In that 1982 photo it looks as though the theater has already been converted to some other use. The entrance is no longer theater-like. While there was a 1975 French movie called “La Coupe,” I’m pretty sure there was never a film called “Fruit A Freeze” nor a second feature called “Frozen Fruit Bars.”
I came across one more Boxoffice reference to the Academy, in Harry Hart’s column of August 18, 1951, though the only information about the theater in it was that the then-manager of the house, William N. Hissner, had held that position since 1904, when it was still the Academy of Music.
From the July, 1983, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: “Kenneth DeWees, owner of the 104-year-old Academy Theatre, in Lebanon, Pa., is giving community leaders an opportunity to raise funds to preserve the historic theatre building as a cultural arts center. He plans to demolish the movie house this summer if a buyer or user for it is not found.”
Apparently, Lebanon’s Academy of Music was a stop for the tours of many performers from the late 19th century at least into the 1920s. The Denishawn Dance Company gave an evening performance there on November 3, 1923. I’ve found one other references to a live performance at this theater, by a violinist named Hartman in 1906, but search engine results are, not surprisingly, dominated by references to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, making it difficult to research the Lebanon house. One other reference I found in Boxoffice was trivial.
There’s this web page, though, with a brief paragraph about the Academy of Music, and a vintage photo of the stage as seen from the balcony. For a theater that lasted 104 years, there’s awfully little information about the Academy.
Now I’ve come across an item in the “From the Boxoffice Files: Twenty Years Ago” column in the magazine’s November 13, 1948, issue. It says: “The Star Theatre at Mason City is being remodeled and will open under the name of the Iowa as a first run location. M.R. Tournier is manager.”
Their dating must have been at least a few months off, as the September 28, 1929, issue of Movie Age said that the Iowa Theatre at Mason City had been sold by W.E. Millington and Mrs. Maynard Tournier.
I still haven’t been able to discover if the Star/Iowa did later become the State, but I’ve found more items confirming that the State became the Band Box Theatre in 1951, and was still operating under that name as late as 1955, when CinemaScope was installed.
Behold the Harlan Theatre! The name carved on the building says “Long’s Opera House,” with the date “1882.” It looks like they’ve expanded into the building next door to accommodate additional screens.
It looks like the Harlan Theatre is open again, and with four screens. There’s a page listing its current movies on the Harlan Municipal Utilities web site. I wonder if the municipal utility company operates the theater? Socialism comes to small-town Iowa!
The August 28, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine mentioned the Harlan Theatre in their “From the Boxoffice Files: Twenty Years Ago” feature. In 1928, the house had recently been opened by Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Brown. A Boxoffice item about the Browns published in the October 7, 1946, issue said that the Browns had been in the exhibition business in Harlan for 20 years then, so they must have had another theater there before they opened the Harlan.
The Browns also ran the Cozy, at least during the 1940s and early 1950s. The Cozy was open only intermittently, though. There were items about it reopening at various times, and one 1947 item saying it was being closed for July and August. No air conditioning, I guess. The Browns were mentioned as operators of both theaters as late as 1951. The last mention of Ray Brown I’ve found is in 1957, when he vacationed in Florida while his son-in-law, Jamie Booth, ran the theater.
By 1961, the Harlan Theatre was being operated by Mr. and Mrs. S.J. Backer.
Although Boxoffice Magazine published a small architect’s drawing of this theater in their issue of December 20, 1965, they failed to give the name of the architect. Construction was about to begin, and completion was expected by spring, 1966. The theater was built for Lipsner Enterprises, and was originally called simply the Cinema. It was to be a single screen house equipped for 70mm movies, and would seat about 1000 patrons.
The drawing showed a rather plain, boxy building with one corner chopped off for the entrance. Instead of a traditional marquee there was a flat attraction board mounted above a canopy. The text of the article said that the house would also have a 24-foot stage with double drapes, so that live events could be presented.
American Classic Images was probably dating the photo by the 1936 movie on the Co-Ed’s marquee, but the theater must have been running it very late in its release. Boxoffice Magazine of September 4, 1937, said that the Co-Ed was nearing completion and was scheduled to open around September 15 that year. The Co-Ed was being built for Simon Galitzki.
The Co-Ed was closed during the summer of 1954, some time after Simon Galitzki died. His widow, Sarah, reopened the house that fall, after having a CinemaScope screen installed, and was still operating the house in early 1955, according to an article in the February 26 issue of Boxoffice that year. However, by the end of the year Mrs. Galitzki was advertising bits of the theater’s equipment for sale in the Clearing House section of various issues of Boxoffice, so the Co-Ed’s life as a theater apparently ended about that time.
From the March 18, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: “Also set to open in April is the Sunset in San Luis Obispo, a 500-car drive-in owned by Don McClaren and Charles Pasquini. McClaren, a former branch manager for J.P. Filbert Co. here, served as his own architect.”
J.P. Filbert Co. was a theater supply outfit in Los Angeles.
The October 19, 1946, issue of Boxoffice magazine said that R.D. Ervin had recently opened his new Park Theatre at Walden. The opening had been postponed due to the danger of polio.
Other issues of Boxoffice, both earlier and later, say there was another theater in Walden. The June 25, 1938, issue says that the Walden Theatre at Walden had been renamed the Star. The April 26, 1947, issue says that R.D. Ervin had installed new projectors at the Star Theatre in Walden.
The June 24, 1944, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an article about pioneer New Orleans exhibitor Al Durning, who built the Happy Hour Theatre. Here’s an extract from the article, quoting Durning as he recalled the early days of movie exhibition in the Crescent City:[quote]“During the early part of the 20th century, all kind of moving picture theatres and airdomes sprang up over the city, at one time there being more than a hundred. Many types of projectors were used, the Edison predominating. St. Louis was said to be the only other city which compared as to the number of theatres.
“When I heard about the first real structural theatre built in Denver, I decided then and there to erect a first-class show house. So I promoted a company and we built the first suburban theatre building here and named it the Happy Hour. For years it was the pride and one of the show places of New Orleans. In spite of the competition from downtown nickelodeons, our price was ten cents. However, we packed them in daily and generally used the SRO sign over the weekend.”[/quote]Durning mentions a few of the earlier theaters in New Orleans, and says that during the summer, Charles Rock and Billie Reed would move their Vitascope projector from their theater at Exchange Alley and Canal Street, and set it up in the popular resort of West End on Lake Ponchartrain.
He mentions movies being shown at the old Grand Opera House on Canal Street, primarily a vaudeville theater. He names Messrs Scully and Streetly as the operators of the second motion picture house in the city, located at Canal and Basin, and credits them with starting the first film exchange in town as well. Streetly later opened the first airdome in the city, at Annunciation and Erato.
Charles Pearce then opened a movie house in a remodeled building at 932 Canal Street. This was later remodeled and renamed the Electric Theatre. Unfortunately he doesn’t give the dates these various houses opened, but all of them were in operation before he built the Happy Hour.
The April 16, 1955, issue of Boxoffice Magazine published the obituary of Tom Arthur. Mr. Arthur arrived in Mason City in 1904 and took over management oft he Wilson Theatre. After the house burned in 1911 and the Cecil was built on its site, he continued to manage the new theater until his death.
A photo of the recently updated auditorium of the State Theatre was published in Boxoffice Magazine, June 26, 1937.
Various issues of Boxoffice in the early 1950s say that the State as renamed the Band Box in 1951. Other issues say that the Band Box was located in the former Star Theatre.
I can’t be sure yet, but it’s possible that the Star was the opening name of the State, and that was renamed in the 1930s. The 1937 photo of the State shows a narrow, single-aisle auditorium with a high ceiling, such as might have been built in the early days of movie houses. I’ll do more digging and see if I can find anything else.
According to the obituary of John McKee Heffner, long time Mason City theater man, published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, the Strand Theatre had earlier been called the Princess Theatre.
The obituary of John McKee Heffner was published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. In 1906 Mr. Heffner had opened the first movie theater in Mason City, the Bijou, on South Federal Avenue. After the Bijou closed, he became the manager of the Palace, which had originally been called the Regent Theatre.
The State was in operation by 1936. An obituary published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice said that the late Hans J. Petersen had managed the State Theatre at Harlowton for the Knutson circuit from 1936 to 1945.
The July 12, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine carried the following item: “The new Grove at 1576 Bankhead Ave. has opened. Construction of the 618-seat house cost approximately $60,000. Wendell Welsh is manager.”
Also, Milledgeville had an earlier drive-in as well. Harry Hart noted in his Boxoffice Magazine column on June 10, 1950, that Martin Theatres had opened its 350-car Cadet Drive-In at Milledgeville on April 24.
The February 22, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine has an article about Martin Theatres which mentions the Co-Ed at Milledgeville bing among the houses the circuit then had under construction.
The Starlite Drive-In, then under construction, was expected to be open by Thanksgiving Day, 1963, according to the November 25 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year.
The list is on-line, but the UM web site is oddly set up so I can’t find the page the full list is on, only the introductory page. I’ve only seen the actual list in the Google cache of the page, which is a bunch of dismantled text, difficult to decipher. I’m not sure which theaters are already listed at Cinema Treasures, perhaps under later names, and which are missing. Four theaters on the list don’t even have names given. I’m still trying to puzzle it all out. Maybe somebody else will have more luck with it.
The American Theatre in Winnemucca is mentioned in the May 3, 1947, issue of Boxoffice, and in earlier issues. The Sage Theatre in Wnnemucca is mentioned in the November 26, 1949, issue and in later issues. If they had the same address, then the house was called the American first and renamed the Sage sometime between 1947 and 1949.
I’ve dug up information on three theaters in Brawley other than the Brawley itself. There was a Eureka Theatre, in operation by 1937, owned by Ben Aranda. There was an Azteca (or Aztec- it appears under both names in different issues of Boxoffice) opened by Aranda in 1937. Then there was another theater opened in 1937 called the Circle, which, like the Brawley, was operated by Fox West Coast. I don’t have addresses for any of them though.
The Brawley itself got a renovation in 1976, and reopened on May 26 with “Cabaret” as the first attraction, according to June 11 issue of Boxoffice that year. By then it was operated by Great Western Theatres, seating had been reduced to 650, and it was apparently the only house still open in Brawley.
The September 4, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this item: “The Azteca Film Corp. has a theatre under construction in Calexico which will be ready for business in about six weeks. Frank Ullman, El Centro exhibitor, will operate the house.”
In that 1982 photo it looks as though the theater has already been converted to some other use. The entrance is no longer theater-like. While there was a 1975 French movie called “La Coupe,” I’m pretty sure there was never a film called “Fruit A Freeze” nor a second feature called “Frozen Fruit Bars.”
I came across one more Boxoffice reference to the Academy, in Harry Hart’s column of August 18, 1951, though the only information about the theater in it was that the then-manager of the house, William N. Hissner, had held that position since 1904, when it was still the Academy of Music.
From the July, 1983, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: “Kenneth DeWees, owner of the 104-year-old Academy Theatre, in Lebanon, Pa., is giving community leaders an opportunity to raise funds to preserve the historic theatre building as a cultural arts center. He plans to demolish the movie house this summer if a buyer or user for it is not found.”
Apparently, Lebanon’s Academy of Music was a stop for the tours of many performers from the late 19th century at least into the 1920s. The Denishawn Dance Company gave an evening performance there on November 3, 1923. I’ve found one other references to a live performance at this theater, by a violinist named Hartman in 1906, but search engine results are, not surprisingly, dominated by references to the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, making it difficult to research the Lebanon house. One other reference I found in Boxoffice was trivial.
There’s this web page, though, with a brief paragraph about the Academy of Music, and a vintage photo of the stage as seen from the balcony. For a theater that lasted 104 years, there’s awfully little information about the Academy.
Now I’ve come across an item in the “From the Boxoffice Files: Twenty Years Ago” column in the magazine’s November 13, 1948, issue. It says: “The Star Theatre at Mason City is being remodeled and will open under the name of the Iowa as a first run location. M.R. Tournier is manager.”
Their dating must have been at least a few months off, as the September 28, 1929, issue of Movie Age said that the Iowa Theatre at Mason City had been sold by W.E. Millington and Mrs. Maynard Tournier.
I still haven’t been able to discover if the Star/Iowa did later become the State, but I’ve found more items confirming that the State became the Band Box Theatre in 1951, and was still operating under that name as late as 1955, when CinemaScope was installed.
Behold the Harlan Theatre! The name carved on the building says “Long’s Opera House,” with the date “1882.” It looks like they’ve expanded into the building next door to accommodate additional screens.
It looks like the Harlan Theatre is open again, and with four screens. There’s a page listing its current movies on the Harlan Municipal Utilities web site. I wonder if the municipal utility company operates the theater? Socialism comes to small-town Iowa!
The August 28, 1948, issue of Boxoffice Magazine mentioned the Harlan Theatre in their “From the Boxoffice Files: Twenty Years Ago” feature. In 1928, the house had recently been opened by Mr. and Mrs. R.E. Brown. A Boxoffice item about the Browns published in the October 7, 1946, issue said that the Browns had been in the exhibition business in Harlan for 20 years then, so they must have had another theater there before they opened the Harlan.
The Browns also ran the Cozy, at least during the 1940s and early 1950s. The Cozy was open only intermittently, though. There were items about it reopening at various times, and one 1947 item saying it was being closed for July and August. No air conditioning, I guess. The Browns were mentioned as operators of both theaters as late as 1951. The last mention of Ray Brown I’ve found is in 1957, when he vacationed in Florida while his son-in-law, Jamie Booth, ran the theater.
By 1961, the Harlan Theatre was being operated by Mr. and Mrs. S.J. Backer.
Although Boxoffice Magazine published a small architect’s drawing of this theater in their issue of December 20, 1965, they failed to give the name of the architect. Construction was about to begin, and completion was expected by spring, 1966. The theater was built for Lipsner Enterprises, and was originally called simply the Cinema. It was to be a single screen house equipped for 70mm movies, and would seat about 1000 patrons.
The drawing showed a rather plain, boxy building with one corner chopped off for the entrance. Instead of a traditional marquee there was a flat attraction board mounted above a canopy. The text of the article said that the house would also have a 24-foot stage with double drapes, so that live events could be presented.
American Classic Images was probably dating the photo by the 1936 movie on the Co-Ed’s marquee, but the theater must have been running it very late in its release. Boxoffice Magazine of September 4, 1937, said that the Co-Ed was nearing completion and was scheduled to open around September 15 that year. The Co-Ed was being built for Simon Galitzki.
The Co-Ed was closed during the summer of 1954, some time after Simon Galitzki died. His widow, Sarah, reopened the house that fall, after having a CinemaScope screen installed, and was still operating the house in early 1955, according to an article in the February 26 issue of Boxoffice that year. However, by the end of the year Mrs. Galitzki was advertising bits of the theater’s equipment for sale in the Clearing House section of various issues of Boxoffice, so the Co-Ed’s life as a theater apparently ended about that time.
From the March 18, 1950, issue of Boxoffice Magazine: “Also set to open in April is the Sunset in San Luis Obispo, a 500-car drive-in owned by Don McClaren and Charles Pasquini. McClaren, a former branch manager for J.P. Filbert Co. here, served as his own architect.”
J.P. Filbert Co. was a theater supply outfit in Los Angeles.
The October 19, 1946, issue of Boxoffice magazine said that R.D. Ervin had recently opened his new Park Theatre at Walden. The opening had been postponed due to the danger of polio.
Other issues of Boxoffice, both earlier and later, say there was another theater in Walden. The June 25, 1938, issue says that the Walden Theatre at Walden had been renamed the Star. The April 26, 1947, issue says that R.D. Ervin had installed new projectors at the Star Theatre in Walden.
The June 24, 1944, issue of Boxoffice Magazine ran an article about pioneer New Orleans exhibitor Al Durning, who built the Happy Hour Theatre. Here’s an extract from the article, quoting Durning as he recalled the early days of movie exhibition in the Crescent City:[quote]“During the early part of the 20th century, all kind of moving picture theatres and airdomes sprang up over the city, at one time there being more than a hundred. Many types of projectors were used, the Edison predominating. St. Louis was said to be the only other city which compared as to the number of theatres.
“When I heard about the first real structural theatre built in Denver, I decided then and there to erect a first-class show house. So I promoted a company and we built the first suburban theatre building here and named it the Happy Hour. For years it was the pride and one of the show places of New Orleans. In spite of the competition from downtown nickelodeons, our price was ten cents. However, we packed them in daily and generally used the SRO sign over the weekend.”[/quote]Durning mentions a few of the earlier theaters in New Orleans, and says that during the summer, Charles Rock and Billie Reed would move their Vitascope projector from their theater at Exchange Alley and Canal Street, and set it up in the popular resort of West End on Lake Ponchartrain.
He mentions movies being shown at the old Grand Opera House on Canal Street, primarily a vaudeville theater. He names Messrs Scully and Streetly as the operators of the second motion picture house in the city, located at Canal and Basin, and credits them with starting the first film exchange in town as well. Streetly later opened the first airdome in the city, at Annunciation and Erato.
Charles Pearce then opened a movie house in a remodeled building at 932 Canal Street. This was later remodeled and renamed the Electric Theatre. Unfortunately he doesn’t give the dates these various houses opened, but all of them were in operation before he built the Happy Hour.
The April 16, 1955, issue of Boxoffice Magazine published the obituary of Tom Arthur. Mr. Arthur arrived in Mason City in 1904 and took over management oft he Wilson Theatre. After the house burned in 1911 and the Cecil was built on its site, he continued to manage the new theater until his death.
A photo of the recently updated auditorium of the State Theatre was published in Boxoffice Magazine, June 26, 1937.
Various issues of Boxoffice in the early 1950s say that the State as renamed the Band Box in 1951. Other issues say that the Band Box was located in the former Star Theatre.
I can’t be sure yet, but it’s possible that the Star was the opening name of the State, and that was renamed in the 1930s. The 1937 photo of the State shows a narrow, single-aisle auditorium with a high ceiling, such as might have been built in the early days of movie houses. I’ll do more digging and see if I can find anything else.
According to the obituary of John McKee Heffner, long time Mason City theater man, published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice Magazine, the Strand Theatre had earlier been called the Princess Theatre.
The obituary of John McKee Heffner was published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice Magazine. In 1906 Mr. Heffner had opened the first movie theater in Mason City, the Bijou, on South Federal Avenue. After the Bijou closed, he became the manager of the Palace, which had originally been called the Regent Theatre.
The State was in operation by 1936. An obituary published in the April 7, 1956, issue of Boxoffice said that the late Hans J. Petersen had managed the State Theatre at Harlowton for the Knutson circuit from 1936 to 1945.
The July 12, 1941, issue of Boxoffice said that Martin planned to open the Co-Ed on July 21.
The July 12, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine carried the following item: “The new Grove at 1576 Bankhead Ave. has opened. Construction of the 618-seat house cost approximately $60,000. Wendell Welsh is manager.”
Also, Milledgeville had an earlier drive-in as well. Harry Hart noted in his Boxoffice Magazine column on June 10, 1950, that Martin Theatres had opened its 350-car Cadet Drive-In at Milledgeville on April 24.
The February 22, 1941, issue of Boxoffice Magazine has an article about Martin Theatres which mentions the Co-Ed at Milledgeville bing among the houses the circuit then had under construction.
The Starlite Drive-In, then under construction, was expected to be open by Thanksgiving Day, 1963, according to the November 25 issue of Boxoffice Magazine that year.
The aka should be Alder Theatre, like the tree the street was probably named after, not Adler.
The list is on-line, but the UM web site is oddly set up so I can’t find the page the full list is on, only the introductory page. I’ve only seen the actual list in the Google cache of the page, which is a bunch of dismantled text, difficult to decipher. I’m not sure which theaters are already listed at Cinema Treasures, perhaps under later names, and which are missing. Four theaters on the list don’t even have names given. I’m still trying to puzzle it all out. Maybe somebody else will have more luck with it.
The American Theatre in Winnemucca is mentioned in the May 3, 1947, issue of Boxoffice, and in earlier issues. The Sage Theatre in Wnnemucca is mentioned in the November 26, 1949, issue and in later issues. If they had the same address, then the house was called the American first and renamed the Sage sometime between 1947 and 1949.
I’ve dug up information on three theaters in Brawley other than the Brawley itself. There was a Eureka Theatre, in operation by 1937, owned by Ben Aranda. There was an Azteca (or Aztec- it appears under both names in different issues of Boxoffice) opened by Aranda in 1937. Then there was another theater opened in 1937 called the Circle, which, like the Brawley, was operated by Fox West Coast. I don’t have addresses for any of them though.
The Brawley itself got a renovation in 1976, and reopened on May 26 with “Cabaret” as the first attraction, according to June 11 issue of Boxoffice that year. By then it was operated by Great Western Theatres, seating had been reduced to 650, and it was apparently the only house still open in Brawley.
The September 4, 1937, issue of Boxoffice Magazine had this item: “The Azteca Film Corp. has a theatre under construction in Calexico which will be ready for business in about six weeks. Frank Ullman, El Centro exhibitor, will operate the house.”