I don’t think we’re showing the correct address for this theater. 201 Davis is the corner building, with the intersection to its left as your face it, and the photo of the Hippodrome shows a building to the left. Sources on the Internet indicate that the Grand/Manos Theatre was only a few doors south of the Hippodrome, and the Manos building is still standing at 205 Davis Avenue, as is the building at 209 Davis.
The address of the Hippodrome must have been somewhere from 213 to 221 Davis. The entire north end of the block is now occupied by a modern bank building (229 Davis) and its drive-up teller facilities, so the Hippodrome has been demolished.
Don Rittner’s Times Union article about Fred Proctor says that Proctor took over the Lyceum Theatre in 1912. By 1918, the Lyceum was hostinga stock company, according the The New York Clipper of November 27.
Jack, whether the Cascade has a shot at having been the first twin theater or not depends on now early in 1907 it opened. The Twin Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, opened in February, 1907. It’s the earliest two-screen house I’ve come across so far, but there might have been earlier ones. As many early movie theaters were located in converted store buildings, and the larger of those were often divided by supporting columns, the idea of partitioning the space into two rooms could have occurred to a number of theater operators.
This was a bit of a puzzle, as Binghamton has done a bit of street realignment, and the stretch of Water Street the Lyric Theatre was on has been renamed Hawley Street. Hamlin’s Drugs is now a CVS Pharmacy, and the parking lot where the Lyric once stood is still there, with a small CVS sign in front. I’ve updated Street View to that location, which is a bit south of the Google Maps pin icon, just before Hawley Street starts to bend.
The August 12, 1944, issue of The Billboard referred to the East Macon Theatre as “…one of Macon’s leading show houses.” Jack DeVoe had just been named manager of the house, part of the Lucas & Jenkins circuit.
The Berry in Berry Grand was probably Truman C. Berry, who was mentioned as a partner in the Gale Theatre in a 1920 L.A. Times article quoted in this comment on our Roxy Theatre page.
Berry is also mentioned in connection with Siler and Gwin in a 1935 book (available only in snippet view), Reports of cases determined in the District Courts of Appeal of the state of California, Volume 11
The single time I’ve found this theater mentioned in the trade journals it is hyphenated as the Berry-Grand theater. The February 19, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World reported that it had been taken over by L. Uhlig. This was also the only mention of L. Uhlig I’ve found.
A permit for construction costing $300,000 was issued for the theater at 1187-1197 Sixth Avenue in 1944, according to an entry in the Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan New Building Database. As new construction had to be approved by the War Production Board at that time, I don’t know if this project was carried out or not. If it was, the architects were Schlanger & Sornik.
The Avon Theatre at 6th Avenue and 47th Street also is mentioned in the John and Drew Eberson archives as a 1952 project (#1624), though the nature and extent of the project is not stated.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan NB Database says that the theater at 220-222 E. 59th Street was designed by Norman L. Wax. There is an architect of that name currently practicing in Lawrence, New York, but I don’t know if it’s the same one who designed this theater in 1968.
If the house opened in 1967 (per our introduction), then the 1968 project must have been a remodeling for RKO Stanley Warner, listed as the owners. If it was a remodeling it must have been fairly extensive, as the Database gives the budget as $100,000, which was still a considerable sum in 1968. The Database has no earlier entry for the original construction.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan NB Database says that the theater at 1474-1478 Third Avenue was designed by architect John J. McNamara in 1969.
Architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag filed an application for a zoning variance with the Board of Appeals on June 27, 1921, to allow construction of a two story theater, 39 x 132 feet, on the east side of Lee Street, 58 feet north of Hewes Street. That has to have been the Model Theatre.
Herman Gronenberg and Albert J.H. Leuchtag are best knows for designing large, luxurious apartment buildings on the west side of Manhattan, so I don’t know how they came to design a small neighborhood theater in Williamsburg. They did some alterations to Carnegie Hall, and are supposed to have designed some other theaters, but so far I’ve been unable to identify any of them.
The Uptown Theatre probably opened in late 1921 or early 1922. Items in the Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York indicate that the application for a permit to build the theater was made on July 25, 1919, but as late as July 13, 1921, architect George Mort Pollard applied for an extension of the time the board had required for completion of the project. The extension was granted for one year. Adolph Lewisohn was the owner of the theater.
Pollard, best known for his residential buildings, designed at least one other theater in New York, the Harlem Grand. There was also a theater in his artists cooperative studio-apartment building, the Hotel des Artistes, but I’ve found no indication that it was ever used as a movie house.
The Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to says that William Hohouser was the architect for the late 1930s remodeling of the Harlem Grand Theatre. The original architect of the Harlem Strand, according to From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan’s Houses of Worship, was George Mort Pollard.
Pollard also designed the Uptown Theatre at Broadway and 170th Street, and there was a theater in his most famous building, the Hotel des Artistes on Central Park West, but I don’t think it ever operated as a movie house.
The February 25, 1919, issue of Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York reveals that, by January, 1919, an automobile upholstery shop was being operated in the former movie theater at 963 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn.
It’s likely that the 1950 Boxoffice item I cited earlier got the year of the Princess Theatre’s opening wrong, and it actually opened in 1913. The March 15, 1913, issue of The American Contractor said that architect R. G. Hohen (I’ve also found it spelled Hoehn, which I think is more likely correct) had designed a brick theater, 45x165 feet, for the Princess Theatre, L. M. Rubens, proprietor. That is about the size of the Princess Theatre’s original footprint, judging from the satellite view. Excavation was underway as of March, 1913.
Page 35 of Joliet, by David A. Belden (Google Books preview), has a photo of the Orpheum Theatre. The caption says that the house was built in 1910, was originally called the Coliseum Theatre, and was renamed the Orpheum in 1911.
A book of documents from Joliet council meetings in 1910 indicates that the proposed theater at Chicago and Webster Streets was to be built for L. M. Rubens. The 1912 edition of Stage Year Book lists the house as the New Orpheum Theatre, which means it was probably being operated by the Gus Sun circuit. Sun favored the name New Orpheum, and had a dozen or more houses of that name on his circuit.
The Coliseum/Orpheum was probably designed by local architect R. G. Hohen. An item in the July 2, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that R. G. Hoeh [sic] had completed plans for the new Rubens theater in Joliet. Hoehn designed at least one other theater in Joliet for the Rubens Brothers, noted in the March 15, 1913, issue of the same publication. So far I’ve been unable to identify that theater for sure, but it might have been the Princess.
I forgot that I had commented about this theater on the Ritz Theatre page a few years ago. Items in Boxoffice from 1948 and 1949 reveal that the Martin Theatre in Bainbridge was housed in a converted Coca Cola bottling plant which was remodeled for the chain by architect Rufus E. Bland.
This web page has a scan of the cover of the April, 1950, issue of the Martin circuit’s house organ, Martin Tipster, featuring a photo of the Bainbridge house. The marquee says “Gala Opening 6:30 Tonight” and advertises the film Jolson Sings Again. IMDb says that the movie was released in August, 1949. Martin’s new theaters were usually first run, so, unless the movie had an exclusive run in larger cities first, this theater probably opened in August or September, 1949.
A history of the Swan Drive-In (PDF here) says that the Rialto Theatre was partially damaged by a fire in 1963 and has since been rebuilt for retail use. It doesn’t say if the Rialto was still in operation at the time of the fire, but it apparently never reopened.
A history of the Swan Drive-In (PDF here) says that it was built in 1955 by Jack Jones, Sr. and W. H. Tilley, Jr., operators of the Rialto Theatre. Tilley sold his interest in both theaters to Jones in 1959. The PDF has a monthly calendar for each theater from November, 1959.
I don’t think we’re showing the correct address for this theater. 201 Davis is the corner building, with the intersection to its left as your face it, and the photo of the Hippodrome shows a building to the left. Sources on the Internet indicate that the Grand/Manos Theatre was only a few doors south of the Hippodrome, and the Manos building is still standing at 205 Davis Avenue, as is the building at 209 Davis.
The address of the Hippodrome must have been somewhere from 213 to 221 Davis. The entire north end of the block is now occupied by a modern bank building (229 Davis) and its drive-up teller facilities, so the Hippodrome has been demolished.
Don Rittner’s Times Union article about Fred Proctor says that Proctor took over the Lyceum Theatre in 1912. By 1918, the Lyceum was hostinga stock company, according the The New York Clipper of November 27.
Jack, whether the Cascade has a shot at having been the first twin theater or not depends on now early in 1907 it opened. The Twin Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia, opened in February, 1907. It’s the earliest two-screen house I’ve come across so far, but there might have been earlier ones. As many early movie theaters were located in converted store buildings, and the larger of those were often divided by supporting columns, the idea of partitioning the space into two rooms could have occurred to a number of theater operators.
This was a bit of a puzzle, as Binghamton has done a bit of street realignment, and the stretch of Water Street the Lyric Theatre was on has been renamed Hawley Street. Hamlin’s Drugs is now a CVS Pharmacy, and the parking lot where the Lyric once stood is still there, with a small CVS sign in front. I’ve updated Street View to that location, which is a bit south of the Google Maps pin icon, just before Hawley Street starts to bend.
The Ritz is open, but apparently no longer showing movies— at least the current web site doesn’t list any.
The AKA Country Music Opera House does not belong to this theater. It belongs to the Etowah Theatre, as seen in this photo at Flickr.
The Liberty Theatre in Attalla is mentioned in the October 13, 1928, issue of Motion Picture News. The manager’s name was Jack Brown.
The August 12, 1944, issue of The Billboard referred to the East Macon Theatre as “…one of Macon’s leading show houses.” Jack DeVoe had just been named manager of the house, part of the Lucas & Jenkins circuit.
The Berry in Berry Grand was probably Truman C. Berry, who was mentioned as a partner in the Gale Theatre in a 1920 L.A. Times article quoted in this comment on our Roxy Theatre page.
Berry is also mentioned in connection with Siler and Gwin in a 1935 book (available only in snippet view), Reports of cases determined in the District Courts of Appeal of the state of California, Volume 11
The single time I’ve found this theater mentioned in the trade journals it is hyphenated as the Berry-Grand theater. The February 19, 1916, issue of The Moving Picture World reported that it had been taken over by L. Uhlig. This was also the only mention of L. Uhlig I’ve found.
Linkrot repair: The Trans-Lux Modern Theatre illustrating an ad for Carrier air conditioners in the March 7, 1936, issue of Boxoffice.
A permit for construction costing $300,000 was issued for the theater at 1187-1197 Sixth Avenue in 1944, according to an entry in the Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan New Building Database. As new construction had to be approved by the War Production Board at that time, I don’t know if this project was carried out or not. If it was, the architects were Schlanger & Sornik.
The Avon Theatre at 6th Avenue and 47th Street also is mentioned in the John and Drew Eberson archives as a 1952 project (#1624), though the nature and extent of the project is not stated.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan NB Database says that the theater at 220-222 E. 59th Street was designed by Norman L. Wax. There is an architect of that name currently practicing in Lawrence, New York, but I don’t know if it’s the same one who designed this theater in 1968.
If the house opened in 1967 (per our introduction), then the 1968 project must have been a remodeling for RKO Stanley Warner, listed as the owners. If it was a remodeling it must have been fairly extensive, as the Database gives the budget as $100,000, which was still a considerable sum in 1968. The Database has no earlier entry for the original construction.
The Office for Metropolitan History’s Manhattan NB Database says that the theater at 1474-1478 Third Avenue was designed by architect John J. McNamara in 1969.
The 1981 Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to says that the Columbia I and II was designed by Drew Eberson.
Architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag filed an application for a zoning variance with the Board of Appeals on June 27, 1921, to allow construction of a two story theater, 39 x 132 feet, on the east side of Lee Street, 58 feet north of Hewes Street. That has to have been the Model Theatre.
Herman Gronenberg and Albert J.H. Leuchtag are best knows for designing large, luxurious apartment buildings on the west side of Manhattan, so I don’t know how they came to design a small neighborhood theater in Williamsburg. They did some alterations to Carnegie Hall, and are supposed to have designed some other theaters, but so far I’ve been unable to identify any of them.
The Uptown Theatre probably opened in late 1921 or early 1922. Items in the Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York indicate that the application for a permit to build the theater was made on July 25, 1919, but as late as July 13, 1921, architect George Mort Pollard applied for an extension of the time the board had required for completion of the project. The extension was granted for one year. Adolph Lewisohn was the owner of the theater.
Pollard, best known for his residential buildings, designed at least one other theater in New York, the Harlem Grand. There was also a theater in his artists cooperative studio-apartment building, the Hotel des Artistes, but I’ve found no indication that it was ever used as a movie house.
The Boxoffice article Tinseltoes linked to says that William Hohouser was the architect for the late 1930s remodeling of the Harlem Grand Theatre. The original architect of the Harlem Strand, according to From Abyssinian to Zion: A Guide to Manhattan’s Houses of Worship, was George Mort Pollard.
Pollard also designed the Uptown Theatre at Broadway and 170th Street, and there was a theater in his most famous building, the Hotel des Artistes on Central Park West, but I don’t think it ever operated as a movie house.
The February 25, 1919, issue of Bulletin of the Board of Standards and Appeals of the City of New York reveals that, by January, 1919, an automobile upholstery shop was being operated in the former movie theater at 963 Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn.
It’s likely that the 1950 Boxoffice item I cited earlier got the year of the Princess Theatre’s opening wrong, and it actually opened in 1913. The March 15, 1913, issue of The American Contractor said that architect R. G. Hohen (I’ve also found it spelled Hoehn, which I think is more likely correct) had designed a brick theater, 45x165 feet, for the Princess Theatre, L. M. Rubens, proprietor. That is about the size of the Princess Theatre’s original footprint, judging from the satellite view. Excavation was underway as of March, 1913.
Page 35 of Joliet, by David A. Belden (Google Books preview), has a photo of the Orpheum Theatre. The caption says that the house was built in 1910, was originally called the Coliseum Theatre, and was renamed the Orpheum in 1911.
A book of documents from Joliet council meetings in 1910 indicates that the proposed theater at Chicago and Webster Streets was to be built for L. M. Rubens. The 1912 edition of Stage Year Book lists the house as the New Orpheum Theatre, which means it was probably being operated by the Gus Sun circuit. Sun favored the name New Orpheum, and had a dozen or more houses of that name on his circuit.
The Coliseum/Orpheum was probably designed by local architect R. G. Hohen. An item in the July 2, 1910, issue of The American Contractor said that R. G. Hoeh [sic] had completed plans for the new Rubens theater in Joliet. Hoehn designed at least one other theater in Joliet for the Rubens Brothers, noted in the March 15, 1913, issue of the same publication. So far I’ve been unable to identify that theater for sure, but it might have been the Princess.
I forgot that I had commented about this theater on the Ritz Theatre page a few years ago. Items in Boxoffice from 1948 and 1949 reveal that the Martin Theatre in Bainbridge was housed in a converted Coca Cola bottling plant which was remodeled for the chain by architect Rufus E. Bland.
This web page has a scan of the cover of the April, 1950, issue of the Martin circuit’s house organ, Martin Tipster, featuring a photo of the Bainbridge house. The marquee says “Gala Opening 6:30 Tonight” and advertises the film Jolson Sings Again. IMDb says that the movie was released in August, 1949. Martin’s new theaters were usually first run, so, unless the movie had an exclusive run in larger cities first, this theater probably opened in August or September, 1949.
A history of the Swan Drive-In (PDF here) says that the Rialto Theatre was partially damaged by a fire in 1963 and has since been rebuilt for retail use. It doesn’t say if the Rialto was still in operation at the time of the fire, but it apparently never reopened.
A history of the Swan Drive-In (PDF here) says that it was built in 1955 by Jack Jones, Sr. and W. H. Tilley, Jr., operators of the Rialto Theatre. Tilley sold his interest in both theaters to Jones in 1959. The PDF has a monthly calendar for each theater from November, 1959.