An article about the Ascher Bros circuit in the March 10, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World had this paragraph about the Cosmopolitan:
“A good deal of credit is due Bruce Goshaw for the success of the Cosmopolitan theater, Halsted and Seventy-ninth
streets, which was the first thousand-seat house to be erected for the Ascher Bros. Manager Godshaw enjoys the distinction of having managed this house since its opening on Saturday, September 6, 1913. This fine modern structure is situated in the suburb of Auburn Park far out in the southwest end of town and is strictly a neighborhood theater.
Although in its fifth season, some of the ‘opening night’ patrons can still be seen in the audiences. The foyer of the house is finished in marble and the general color scheme is old rose and blue. The equipment is modern in every detail from the box-office to the operating room. Feature subjects are exhibted [sic] both afternoon and evening, at an admission price of 10 cents.”
Ascher Bros. took control of this house as early as 1912, according to a list of the Chicago chain’s important theaters published in Moving Picture World of March 10, 1917:
“The President theater, Garfield Boulevard and Calumet avenue, was the first of the larger houses operated under the Ascher system. It was taken over by the Ascher Bros, and opened to the public under their management on September 30, 1912. Previous to this time it was used exclusively for vaudeville. The President is located on one of Chicago’s finest boulevards, within a short distance of Jackson Park. It has a seating capacity of 800, and pictures are shown every afternoon and evening, at an admission price of 10 cents. There are six exits from the large auditorium which is decorated in white and blue. The music is furnished by a Kimball organ and a five-piece orchestra. Harry F. Beaumont is the resident manager.”
If the Princess was still in operation in 1929, it’s possible that there were two different theaters of that name in Oil City. A 2009 comment by kencmcintyre on the Lyric Theatre page cites a 1974 Oil City Derrick photo caption saying that Princess was one of the aka’s for the second Lyric Theatre, at 216-218 Seneca Street. We don’t yet have a page for the first Lyric, but it was at 106-108 Seneca, and was in operation prior to 1916, when it was renovated, and then the Lyric name was moved to the former Orpheum/Princess/Cameo location in 1927. One page says that the house became the Cameo in the early 1920s, so the listing for the Princess in 1929 was either a different house or the FDY just hadn’t gotten around to removing the name from their listings.
Per kencmcintyre’s comment above, this page is missing the aka’s Princess Theatre and Cameo Theatre. We don’t yet have a page for the first Lyric Theatre, at 106-108 Seneca Street. (I’ve found out that the first Lyric was in operation prior to March, 1916, when it was reported to have reopened following a major renovation.) According to the current Lyric web site, this house opened as the Orpheum in 1906.
A July 16, 1921 article in The Moving Picture World gave the names of the four movie theaters then operating in Oil City, and the Star was not among them, so it must have closed by that time. The four houses in 1921 were the Venango, the Princess, the Lyric, and the Temple. The Temple, which was open by 1916, was at 230 Seneca, so if the Temple and Star’s periods of operation overlapped they were fairly near neighbors.
Also, I came across an article from the January 28, 2021 Oil City Derick (I can only see a small part of it as it’s behind their pay wall) and it gives the address of the Majestic as 102 Seneca Street.
A July 16, 1921 article in The Moving Picture World gave the names of the four movie theaters then operating in Oil City, and the Majestic was not among them, so it had either closed or been renamed by that time. The four houses were the Venango, the Princess, the Lyric, and the Temple.
The April 17, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the formal grand opening of the Venengo Theatre in Oil City had taken place on March 22. As the item specifies that this was the formal opening, it’s possible that the house had already been informally opened to the public earlier.
This web pagehas a very early photo of the Baby Grand, and says that it opened on February 1, 1917, and was rebuilt in 1927 (which must have been the project for Universal noted in my previous comment.)
Universal’s control of the house was brief. The June 28 issue of Film Daily reported a deal in which E. J. Sparks took over most of Universal’s theaters in the region, and the Baby Grand was not listed among the few that were excluded.
The Baby Grand closed in 1940 when the Colony Theatre opened, but had a brief afterlife in 1947 showing westerns and adventure films for less than a year.
Universal Pictures took over operation of the Baby Grand in early 1928, according to this item from the January 22 issue of Film Daily that year: “Orlando, Fla.— Universal’s new Baby Grand at Winter Park, the millionaire winter colony closely adjacent to Orlando, opened last week.”
The 1939 redecoration of the Studio was occasioned by a fire on June 7 which damaged the interior and destroyed the sound system, as reported in The Film Daily of July 21. The house was then being operated by Intermountain Theatres.
The “Theaters Planned” column of Film Daily for July 21, 1939 had this item datelined Maxton: “Maxton, 300 seats, City Square; Builder: M. S. Weaver; Architect: M. S. Weaver; Cost: $3,500; Operator: James Finch.”
In 1956, the Buck Theatre was owned and operated by a Mr. E. V. Landaiche, as noted in the July 28 issue of Motion Picture Herald. Landaiche also had the Beach Drive-In at Biloxi, and was in process of selling the Bay View Theatre in that city. He also had the Carver Theatre at Prichard, Alabama.
A courtesy ad with the grand opening ad posted by rivest266 reveals that the Bay View Amusement Center was designed by the Biloxi architectural firm Collins & Collins. Principals were architect John T. Collins and Engineer William J. Collins Jr. An item in the July 28, 1956 issue of Motion Picture Herald said that the Bayview Theatre, owned by E. V. Landraiche, was up for sale. Landraiche also owned and operated the Buck Theatre and Beach Drive-In at Biloxi and the Carver Theatre at Prichard, Alabama.
The Carver was mentioned in the July 28, 1956 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It was owned and operated by a Mr. E. V. Landraiche, who also had theaters in Biloxi.
The “Theatres Under Construction” column of Film Daily for July 21, 1939 had this item listed for Alabama: “Prichard — Gem, 480 seats, Wilson Ave.; Builder: L. Harris; Operator: Chas. Waterall; To be completed 9-1-39.”
A post on a City-Data forum says that the site of the Gem Theatre is now a park. Some streets in the area have been reconfigured, so it’s impossible to tell exactly where the theater was.
The Million Dollar is being operated as an event venue and filming location. Apparently it no longer has a dedicated web site, or the monthly movie screenings. It has this page at the web site of the operating company, the Piovra Group, which also manages 22 other Los Angeles area venues. There are some photos, mostly of the auditorium.
A comment on a Concordia Facebook page by a former projectionist says that this house was built by Delmar Harris in the late 1940s as the Delharco Theatre, became the Strand in the early 1950s, closed for more than a decade and was reopened in 1968 as the Sigma Theatre. It probably became the Apollo in the 1970s.)
This doesn’t quite jibe with other information about the theaters in Concordia that I’ve found (for example the listing of a “Del Harco” Theatre in the 1930 FDY and the mention of the Strand in the minutes of a 1947 City Council meeting, plus the fact that the Strand might have burned in 1948– there is a photo of a fire at the Strand burning, but it is undated.) Still, I have no doubt that Sigma is definitely and aka for this house, and that Delharco and Strand are definite possibilities.
I did discover that the early Concordia movie house called the Lyric became the Iris in 1916, and that the Lyric was at 6th Street and Broadway. I’ve held off on submitting the Lyric/Iris, which was still in operation in 1929, as, given its location, there is some possibility that it was the same theater that eventually became the Apollo.
Here is an item from the May 22, 1926 issue of Motion Picture News which could be about the Montesano Theatre:
“W. P. Armour is well under way with his new 650-seat first-run house at Montesano, and expects to have it ready for opening the latter part of the coming summer season.”
The Armour Theatre Company also operated an earlier house at Montesano called the Gem Theatre.
The July 20, 1917 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had a notice saying that architect Peter W. Ehlers of San Bernardino had prepared plans for alterations and expansion of the Temple Theatre there. The estimated cost of the project was $15,000.
Issues of Southwest Builder & Contractor from November 22 and December 13, 1918 say that the new theater soon to be built on The Pike for Otis Hoyt was being designed by local architect W. Horace Austin. The new house was on the site of the Columbia Theatre, which was to be demolished after the first of the year.
The correct name of the street is Prairieville Street. Also, this house can be marked as demolished. Historic Google street views show that the last old buildings on the west side of Athens' town square came down sometime between 2008 and 2013.
The Liberty Theatre and Dixie Theatre shared a courtesy ad in the 1944 yearbook of the local high school, suggesting a common ownership at that time.
The first appearance of the Liberty in the Film Daily Yearbook is 1936. It was listed with 400 seats.
The only theater listed at Athens in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was called the Armory Theatre, and it was also located on the west side of the square, but I’ve been unable to find an address. Trade journals mention a house called the Princess Theatre in 1921 and 1922. A 250-seat house called the Gem Theatre appears in the FDY in 1928, is listed as closed in the early 1930s, then vanishes. The Gem might have been a theater that opened in late 1925 or early 1926, as reported in the December 12, 1925 issue of Universal Weekly:
“THE Dorbandt Bros., well-known exhibitors in Texas will open their new house at Athens, Texas, within a very short time. They have recently purchased a Complete Service Contract [from Universal Pictures] for the new house.”
As reports of them don’t overlap, there is some possibility that the Armory, Princess, Gem, and Liberty all occupied the same building, sequentially.
An article about the Ascher Bros circuit in the March 10, 1917 issue of Moving Picture World had this paragraph about the Cosmopolitan:
Ascher Bros. took control of this house as early as 1912, according to a list of the Chicago chain’s important theaters published in Moving Picture World of March 10, 1917:
If the Princess was still in operation in 1929, it’s possible that there were two different theaters of that name in Oil City. A 2009 comment by kencmcintyre on the Lyric Theatre page cites a 1974 Oil City Derrick photo caption saying that Princess was one of the aka’s for the second Lyric Theatre, at 216-218 Seneca Street. We don’t yet have a page for the first Lyric, but it was at 106-108 Seneca, and was in operation prior to 1916, when it was renovated, and then the Lyric name was moved to the former Orpheum/Princess/Cameo location in 1927. One page says that the house became the Cameo in the early 1920s, so the listing for the Princess in 1929 was either a different house or the FDY just hadn’t gotten around to removing the name from their listings.
Per kencmcintyre’s comment above, this page is missing the aka’s Princess Theatre and Cameo Theatre. We don’t yet have a page for the first Lyric Theatre, at 106-108 Seneca Street. (I’ve found out that the first Lyric was in operation prior to March, 1916, when it was reported to have reopened following a major renovation.) According to the current Lyric web site, this house opened as the Orpheum in 1906.
A July 16, 1921 article in The Moving Picture World gave the names of the four movie theaters then operating in Oil City, and the Star was not among them, so it must have closed by that time. The four houses in 1921 were the Venango, the Princess, the Lyric, and the Temple. The Temple, which was open by 1916, was at 230 Seneca, so if the Temple and Star’s periods of operation overlapped they were fairly near neighbors.
Also, I came across an article from the January 28, 2021 Oil City Derick (I can only see a small part of it as it’s behind their pay wall) and it gives the address of the Majestic as 102 Seneca Street.
A July 16, 1921 article in The Moving Picture World gave the names of the four movie theaters then operating in Oil City, and the Majestic was not among them, so it had either closed or been renamed by that time. The four houses were the Venango, the Princess, the Lyric, and the Temple.
The April 17, 1920 issue of Moving Picture World reported that the formal grand opening of the Venengo Theatre in Oil City had taken place on March 22. As the item specifies that this was the formal opening, it’s possible that the house had already been informally opened to the public earlier.
The church no longer occupies this building, which is currently being offered for sale on LoopNet.
This web pagehas a very early photo of the Baby Grand, and says that it opened on February 1, 1917, and was rebuilt in 1927 (which must have been the project for Universal noted in my previous comment.)
Universal’s control of the house was brief. The June 28 issue of Film Daily reported a deal in which E. J. Sparks took over most of Universal’s theaters in the region, and the Baby Grand was not listed among the few that were excluded.
The Baby Grand closed in 1940 when the Colony Theatre opened, but had a brief afterlife in 1947 showing westerns and adventure films for less than a year.
Universal Pictures took over operation of the Baby Grand in early 1928, according to this item from the January 22 issue of Film Daily that year: “Orlando, Fla.— Universal’s new Baby Grand at Winter Park, the millionaire winter colony closely adjacent to Orlando, opened last week.”
The 1939 redecoration of the Studio was occasioned by a fire on June 7 which damaged the interior and destroyed the sound system, as reported in The Film Daily of July 21. The house was then being operated by Intermountain Theatres.
The “Theaters Planned” column of Film Daily for July 21, 1939 had this item datelined Maxton: “Maxton, 300 seats, City Square; Builder: M. S. Weaver; Architect: M. S. Weaver; Cost: $3,500; Operator: James Finch.”
In 1956, the Buck Theatre was owned and operated by a Mr. E. V. Landaiche, as noted in the July 28 issue of Motion Picture Herald. Landaiche also had the Beach Drive-In at Biloxi, and was in process of selling the Bay View Theatre in that city. He also had the Carver Theatre at Prichard, Alabama.
A courtesy ad with the grand opening ad posted by rivest266 reveals that the Bay View Amusement Center was designed by the Biloxi architectural firm Collins & Collins. Principals were architect John T. Collins and Engineer William J. Collins Jr. An item in the July 28, 1956 issue of Motion Picture Herald said that the Bayview Theatre, owned by E. V. Landraiche, was up for sale. Landraiche also owned and operated the Buck Theatre and Beach Drive-In at Biloxi and the Carver Theatre at Prichard, Alabama.
The Carver was mentioned in the July 28, 1956 issue of Motion Picture Herald. It was owned and operated by a Mr. E. V. Landraiche, who also had theaters in Biloxi.
The “Theatres Under Construction” column of Film Daily for July 21, 1939 had this item listed for Alabama: “Prichard — Gem, 480 seats, Wilson Ave.; Builder: L. Harris; Operator: Chas. Waterall; To be completed 9-1-39.”
A post on a City-Data forum says that the site of the Gem Theatre is now a park. Some streets in the area have been reconfigured, so it’s impossible to tell exactly where the theater was.
The Million Dollar is being operated as an event venue and filming location. Apparently it no longer has a dedicated web site, or the monthly movie screenings. It has this page at the web site of the operating company, the Piovra Group, which also manages 22 other Los Angeles area venues. There are some photos, mostly of the auditorium.
A comment on a Concordia Facebook page by a former projectionist says that this house was built by Delmar Harris in the late 1940s as the Delharco Theatre, became the Strand in the early 1950s, closed for more than a decade and was reopened in 1968 as the Sigma Theatre. It probably became the Apollo in the 1970s.)
This doesn’t quite jibe with other information about the theaters in Concordia that I’ve found (for example the listing of a “Del Harco” Theatre in the 1930 FDY and the mention of the Strand in the minutes of a 1947 City Council meeting, plus the fact that the Strand might have burned in 1948– there is a photo of a fire at the Strand burning, but it is undated.) Still, I have no doubt that Sigma is definitely and aka for this house, and that Delharco and Strand are definite possibilities.
I did discover that the early Concordia movie house called the Lyric became the Iris in 1916, and that the Lyric was at 6th Street and Broadway. I’ve held off on submitting the Lyric/Iris, which was still in operation in 1929, as, given its location, there is some possibility that it was the same theater that eventually became the Apollo.
Here is an item from the May 22, 1926 issue of Motion Picture News which could be about the Montesano Theatre:
The Armour Theatre Company also operated an earlier house at Montesano called the Gem Theatre.Valley Mall has reverted to its historic name Main Street. Address numbers are unchanged.
Valley Mall has gone back to its historic name, Main Street. Address numbers are unchanged.
The July 20, 1917 issue of Southwest Builder & Contractor had a notice saying that architect Peter W. Ehlers of San Bernardino had prepared plans for alterations and expansion of the Temple Theatre there. The estimated cost of the project was $15,000.
Issues of Southwest Builder & Contractor from November 22 and December 13, 1918 say that the new theater soon to be built on The Pike for Otis Hoyt was being designed by local architect W. Horace Austin. The new house was on the site of the Columbia Theatre, which was to be demolished after the first of the year.
The correct name of the street is Prairieville Street. Also, this house can be marked as demolished. Historic Google street views show that the last old buildings on the west side of Athens' town square came down sometime between 2008 and 2013.
The Liberty Theatre and Dixie Theatre shared a courtesy ad in the 1944 yearbook of the local high school, suggesting a common ownership at that time.
The first appearance of the Liberty in the Film Daily Yearbook is 1936. It was listed with 400 seats.
The only theater listed at Athens in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was called the Armory Theatre, and it was also located on the west side of the square, but I’ve been unable to find an address. Trade journals mention a house called the Princess Theatre in 1921 and 1922. A 250-seat house called the Gem Theatre appears in the FDY in 1928, is listed as closed in the early 1930s, then vanishes. The Gem might have been a theater that opened in late 1925 or early 1926, as reported in the December 12, 1925 issue of Universal Weekly:
As reports of them don’t overlap, there is some possibility that the Armory, Princess, Gem, and Liberty all occupied the same building, sequentially.