Grand Theatre

This link shows the West Shore Theatre in New Cumberland PA. It has the same entrance doors as the Grand once had and it is described as art deco rather than as art moderne. What is the main difference(s) between the 2 designs?

http://www.cinematour.com/tour/us/6938.html

I don’t have time to read through all the comments, so pardon me if this information has previously been posted. The January 3, 1942, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an article about the recently-opened Grand Theatre in its Modern Theatre section.

From the photos with the article I’d say the Grand was definitely Art Moderne in style, rather than Art Deco. The article identified the architect of the new house as Michael J. DeAngelis. The seating capacity at opening was given as 850. Total cost of the project was a mere $65,000. The original owner was Kenneth Blakely.

An architect’s rendering of the Grand had earlier appeared in Boxoffice’s “Just Off the Boards” feature in the April 21, 1941, issue.

And I have learned that the Grand was demolished in April 1993 — 2 days after an auction was held to sell many of the artifacts such as the popcorn machine circa 50’s, carpeting, light fixtures, stage lighting, the front entrance doors and even a piece of the theatre wall.

I am thrilled to have finally made contact with “WSL” thanks to one of the Grand Theatre managers who is a CT member. I hope to see “WSL” continue to tell his many “labor of love” Grand Theatre memories because the Grand Theatre was just that….grand! And I hope that a Grand Theatre projectionist that I recently spoke to decides to become a member to share his memories, too.

Lost: A sincere thank you! These photos will help with my project!

WSL: After reading your Feb. 28, 2005 post and this final remark I would really appreciate hearing from you either on CT or in a personal email. My email address is

“I took pictures that I would be glad to share with you."
posted by WSL on Feb 28, 2005 at 7:15am

David Stear: 621 seats is what CT member, WDG, posted on Aug. 21 2005 as opposed to the 738 seats listed at the top of this link. And if you could email me I would appreciate talking to you about you adding the Grand Theatre to CT.

“On that night we sold out all 621 seats and had a few customers standing in the back!”

Jasn: Here is a site that will show you a few Grand photos along with some other area former theatres.

View link

Just for anyone who is still reading this thread. There seems to be some confusion about the size and shape of the marquee at the Grand. There was an earlier Grand that was located in close proximity to where the big one was on the corner of Main and Portage Streets (It may have been exactly the same but Im not sure) but when they made it into the bigger Grand (after a fire I think) this is when they changed the big front marquee to that giant rounded beauty that we all remember. I too remember that at one point towards the end a semi went around that corner and took out part of the marqee closest to the side where the viaduct began. I also remember that at that point they didnt even bother to repair it and they just put up this sheet of metal to cover the open and exposed light sockets. If anyone still checks this site Id really love to see some old photos of the Grand…

Jason

Sybil: Just checked the online discount bookstore site (www.abebooks.com) and found My Fifteen Minutes, but not Fifteen Minutes More so will order your first book…for now. Thanks for reminding me.

Hello Patsy: I just read your blurb about the showing of THE GREAT O'Malley at the Grand Theatre.
Do you know you can still see it on TCM ( Turner Classic Movies) every now and again. I do hope that you have read my two books called MY FIFTEEN MINUTES and because of requests for more books by me FIVE MINUTES MORE. I am now working on my third book for Bear Manor Media publishers. Judging by the letters sent in and their sentiments regarding the Grand Theatre it was greatly loved by the inhabaitants of that town. Very nice to hear that. We all had our favorite theatres at one time and another and as I toured on personal appearance tours I was lucky enough to appear at a lot of them across the USA. One of the biggest I appeared at was The Roxy in New York City.
Blessings to you and yours. Sybil Jason

My name is Max Summerville, III. I was five when my family managed the Grand Theater. That would be 1962. I went to kindergarten in Westfield, lived at 52 Clinton Street (the green house) and played in the stock room behind the ticket booth while my mother sold tickets and father ran the show. Bob Doss was also a projectionist. We also managed the Keller Theater in North East, PA for a year or two after we lost the Grand due to bad local economy from a bad frost that killed the grape harvest. I remember those being thin times. I also remember the bowling alley, the furnace room and (being small) crawling back through the ventilation ducts spring and fall to remove and replace the vent covers when the air conditioning was shut on/off. You can email me at

I have finally scanned my pictures, but the Cinema Treasures website for adding pictures is offline. Whenever the site is back I will put them in.

Unfortunately, my pictures are of the theatre just before it was razed. I hope they bring back some memories for all of the people who were fortunate to have been raised in and/or lived in the wonderful village of Westfield, New York, for the Grand Theatre was most certainly a key part of life during the 40s, 50s and 60s.

WSL