The October 9, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Graham Brothers Theatre Supply Company of Denver had shipped various items to the new Serf Theatre in Las Vegas, New Mexico. These included 500 seats, 340 yards of carpeting, two blowers and motors, two curtains with tracks and controls, a sound screen, and complete booth equipment.
The Maloof Bros. were apparently the owners of the building, but the house was operated by Fox Intermountain Theatres when it opened, according to the October 23, 1937, issue of Boxoffice.
In its April 15, 1950, issue, Boxoffice said that the Maloof Bros. had closed the Serf Theatre for repairs when it was discoverd that the back wall was sagging. Fox Intermountain must have taken this opportunity to expand the theater, as the November 4, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the company had reopened the Serf with 726 seats.
The remodeled lobby featured a wagon wheel chandelier with six brass lanterns, and the walls were decorated with murals depicting the Santa Fe Trail. The auditorium was painted in shades of aqua and turquoise, and the screen had a turquoise velvet curtain.
Plans to build what would become the 41st Avenue Playhouse were announced in the August 21, 1972, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The item said that the three-screen house, the first of its kind in Santa Cruz County, would have approximately 1250 seats.
It was built for the Kindair Corporation, a local theater circuit based in Monterey, California. The recent opening of the house was noted in the July 30, 1973, issue of Boxoffice, but no details about the theater itself were given. The first movie shown was a benefit premier of “Sleuth.”
The Kindair circuit was apparently acquired by United Artists sometime in the 1980s.
The Capitola Theatre was built for Arthur Mayer of San Francisco and Joseph Jacobs of Burlingame. Although construction of the Capitola began in late 1947, materials shortages delayed its completion, and it didn’t open until the summer of 1948. The start of construction was announced in the December 6, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, and the opening in the August 7, 1948, issue. The September 3, 1973, issue of Boxoffice said that the Capitola had celebrated its 25th anniversary on August 6.
The recent opening of the Osocales Theatre was announced in the September 25, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The October 2 issue of Boxoffice added that the theater had cost $60,000, was 50x100 feet in size, and seated 500.
I’m not sure if the May 6, 1950, Boxoffice item Ken cited just above referred to a replacement of 100 seats or an addition of another 100 seats. In any case, the building was large enough to accommodate the 500 seats it had on opening.
The April 15, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the J.T. Boutwell Company had installed 1,172 Kroelher seats in the Hiland Theatre, Albuquerque.
The November 27, 1967, issue of Boxoffice ran an article about Blanche Hatton, who had been managing theaters in Albuquerque since her arrival there in 1924. She became the first manager of the newly-opened Hiland in 1950, and held that post until 1963.
From Boxoffice Magazine, November 28, 1977: “There will be five benefit showings of ‘The Gathering’ at the Falls Theatre in Chagrin Falls, where it was filmed.”
And from Boxoffice of August 27, 1979: “The Chagrin Falls Theatre has been torn down to make way for a new office building in Chagrin Falls….”
The town was not left without an indoor theater when the Falls was demolished, though. A 248-seat house called the Tanglewood Cinema had opened in the Tanglewood Shopping Center in 1973.
Alamo Jack’s is now just The Alamo, and has a new web site. The site includes an early photo of the Alamo Theatre, plus a scan of an article from a local newspaper (though its hard to read, the scan being too small) which says that the Alamo Theatre opened in 1928 in space previously occupied by a retail store. The closing date given in the article appears to be 1968, but I wouldn’t swear to that. The information in the intro that the Alamo opened as the Newnan Theatre in 1937 is erroneous.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of October 2, 1937, says that the Lam Amusement Company had taken over the Alamo from its former operator, J.B. Meyers. The October 21, 1939, issue of Boxoffice said that the Alamo had reopened after a remodeling. The August 22, 1953, issue said that a wide screen had been installed in the Alamo.
I’ve been unable to find any specific references to the 1939 remodeling having been designed by Tucker & Howell, but as that firm had drawn the plans for remodeling Lam’s Gem Theatre in Newnan in 1935, as well as doing many other projects for the Lam Amusement Company over many years, it seems likely that they would have done the plans for the remodeling of the Alamo as well.
D'OH! The Alamo Theatre is already listed here. That will teach me (no, it probably won’t) to check such things before posting a comment. However, at least the Alamo’s web site reveals that the intro to the CT Alamo Theatre page has erroneous information, which can now be corrected.
Alas, Google Maps offers four choices for that address- North, South, East, and West Court Square. Google Street View’s truck only went down the west side of the square. Fortunately, on the west side of the square is a night club called The Alamo, which occupies an old theatre. Unfortunately, its address is 19 W. Court Square, which being an odd number means it’s not on the same side of the square as 22 Court Square would be. It’s not the Gem.
The 1935 Boxoffice item I cited in the intro for the Gem has a photo of the front, and it was in a mid-block building, while the Alamo is on a corner. The Alamo’s web site has an early photo of the theater it now occupies, and it was called the Alamo, not surprisingly. The building now has a modern marquee which probably dates from the 1940s or 1950s.
The web site also has a newspaper article about the club, but it’s too small to read easily. The Alamo Theatre apparently opened in 1928 in former retail space, and was converted back to retail space in (it looks like) 1969. It. too, should be listed in FDY.
So we have a second theatre in Newnan, but still don’t know the fate of the Gem, or its exact location. Looking down the north and south sides of the square with Street View, I can’t see any building resembling the Boxoffice photo of the Gem, so I’d guess it was on the east side, which is the side you can’t see with Street View, and one of the sides (along with the north, most likely) which has even numbered addresses. Thus we can’t be sure if it’s been demolished or not.
I’ve found mentions of the Portage Theatre in Boxoffice Magazine as early as February 1, 1937, but it had been in operation for a decade by then. According to an architectural and historical survey of Portage, it was built by the Fischer-Paramount Theatre Company in 1927.
The trade journal Movie Age said in its issue of January 5, 1929, that Milwaukee theater man Leonard K. Brin had taken over eight Fischer-Paramount houses, including the Portage and Home Theatres in Portage.
I found a mention of a Brin Theatre in Portage in the March 16, 1929, issue of Movie Age, but I’ve also found mentions from the same period of a Brin’s Portage Theatre, and the Home Theatre and Portage Theatre operated by L.K. Brin, so it’s unclear whether or not there was a temporary name change at one or the other of the houses.
In any case, the Portage closed for a while early in the 1930s, until it was reopened by F.J. McWilliams.
The Portage was operated by McWilliams at least through the 1950s. One Boxoffice item mentioned that he had entered the exhibition business since 1907. He also operated the Home Theatre in Portage, as mentioned in various issues of Boxoffice from the late 1930s into the early 1950s. In 1952, McWilliams built the 15/61 Drive-In. Later the theaters were operated by Jack McWilliams, presumably F.J.’s son.
The historical survey I cited above said that the triplexing of the Portage Theatre took place in 1985.
From Boxoffice, March 27, 1972: “Chet Werner, owner-operator of the Le Sueur Theatre, was featured in a New-Herald article recently…. His father, William J. Werner, purchased the old Snow Opera House in 1923 and converted it into a motion picture theatre. The building, located at the same site as the present Le Sueur Theatre, burned to the ground in 1933. The present showhouse was constructed in 1934.”
From Boxoffice Magazine, March 30, 1946, datelined Scottsbluff: “William Ostenberg will open his new 920-seat, $200,000 Midwest Theatre here on April 24. The theatre is on the location of the Egyptian, which was destroyed by fire last year.”
The Midwest was also the subject of a three-page article in the June 24, 1946, issue of Boxoffice. The architect of the new house, Charles D. Strong, was a member of the advisory staff of the magazine’s Modern Theatre Planning Institute.
The Empire Theatre was located within the walls of the Rex Theatre, which was gutted by fire in 1943. Due to wartime restrictions on construction, rebuilding was delayed until permission was granted by the War Production Board. The February 17, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported that the board had authorized rebuilding to continue. A spring, 1945 opening was expected.
After the Empire was closed, the theater was converted to retail space for three shops, and the former stage was used for storage until it was converted into a dance studio, which it remains today.
The Isle Theatre is open again, showing movies, and here is their web site. The site says the house was built in 1921, when it opened as the Zim Zim Theatre. It was remodeled in 1935 and renamed the Isle Theatre. It was closed in 1997 and restored recently. A sports bar has been added to the back of the building.
The March 24, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine told of an earlier remodeling of the the Isle Theatre, saying that it was virtually a new theater, everything having been torn out and replaced and the interior and entrance rebuilt.
The Queen is mentioned in a Boxoffice Magazine item about L.J. Mason published in the August 7, 1948, issue. It says: “Mason opened his first theatre, the Star, in 1924 at Harlingen…. He opened the Queen in McAllen a few years later with John D. Jones as his partner.”
The Queen was still in operation in 1957, when the August 10 issue said that it was being managed by Lew Bray Jr., whose father had bought the house in 1952.
Judging from the Art Moderne facade and the somewhat grungy looking side walls seen in those photos, I’d say the theater was probably just gutted by the 1969 fire rather than “burned to the ground” as the Times article had it.
The July 14, 1969, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported on the fire investigation and said that the fire had definitely been set by an arsonist. The Boxoffice article said that the fire had “…destroyed the $90,000 theatre….” That vertical sign must be from the early 1950s at the latest, though.
The Rio became the Vigilante in 1947. A small photo showing the new name on the marquee appeared in the June 14 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year. The caption said: “SIX GUN ATMOSPHERE— Having donned a strictly western dress, Helena’s Rio Theatre has changed its name to the Vigilante and now caters to those who like their westerns rough and ready, all at reduced prices.”
There was an earlier California Theatre in Kerman, and a Kerman Theatre too. It looks as though neither of them operated for very long.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of June 10, 1944, said: “The Kerman Theatre, located in the Kerman Mercantile Bldg., Kerman, Calif., opened last week….” The item said that the theatre was “sponsored by” Mr. and Mrs. F.J. Robertson of Kerman and by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kolp of Sterling, Colorado, who intended to move to Kerman after disposing of their Colorado business. This was apparently Kerman’s first movie house. The town incorporated in 1946, with a population of 1050.
That’s the only mention of the Kerman Theatre I’ve found in Boxoffice (though various later items misname the California Theatre as the Kerman Theatre.) But there are frequent mentions of the two California Theatres. The October 20, 1949, issue of Boxoffice said: “Portuguese Hall here was acquired by Jack Rahl and William Brown for remodeling into a motion picture theatre, known as the California. It seats 400.” After serving as a theater, the venue went back to being Portuguese Hall. There are recent photos of it here. The June 29, 1946 issue of Boxoffice said that, following the last show, the motion picture equipment was removed to make way for a Portuguese celebration.
Under the headline “Plans Second at Kerman” the March 9, 1946, issue of Boxoffice said: “Jack Rahl will build a theatre on a site he purchased recently at the corner of Madera Avenue and F St.. He recently bought out the interest of his former partner, William Brown, in the California Theatre here.”
Mr. Rahl soon took on his son-in-law as his new partner. The September 14, 1946, issue of Boxoffice said that Jim Hanson, part owner of the new California Theatre, had dropped leaflets from a plane to advertise the opening of the new house. Rahl and Hanson operated the California until 1950, when the April 11 issue of Boxoffice reported that they had sold the house to J. Boyd, former operator of the Brisbane Theatre in Brisbane.
The June 23, 1951, issue of Boxoffice said that the California had taken on a new look, the box office and foyer having been remodeled. Joseph H. Boyd sold the California to Robert V. Deck of Fresno in 1956, according to the September 26 issue of Boxoffice that year. That’s the last mention of the California I’ve found.
From Southwest Builder & Contractor, February 17, 1922, quoted on a card in the L.A. Library’s California Index: “Kingsburg— Anton Johnson has prepared plans and will build a $35,000 motion picture theater on Draper Street for C.J. Nelson.”
From the October 28, 1939, issue of Boxoffice comes this: “Sam Levin is opening the American at Kingsburg, November 2. Formerly the Kings, the house was remodeled at a cost of $10,000. Eric Wilson will do the booking.”
Business must not have been very good, as the July 29, 1944 issue of Boxoffice said that the American Theatre was being reopened after having been closed for three years.
By the 1950s, the American was being operated by San Joaquin Valley theatre magnate August Panero. The August 21, 1954, issue of Boxoffice said that Panero had temporarily closed the American Theatre at Kingsburg and the McFarland Theatre at McFarland. I can find no more mentions of it in later issues of Boxoffice.
I found mentions of the Broadway Theatre in various issues of Boxoffice Magazine from 1941 to 1960. The earliest mention I’ve found for the Towne Theatre is 1965 (it was showing Russ Meyer’s soft-core hit “Fanny Hill” at the time.) I’ve found no mentions in Boxoffice of the Isis in Salt Lake at all.
However, the ever-popular Utah Theatres web site has a whole page on the place, with still more aka’s, and the sad but useful information that it has been demolished. There’s also a discrepancy between the closing date of 1976 at the top of their page and the text below that which says it was known as the Broadway Theatre (the third time it had used that name) from 1976 until 1984. The 1983 American Classic Images photo supports the text.
But, yes, it should be the Broadway Theatre, with aka’s of Isis Theatre, Colony Theatre, Tower Midtown Theatre, Towne Theatre, and Palace Theatre.
I’ve never seen any mention of an El Dorado Theatre in Placerville anywhere other than that one Boxoffice item, myself. It’s possible the El Dorado was not in Placerville itself, but in one of the smaller, unincorporated towns in El Dorado County.
Boxoffice sometimes gave the name of the nearest big town when a theater was actually in an outlying area. This was especially likely when two theaters were under the same owner. In any case, if the place never reopened after 1938, there’d be very few people around to recall it. Also, if it had only 300 seats (which might even have been an exaggerated number) it might have been only a nickelodeon-type storefront theater, not easily spotted in photos.
If it existed anywhere in El Dorado County, though, there should be ads for it in issues of the local newspaper from that period. And if it lasted more than briefly, it ought to appear in one or another issue of Film Daily Yearbook, too.
Boxoffice Magazine’s reports of the seating capacity of the Chieftain differ. The December 22, 1951, issue said that it seated “about 730,” while the December 29 issue gave the figure as 750.
According to the April 25, 1966, issue of Boxoffice, Barton Theatres operated the Chieftain until that year, when all 18 of its houses were leased to a newly-formed company called Greater Oklahoma City Amusements, headed by Chicago exhibitor Lewis L. Ingram.
The September 9, 1974, issue of Boxoffice says that the Chieftain was being taken over by Okemah Shanbour. By 1975,it was being operated by Eldon Claybourne Christian, the one who was arrested for showing the movie “Sexual Customs in Scandinavia.”
I’ve been unable to find out when the house was twinned. The last mention of the Chieftain in Boxoffice is from 1976.
I notice that the unreadable vertical sign appears to be partly draped, as though they might have been working on it. I wonder if this was the time the Gaiety name was adopted for the house? It’s also possible they were getting ready to remove the vertical. It was certainly gone by the time Robert McVay took this 1947 photo (previously posted.)
The movies on the Optic’s marquee were both released in 1938. According to IMDb, the Dick Powell movie “Hard to Get” was released in November and “Orphans of the Street” in December. I don’t think the Optic was a first-run house any more by this time, but the latter movie appears to be a “B” picture of the sort that went to sub-run houses pretty fast, so if IMDb’s dates are right then the photo could date from late 1938 or early 1939.
The earliest mention of the Empire Theatre I’ve been able to find in Boxoffice Magazine is from the August 20, 1938, issue, in an item headed “Naify Brothers Acquire Duo From Mrs. Knacke.” It says:[quote]“Lee and Fred Naify, brothers of Mike Naify, manager of the T&D jr. Circuit, have acquired the two theatres in Placerville which Mrs. Ruth Knacke has been operating for some time. J.R. Saul, San Francisco theatre realty broker, handled the transaction.
“The houses are the 600-seat Empire, which may possibly be renovated, and the 300-seat El Dorado, which, dark for some time, is expected to continue closed under the Naify direction.”[/quote]I’ve found nothing later about the El Dorado, so perhaps it never reopened, but the Empire appears to have been operated by the Naify interests into the 1950s. Then by 1963 it was owned by an A.J. Longtin, who was planning a renovation of the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of September 2 that year.
The October 9, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the Graham Brothers Theatre Supply Company of Denver had shipped various items to the new Serf Theatre in Las Vegas, New Mexico. These included 500 seats, 340 yards of carpeting, two blowers and motors, two curtains with tracks and controls, a sound screen, and complete booth equipment.
The Maloof Bros. were apparently the owners of the building, but the house was operated by Fox Intermountain Theatres when it opened, according to the October 23, 1937, issue of Boxoffice.
In its April 15, 1950, issue, Boxoffice said that the Maloof Bros. had closed the Serf Theatre for repairs when it was discoverd that the back wall was sagging. Fox Intermountain must have taken this opportunity to expand the theater, as the November 4, 1950, issue of Boxoffice said that the company had reopened the Serf with 726 seats.
The remodeled lobby featured a wagon wheel chandelier with six brass lanterns, and the walls were decorated with murals depicting the Santa Fe Trail. The auditorium was painted in shades of aqua and turquoise, and the screen had a turquoise velvet curtain.
The August 28, 1972, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that United Artists had opened its U.A. Cinemas I, II, and III on August 4 that year.
Plans to build what would become the 41st Avenue Playhouse were announced in the August 21, 1972, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The item said that the three-screen house, the first of its kind in Santa Cruz County, would have approximately 1250 seats.
It was built for the Kindair Corporation, a local theater circuit based in Monterey, California. The recent opening of the house was noted in the July 30, 1973, issue of Boxoffice, but no details about the theater itself were given. The first movie shown was a benefit premier of “Sleuth.”
The Kindair circuit was apparently acquired by United Artists sometime in the 1980s.
The Capitola Theatre was built for Arthur Mayer of San Francisco and Joseph Jacobs of Burlingame. Although construction of the Capitola began in late 1947, materials shortages delayed its completion, and it didn’t open until the summer of 1948. The start of construction was announced in the December 6, 1947, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, and the opening in the August 7, 1948, issue. The September 3, 1973, issue of Boxoffice said that the Capitola had celebrated its 25th anniversary on August 6.
The recent opening of the Osocales Theatre was announced in the September 25, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. The October 2 issue of Boxoffice added that the theater had cost $60,000, was 50x100 feet in size, and seated 500.
I’m not sure if the May 6, 1950, Boxoffice item Ken cited just above referred to a replacement of 100 seats or an addition of another 100 seats. In any case, the building was large enough to accommodate the 500 seats it had on opening.
The April 15, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine said that the J.T. Boutwell Company had installed 1,172 Kroelher seats in the Hiland Theatre, Albuquerque.
The November 27, 1967, issue of Boxoffice ran an article about Blanche Hatton, who had been managing theaters in Albuquerque since her arrival there in 1924. She became the first manager of the newly-opened Hiland in 1950, and held that post until 1963.
From Boxoffice Magazine, November 28, 1977: “There will be five benefit showings of ‘The Gathering’ at the Falls Theatre in Chagrin Falls, where it was filmed.”
And from Boxoffice of August 27, 1979: “The Chagrin Falls Theatre has been torn down to make way for a new office building in Chagrin Falls….”
The town was not left without an indoor theater when the Falls was demolished, though. A 248-seat house called the Tanglewood Cinema had opened in the Tanglewood Shopping Center in 1973.
Alamo Jack’s is now just The Alamo, and has a new web site. The site includes an early photo of the Alamo Theatre, plus a scan of an article from a local newspaper (though its hard to read, the scan being too small) which says that the Alamo Theatre opened in 1928 in space previously occupied by a retail store. The closing date given in the article appears to be 1968, but I wouldn’t swear to that. The information in the intro that the Alamo opened as the Newnan Theatre in 1937 is erroneous.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of October 2, 1937, says that the Lam Amusement Company had taken over the Alamo from its former operator, J.B. Meyers. The October 21, 1939, issue of Boxoffice said that the Alamo had reopened after a remodeling. The August 22, 1953, issue said that a wide screen had been installed in the Alamo.
I’ve been unable to find any specific references to the 1939 remodeling having been designed by Tucker & Howell, but as that firm had drawn the plans for remodeling Lam’s Gem Theatre in Newnan in 1935, as well as doing many other projects for the Lam Amusement Company over many years, it seems likely that they would have done the plans for the remodeling of the Alamo as well.
D'OH! The Alamo Theatre is already listed here. That will teach me (no, it probably won’t) to check such things before posting a comment. However, at least the Alamo’s web site reveals that the intro to the CT Alamo Theatre page has erroneous information, which can now be corrected.
Alas, Google Maps offers four choices for that address- North, South, East, and West Court Square. Google Street View’s truck only went down the west side of the square. Fortunately, on the west side of the square is a night club called The Alamo, which occupies an old theatre. Unfortunately, its address is 19 W. Court Square, which being an odd number means it’s not on the same side of the square as 22 Court Square would be. It’s not the Gem.
The 1935 Boxoffice item I cited in the intro for the Gem has a photo of the front, and it was in a mid-block building, while the Alamo is on a corner. The Alamo’s web site has an early photo of the theater it now occupies, and it was called the Alamo, not surprisingly. The building now has a modern marquee which probably dates from the 1940s or 1950s.
The web site also has a newspaper article about the club, but it’s too small to read easily. The Alamo Theatre apparently opened in 1928 in former retail space, and was converted back to retail space in (it looks like) 1969. It. too, should be listed in FDY.
So we have a second theatre in Newnan, but still don’t know the fate of the Gem, or its exact location. Looking down the north and south sides of the square with Street View, I can’t see any building resembling the Boxoffice photo of the Gem, so I’d guess it was on the east side, which is the side you can’t see with Street View, and one of the sides (along with the north, most likely) which has even numbered addresses. Thus we can’t be sure if it’s been demolished or not.
I’ve found mentions of the Portage Theatre in Boxoffice Magazine as early as February 1, 1937, but it had been in operation for a decade by then. According to an architectural and historical survey of Portage, it was built by the Fischer-Paramount Theatre Company in 1927.
The trade journal Movie Age said in its issue of January 5, 1929, that Milwaukee theater man Leonard K. Brin had taken over eight Fischer-Paramount houses, including the Portage and Home Theatres in Portage.
I found a mention of a Brin Theatre in Portage in the March 16, 1929, issue of Movie Age, but I’ve also found mentions from the same period of a Brin’s Portage Theatre, and the Home Theatre and Portage Theatre operated by L.K. Brin, so it’s unclear whether or not there was a temporary name change at one or the other of the houses.
In any case, the Portage closed for a while early in the 1930s, until it was reopened by F.J. McWilliams.
The Portage was operated by McWilliams at least through the 1950s. One Boxoffice item mentioned that he had entered the exhibition business since 1907. He also operated the Home Theatre in Portage, as mentioned in various issues of Boxoffice from the late 1930s into the early 1950s. In 1952, McWilliams built the 15/61 Drive-In. Later the theaters were operated by Jack McWilliams, presumably F.J.’s son.
The historical survey I cited above said that the triplexing of the Portage Theatre took place in 1985.
From Boxoffice, March 27, 1972: “Chet Werner, owner-operator of the Le Sueur Theatre, was featured in a New-Herald article recently…. His father, William J. Werner, purchased the old Snow Opera House in 1923 and converted it into a motion picture theatre. The building, located at the same site as the present Le Sueur Theatre, burned to the ground in 1933. The present showhouse was constructed in 1934.”
From Boxoffice Magazine, March 30, 1946, datelined Scottsbluff: “William Ostenberg will open his new 920-seat, $200,000 Midwest Theatre here on April 24. The theatre is on the location of the Egyptian, which was destroyed by fire last year.”
The Midwest was also the subject of a three-page article in the June 24, 1946, issue of Boxoffice. The architect of the new house, Charles D. Strong, was a member of the advisory staff of the magazine’s Modern Theatre Planning Institute.
The Empire Theatre was located within the walls of the Rex Theatre, which was gutted by fire in 1943. Due to wartime restrictions on construction, rebuilding was delayed until permission was granted by the War Production Board. The February 17, 1945, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported that the board had authorized rebuilding to continue. A spring, 1945 opening was expected.
After the Empire was closed, the theater was converted to retail space for three shops, and the former stage was used for storage until it was converted into a dance studio, which it remains today.
The Isle Theatre is open again, showing movies, and here is their web site. The site says the house was built in 1921, when it opened as the Zim Zim Theatre. It was remodeled in 1935 and renamed the Isle Theatre. It was closed in 1997 and restored recently. A sports bar has been added to the back of the building.
The March 24, 1951, issue of Boxoffice Magazine told of an earlier remodeling of the the Isle Theatre, saying that it was virtually a new theater, everything having been torn out and replaced and the interior and entrance rebuilt.
The Queen is mentioned in a Boxoffice Magazine item about L.J. Mason published in the August 7, 1948, issue. It says: “Mason opened his first theatre, the Star, in 1924 at Harlingen…. He opened the Queen in McAllen a few years later with John D. Jones as his partner.”
The Queen was still in operation in 1957, when the August 10 issue said that it was being managed by Lew Bray Jr., whose father had bought the house in 1952.
Judging from the Art Moderne facade and the somewhat grungy looking side walls seen in those photos, I’d say the theater was probably just gutted by the 1969 fire rather than “burned to the ground” as the Times article had it.
The July 14, 1969, issue of Boxoffice Magazine reported on the fire investigation and said that the fire had definitely been set by an arsonist. The Boxoffice article said that the fire had “…destroyed the $90,000 theatre….” That vertical sign must be from the early 1950s at the latest, though.
The Rio became the Vigilante in 1947. A small photo showing the new name on the marquee appeared in the June 14 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year. The caption said: “SIX GUN ATMOSPHERE— Having donned a strictly western dress, Helena’s Rio Theatre has changed its name to the Vigilante and now caters to those who like their westerns rough and ready, all at reduced prices.”
There was an earlier California Theatre in Kerman, and a Kerman Theatre too. It looks as though neither of them operated for very long.
Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of June 10, 1944, said: “The Kerman Theatre, located in the Kerman Mercantile Bldg., Kerman, Calif., opened last week….” The item said that the theatre was “sponsored by” Mr. and Mrs. F.J. Robertson of Kerman and by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Kolp of Sterling, Colorado, who intended to move to Kerman after disposing of their Colorado business. This was apparently Kerman’s first movie house. The town incorporated in 1946, with a population of 1050.
That’s the only mention of the Kerman Theatre I’ve found in Boxoffice (though various later items misname the California Theatre as the Kerman Theatre.) But there are frequent mentions of the two California Theatres. The October 20, 1949, issue of Boxoffice said: “Portuguese Hall here was acquired by Jack Rahl and William Brown for remodeling into a motion picture theatre, known as the California. It seats 400.” After serving as a theater, the venue went back to being Portuguese Hall. There are recent photos of it here. The June 29, 1946 issue of Boxoffice said that, following the last show, the motion picture equipment was removed to make way for a Portuguese celebration.
Under the headline “Plans Second at Kerman” the March 9, 1946, issue of Boxoffice said: “Jack Rahl will build a theatre on a site he purchased recently at the corner of Madera Avenue and F St.. He recently bought out the interest of his former partner, William Brown, in the California Theatre here.”
Mr. Rahl soon took on his son-in-law as his new partner. The September 14, 1946, issue of Boxoffice said that Jim Hanson, part owner of the new California Theatre, had dropped leaflets from a plane to advertise the opening of the new house. Rahl and Hanson operated the California until 1950, when the April 11 issue of Boxoffice reported that they had sold the house to J. Boyd, former operator of the Brisbane Theatre in Brisbane.
The June 23, 1951, issue of Boxoffice said that the California had taken on a new look, the box office and foyer having been remodeled. Joseph H. Boyd sold the California to Robert V. Deck of Fresno in 1956, according to the September 26 issue of Boxoffice that year. That’s the last mention of the California I’ve found.
From Southwest Builder & Contractor, February 17, 1922, quoted on a card in the L.A. Library’s California Index: “Kingsburg— Anton Johnson has prepared plans and will build a $35,000 motion picture theater on Draper Street for C.J. Nelson.”
From the October 28, 1939, issue of Boxoffice comes this: “Sam Levin is opening the American at Kingsburg, November 2. Formerly the Kings, the house was remodeled at a cost of $10,000. Eric Wilson will do the booking.”
Business must not have been very good, as the July 29, 1944 issue of Boxoffice said that the American Theatre was being reopened after having been closed for three years.
By the 1950s, the American was being operated by San Joaquin Valley theatre magnate August Panero. The August 21, 1954, issue of Boxoffice said that Panero had temporarily closed the American Theatre at Kingsburg and the McFarland Theatre at McFarland. I can find no more mentions of it in later issues of Boxoffice.
I found mentions of the Broadway Theatre in various issues of Boxoffice Magazine from 1941 to 1960. The earliest mention I’ve found for the Towne Theatre is 1965 (it was showing Russ Meyer’s soft-core hit “Fanny Hill” at the time.) I’ve found no mentions in Boxoffice of the Isis in Salt Lake at all.
However, the ever-popular Utah Theatres web site has a whole page on the place, with still more aka’s, and the sad but useful information that it has been demolished. There’s also a discrepancy between the closing date of 1976 at the top of their page and the text below that which says it was known as the Broadway Theatre (the third time it had used that name) from 1976 until 1984. The 1983 American Classic Images photo supports the text.
But, yes, it should be the Broadway Theatre, with aka’s of Isis Theatre, Colony Theatre, Tower Midtown Theatre, Towne Theatre, and Palace Theatre.
I’ve never seen any mention of an El Dorado Theatre in Placerville anywhere other than that one Boxoffice item, myself. It’s possible the El Dorado was not in Placerville itself, but in one of the smaller, unincorporated towns in El Dorado County.
Boxoffice sometimes gave the name of the nearest big town when a theater was actually in an outlying area. This was especially likely when two theaters were under the same owner. In any case, if the place never reopened after 1938, there’d be very few people around to recall it. Also, if it had only 300 seats (which might even have been an exaggerated number) it might have been only a nickelodeon-type storefront theater, not easily spotted in photos.
If it existed anywhere in El Dorado County, though, there should be ads for it in issues of the local newspaper from that period. And if it lasted more than briefly, it ought to appear in one or another issue of Film Daily Yearbook, too.
Boxoffice Magazine’s reports of the seating capacity of the Chieftain differ. The December 22, 1951, issue said that it seated “about 730,” while the December 29 issue gave the figure as 750.
According to the April 25, 1966, issue of Boxoffice, Barton Theatres operated the Chieftain until that year, when all 18 of its houses were leased to a newly-formed company called Greater Oklahoma City Amusements, headed by Chicago exhibitor Lewis L. Ingram.
The September 9, 1974, issue of Boxoffice says that the Chieftain was being taken over by Okemah Shanbour. By 1975,it was being operated by Eldon Claybourne Christian, the one who was arrested for showing the movie “Sexual Customs in Scandinavia.”
I’ve been unable to find out when the house was twinned. The last mention of the Chieftain in Boxoffice is from 1976.
I notice that the unreadable vertical sign appears to be partly draped, as though they might have been working on it. I wonder if this was the time the Gaiety name was adopted for the house? It’s also possible they were getting ready to remove the vertical. It was certainly gone by the time Robert McVay took this 1947 photo (previously posted.)
The movies on the Optic’s marquee were both released in 1938. According to IMDb, the Dick Powell movie “Hard to Get” was released in November and “Orphans of the Street” in December. I don’t think the Optic was a first-run house any more by this time, but the latter movie appears to be a “B” picture of the sort that went to sub-run houses pretty fast, so if IMDb’s dates are right then the photo could date from late 1938 or early 1939.
The earliest mention of the Empire Theatre I’ve been able to find in Boxoffice Magazine is from the August 20, 1938, issue, in an item headed “Naify Brothers Acquire Duo From Mrs. Knacke.” It says:[quote]“Lee and Fred Naify, brothers of Mike Naify, manager of the T&D jr. Circuit, have acquired the two theatres in Placerville which Mrs. Ruth Knacke has been operating for some time. J.R. Saul, San Francisco theatre realty broker, handled the transaction.
“The houses are the 600-seat Empire, which may possibly be renovated, and the 300-seat El Dorado, which, dark for some time, is expected to continue closed under the Naify direction.”[/quote]I’ve found nothing later about the El Dorado, so perhaps it never reopened, but the Empire appears to have been operated by the Naify interests into the 1950s. Then by 1963 it was owned by an A.J. Longtin, who was planning a renovation of the house, according to Boxoffice Magazine of September 2 that year.