Here is earlier news about the Rex, from a history of the county published in 1949: “Mr. William Pratt had his Barber Shop on the land that Fred and Francis Thompson purchased for the building of the Strand Theatre in 1920. The Barber Shop was then moved off its foundation and re-located where Paul’s Shoe Shop now stands. The Strand Theatre was leased by John Cribble and during his management was destroyed by fire. It was purchased in 1935 by H. J. Thompson, remodeled and renamed THE REX THEATRE”
The 1926 FDY lists three houses at Curwensville: the Opera House, the Grand, and the Strand. No locations or seating capacities are given for any. All three were still listed in 1929, but in 1930 only the Strand remained. It was last listed in 1933, and Curwensville then vanishes from the FDY until 1935, when the Rex is listed, so it was likely 1933 when the Strand burned.
The 550-seat Rex Theatre at Curwensville was offered for sale in a classified ad in the December 2, 1968 issue of Boxoffice. The ad said the house was in operation and in “excellent condition.” The asking price was not mentioned.
This item from the October 10, 1940 issue of Film Daily is clearly wrong in its headline claim, but this still might have been a different building than the the one the Liberty had been in, perhaps the one next door: “First House for Madera
“Madera, Pa.—Opening of the new 500 seat Madera Theater, owned and constructed by Mid-West Theaters, Inc., gives this town its first motion picture house.” (“Mid-West Theaters” obviously a typo for “Mid-State Theaters.”)
Other than the mention of a house called the Pastime in a 1911 Billboard item, this is the only mention of Madera I’ve been able to find in the trade journals. Two houses were listed there in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but they were the Pastime and a house called the Royal. Locations weren’t provided for either.
The Coliseum was the only house listed at Stoneboro in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The September 26, 1914 issue of The New York Clipper had two ads from Stoneboro in sequence:
“STONEBORO, PA. Book now for coming Season. Everything working full time. Write for dates. Hines opera house, box 14.”
and
“THE COLISEUM THEATRE, Stoneboro, Pa. New house. Ground floor. Large stage. Modern equipment. Electric lighted. Open time for good attractions. E. AL. RAYMOND, Manager.”
So the Coliseum was new in 1914, and originally featured live performances, but had to have been equipped for movies as well, or it wouldn’t have been listed in the AMPD.
The only mention of the house I’ve found in the movie theater industry trade journals is this item from the October 21, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World: “Tom Greer, of the Coliseum Theatre, Stoneboro, Pa., recently motored to Pittsburgh in his flivver, and was arrested here for speeding. But Tom got out of his trouble. He told the cop he had just assembled the car and forgot to put the slow parts back into it.”
Its official web site is once again listing this house as the Falls Theatre rather than the Falls Cinema. According to this article from Minnesota Public Radio News the new owners, Phil and Suzy Prosapio, are a local couple who have been involved in renovating and reinvigorating downtown Little Falls for some time, and they completely renovated the theater, restoring its 1933 Art Deco look, before reopening it on Friday, October 6, 2023. The opening feature on one of the three screens was “The Nuisance,” the romantic comedy that opened the house in 1933.
A June 25, 1908 Cameron County Press article about the first anniversary of the Theatorium said that the owners had operated in the Opera House for a time. The Theatorium had originally opened in a storefront on Broad Street on June 22, 1907, but this location proved too small, and it soon moved to the Opera House. It had moved into the Shives Building (presumably the one at 36 E. 4th) around January 1, 1908. By the middle of 1908, vaudeville acts had been added to the Theatorium’s programs. The Theatorium was still listed in the FDY in 1929, when it had 230 seats. The 480 seat Opera House was its only listed competitor.
An Emporium Theatre on 4th Street and the Emporium Opera House on South Street were both listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. I don’t see a South Street on the map of Emporium, so perhaps it was just an alternate name for Fourth Street, and these were both the same theater.
The May 13, 1909 issue of the Cameron County Press carried an announcement that the Opera House at Emporium would reopen for the season Monday evening with a program of vaudeville and movies. In 1926, capsule movie reviews were being submitted to Moving Picture World by manager A. E. Andrews of the Opera House, Emporium. Mr. Andrews included the seating capacity of the house (486) and the prices (10-25 and 15-30, presumably for matinees and evenings, respectively.)
The NRHP registration form for the Little Falls Commercial Historic District says that the Ripley Theatre building was built in 1936 and was designed by architect Sheldon Haatvedt.
The May 22, 1948 issue of Boxoffice said that the Pix Theatre in Minneapolis, having returned to the name Newsreel a month previously, had once again restored the name Pix. The house was still under lease to Metropolitan Theatres, and showing double-feature revivals.
What may have been the first instance of the Metropolitan Opera House being used for movies was noted in this item from the “Philadelphia Pointers” column of Moving Picture World for April 3, 1920:
“‘Pollyanna’ in Grand Opera Surroundings.
“Thousands of dollars will be spent by the United Artists' Corporation to change the Metropolitan Opera House into an up-to-date motion picture palace in time for the opening presentation, ‘Pollyanna,’ commencing May 8. It is expected to have Mary Pickford here in person providing she does not go abroad before that date.”
Mary Pickford was 27 years old when she portrayed Eleanor H. Porter’s 12 year old heroine. “Pollyanna” was Pickford’s first film for her recently established United Artists studio. A blockbuster for its time, the film had a budget of $300,000 and grossed $1.1 million worldwide in its initial theatrical run. Now in the public domain, at least in the US, multiple copies have been uploaded to YouTube where it can be watched at no charge.
News about the Main Theatre from the April 3, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World:
“Fire Exits Stand the Test.
“The Main Theatre, a house situated in a thickly populated section of Cleveland at East Twenty-fifth street and Scoville avenue, was put out of business March 11, when a fire broke out in the building in which the entrance to the theatre was situated. Although the blaze started about 8:30 in the evening, and the theatre was well filled, there was no panic whatever. As soon as the smoke commenced to come into the auditorium, the fire exits were opened and in a short time the theatre was emptied.
“The building in front of the theatre, a four-story structure, was very badly damaged, the loss being about $100,000. Several firemen were injured when a roof fell. The fire did not start in the theatre, but in the loft of the building where a laundry is located.
“The theatre was leased and operated by O. E. Belles, of Cleveland, and F. G. Stevens, of Newark, O. They also operated a candy shop in the burned building. As soon as possible, the damage will be repaired and a new entrance made for the house so that it can resume business.”
The Temple Theatre was open long before 1940. It was listed in the 1926 city directory at the address above, and was listed in the 1926 and 1929 FDYs with 666 seats. The earliest photo of the house at Water Winter Wonderland shows a theater front characteristic of the 1910s. As the Temple was mentioned in Moving Picture World in 1916, but not listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, a 1915 opening is possible.
The November 20, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World mentioned the plan to sometimes show movies at the Bellamy Opera House: “The Bellamy opera house at Boyne City is undergoing extensive improvements. Photoplays will be used when there are no dramatic attractions.”
An article published in 2004 on the occasion of the theater’s 100th anniversary said that the formal opening of the Bellamy Opera House on March 19, 1904 was not very well attended due to very bad weather. Fewer than 300 people showed up at the 750-seat house (Gus Hill’s 1914 directory listed it with 650 seats) for the performance by the popular Gorton’s Minstrels. On the whole, though, the theater was a welcome addition to Boyne City, hosting a variety of attractions and civic events, including the town’s first exhibition of motion pictures on May 6, 1907.
The November 20, 1915 issue of Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record had an item about the theater’s renovation that year:
“BOYNE CITY’S NEW THEATER.
“Boyne City will soon have one of the best theaters in northern Michigan. The Bellamy opera house has been closed and extensive repairs are being made on the building.
“The structure is being entirely remodeled in the interior, a new front is being built, a cement lobby is to be erected opening into the building from the street and leading from the lobby to the opera house proper will be a covered way of brick. The front and lobby will be brilliantly and artistically lighted and the place will present, withal, a true metropolitan appearance.”
The 1927 renovations were equally extensive. They involved reconstruction of the balcony and reconfiguring the stairs, a new projection room, the addition of a ladies lounge, a new heating plant and ventilation system, and complete redecoration of the interior. The revamped house opened as the Boyne Theatre on September 13, 1927.
The Lake could be the first of the two theaters noted in this item from Moving Picture World of May 14, 1927: “Shreveport, La., is to have two new theatres. Charles Morel, El Dorado, Ark., plans to build at Portland and Fetzer avenues. His house will cost about $30,000. A. L. Waller plans a house on Texas avenue. It will have a main floor and balcony and cover a site 40 by 125 feet. Plans for both houses have been prepared by Jones, Roessle, Olschner & Wiener, Ardis Building, Shreveport, La.”
Fetzer Avenue is the former name of Lakeshore drive. The house on Texas Avenue may have been the Star, though that didn’t open until 1930.
The May 14, 1927 Moving Picture World had this item about the beginning of the Meteor Theatre: “Harry Kelley has just purchased a site on West 12th street, Bentonville, Ark., on which he plans to erect a new theatre. The lot is 110 by 42 feet.” The June 11 issue of the same journal repeated the news: “A new theatre, to be named the Meteor, and to cost around $40,000, is being built by Harry Kelly at Bentonville, Arkansas.”
Boxoffice of October 1, 1938 had news about the Royal: “Extensive remodeling recently was made at the Royal, Bentonville, by M. J. Kilbourn and his son, Payne, and plans are being made to reopen the house soon. New sound equipment will be installed.”
A history of Bentonville quoted on this web page says about the old Opera House that “[a]bout 1922 the building was bought by M. J. Kilburn [sic] who had it rebuilt into a movie picture house. The entrance was again moved to the front of the building. The inside had a stage downstairs and seats down, as well as up in the balcony. There were two small rooms in the front that opened onto the street in front of the building. These were rented for small cafes or real estate offices. The big outside balcony was taken down and a marquee was put up. The building was used as a theater until a few years before it was taken down. The last few years before the building was razed, it was used only for storage.”
This history also noted that the Opera House was built after the winter of 1880-81 when most of the north side of the town square had been razed in a fire, but the exact year of construction is unknown. The original Opera House was upstairs and had served as a movie theater for a while (perhaps it had been the original Royal) but was closed in 1914, after which it was used as an armory for some time. The building was finally demolished in 1962.
Plans for this theater were announced in the August 9, 1913 issue of Motography: “The Garden City Theater Company of Peoria was incorporated on Thursday with a capital of ten thousand dollars, which means that the city is to have another motion picture theater. The new company, which is composed of prominent theatrical men is already planning its first theater, to be built at the corner of Garden and Tyng streets. Reeves & Baillie are drawing the plans for the same and work is to be started and rushed to completion as soon as possible.”
The architectural firm of William Hawks Reeves and John M. Baillie was established at Peoria in 1893 and for more than two decades was one of the leading firms in the region.
This item from Moving Picture World of March 11, 1922 suggests that the Royal moved into this location that year: “M. J. Kilbourn has opened his new Royal Theatre at Bentonville, Ark. It seats 400.”
The Royal might have either began as an airdome or added one in 1913, judging from this item in the August 9 issue of Motography that year: “The New Royal airdome at Bentonville, Leister & Blake,
owners, has opened up for business.” The capitalized “New” in front of the name suggests there could have been an even earlier Royal somewhere in town.
Google Street View shows the Roosevelt Theatre at 38 Sycamore Street. Some years ago, plans were afoot to renovate and reopen the theater, but those plans appear to have fallen victim to the pandemic. Some photos of the building and a few renderings and floor plans can still be seen on the web site of arcollab, the firm that was providing the plans for the project.
I came across this Facebook post from the Rogers Historical Museum, and it says that 115 W. Walnut was the address of a movie house called the Ozark Theatre that opened on April 15, 1910. Unfortunately the post doesn’t go into any detail about the building’s later history.
I haven’t seen the Arkansas Historical Society magazine that is supposed to have information about this theater, but I’ve checked every Film Daily Year Book from 1926 through 1940 (except 1939, which I don’t have access to) and there is no Rogers Theatre listed at Rogers in any of them. From 1933 on, the only house listed at Rogers is the Victory.
What I have found is this Facebook post from the Rogers Historical Museum, which is about an early theater called the Ozark, but it gathered a few comments about the Rogers Theatre, including one with an aerial photo. A comment from the museum itself says the Rogers opened between 1940 and 1943 and operated intermittently until 1962. It was located at 206 W. Walnut Street, so our original description is complete nonsense.
The Gem operated at least into 1917, when it was mentioned in the January 6 issue of Moving Picture World. Later the town had houses called the Lyric (by 1919,) the Victoria (by 1920,) and the Lion Head (permanently closed in June or July, 1922.) The only theater listed at Rogers in the 1926 FDY was the Victory.
The plaque marking the historic Victory Theatre, displayed on the official web site, says that it opened on December 5, 1927, but there is a house called the Victory Theatre listed at Rogers in the 1926 FDY, and there is also a reference to the house in the June 19, 1926 Motion Picture News. I suspect a predecessor theater. A house called the Victoria (a possible aka?) was in operation at Rogers at least as early as 1920, mentioned in the September 4 Moving Picture World.
Here is earlier news about the Rex, from a history of the county published in 1949: “Mr. William Pratt had his Barber Shop on the land that Fred and Francis Thompson purchased for the building of the Strand Theatre in 1920. The Barber Shop was then moved off its foundation and re-located where Paul’s Shoe Shop now stands. The Strand Theatre was leased by John Cribble and during his management was destroyed by fire. It was purchased in 1935 by H. J. Thompson, remodeled and renamed THE REX THEATRE”
The 1926 FDY lists three houses at Curwensville: the Opera House, the Grand, and the Strand. No locations or seating capacities are given for any. All three were still listed in 1929, but in 1930 only the Strand remained. It was last listed in 1933, and Curwensville then vanishes from the FDY until 1935, when the Rex is listed, so it was likely 1933 when the Strand burned.
The 550-seat Rex Theatre at Curwensville was offered for sale in a classified ad in the December 2, 1968 issue of Boxoffice. The ad said the house was in operation and in “excellent condition.” The asking price was not mentioned.
This item from the October 10, 1940 issue of Film Daily is clearly wrong in its headline claim, but this still might have been a different building than the the one the Liberty had been in, perhaps the one next door: “First House for Madera
“Madera, Pa.—Opening of the new 500 seat Madera Theater, owned and constructed by Mid-West Theaters, Inc., gives this town its first motion picture house.” (“Mid-West Theaters” obviously a typo for “Mid-State Theaters.”)
Other than the mention of a house called the Pastime in a 1911 Billboard item, this is the only mention of Madera I’ve been able to find in the trade journals. Two houses were listed there in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, but they were the Pastime and a house called the Royal. Locations weren’t provided for either.
The Coliseum was the only house listed at Stoneboro in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. The September 26, 1914 issue of The New York Clipper had two ads from Stoneboro in sequence:
So the Coliseum was new in 1914, and originally featured live performances, but had to have been equipped for movies as well, or it wouldn’t have been listed in the AMPD.The only mention of the house I’ve found in the movie theater industry trade journals is this item from the October 21, 1922 issue of Moving Picture World: “Tom Greer, of the Coliseum Theatre, Stoneboro, Pa., recently motored to Pittsburgh in his flivver, and was arrested here for speeding. But Tom got out of his trouble. He told the cop he had just assembled the car and forgot to put the slow parts back into it.”
Its official web site is once again listing this house as the Falls Theatre rather than the Falls Cinema. According to this article from Minnesota Public Radio News the new owners, Phil and Suzy Prosapio, are a local couple who have been involved in renovating and reinvigorating downtown Little Falls for some time, and they completely renovated the theater, restoring its 1933 Art Deco look, before reopening it on Friday, October 6, 2023. The opening feature on one of the three screens was “The Nuisance,” the romantic comedy that opened the house in 1933.
A June 25, 1908 Cameron County Press article about the first anniversary of the Theatorium said that the owners had operated in the Opera House for a time. The Theatorium had originally opened in a storefront on Broad Street on June 22, 1907, but this location proved too small, and it soon moved to the Opera House. It had moved into the Shives Building (presumably the one at 36 E. 4th) around January 1, 1908. By the middle of 1908, vaudeville acts had been added to the Theatorium’s programs. The Theatorium was still listed in the FDY in 1929, when it had 230 seats. The 480 seat Opera House was its only listed competitor.
An Emporium Theatre on 4th Street and the Emporium Opera House on South Street were both listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. I don’t see a South Street on the map of Emporium, so perhaps it was just an alternate name for Fourth Street, and these were both the same theater.
The May 13, 1909 issue of the Cameron County Press carried an announcement that the Opera House at Emporium would reopen for the season Monday evening with a program of vaudeville and movies. In 1926, capsule movie reviews were being submitted to Moving Picture World by manager A. E. Andrews of the Opera House, Emporium. Mr. Andrews included the seating capacity of the house (486) and the prices (10-25 and 15-30, presumably for matinees and evenings, respectively.)
The NRHP registration form for the Little Falls Commercial Historic District attributes the design of the Falls Theatre to architect Perry Crosier.
The NRHP registration form for the Little Falls Commercial Historic District says that the Ripley Theatre building was built in 1936 and was designed by architect Sheldon Haatvedt.
The Falls Theatre is open again, with shows nightly plus matinees Saturday and Sunday. Here is the official web site.
The May 22, 1948 issue of Boxoffice said that the Pix Theatre in Minneapolis, having returned to the name Newsreel a month previously, had once again restored the name Pix. The house was still under lease to Metropolitan Theatres, and showing double-feature revivals.
What may have been the first instance of the Metropolitan Opera House being used for movies was noted in this item from the “Philadelphia Pointers” column of Moving Picture World for April 3, 1920:
Mary Pickford was 27 years old when she portrayed Eleanor H. Porter’s 12 year old heroine. “Pollyanna” was Pickford’s first film for her recently established United Artists studio. A blockbuster for its time, the film had a budget of $300,000 and grossed $1.1 million worldwide in its initial theatrical run. Now in the public domain, at least in the US, multiple copies have been uploaded to YouTube where it can be watched at no charge.News about the Main Theatre from the April 3, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World:
The Temple Theatre was open long before 1940. It was listed in the 1926 city directory at the address above, and was listed in the 1926 and 1929 FDYs with 666 seats. The earliest photo of the house at Water Winter Wonderland shows a theater front characteristic of the 1910s. As the Temple was mentioned in Moving Picture World in 1916, but not listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory, a 1915 opening is possible.
The November 20, 1915 issue of Moving Picture World mentioned the plan to sometimes show movies at the Bellamy Opera House: “The Bellamy opera house at Boyne City is undergoing extensive improvements. Photoplays will be used when there are no dramatic attractions.”
An article published in 2004 on the occasion of the theater’s 100th anniversary said that the formal opening of the Bellamy Opera House on March 19, 1904 was not very well attended due to very bad weather. Fewer than 300 people showed up at the 750-seat house (Gus Hill’s 1914 directory listed it with 650 seats) for the performance by the popular Gorton’s Minstrels. On the whole, though, the theater was a welcome addition to Boyne City, hosting a variety of attractions and civic events, including the town’s first exhibition of motion pictures on May 6, 1907.
The November 20, 1915 issue of Michigan Manufacturer and Financial Record had an item about the theater’s renovation that year:
The 1927 renovations were equally extensive. They involved reconstruction of the balcony and reconfiguring the stairs, a new projection room, the addition of a ladies lounge, a new heating plant and ventilation system, and complete redecoration of the interior. The revamped house opened as the Boyne Theatre on September 13, 1927.The Lake could be the first of the two theaters noted in this item from Moving Picture World of May 14, 1927: “Shreveport, La., is to have two new theatres. Charles Morel, El Dorado, Ark., plans to build at Portland and Fetzer avenues. His house will cost about $30,000. A. L. Waller plans a house on Texas avenue. It will have a main floor and balcony and cover a site 40 by 125 feet. Plans for both houses have been prepared by Jones, Roessle, Olschner & Wiener, Ardis Building, Shreveport, La.”
Fetzer Avenue is the former name of Lakeshore drive. The house on Texas Avenue may have been the Star, though that didn’t open until 1930.
The May 14, 1927 Moving Picture World had this item about the beginning of the Meteor Theatre: “Harry Kelley has just purchased a site on West 12th street, Bentonville, Ark., on which he plans to erect a new theatre. The lot is 110 by 42 feet.” The June 11 issue of the same journal repeated the news: “A new theatre, to be named the Meteor, and to cost around $40,000, is being built by Harry Kelly at Bentonville, Arkansas.”
Boxoffice of October 1, 1938 had news about the Royal: “Extensive remodeling recently was made at the Royal, Bentonville, by M. J. Kilbourn and his son, Payne, and plans are being made to reopen the house soon. New sound equipment will be installed.”
A history of Bentonville quoted on this web page says about the old Opera House that “[a]bout 1922 the building was bought by M. J. Kilburn [sic] who had it rebuilt into a movie picture house. The entrance was again moved to the front of the building. The inside had a stage downstairs and seats down, as well as up in the balcony. There were two small rooms in the front that opened onto the street in front of the building. These were rented for small cafes or real estate offices. The big outside balcony was taken down and a marquee was put up. The building was used as a theater until a few years before it was taken down. The last few years before the building was razed, it was used only for storage.”
This history also noted that the Opera House was built after the winter of 1880-81 when most of the north side of the town square had been razed in a fire, but the exact year of construction is unknown. The original Opera House was upstairs and had served as a movie theater for a while (perhaps it had been the original Royal) but was closed in 1914, after which it was used as an armory for some time. The building was finally demolished in 1962.
Plans for this theater were announced in the August 9, 1913 issue of Motography: “The Garden City Theater Company of Peoria was incorporated on Thursday with a capital of ten thousand dollars, which means that the city is to have another motion picture theater. The new company, which is composed of prominent theatrical men is already planning its first theater, to be built at the corner of Garden and Tyng streets. Reeves & Baillie are drawing the plans for the same and work is to be started and rushed to completion as soon as possible.”
The architectural firm of William Hawks Reeves and John M. Baillie was established at Peoria in 1893 and for more than two decades was one of the leading firms in the region.
This item from Moving Picture World of March 11, 1922 suggests that the Royal moved into this location that year: “M. J. Kilbourn has opened his new Royal Theatre at Bentonville, Ark. It seats 400.”
The Royal might have either began as an airdome or added one in 1913, judging from this item in the August 9 issue of Motography that year: “The New Royal airdome at Bentonville, Leister & Blake, owners, has opened up for business.” The capitalized “New” in front of the name suggests there could have been an even earlier Royal somewhere in town.
Google Street View shows the Roosevelt Theatre at 38 Sycamore Street. Some years ago, plans were afoot to renovate and reopen the theater, but those plans appear to have fallen victim to the pandemic. Some photos of the building and a few renderings and floor plans can still be seen on the web site of arcollab, the firm that was providing the plans for the project.
I came across this Facebook post from the Rogers Historical Museum, and it says that 115 W. Walnut was the address of a movie house called the Ozark Theatre that opened on April 15, 1910. Unfortunately the post doesn’t go into any detail about the building’s later history.
I haven’t seen the Arkansas Historical Society magazine that is supposed to have information about this theater, but I’ve checked every Film Daily Year Book from 1926 through 1940 (except 1939, which I don’t have access to) and there is no Rogers Theatre listed at Rogers in any of them. From 1933 on, the only house listed at Rogers is the Victory.
What I have found is this Facebook post from the Rogers Historical Museum, which is about an early theater called the Ozark, but it gathered a few comments about the Rogers Theatre, including one with an aerial photo. A comment from the museum itself says the Rogers opened between 1940 and 1943 and operated intermittently until 1962. It was located at 206 W. Walnut Street, so our original description is complete nonsense.
The Gem operated at least into 1917, when it was mentioned in the January 6 issue of Moving Picture World. Later the town had houses called the Lyric (by 1919,) the Victoria (by 1920,) and the Lion Head (permanently closed in June or July, 1922.) The only theater listed at Rogers in the 1926 FDY was the Victory.
The plaque marking the historic Victory Theatre, displayed on the official web site, says that it opened on December 5, 1927, but there is a house called the Victory Theatre listed at Rogers in the 1926 FDY, and there is also a reference to the house in the June 19, 1926 Motion Picture News. I suspect a predecessor theater. A house called the Victoria (a possible aka?) was in operation at Rogers at least as early as 1920, mentioned in the September 4 Moving Picture World.