed the lock from the manager’s office but found no money. They then chiseled the lock off the door of the office containing the theater’s safe, which have an estimate cost of $1,142.63 which they found in the safe located on a shelf. Jackson told police that when they found the amount of money, they considered about only taking a small amount of it, but Jackson told police that they then figured out that they would be in just as much trouble for taking only a small amount of money from a large amount. After the burglary, the two drove in their 1941 Ford all night.
It wasn’t until the following day, on September 28 at 9:00 AM, when Philadelphia Police officer Gerald Blumberg pulled them over for a traffic stop and a routine check. He noticed that he was about to let the two boys go when he noticed Jackson’s jacket on the back seat of the car. He walked to the back side and found all the money hiding underneath the jacket. The two boys were placed under arrest and were turned over back to Tullytown Chief Walterick.
Actual closing date is May 22, 1989 with “Three Fugitives” in Screen 1 and “Beaches” in Screen 2. It originally closed permanently but GCC announced their final closure on July 30 because of both deterioration and lack of business.
The Flick Cinema once suffered damage from a fire on August 1, 1988, causing an estimate $40,000 in damages. Unfortunately, the theater became national headlines after being reported that the theater was targeted and the fire was set off by an arsonist as a warning on not allowing to both show and advertise the scheduled movie “The Last Temptation Of Christ”. Manager Joe Matthews from both the Flick Cinema and Commonwealth Theatres replied to local media saying he found notes next to his theater, in which those notes were turned over to the Pine Bluff Police Department and its block signage red letters actually spelt “The Lord’s Servant” following the fire.
This was in connection of the movie’s protest around the states, but for the fire at the Flick was completely unconfirmed that it was related. The fire also damaged its neighboring building housed by Pine Bluff Commercial. After a few days of investigating, the Flick Cinema reopened a few days after the fire.
The State Theatre did had a very unique history because of its “movie studio focus” and not on placing a top hit one after another.
The State Theatre at first primarily showed Columbia films (yes because of its slogan), but would also add films by RKO, United Artists, and Selznick into its lineup during World War II. By the end of World War II, the State Theatre primarily showed RKO movies (including titles by its predecessor Liberty Films) despite the State Theatre being independently-operated and not owned by the chain, but the State Theatre would eventually bring back its original Columbia formula in 1949.
It continued into the 1950s alongside its CinemaScope installation during its boom, but it wasn’t until 1956 when the State Theatre tossed the table. The State Theatre then primarily screened United Artists films, and one of those titles ran at the State is the smash “Around The World In 80 Days” that same year. Another smash that ran during its time with UA is “West Side Story” in the Summer of 1962.
NOTE: The State Theatre was NOT operated by United Artists themselves at the time. It was independently-operated and was the management’s choice of movies made by the studio. It was definitely NOT owned by the circuit themselves.
Finally in the mid-1960s, the State Theatre began showing MGM films until its closure on September 7, 1971 with “Fortune And Men’s Eyes” due to storm damage.
The Chisholm did attract some controversy in 1990, when the theater staff booked the NC-17 movie “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, And Her Lover”. They dropped it after only two weeks, due to the theater having under pressure from residents, including the then-mayor of Plano despite him not seeing the movie.
The mayor concluded on the basis of its original rating that it wasn’t appropriate for the city of Plano. The mayor even suggested that officials have went to the city council to pass a law prohibiting future NC-17 rated films from being screened in Plano, but unfortunately this did not last long, as “Showgirls” did play at the Chisholm five years later.
During its final year of operation, the Hope Cinema briefly went under the name “New Hope Cinema” for almost a year screening both first-run and classic movies until its closure on August 27, 2024 with one last run of “E.T.” due to poor business, marking the end of almost 80 years of operation since the theater’s opening on December 19, 1944 as the Hope Theatre.
The theater immediately went up for sale but Mayor Victor Smith replied that the district isn’t planning to buy the beloved-but-unprofitable cultural institution. Smith gave special gratitude to the operators by applauding to them who support the operations of the theater.
The Trail Drive-In appeared that it most likely closed in the mid-1980s. The theater remained abandoned for years, but the screen was removed either in the late-1990s or early-2000s.
Correction: It was renamed the Landers Theatre at the end of 1930.
The Towne Theatre opened its doors by the Fox Theatres (Reading) chain on June 14, 1954 with Marilyn Monroe in “River Of No Return” with no extra shorts, but before the show comes along with a special stage show that featured three acts, and after the acts comes an opening statement by Fox Theatres (Reading) president Melvin J. Fox.
The first act was named “The Hollys” featuring Vaughn Monroe who had then-recently returned from a tour. The second act contains a male instrumental group called “The Buck Trio” that remakes then-recent Top 40 hits including “You Can’t Make Your Heart Stop Loving” and “Chapel In The Valley”, and the third act is an unnamed vocalist who would later perform with the Robin Hood Dell Orchestra the following month.
The Towne Theatre was first managed by Mrs. Mary E. Hawkins, who was also the secretary to James H. Carmine, the vice-president of the Philco Corporation for 16 years. She operated the Towne Theatre for a short time, and by the following year, the theater was taken over by George Mest of Levittown, who had a really dark story later in his life shown below.
Shortly before 11:00 AM on September 29, 1958, an unexpectedly tragedy happened inside the theater when the manager of the theater, then-32-year-old George Mest, attempted to hang himself by leaping out of a ladder and hang from a girder rope in the Towne Theatre’s lobby which at the time was advertising its scheduled showing of the Lewis-Martin comedy “Scared Stiff” and James Stewart’s “Spirit Of St. Louis”.
Fortunately that failed when Mest’s 230-pound body broke the rope and fell to the ground. Tullytown Police Chief John B. Walterick arrived on scene but Mest shouted “CHIEF! ARREST ME! I TRIED TO HANG MYSELF!!” Walterick rushed downstairs from the police station and saw Mest collapsed in the ground as he reached towards him. He was conscious but replied again to the officer that he attempted to hang himself. Mest was taken by Bucks County Rescue Squad to the Lower Bucks County Hospital for treatment.
Authorities reported that Walterick went back inside the theater and found a 3⁄8-inch of manila hemp measuring around 20ft long laying on the floor near the projection room. Walterick then replied that the girder measures 12ft from the ground and Mest had a severe red mark on Mest’s neck when he collapsed in front of the Tullytown police station for questioning before picking up Mest and carried him upstairs to a chair. It was eventually reported that he attempted suicide after three separate incidents, in which his camera was stolen, Mest’s house was burned to the ground, and $1,142.63 being stolen in his office at the Towne Theatre after escaping from police custody in Tullytown, all-in-one the previous day.
According to authorities, two Levittown boys (one from U.S. Army’s AWOL in Fort Dix, New Jersey), 16-year-old Ronald Jackson and 17-year-old Michael Buck, were arrested in Philadelphia during a traffic stop between an officer and their 1941 Ford. Police said that the boys who had parked their car in the Stonybrook section of Levittown near the Towne Theatre were walking to the theater when a Tullytown Police car came up on scene, and circled the area near the theater several times. The youths were able to hide in a small building adjacent to the theater. During questioning, Jackson said that once the police car left, he and Buck used a ladder on the side of the building and were able to climb to the roof of the theater.
Buck, the one from the Army, got into the theater by a single way of an unlocked trapdoor on the roof and then let Jackson in by a side door. The boys said that they removed the lock from the manager’s office but found no money. They then chiseled the lock off the door of the office containing the theater’s safe, which have an estimate cost of $1,142.63 which they found in the safe located on a shelf. Jackson told police that when they found the amount of money, they considered about only taking a small amount of it, but Jackson told police that they then figured out that they would be in just as much trouble for taking only a small amount of money from a large amount. After the burglary, the two drove in their 1941 Ford all night.
It wasn’t until the following day, on September 28 at 9:00 AM, when Philadelphia Police officer Gerald Blumberg pulled them over for a traffic stop and a routine check. He noticed that he was about to let the two boys go when he noticed Jackson’s jacket on the back seat of the car. He walked to the back side and found all the money hiding underneath the jacket. The two boys were placed under arrest and were turned over back to Tullytown Chief Walterick.
The Chuck E. Cheese’s on the former site of the Ritchie Cinemas 1-2-3 opened on November 7, 1990.
Actual closing date is May 22, 1989 with “Three Fugitives” in Screen 1 and “Beaches” in Screen 2. It originally closed permanently but GCC announced their final closure on July 30 because of both deterioration and lack of business.
Taken between June 24 and 27, 1970.
The Flick Cinema once suffered damage from a fire on August 1, 1988, causing an estimate $40,000 in damages. Unfortunately, the theater became national headlines after being reported that the theater was targeted and the fire was set off by an arsonist as a warning on not allowing to both show and advertise the scheduled movie “The Last Temptation Of Christ”. Manager Joe Matthews from both the Flick Cinema and Commonwealth Theatres replied to local media saying he found notes next to his theater, in which those notes were turned over to the Pine Bluff Police Department and its block signage red letters actually spelt “The Lord’s Servant” following the fire.
This was in connection of the movie’s protest around the states, but for the fire at the Flick was completely unconfirmed that it was related. The fire also damaged its neighboring building housed by Pine Bluff Commercial. After a few days of investigating, the Flick Cinema reopened a few days after the fire.
The State Theatre did had a very unique history because of its “movie studio focus” and not on placing a top hit one after another.
The State Theatre at first primarily showed Columbia films (yes because of its slogan), but would also add films by RKO, United Artists, and Selznick into its lineup during World War II. By the end of World War II, the State Theatre primarily showed RKO movies (including titles by its predecessor Liberty Films) despite the State Theatre being independently-operated and not owned by the chain, but the State Theatre would eventually bring back its original Columbia formula in 1949.
It continued into the 1950s alongside its CinemaScope installation during its boom, but it wasn’t until 1956 when the State Theatre tossed the table. The State Theatre then primarily screened United Artists films, and one of those titles ran at the State is the smash “Around The World In 80 Days” that same year. Another smash that ran during its time with UA is “West Side Story” in the Summer of 1962.
Finally in the mid-1960s, the State Theatre began showing MGM films until its closure on September 7, 1971 with “Fortune And Men’s Eyes” due to storm damage.
The Chisholm did attract some controversy in 1990, when the theater staff booked the NC-17 movie “The Cook, The Thief, His Wife, And Her Lover”. They dropped it after only two weeks, due to the theater having under pressure from residents, including the then-mayor of Plano despite him not seeing the movie.
The mayor concluded on the basis of its original rating that it wasn’t appropriate for the city of Plano. The mayor even suggested that officials have went to the city council to pass a law prohibiting future NC-17 rated films from being screened in Plano, but unfortunately this did not last long, as “Showgirls” did play at the Chisholm five years later.
Closed on October 26, 1986.
Opened on August 11, 1995.
The Hope Cinema is closed.
During its final year of operation, the Hope Cinema briefly went under the name “New Hope Cinema” for almost a year screening both first-run and classic movies until its closure on August 27, 2024 with one last run of “E.T.” due to poor business, marking the end of almost 80 years of operation since the theater’s opening on December 19, 1944 as the Hope Theatre.
The theater immediately went up for sale but Mayor Victor Smith replied that the district isn’t planning to buy the beloved-but-unprofitable cultural institution. Smith gave special gratitude to the operators by applauding to them who support the operations of the theater.
Closed on September 4, 2000.
Expanded to 7 screens on May 20, 1983.
Opened on November 24, 1995.
Opened on December 14, 1950 with Dean Stockwell in “The Happy Years” (unknown if extras added).
It did had the name New Drive-In after Rowley United took over, but retained its original Lilly’s name through newspaper advertisements and showtimes.
Closed in 1921.
Opened on June 19, 1913.
Opened on September 26, 1914.
Opened on July 24, 1930 with Charles Bickford in “The Sea Bat” along with an unnamed comedy and Paramount News. It was twinned in 1980.
Actual closing date is October 11, 1997.
The Trail Drive-In appeared that it most likely closed in the mid-1980s. The theater remained abandoned for years, but the screen was removed either in the late-1990s or early-2000s.
Renamed the Ruth Theatre in October 1945, and later as the Rex Theatre in April 1947. It was still open in 1965.
Still open in 1948.
The Corral Drive-In also has an indoor seating room, but that same exact room suffered damage from a fire on November 30, 1958.