Cooper Foundation closed the Broadway in April of 1961 before subleasing it to Earl Nansel on a sublease in June of 1961. He threw in. the towel April 21, 1963 with “Courtship of Eddie’s Father” followed by a live beauty contest. It was leased for a grocer in 1964.
Nicholas Amos and the estate of N.P. Dodge razed the Revere Hotel for a new build theater, his third in Council Bluffs but first new-build in 1911. The architect was F.E. Cox. Amos opened November 30, 1911 - Thanksgiving - with an address by Mayor Thomas Maloney, five acts of vaudeville from the Sullivan and Considine Vaudeville Circuit, and the latest in motion pictures. Anton Gundrum operated the adjoining confectionery which served as the theater’s de facto concession stand. Frank Blank operated the humidor called The Puff.
The Nicholas Theatre was taken on by new operators. They rented it the more patriots Liberty Theatre beginning April 27, 1918 with “The Man Without a Country.” The Liberty closed in 1967. It was taken on for a nightclub called The Psychedelic Wheel on December 6, 1967. They lasted less than a year. Kenneth Claypool took on the venue on November 27, 1968 under the nameplate of the Iowa Theatre with “Gone with the Wind."On November 20, 1969, the Iowa found out that families weren’t supporting the old venue.
On December 5, 1972, the venue went for promo chic programming as the Crest Theatre beginning with “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers” and “Good Morning and Goodbye!” Just months later, the City attempted to say the films were obscene to no avail. County Attorney David Richter went after the Crest in 1984 again seizing a film but unable to make a charge stick.
In 1985, the Crest was slated for redevelopment. And money talked with the operators, Joella Cohen and Jordin Ginsberg, selling outright for $110,000 in 1985. The theater close just after its 64th Anniversary on November 23, 1985. The next day a fixture / salvage sale was held with everything from the seats to the projectors sold “cheap!” The theater was torched on February 4, 1986 prior to demolition. The remains were taken away that summer.
The Omni Theatre had four auditoriums of 285, 257, 255 and 226 or 1,023 total. It was designed for the West Side of the Midlands Mall under the Sears anchor store.
Mall of the Bluffs Cinema 2 and 2 was part of Kroh Brothers of Kansas City’s expansion in 1976. The Cinema joined Coco’s and Rueben’s restaurants. Architect Lowry C. Gilbert and Associates drawing is in photos.
As noted above and in the photos, the Strand was still in operation when the fire struck and eerily the marquee stayed lit as the fire was raging. Joella Cohen ran it independently two weeks after Mann closed on December 31, 1973. The last films were “Jerrimiah Johnson” and “The Macintosh Man” on December 11, 1974.
This is your Robert O. Boller designed theater (see photos) with its exterior in Colonial style and interior in Southwestern style flourished by Taos artist Llloyd Moylan’s murals reflecting pioneer days (that’s according to Boller if you want to go with his notes on the theater’s style). The entire concept was commissioned by developer Harry Jacobs. Also the opening date was March 6, 1937 with James Cagney in “The Great Guy” for Mutual Theatres and Brookside Theatres. Operators W.D. Fulton and Stanley H. Schwartz ran into difficulty closing the house November 21, 1937 with “Trader Horn” and “Footloose Heiress” ending their operation after just eight months. Fulton and Schwartz also operated the Tivoli, LaSalle, Mokan, Southtown and Colonial theaters.
Fox took on the venue’s lease and refreshed it with more streamline moderne features including its exterior signage at its reopening as the Fox Brookside on February 13, 1938 with Alice Faye in “Your a Sweetheart.” Arguably, the biggest booking to date was a coup and one of the Brookside’s biggest bookings - March 27, 1959 - the 70mm presentation of “Sleeping Beauty” before the downtown houses. Like many old houses, the Brookside devolved missing its 40th anniversary target.
It was set to receive new life as a nightclub when fire broke out in the barbecue restaurant decimating parts of the Boller-designed plaza in January of 1978. Despite the amazing photos showing the destruction, the building remained standing and a point of some intrigue for a full year. Why? The theaters front and lobby was destroyed beyond repair. Yet, the auditorium was spared from damage other than water (and neglect over the years) so there was discussion about saving the theater’s auditorium and cobbling together the nightclub with the remaining elements. But then a salvage sale was held and the theater razed about a year after the blaze.
The ridiculously long-running theater, the Trail Ridge Theatres 3 / Trailridge Cinema operated 32 years until January 29, 2007. The venue was announced in 1974 as part of the planned rustic, Trailridge Shopping Center in Shawnee. Linclay Contracting Corporation built the strip center minus the rustic look (other than the plaza’s signage) with the Trail Ridge Cinema opening March 21, 1975 for Guy-Con Theatres with “4 Musketeers,” “Island at the Top of the World” and “Girls in Trouble.”
On April 6, 1977, Commonwealth Theatres Circuit took over all nine of Guy-Con’s screens including the Trail Ridge’s becoming the Trail Ridge Theatres 3. The triplex was challenged by a new group of multiplexes with five to eight screens. On May 28, 1982, Commonwealth downgraded the venue to a discount, sub-run $1 house which it retained for the next 25 years.
On February 10, 1988, United Artists took on Commonwealth locations including the Trail Ridge. The UA Trail Ridge 3 continued the $1 all seats policy. In September of 1990, the theatre lost the space between Trail and Ridge finally adopting the center’s name as the UA Trailridge while raising the price 50 cents before returning to a dollar. UA was ready to leave at the end of its lease in 1993 but was encouraged to re-up for three more years. UA left the house on March 10, 1996 making no improvements.
The shopping center management found independent Ron Willard willing to take on the venue. He rebooted at a penny cheaper - 99 cents for all seats - on May 23, 1996 sporting the tagline, “Cleaned up; painted up; lighted up!” Clearly a shot at UATC which had let the venue run down as it counted the days to the lease’s expiry. Willard ran the venue under The name of the name of the Trailridge Cinema.
“Rocky Horror Picture Show” $3 midnight screenings ran for 196 weeks until the theater became damaged by overzealous “Rocky” fans. In 2001, Willard gave the theater its final refresh and announced no more “Rocky Horror” screenings for the good of the facility. The Trailridge Cinema closed on January 29, 2007. The plaza’s owners couldn’t find another theater owner wanting to operate a 32-year old triplex so they found a tax-friendly solution in moving it to a church in 2012.
Kroh Brothers Development launched the Ward Parkway Shopping Center in 1959 as an enclosed shopping Mall but theatre-less. That changed with the opening of the Parkway Theatres One and Two by Shopping Center Theaters, Inc. / Durwood Theatres, the precursors to AMC on July 12th, 1963.
The venue closed as the Parkway 2 under the renamed American Multi Cinema (AMC) on April 26, 1977 with “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” and “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother.” The venue was to be be replaced by a Kroh Brothers Development second floor food court and multiplex theater in 1978. The $500,000 project started and stalled leaving the Ward Parkway Mall theatre-less until th Mall was able to sever relations with the Kroh Brothers in 1987. That paved the way for a major multiplex that was built in 1991 and opened November 22d.
Under new management, the remodeled venue had a grand reopening of the New Paseo Theatre held on June 17, 1941 with “Buck Privates” and “Footsteps in the Dark.” That theater burned on January 25, 1943. The new New Paseo Theater relaunched on March 29, 1945 with “Lake Placid Serenade” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
That Paseo also was gutted by fire on December 8, 1950 making its last films December 7, 1950 with a triple feature of “In The Navy” and “Saps at Sea” supported by a Three Stooges short, “Malice in the Palace.” This time, the theatre’s walls stood tall and the venue was replaced by a wholesale location for the U.S. Toy Company. The building was then gutted by a major fire there on November 27, 1957 destroying what once was the auditorium of the theater. The building’s original facade is pretty much in place with the back of the building truncated.
“Wages” was re-released as an “adults only” film in 1954 generally with “Fig Leaf for Eve” and I believe by Willis Kent Studio. The titles were likely booked for television audiences and found new theatrical life as “adult only” special cuts for theatrical. Kind of a “see what you missed on TV” version.
The architectural plans of 1926 for the proposed Star turned Rockhill Theatre are by Charles E. Shepherd then of Shepard & Wiser Architects. Shepherd’s dome at the north end of the project are in both drawings for Midwest Theatres Circuit. The expansion of multi-use offices as seen in the revised 1927 now Rockhill plans are also signed by Charles E. Shepherd though then of Shepherd & Pickett Architects. I haven’t found any Boller input in the building’s drawings that are available.
The project was expensive for its era as a neighborhood theater at $300,000 including its Robert Morton pipe organ on just a 15-year leasing contract - netting a guarantee of $180,000 over that period. It worked out, though, with Fox re-upping the lease though closing on March 10, 1954 with a repertory double feature of “The Public Enemy” and “Little Caesar”.
The venue reopened as the Rockhill Art Theatre September 6th, 1956 with “The Proud and the Beautiful.” Fire interrupted things gutting the auditorium on October 31, 1967 after the venue’s final film, Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back.” They didn’t with the operators posting “That’s All Folks” on the marquee and the building was refurbished for other purposes.
The Waldo-Westmoreland Theatre launched on August 10, 1924 with Constance Bennett in “Cytherea” and live music from the venue’s $10,000 Hope-Jones pipe organ. Operator W.C. Gumm said that the patrons liked the music as much as the films shown during his time at the Waldo-Westmoreland. That appears to have come to an end in 1927 with the operator likely unsure how to make the transition to sound. Midwest Theatres / Fox Midwest Theatres took on the venue making that transition and changing the name to the Waldo Theater.
The Tivoli Theatre closed at the expiry of a leasing period on March 28, 1954 with a triple feature of Yvonne DeCarlo in “Salome, Where She Danced,” John Wayne in “Island in the Sky” and Edward G. Robinson in “Vice Squad.” Not a bad way to go. and On April 21, 1954, owner Herman Illmer received permission to convert the venue into the Tivoli Roller Rink. A 1980s fire gutted the former theater.
National General Corporation appears to have closed the Linwood not long after 50 years of service on October 2, 1966 (although it may have continued without advertisements).
Chuck writes: “The Castle Theatre was located on East 12th Street just a block from the Paseo. I could find no time line on the Castle and very little information.” Please don’t alter that though technically the theatre was at the corner of East 12th and Paseo (not a block away).
Adding just a bit more here (my research - not Chuck’s). Jasper Brancito and John Donici opened the Castle Theatre for African American audiences on June 6, 1936 with “I Dream Too Much.” Sporting RCA projectors, Silver King projection screen and RCA Photophone sound system, the venue was equipped by Stebbins Theatre Equipment. S. Patti Construction built a streamline moderne theater that stood the test of time. Orville Copeland was the opening day projectionist. The neighboring Crystal Hamburger Hut was open 24 hours a day serving theater patrons. The Castle Theatre building also housed Archie’s Beauty Shop #2.
The Castle joined the Boone Theatre, the Paseo, and the Lincoln Theatre as leading African American movie houses. It would be joined by the Linwood, Princess, Gem and others. The Castle operated to the end of a 30-year lease in 1966. In 1968, the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of Kansas City targeted the African American business district on The Paseo for Urban Renewal decimating the neighborhood. Buildings that weren’t immediately sold were targeted by arsonists setting off a string of fires on June 24, 1969 that including the Castle Theatre Building. It would later be razed along with the entirety of the business district.
Charles A. Pittman opened the Jest-A-Mere Theatre on November 27, 1918. Pittman was the only African American owner/builder of a new-build St. Louis movie theater at that time as labor unions reportedly tried to tamper with the construction of the venue.
Its grand reopening as the (Frederick) Douglass Theatre on September 1, 1927 with Ralph Graves in “The Swell-Head” supported by live vaudeville and selected film shorts in in photos. The venue added sound to remain viable. It closed at end of lease on April 22, 1962 with Elizabeth Taylor in “Butterfield 8” and, appropriately enough, “The Last Sunset” with Kirk Douglas.
The New Lincoln Theatre opened on March 13, 1921 with a live presentation by the Conolly Colored Players of “Mutt and Jeff” supported by a film, “Leigh Whipper’s Reel Negro News” newsreel with Leigh Whipper in person.
Cooper Foundation closed the Broadway in April of 1961 before subleasing it to Earl Nansel on a sublease in June of 1961. He threw in. the towel April 21, 1963 with “Courtship of Eddie’s Father” followed by a live beauty contest. It was leased for a grocer in 1964.
Nicholas Amos and the estate of N.P. Dodge razed the Revere Hotel for a new build theater, his third in Council Bluffs but first new-build in 1911. The architect was F.E. Cox. Amos opened November 30, 1911 - Thanksgiving - with an address by Mayor Thomas Maloney, five acts of vaudeville from the Sullivan and Considine Vaudeville Circuit, and the latest in motion pictures. Anton Gundrum operated the adjoining confectionery which served as the theater’s de facto concession stand. Frank Blank operated the humidor called The Puff.
The Nicholas Theatre was taken on by new operators. They rented it the more patriots Liberty Theatre beginning April 27, 1918 with “The Man Without a Country.” The Liberty closed in 1967. It was taken on for a nightclub called The Psychedelic Wheel on December 6, 1967. They lasted less than a year. Kenneth Claypool took on the venue on November 27, 1968 under the nameplate of the Iowa Theatre with “Gone with the Wind."On November 20, 1969, the Iowa found out that families weren’t supporting the old venue.
On December 5, 1972, the venue went for promo chic programming as the Crest Theatre beginning with “Finders Keepers, Losers Weepers” and “Good Morning and Goodbye!” Just months later, the City attempted to say the films were obscene to no avail. County Attorney David Richter went after the Crest in 1984 again seizing a film but unable to make a charge stick.
In 1985, the Crest was slated for redevelopment. And money talked with the operators, Joella Cohen and Jordin Ginsberg, selling outright for $110,000 in 1985. The theater close just after its 64th Anniversary on November 23, 1985. The next day a fixture / salvage sale was held with everything from the seats to the projectors sold “cheap!” The theater was torched on February 4, 1986 prior to demolition. The remains were taken away that summer.
The Omni Theatre had four auditoriums of 285, 257, 255 and 226 or 1,023 total. It was designed for the West Side of the Midlands Mall under the Sears anchor store.
Mall of the Bluffs Cinema 2 and 2 was part of Kroh Brothers of Kansas City’s expansion in 1976. The Cinema joined Coco’s and Rueben’s restaurants. Architect Lowry C. Gilbert and Associates drawing is in photos.
As noted above and in the photos, the Strand was still in operation when the fire struck and eerily the marquee stayed lit as the fire was raging. Joella Cohen ran it independently two weeks after Mann closed on December 31, 1973. The last films were “Jerrimiah Johnson” and “The Macintosh Man” on December 11, 1974.
Photo as the Bijou Cinema (should be also known as) from January 1972 in photos.
A picture operating as Teatro Tapia - an homage to the venerable Puerto Rican venue of the same name - from 1972 is in phots.
This is your Robert O. Boller designed theater (see photos) with its exterior in Colonial style and interior in Southwestern style flourished by Taos artist Llloyd Moylan’s murals reflecting pioneer days (that’s according to Boller if you want to go with his notes on the theater’s style). The entire concept was commissioned by developer Harry Jacobs. Also the opening date was March 6, 1937 with James Cagney in “The Great Guy” for Mutual Theatres and Brookside Theatres. Operators W.D. Fulton and Stanley H. Schwartz ran into difficulty closing the house November 21, 1937 with “Trader Horn” and “Footloose Heiress” ending their operation after just eight months. Fulton and Schwartz also operated the Tivoli, LaSalle, Mokan, Southtown and Colonial theaters.
Fox took on the venue’s lease and refreshed it with more streamline moderne features including its exterior signage at its reopening as the Fox Brookside on February 13, 1938 with Alice Faye in “Your a Sweetheart.” Arguably, the biggest booking to date was a coup and one of the Brookside’s biggest bookings - March 27, 1959 - the 70mm presentation of “Sleeping Beauty” before the downtown houses. Like many old houses, the Brookside devolved missing its 40th anniversary target.
It was set to receive new life as a nightclub when fire broke out in the barbecue restaurant decimating parts of the Boller-designed plaza in January of 1978. Despite the amazing photos showing the destruction, the building remained standing and a point of some intrigue for a full year. Why? The theaters front and lobby was destroyed beyond repair. Yet, the auditorium was spared from damage other than water (and neglect over the years) so there was discussion about saving the theater’s auditorium and cobbling together the nightclub with the remaining elements. But then a salvage sale was held and the theater razed about a year after the blaze.
The ridiculously long-running theater, the Trail Ridge Theatres 3 / Trailridge Cinema operated 32 years until January 29, 2007. The venue was announced in 1974 as part of the planned rustic, Trailridge Shopping Center in Shawnee. Linclay Contracting Corporation built the strip center minus the rustic look (other than the plaza’s signage) with the Trail Ridge Cinema opening March 21, 1975 for Guy-Con Theatres with “4 Musketeers,” “Island at the Top of the World” and “Girls in Trouble.”
On April 6, 1977, Commonwealth Theatres Circuit took over all nine of Guy-Con’s screens including the Trail Ridge’s becoming the Trail Ridge Theatres 3. The triplex was challenged by a new group of multiplexes with five to eight screens. On May 28, 1982, Commonwealth downgraded the venue to a discount, sub-run $1 house which it retained for the next 25 years.
On February 10, 1988, United Artists took on Commonwealth locations including the Trail Ridge. The UA Trail Ridge 3 continued the $1 all seats policy. In September of 1990, the theatre lost the space between Trail and Ridge finally adopting the center’s name as the UA Trailridge while raising the price 50 cents before returning to a dollar. UA was ready to leave at the end of its lease in 1993 but was encouraged to re-up for three more years. UA left the house on March 10, 1996 making no improvements.
The shopping center management found independent Ron Willard willing to take on the venue. He rebooted at a penny cheaper - 99 cents for all seats - on May 23, 1996 sporting the tagline, “Cleaned up; painted up; lighted up!” Clearly a shot at UATC which had let the venue run down as it counted the days to the lease’s expiry. Willard ran the venue under The name of the name of the Trailridge Cinema.
“Rocky Horror Picture Show” $3 midnight screenings ran for 196 weeks until the theater became damaged by overzealous “Rocky” fans. In 2001, Willard gave the theater its final refresh and announced no more “Rocky Horror” screenings for the good of the facility. The Trailridge Cinema closed on January 29, 2007. The plaza’s owners couldn’t find another theater owner wanting to operate a 32-year old triplex so they found a tax-friendly solution in moving it to a church in 2012.
Closed December 30, 2024 with “Sonic 3” and “Mufasa.”
Kroh Brothers Development launched the Ward Parkway Shopping Center in 1959 as an enclosed shopping Mall but theatre-less. That changed with the opening of the Parkway Theatres One and Two by Shopping Center Theaters, Inc. / Durwood Theatres, the precursors to AMC on July 12th, 1963.
The venue closed as the Parkway 2 under the renamed American Multi Cinema (AMC) on April 26, 1977 with “The Seven-Per-Cent Solution” and “The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes' Smarter Brother.” The venue was to be be replaced by a Kroh Brothers Development second floor food court and multiplex theater in 1978. The $500,000 project started and stalled leaving the Ward Parkway Mall theatre-less until th Mall was able to sever relations with the Kroh Brothers in 1987. That paved the way for a major multiplex that was built in 1991 and opened November 22d.
Under new management, the remodeled venue had a grand reopening of the New Paseo Theatre held on June 17, 1941 with “Buck Privates” and “Footsteps in the Dark.” That theater burned on January 25, 1943. The new New Paseo Theater relaunched on March 29, 1945 with “Lake Placid Serenade” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
That Paseo also was gutted by fire on December 8, 1950 making its last films December 7, 1950 with a triple feature of “In The Navy” and “Saps at Sea” supported by a Three Stooges short, “Malice in the Palace.” This time, the theatre’s walls stood tall and the venue was replaced by a wholesale location for the U.S. Toy Company. The building was then gutted by a major fire there on November 27, 1957 destroying what once was the auditorium of the theater. The building’s original facade is pretty much in place with the back of the building truncated.
“Wages” was re-released as an “adults only” film in 1954 generally with “Fig Leaf for Eve” and I believe by Willis Kent Studio. The titles were likely booked for television audiences and found new theatrical life as “adult only” special cuts for theatrical. Kind of a “see what you missed on TV” version.
The architectural plans of 1926 for the proposed Star turned Rockhill Theatre are by Charles E. Shepherd then of Shepard & Wiser Architects. Shepherd’s dome at the north end of the project are in both drawings for Midwest Theatres Circuit. The expansion of multi-use offices as seen in the revised 1927 now Rockhill plans are also signed by Charles E. Shepherd though then of Shepherd & Pickett Architects. I haven’t found any Boller input in the building’s drawings that are available.
The project was expensive for its era as a neighborhood theater at $300,000 including its Robert Morton pipe organ on just a 15-year leasing contract - netting a guarantee of $180,000 over that period. It worked out, though, with Fox re-upping the lease though closing on March 10, 1954 with a repertory double feature of “The Public Enemy” and “Little Caesar”.
The venue reopened as the Rockhill Art Theatre September 6th, 1956 with “The Proud and the Beautiful.” Fire interrupted things gutting the auditorium on October 31, 1967 after the venue’s final film, Bob Dylan in “Don’t Look Back.” They didn’t with the operators posting “That’s All Folks” on the marquee and the building was refurbished for other purposes.
The Waldo-Westmoreland Theatre launched on August 10, 1924 with Constance Bennett in “Cytherea” and live music from the venue’s $10,000 Hope-Jones pipe organ. Operator W.C. Gumm said that the patrons liked the music as much as the films shown during his time at the Waldo-Westmoreland. That appears to have come to an end in 1927 with the operator likely unsure how to make the transition to sound. Midwest Theatres / Fox Midwest Theatres took on the venue making that transition and changing the name to the Waldo Theater.
Closed May 30, 1954 with a double feature of Clara Kimball Young in “Wages of Sin” and Irene Ryan in “Sultan’s Daughter.”
The Tivoli Theatre closed at the expiry of a leasing period on March 28, 1954 with a triple feature of Yvonne DeCarlo in “Salome, Where She Danced,” John Wayne in “Island in the Sky” and Edward G. Robinson in “Vice Squad.” Not a bad way to go. and On April 21, 1954, owner Herman Illmer received permission to convert the venue into the Tivoli Roller Rink. A 1980s fire gutted the former theater.
National General Corporation appears to have closed the Linwood not long after 50 years of service on October 2, 1966 (although it may have continued without advertisements).
Chuck writes: “The Castle Theatre was located on East 12th Street just a block from the Paseo. I could find no time line on the Castle and very little information.” Please don’t alter that though technically the theatre was at the corner of East 12th and Paseo (not a block away).
Adding just a bit more here (my research - not Chuck’s). Jasper Brancito and John Donici opened the Castle Theatre for African American audiences on June 6, 1936 with “I Dream Too Much.” Sporting RCA projectors, Silver King projection screen and RCA Photophone sound system, the venue was equipped by Stebbins Theatre Equipment. S. Patti Construction built a streamline moderne theater that stood the test of time. Orville Copeland was the opening day projectionist. The neighboring Crystal Hamburger Hut was open 24 hours a day serving theater patrons. The Castle Theatre building also housed Archie’s Beauty Shop #2.
The Castle joined the Boone Theatre, the Paseo, and the Lincoln Theatre as leading African American movie houses. It would be joined by the Linwood, Princess, Gem and others. The Castle operated to the end of a 30-year lease in 1966. In 1968, the Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority of Kansas City targeted the African American business district on The Paseo for Urban Renewal decimating the neighborhood. Buildings that weren’t immediately sold were targeted by arsonists setting off a string of fires on June 24, 1969 that including the Castle Theatre Building. It would later be razed along with the entirety of the business district.
Architects: Copaken, White & Blitt
Address 110 South Walnut
304 North Walnut - address. Demolished
January 10, 1932 reopening ad under the Chicago Amusement Company Circuit with Stepin Fetchit in person in photos.
Charles A. Pittman opened the Jest-A-Mere Theatre on November 27, 1918. Pittman was the only African American owner/builder of a new-build St. Louis movie theater at that time as labor unions reportedly tried to tamper with the construction of the venue.
Its grand reopening as the (Frederick) Douglass Theatre on September 1, 1927 with Ralph Graves in “The Swell-Head” supported by live vaudeville and selected film shorts in in photos. The venue added sound to remain viable. It closed at end of lease on April 22, 1962 with Elizabeth Taylor in “Butterfield 8” and, appropriately enough, “The Last Sunset” with Kirk Douglas.
The New Lincoln Theatre opened on March 13, 1921 with a live presentation by the Conolly Colored Players of “Mutt and Jeff” supported by a film, “Leigh Whipper’s Reel Negro News” newsreel with Leigh Whipper in person.