This item is from the July 21, 1945 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review:
“Veith Gives Town First Theatre
“F. W. Veith of Laingsburg, Mich., has just announced plans to convert a building in which local merchants have sponsored free movies for a number of years into a more up-to-the-minute motion picture theatre for the regular showing of current product. Simplex projectors and complete booth equipment have been purchased and the construction of a modern, fire-proof booth will be started shortly. The theatre, known as the Elite, will now become the community’s first home of 35-mm. movies and Mr. Veith is confident of local public support for the project.”
The July 18, 1941 issue of Film Daily had this item about the Brockway Theatre:
“Brockway House Open Tomorrow
“Brockway, Pa. — The new 605-seat Brockway Theater, constructed by J. B. and C. B. Kosco, will have its formal opening tomorrow. Attending will be many members of the trade from both the exhibition and distribution fields. The old Brockway Theater, owned and operated by the Kosco brothers for many years, will be closed.”
A brief notice in Boxoffice of May 3, 1952 said “Lou Mitchell is planning to close the Drayton Theatre at Drayton Plains and convert it to commercial use.” Ads placed in the same issue by Mitchell offered the theater’s equipment for sale “at once.” The conversion to commercial use apparently didn’t take place, though as Motion Picture Herald of October 11 that year said:
“Louis Mitchell of Kilbride Theaters has sold the Drayton theater in suburban Drayton Plains to a religious organization for use as a church. The theatre had been the only one in the town of Drayton Plains.”
The August 19, 1941 issue of Film Daily reported on a clearance lawsuit filed by Drayton Theatre owner Bud Harris, and it said that he had opened the house “six weeks ago.” The July 18 issue of the same journal had reported that the decoration of the house had been done by T. Jagmin, Inc, of Detroit.
The February 28, 1948 issue of Boxoffice said that the new Town Theatre in Chesaning was slated to open on March 3. The house was to be booked by Ashmun Bros. of Caro, Michigan, for the owner, Vera Graham. The 45x117 foot cinder block building with white porcelain front had cost $75,000 to build and equip, according to Boxoffice.
Mrs. Graham and her late husband Fred had earlier operated another theater in Chesaning, which was probably the one call called the Crystal, which had gone into operation by 1918. Their sons Bill and Don Graham later took over the Town, and when the movie business ceased to be viable converted the building into a bowling alley.
The earliest mention I’ve found of a movie theater in Chesaning was a house called the Vaudette, which was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
According to this page at DocSouth, Lumina began showing movies in July, 1905, and appears to have ceased its movie operation in 1930. The entire venue was designed by local architect Henry E. Bonitz.
The only theaters listed at Urbana in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory were the Clifford, on North Main Street, the Lyric, at 110 S. Main Street, and the Wonderland, no address given.
A number of references to the Ric Theatre appear in trade journals, mostly Boxoffice, in the early 1950s. The house was owned by Jack Howard, and managed by his father, Charles Howard.
A January 26, 1946 item in The Billboard said that Howard Paul, operator of the Romeo Theatre at Romeo, Michigan, had sold his movie house to William Schulte, owner of the rival Juliet Theatre. Schulte had opened the Juliet “a few seasons back,” and the two houses had operated in competition for several years.
The early 1940 opening for the Patricia Annex is very interesting. Jimmy Edwards always claimed that his Alhambra & Annex Theatre in Alhambra, California was the first twin cinema in the United States, but I don’t think his Annex opened until later in 1940. It looks like the Patricia might have beaten Edwards to the punch, though neither of them would have actually been the first twin cinema in the U.S., as at least a few twin storefront nickelodeons had operated in the early 20th century, and the Duplex Theatre in Detroit opened as a new-build twin in 1915.
Six screens with a total of only 240 seats? That’s 40 seats per screen. Can that be? Well, this web page has a photo of one of the auditoriums, and it does indeed have only 40 seats. There are also photos of lounge areas, and they look like they seat way more people than that auditorium does. Is this place a movie theater, or is it a big cocktail lounge with a few little screening rooms attached?
The Murray Theatre at Lawton, Oklahoma, was mentioned in the August 17, 1918 issue of The Moving Picture World. The house must have been in operation for several years by then, as the chapter “The Devil Worshipers” of the serial Exploits of Elaine, in the ad for the Murray on our photo page, was released on December 28, 1914.
The January 6, 1923 issue of Motion Picture News mentions a house in Lawton called the Met Theatre. As the Palace was originally called the Metropolitan, I suspect that Met was a foreshortened name adopted by the house at some point. It was still called the Metropolitan in 1918, when it was mentioned in the September 7 Moving Picture World.
I’m sure that “Davenew” Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was a typo, and the Yale Theatre was on SW D Avenue. At 414, it would have been adjacent to, or on at least part of the site of, the later and larger Lawton Theatre at 418 SW D Avenue.
A house in Jasper called the Nickelodeon, operated by Sprauer and Schneider, was mentioned in the October 3, 1908 issue of The Moving Picture World.
A Jasper movie house called the Star Theatre is mentioned in trade journals in 1918, 1921, 1923, and 1924. The last mention was an ad offering various items of theater equipment (including 200 seats) for sale, appearing in the October 4, 1924 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It’s likely that the opening of the Tivoli Theatre the previous August doomed the Star. It’s also possible that Star was a new name for the Nicklo, but so far I’ve found nothing to confirm that surmise.
The newspaper page posted by rivest266 shows a courtesy ad placed by the theater’s architects, Steffens & Steffens. The Cleveland firm was established by brothers George H. and John F. Steffens in 1912 and dissolved in 1923.
The October 15, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World said that the Warner Theatre in Niles was a new house built on the site of the Niles Opera House, which had burned the previous year. This web page from the Niles Historical Society says only that the top floor of the Opera House was removed following the fire, but photos of the Opera House and the Warner Theatre show that the Warner’s façade was quite different, with a different pattern of fenestration. The reconstruction must have been quite extensive.
One source notes that the Niles Sparkle Market occupies the site of the McKinley Theatre. The market is much larger than the theater was, though, so other buildings must have also been demolished. The market is at 140 N. Main Street, so until we find a more exact source, that’s probably as close as we’ll get to having the theater’s actual address.
The McKinley Theatre is mentioned in the January 10, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World, which said that “Charlie Hines has purchased the McKinley Theatre, Niles, Ohio, from C. Gable….”
Boxofficeof April 12, 1965 said that the house had closed with a standing-room-only performance and would soon be demolished to make way for a supermarket, but it did not give the date of the event. This was probably a live music performance, as the October 7, 1957 issue of Motion Picture Daily said that the house had been leased from the Robins Amusement Company by Cleveland impresario J. Stutz, who planned to present what the Daily called “hillbilly shows.” It appears that the McKinley spent the last several years of its existence as a country music venue.
The Gem might have moved more than once before settling in to the 1920 building. In the days of benches and folding chairs on flat floors a theater business could probably be moved in an afternoon. There is another problem with the Gem, though, as it is not one of the two theaters listed at Huntingburg in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory (they were the Empire on 4th Street and the Princess, no address given. The only theater listed for Jasper was called the Nickelo, located on the square.)
This item is from the July 21, 1945 issue of Showmen’s Trade Review:
The July 18, 1941 issue of Film Daily had this item about the Brockway Theatre:
A brief notice in Boxoffice of May 3, 1952 said “Lou Mitchell is planning to close the Drayton Theatre at Drayton Plains and convert it to commercial use.” Ads placed in the same issue by Mitchell offered the theater’s equipment for sale “at once.” The conversion to commercial use apparently didn’t take place, though as Motion Picture Herald of October 11 that year said:
The August 19, 1941 issue of Film Daily reported on a clearance lawsuit filed by Drayton Theatre owner Bud Harris, and it said that he had opened the house “six weeks ago.” The July 18 issue of the same journal had reported that the decoration of the house had been done by T. Jagmin, Inc, of Detroit.The February 28, 1948 issue of Boxoffice said that the new Town Theatre in Chesaning was slated to open on March 3. The house was to be booked by Ashmun Bros. of Caro, Michigan, for the owner, Vera Graham. The 45x117 foot cinder block building with white porcelain front had cost $75,000 to build and equip, according to Boxoffice.
Mrs. Graham and her late husband Fred had earlier operated another theater in Chesaning, which was probably the one call called the Crystal, which had gone into operation by 1918. Their sons Bill and Don Graham later took over the Town, and when the movie business ceased to be viable converted the building into a bowling alley.
The earliest mention I’ve found of a movie theater in Chesaning was a house called the Vaudette, which was listed in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
According to this page at DocSouth, Lumina began showing movies in July, 1905, and appears to have ceased its movie operation in 1930. The entire venue was designed by local architect Henry E. Bonitz.
The fire was on August 11, 1951. Another photo here.
Listings probably ended in 1951 due to the fire depicted on this web page.
Th Metropolitan Theatre was listed at 106 W. Main Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
The only theaters listed at Urbana in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory were the Clifford, on North Main Street, the Lyric, at 110 S. Main Street, and the Wonderland, no address given.
The Lyric Theatre is listed at this address in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory.
A number of references to the Ric Theatre appear in trade journals, mostly Boxoffice, in the early 1950s. The house was owned by Jack Howard, and managed by his father, Charles Howard.
A January 26, 1946 item in The Billboard said that Howard Paul, operator of the Romeo Theatre at Romeo, Michigan, had sold his movie house to William Schulte, owner of the rival Juliet Theatre. Schulte had opened the Juliet “a few seasons back,” and the two houses had operated in competition for several years.
The early 1940 opening for the Patricia Annex is very interesting. Jimmy Edwards always claimed that his Alhambra & Annex Theatre in Alhambra, California was the first twin cinema in the United States, but I don’t think his Annex opened until later in 1940. It looks like the Patricia might have beaten Edwards to the punch, though neither of them would have actually been the first twin cinema in the U.S., as at least a few twin storefront nickelodeons had operated in the early 20th century, and the Duplex Theatre in Detroit opened as a new-build twin in 1915.
Six screens with a total of only 240 seats? That’s 40 seats per screen. Can that be? Well, this web page has a photo of one of the auditoriums, and it does indeed have only 40 seats. There are also photos of lounge areas, and they look like they seat way more people than that auditorium does. Is this place a movie theater, or is it a big cocktail lounge with a few little screening rooms attached?
The Temple Theatre in Lawton is mentioned in the May 25, 1918 issue of Motography.
The Murray Theatre at Lawton, Oklahoma, was mentioned in the August 17, 1918 issue of The Moving Picture World. The house must have been in operation for several years by then, as the chapter “The Devil Worshipers” of the serial Exploits of Elaine, in the ad for the Murray on our photo page, was released on December 28, 1914.
The January 6, 1923 issue of Motion Picture News mentions a house in Lawton called the Met Theatre. As the Palace was originally called the Metropolitan, I suspect that Met was a foreshortened name adopted by the house at some point. It was still called the Metropolitan in 1918, when it was mentioned in the September 7 Moving Picture World.
I’m sure that “Davenew” Street in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory was a typo, and the Yale Theatre was on SW D Avenue. At 414, it would have been adjacent to, or on at least part of the site of, the later and larger Lawton Theatre at 418 SW D Avenue.
A house in Jasper called the Nickelodeon, operated by Sprauer and Schneider, was mentioned in the October 3, 1908 issue of The Moving Picture World.
A Jasper movie house called the Star Theatre is mentioned in trade journals in 1918, 1921, 1923, and 1924. The last mention was an ad offering various items of theater equipment (including 200 seats) for sale, appearing in the October 4, 1924 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It’s likely that the opening of the Tivoli Theatre the previous August doomed the Star. It’s also possible that Star was a new name for the Nicklo, but so far I’ve found nothing to confirm that surmise.
The newspaper page posted by rivest266 shows a courtesy ad placed by the theater’s architects, Steffens & Steffens. The Cleveland firm was established by brothers George H. and John F. Steffens in 1912 and dissolved in 1923.
The October 15, 1921 issue of Moving Picture World said that the Warner Theatre in Niles was a new house built on the site of the Niles Opera House, which had burned the previous year. This web page from the Niles Historical Society says only that the top floor of the Opera House was removed following the fire, but photos of the Opera House and the Warner Theatre show that the Warner’s façade was quite different, with a different pattern of fenestration. The reconstruction must have been quite extensive.
One source notes that the Niles Sparkle Market occupies the site of the McKinley Theatre. The market is much larger than the theater was, though, so other buildings must have also been demolished. The market is at 140 N. Main Street, so until we find a more exact source, that’s probably as close as we’ll get to having the theater’s actual address.
The McKinley Theatre is mentioned in the January 10, 1925 issue of Moving Picture World, which said that “Charlie Hines has purchased the McKinley Theatre, Niles, Ohio, from C. Gable….”
Boxofficeof April 12, 1965 said that the house had closed with a standing-room-only performance and would soon be demolished to make way for a supermarket, but it did not give the date of the event. This was probably a live music performance, as the October 7, 1957 issue of Motion Picture Daily said that the house had been leased from the Robins Amusement Company by Cleveland impresario J. Stutz, who planned to present what the Daily called “hillbilly shows.” It appears that the McKinley spent the last several years of its existence as a country music venue.
The Lamb Theatre was at 7 E. Front Street. This Google street view shows the building as it is today.
The Gem might have moved more than once before settling in to the 1920 building. In the days of benches and folding chairs on flat floors a theater business could probably be moved in an afternoon. There is another problem with the Gem, though, as it is not one of the two theaters listed at Huntingburg in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory (they were the Empire on 4th Street and the Princess, no address given. The only theater listed for Jasper was called the Nickelo, located on the square.)