The Doctoral thesis of Alexandra Heather Gibb, Beyond the Decline: Revaluing Montreal’s Movie Palaces, indicates that the Théâtre Lune Rousse was designed by Montreal architect Joseph-Raoul Gariépy.
The historical marker at the Strand Theatre says that it occupies the site of the Foree Hotel, which burned in 1925. Manning & Wink bought the site that year, so the Strand Theater the chain had been operating in 1916 must have been at a different location. The new Strand probably opened in 1926, as it makes its first appearance in the FDY in the 1927 edition.
This item about the Orpheum appeared in the January 4, 1919 issue of Moving Picture World:
“Orpheum Holds a Potato Matinee.
“A potato matinee, the admission for which was one potato, was given by the management of the Orpheum Theatre at Elkhart, Ind., on Saturday, December 21. All of the tubers—and there were several bushels collected—were turned over to Miss Bessie Owens, city welfare worker, for distribution among the poor of the city at Christmas time. ‘The Midnight Patrol,’ a Select film, was the attraction.”
Although the Orpheum is not listed in the 1926 FDY, it does appear in the 1929 edition and is still listed in the 1951 edition. CinemaTour gives the Orpheum the aka Cinema I. Another web page says that, in the 1980s, all the theaters in Elkhart, including Cinema I, were owned by a Bill Miller, who was murdered by a disgruntled employee at the Concord Theatre in 1987, after which the theaters were all sold to the GKC (Kerasotes) chain, which closed all but the Encore within a few years.
CinemaTour also gives an opening year of 1913 for the Orpheum, though it isn’t one of the three theaters listed at Elkhart in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The Directory’s listings were often incomplete.
Through most of its history this house was styled the LaMax Theatre, though sometimes the name appears in print as the La Max or Lamax. I’ve only seen it styled New LaMax in a few trade journal items in the early 1940s. I suspect that the name of the theater was derived from the surnames of the original owners, Robert Lacy and the McCoy brothers (who were probably both known as Mac), so La for Lacy and Max for the two Macs.
A history of Clinton County published in 1915 notes two movie theaters at Wilmington: The La Max, owned by Lacy and McCoy, and the Cub, owned by Frank Murphy. These were also the two houses listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The Cub was located on West Main Street. Numerous mentions of the Murphy Theatre in trade publications of the 1920s refer to Frank Murphy as the manager of the house. As the 1988 article about the closing refers to “…the 70-year-old building….” it seems likely that the Murphy was the replacement for Mr. Murphy’s Cub Theatre, perhaps built on the same site. The earliest announcement I’ve found of Murphy’s intention to build a new theater appeared in Moving Picture World of May 6, 1916.
An article about early exhibitor John Karzin in the June 13, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World says that he opened the Casino at Springfield in 1908. He later formed a partnership with Springfield candy store owner Gus Kerasotes and opened the Royal Theatre. In 1912, he sold his interest in both houses to Kerasotes and returned to St. Louis, where he had operated theaters before launching his Springfield ventures, and began operating theaters there again.
An article about John Karzin in the June 13, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World confirms that Karzin sold the World’s Dream around 1910/1911 to concentrate on a theater he had opened in Springfield, Illinois. There, he opened a second house in partnership with Gus Kerasotes, to whom he sold his interest in both houses in 1912. He then returned to St. Louis, where he operated a number of theaters over the years, but he appears never to have had any further connection to the World’s Dream.
This web page from the Schoolcraft County Historical Society has a brief history of the Gero Theatre and three vintage photos, two of the interior and one of the exterior. Another page from the same web site has a second exterior view of the Gero, with a 1940 film featured on the marquee.
The NRHP registration form for the Downtown Mount Holly Historic District says that the Gaston Theatre was built between 1922 and 1929, per Sanborn Maps. It was most likely the planned house noted in the January 19, 1928 issue of Film Daily, which said that Beam and Plummer, operators of the Palace Theatre at Bessemer City and the Princess and Lyric at Shelby, North Carolina, had signed contracts for the construction of their new, 500-seat Mount Holly house.
The NRHP form notes that Mount Holly’s other early movie house, the Holly Theatre, was located on East Charlotte Avenue. The 250-seat Holly was listed in the 1926 FDY.
The January 17, 1928 issue of Film Daily published this item: “Wilson, N. C.— A colored theatre is announced for Wilson, N. C, open Feb. 15. It will be known the Lincoln. This is the second colored house in Wilson, the first being operated by Sam Vicks.”
This building is still standing. It was extensively remodeled and the upper floors converted into practice space for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx basketball teams, as well as a sports medicine facility for the Mayo Clinic. It was reopened in 2015 as Mayo Clinic Square. The redesign, including an entirely new façade, was so radical that it might easily be mistaken for entirely new construction, but it is the original building’s bones underneath.
Tremonton’s American Theatre and its manager, Harry S. Sims, were mentioned in the September 25, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World. However, the name Elite Theatre appears in issues of the same magazine in August, 1918.
This ad in the April 7, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World calls into question the 1925 date for the expansion of the Majestic: “FOR SALE— Majestic Building, Algoma, Wis.; 366-seat theatre, hall second floor; 3 bowling alleys (basement); will stand full investigation. Address Louis Hassberg, proprietor.”
The mention in Lou Rugani’s comment of free glassware with admission suggests that the expansion might have taken place in 1935, as it was during the depression period that theaters often began offering such premiums as an inducement to patrons.
The acquisition of the Dewey Theatre at Park City by the the Isis Motion Film Company of Salt Lake City was noted in the April 1, 1910 issue of The Nickelodeon.
The 600-seat Quinn Theatre, managed by George Quinn, was listed in the 1914 Gus Hill Directory. It played roadshows, vaudeville and pictures. The 1913 Cahn guide had listed George Quinn as the manager of the Dewey Theatre. The Dewey and the Quinn are both mentioned in the December 4, 1913 issue of Miner’s Magazine, the organ of the Western Federation of Miners.
Treasure Mountain Home: Park City Revisited, by George A. Thompson, says that Frank Collins and George Quinn began building the Quinn Theatre in July, 1913. An ad for the theater dated August 16 touts movies appearing the following day, so it must have been a very quick build.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory mistakenly lists this as the Ballentine Theatre at 16 Oak Street. The Majestic and the Theatorium are the only other houses listed.
The BoxRec boxing web site lists over a dozen bouts held at the GAR Opera House in Mount Carmel, most of them in 1921 and 1922, but two each year in 1923, 1924, and 1927. It could be that the house was used only intermittently for movies, or even not at all, before becoming the State, which might not have happened until the 1930s. The movies listed in the State’s ad on the photo page all date from 1933.
Wasn’t the Majestic gone by 1920? Only the Arcade, Theatorium and Valentine are listed in the 1921 telephone directory. The State doesn’t appear to be listed under any name in that directory, which doesn’t list any sort of hall, opera house, or auditorium on Hickory Street. Maybe they just didn’t have a telephone.
It could be that the other closed theaters were just short-lived houses, perhaps storefront conversions, as they are certainly not listed in the 1926 FDY, which has only the Arcade, Theatorium and Valentine, and the newer Victoria.
The September 3, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review had this brief item from Mount Carmel: Only two theatres in Mount Carmel, Pa., are now in operation, the Arcade and the Theatorium. The others, four in number, have suspended until business picks up."
The December 9, 1911 issue of Variety reported that the new Fort Plain Theatre had opened November 27 with “A Gentleman of Leisure” starring Cyril Scott. The play was based on an early novel by P. G. Wodehouse, and had premiered at The Playhouse in New York City on August 24. The box office receipts for the Fort Plain’s opening night were $1,800.
The Doctoral thesis of Alexandra Heather Gibb, Beyond the Decline: Revaluing Montreal’s Movie Palaces, indicates that the Théâtre Lune Rousse was designed by Montreal architect Joseph-Raoul Gariépy.
The historical marker at the Strand Theatre says that it occupies the site of the Foree Hotel, which burned in 1925. Manning & Wink bought the site that year, so the Strand Theater the chain had been operating in 1916 must have been at a different location. The new Strand probably opened in 1926, as it makes its first appearance in the FDY in the 1927 edition.
This item about the Orpheum appeared in the January 4, 1919 issue of Moving Picture World:
Although the Orpheum is not listed in the 1926 FDY, it does appear in the 1929 edition and is still listed in the 1951 edition. CinemaTour gives the Orpheum the aka Cinema I. Another web page says that, in the 1980s, all the theaters in Elkhart, including Cinema I, were owned by a Bill Miller, who was murdered by a disgruntled employee at the Concord Theatre in 1987, after which the theaters were all sold to the GKC (Kerasotes) chain, which closed all but the Encore within a few years.CinemaTour also gives an opening year of 1913 for the Orpheum, though it isn’t one of the three theaters listed at Elkhart in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The Directory’s listings were often incomplete.
Through most of its history this house was styled the LaMax Theatre, though sometimes the name appears in print as the La Max or Lamax. I’ve only seen it styled New LaMax in a few trade journal items in the early 1940s. I suspect that the name of the theater was derived from the surnames of the original owners, Robert Lacy and the McCoy brothers (who were probably both known as Mac), so La for Lacy and Max for the two Macs.
A history of Clinton County published in 1915 notes two movie theaters at Wilmington: The La Max, owned by Lacy and McCoy, and the Cub, owned by Frank Murphy. These were also the two houses listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The Cub was located on West Main Street. Numerous mentions of the Murphy Theatre in trade publications of the 1920s refer to Frank Murphy as the manager of the house. As the 1988 article about the closing refers to “…the 70-year-old building….” it seems likely that the Murphy was the replacement for Mr. Murphy’s Cub Theatre, perhaps built on the same site. The earliest announcement I’ve found of Murphy’s intention to build a new theater appeared in Moving Picture World of May 6, 1916.
An article about early exhibitor John Karzin in the June 13, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World says that he opened the Casino at Springfield in 1908. He later formed a partnership with Springfield candy store owner Gus Kerasotes and opened the Royal Theatre. In 1912, he sold his interest in both houses to Kerasotes and returned to St. Louis, where he had operated theaters before launching his Springfield ventures, and began operating theaters there again.
An article about John Karzin in the June 13, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World confirms that Karzin sold the World’s Dream around 1910/1911 to concentrate on a theater he had opened in Springfield, Illinois. There, he opened a second house in partnership with Gus Kerasotes, to whom he sold his interest in both houses in 1912. He then returned to St. Louis, where he operated a number of theaters over the years, but he appears never to have had any further connection to the World’s Dream.
Correct spelling of street name is Rombach Avenue.
Correct spelling of street name is Rombach Avenue.
This web page from the Schoolcraft County Historical Society has a brief history of the Gero Theatre and three vintage photos, two of the interior and one of the exterior. Another page from the same web site has a second exterior view of the Gero, with a 1940 film featured on the marquee.
The NRHP registration form for the Downtown Mount Holly Historic District says that the Gaston Theatre was built between 1922 and 1929, per Sanborn Maps. It was most likely the planned house noted in the January 19, 1928 issue of Film Daily, which said that Beam and Plummer, operators of the Palace Theatre at Bessemer City and the Princess and Lyric at Shelby, North Carolina, had signed contracts for the construction of their new, 500-seat Mount Holly house.
The NRHP form notes that Mount Holly’s other early movie house, the Holly Theatre, was located on East Charlotte Avenue. The 250-seat Holly was listed in the 1926 FDY.
The January 17, 1928 issue of Film Daily published this item: “Wilson, N. C.— A colored theatre is announced for Wilson, N. C, open Feb. 15. It will be known the Lincoln. This is the second colored house in Wilson, the first being operated by Sam Vicks.”
This building is still standing. It was extensively remodeled and the upper floors converted into practice space for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Lynx basketball teams, as well as a sports medicine facility for the Mayo Clinic. It was reopened in 2015 as Mayo Clinic Square. The redesign, including an entirely new façade, was so radical that it might easily be mistaken for entirely new construction, but it is the original building’s bones underneath.
The Liberty Theatre is the only house at Tremonton that is mentioned in the 1921 edition of Wid’s Year Book.
Tremonton’s American Theatre and its manager, Harry S. Sims, were mentioned in the September 25, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World. However, the name Elite Theatre appears in issues of the same magazine in August, 1918.
I see that the grand opening ad just posted confirms Fred A. Bishop as the architect of the Venus Theatre.
This ad in the April 7, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald and Moving Picture World calls into question the 1925 date for the expansion of the Majestic: “FOR SALE— Majestic Building, Algoma, Wis.; 366-seat theatre, hall second floor; 3 bowling alleys (basement); will stand full investigation. Address Louis Hassberg, proprietor.”
The mention in Lou Rugani’s comment of free glassware with admission suggests that the expansion might have taken place in 1935, as it was during the depression period that theaters often began offering such premiums as an inducement to patrons.
The acquisition of the Dewey Theatre at Park City by the the Isis Motion Film Company of Salt Lake City was noted in the April 1, 1910 issue of The Nickelodeon.
The 600-seat Quinn Theatre, managed by George Quinn, was listed in the 1914 Gus Hill Directory. It played roadshows, vaudeville and pictures. The 1913 Cahn guide had listed George Quinn as the manager of the Dewey Theatre. The Dewey and the Quinn are both mentioned in the December 4, 1913 issue of Miner’s Magazine, the organ of the Western Federation of Miners.
Treasure Mountain Home: Park City Revisited, by George A. Thompson, says that Frank Collins and George Quinn began building the Quinn Theatre in July, 1913. An ad for the theater dated August 16 touts movies appearing the following day, so it must have been a very quick build.
The 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory mistakenly lists this as the Ballentine Theatre at 16 Oak Street. The Majestic and the Theatorium are the only other houses listed.
The BoxRec boxing web site lists over a dozen bouts held at the GAR Opera House in Mount Carmel, most of them in 1921 and 1922, but two each year in 1923, 1924, and 1927. It could be that the house was used only intermittently for movies, or even not at all, before becoming the State, which might not have happened until the 1930s. The movies listed in the State’s ad on the photo page all date from 1933.
Wasn’t the Majestic gone by 1920? Only the Arcade, Theatorium and Valentine are listed in the 1921 telephone directory. The State doesn’t appear to be listed under any name in that directory, which doesn’t list any sort of hall, opera house, or auditorium on Hickory Street. Maybe they just didn’t have a telephone.
It could be that the other closed theaters were just short-lived houses, perhaps storefront conversions, as they are certainly not listed in the 1926 FDY, which has only the Arcade, Theatorium and Valentine, and the newer Victoria.
The Mount Carmel Daily News of March 23, 1910 carried an ad for the Majestic, which was showing the Edison Company’s feature “Frankenstein.”
The September 3, 1921 issue of Exhibitors Trade Review had this brief item from Mount Carmel: Only two theatres in Mount Carmel, Pa., are now in operation, the Arcade and the Theatorium. The others, four in number, have suspended until business picks up."
The December 9, 1911 issue of Variety reported that the new Fort Plain Theatre had opened November 27 with “A Gentleman of Leisure” starring Cyril Scott. The play was based on an early novel by P. G. Wodehouse, and had premiered at The Playhouse in New York City on August 24. The box office receipts for the Fort Plain’s opening night were $1,800.