Comments from Joe Vogel

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Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Glen Theater on Jul 11, 2019 at 2:08 pm

Here’s a brief item about the Ridge Theatre from The Film Daily of July 3, 1941:

“V. U. Young is building a new 700-seater in Gary, Ind. It will be known as the Ridge. RCA Photophone sound is being readied for installation.”
An opening before the end of 1941 seems very likely.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Hilans Theater on Jul 11, 2019 at 1:54 pm

Floyd Theatres took over the Park in 1940 and made some changes to the house, according to this item from The Film Daily, July 3, 1941:

“The Floyd Theaters, owners of the Park, Avon, Fla., are celebrating first anniversary of their entrance into the film industry in this part of the state. In addition to having made many improvements to the old building which they acquired, they have started work on a new theater in the nearby town of Sebring. Bill O'Neill is manager.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Clawson Theater on Jul 11, 2019 at 1:48 pm

Here’s an item from the July 3, 1941 issue of The Film Daily:

“YESTERDAY, the new Clawson Theater, Clawson, Mich., opened with RCA sound, Brenkert projectors, and Westinghouse rectifiers.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Brentwood Theatre on Jul 11, 2019 at 1:40 pm

Here is an item from the July 3, 1941 issue of The Film Daily about the Brentwood Theatre:

“Construction is going rapidly along on the new 700-seat theater being erected on Brentwood Blvd., Brentwood, Mo. The Stamm Construction Co. of St. Louis are the general contractors. The house will be ready by Dec. 1. It is the first theater to locate in Brentwood.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Ridgecrest Cinemas on Jul 9, 2019 at 8:48 pm

An update on the Ridgecrest Cinemas' Facebook page this afternoon says that due to the collapse of the roof of theater 1 in the earthquake last Friday, building inspectors have red-tagged the entire structure. The cinemas are closed until further notice, though the owners do intend to open the undamaged section of the multiplex as soon as the safety of customers and staff can be guaranteed and official permission can be secured. Repairs will be made on the damaged parts of the building as soon as possible.

A brief video showing some of the damage can be seen at this link.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Orpheum Theatre on Jul 9, 2019 at 2:02 pm

Here is the official web site.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Lee Theatre on Jul 5, 2019 at 6:03 pm

The correct address of the Lee Theatre is 3162 Williamson Road, at the southeast corner of Haffen Street. The building was not demolished, but converted for offices on the ground floor with apartments on a new second floor.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about American Theatre on Jul 3, 2019 at 2:21 pm

meheuck: Better later than never. The Fox Ritz wasn’t in Beverly Hills, though. It was on Wilshire between La Brea and Sycamore in Los Angeles.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Sammy T's Music Hall on Jun 24, 2019 at 6:53 pm

DavidZorning: I found a photo of an Allison Theatre in Piedmont, Alabama (not yet listed at Cinema Treasures.) Perhaps your photo’s caption got the town wrong. Does it look like this theater?

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Kiva Theatre on Jun 18, 2019 at 8:17 pm

davidcoppock: Scottsdale long billed itself as “The West’s Most Western Town,” so when local businessman Martin White opened the town’s first movie theater in 1948 he gave it a very western name. It suggested a cattle brand (“T bar T”) and the original marquee was styled just that way, featuring a horizontal bar (with the word “BAR” on it) flanked by two capital T’s.

The name Kiva was a bit of cultural appropriation, it being the Pueblo Indian name for an underground or semi-underground chamber used primarily for communal rites and rituals. Traditionally only men were allowed in the Kiva, so perhaps the theater’s conversion to a porn house, patronized primarily by men, was unintentionally prophesied by the name. Watch out for those Kachinas!

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about LaShell Theater on Jun 17, 2019 at 3:59 pm

Laura La Shell was the widow of George La Shell, who died in 1928.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Wiltern Theatre on Jun 16, 2019 at 6:41 pm

The overview is mistaken. Stanley Warner sold its southern California houses, including the Wiltern, to Pacific Theatres in 1968. In 1958 Pacific was still a drive-in chain and did not yet have any hardtops.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Lincoln Theatre on Jun 13, 2019 at 6:25 pm

A book called Lakewood: The First Hundred Years, by Jim and Susan Borchert, says that the Lincoln Theatre was in operation from 1924 to 1950. The Borcherts list a total of eleven movie theaters that have operated in Lakewood over the years.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Lakewood Theatre on Jun 13, 2019 at 6:18 pm

A book called Lakewood: The First Hundred Years, by Jim and Susan Borchert, says that the Lakewood Theatre operated from 1912 to 1922, and then again from 1924 to 1930. The Borcherts list a total of eleven movie theaters that have operated in Lakewood over the years.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Pix Theatre on Jun 10, 2019 at 1:18 pm

This article from Boise Weekly of November 1, 2012, says that the Pix Theatre opened on September 11, 1946, with the Rita Hayworth musical “Tonight and Every Night.” The house originally seated 688. It was closed in 1999, and the interior was gutted between 2004 and 2006 when roof repairs were carried out.

Ongoing plans by Pix Anew, the non-profit organization currently doing renovations, include 400 seats of stadium-style seating and the replacement of the lost marquee. The organization is seeking investment partners and estimates that it will need about $2,000,000 to get the house ready to open again. Pix Anew has a Facebook page, but it hasn’t been updated in almost a year.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Venetian Theatre on Jun 8, 2019 at 6:06 pm

The destruction of this theater, and so many others, was a tragic loss for Racine, which was a handsome city at one time, now greatly diminished. It’s unfortunate that Racine’s later leaders failed so miserably to live up to their predecessors and build on the splendid legacy left to them, rather than shamelessly squandering it.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Possibly Sammy Davis Jr FIRST billing in advertisement ... on Jun 8, 2019 at 3:24 pm

This ad is for the Majestic Theatre in Port Huron, Michigan, not the Majestic in Detroit. Here is a link to the Port Huron Majestic’s Cinema Treasures page.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Vernon Theatre on May 29, 2019 at 7:38 pm

I haven’t found a demolition date, but the theater was apparently in operation into 1975. An article in a Kenyon College Alumni Bulletin says “[Kenyon House] stretched the entire block from the side on South Main Street to the corner alley, the same alley many alumni will remember as being next to the front entrance to Schine’s Vernon Theater, which Kenyon students frequented to see movies from 1938 to 1975.”

It was demolished within a few years of closing, though. A 1960 view at Historic Aerials shows the theater, but it is gone in the 1981 aerial, which is the next one available.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Mission Drive-In on May 26, 2019 at 10:53 pm

The February 14, 1951 issue of The Exhibitor said that the Trans-Calfiornia Theatre Company’s new Mission Drive-In,under construction just outside San Francisco, had been designed by architect Bernard Nobler.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Richmond Theatre on May 26, 2019 at 9:45 pm

The Richmond Theatre was built in 1949. The February 14, 1951 issue of The Exhibitor ran this article about the theater’s second anniversary:

“Lyndhurst, O., House Gets Award

“Cleveland —Several hundred people braved the sub-zero temperature to participate in the triple anniversary celebration held in the Richmond, deluxe first subsequent run in the suburb of Lyndhurst, O.

“It being the second birthday anniversary of the theatre, this date was selected as most fitting to receive the much coveted Exhibitor award as one of the ‘most modern and well appointed of all theatres constructed in 1949.’ Presentation was made on the stage by Ernest Schwartz, president, Cleveland Motion Picture Exhibitors Association, to Bert Lefkowich, Community Circuit, son of one of the theatre owners. In accepting the trophy, Lefkowich expressed his appreciation, and paid tribute to Max Marmorstein, realtor, who made the project possible, and Joseph Weinberg, architect, responsible for the architectural and decorative design of the structure.

“The ceremonies also included presentation to Mayor Elmer T. Elbrecht of an engraved plaque from the businessmen to commemorate the suburb’s change of status from a village to that of a city. Speakers included ex-Congressman-at-large Stephen Young and Mrs. William McCabe, who presented a check in the amount of $480 to Ernest Schwartz, representing ‘The March of Dimes’ collections in the Richmond under her leadership.

“Carrying out the anniversary theme, the feature attraction was ‘Mr. Music,’ which called for a congratulatory telegram from Bing Crosby. Congressman Frances P. Bolton also wired her congratulations from Washington.

“Max Greenwald, manager, Richmond, made all arrangements for the celebration.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Skyview Drive-In on May 26, 2019 at 9:33 pm

The May 20, 1949 issue of the Santa Cruz Sentinel-News said that the new, 800-car Encina Drive-In would open within a week. The theater was owned by Frank Paone and John Forde, in partnership with Trans-Caliornia Theaters, a regional circuit. Paone and Forde had opened the Starview Drive-In, Santa Cruz County’s first, near Boulder Creek in 1947. Paone would manage the new theater.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Starview Drive-In on May 26, 2019 at 9:17 pm

The Starview Drive-In was opened in 1947, and was the first drive-in theater in Santa Cruz County. The owners were Frank Paone and John Forde who, in 1949, would open the much larger Encina Drive-In in Santa Cruz. They operated the Encina in partnership with a regional chain called Trans-California Theaters, but I’ve been unable to discover if the same arrangement was in effect at the Starview.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Uptown Theater on May 26, 2019 at 4:07 pm

A book published by the Dwight Foster Public Library in 1986, on the occasion of Fort Atkinson’s 150th anniversary, has a brief paragraph about the Uptown Theatre:

“The Uptown theater began serving Fort Atkinson residents in November 1937. It had an interesting cooling system: owners I.J. Craite and John Mayles flooded the theater’s flat roof with 2 to 3 inches of water during the summer months. This supposedly helped keep the theater cool and protected the roof from the sun’s rays. The main floor of the theater seated 392 people, while the balcony held 92, for a 484-person capacity.”

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Lyric Theatre on May 26, 2019 at 3:55 pm

A thumbnail biography of theater operator A. G. Miller in the 1937-38 International Motion Picture Almanac says that he opened the new Lyric Theatre at Atkinson on February 9, 1926. Miller had begun showing movies in Atkinson’s old Opera House on December 19, 1909, when he was 18 years old. It was the town’s first regular movie theater.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel commented about Fort Theatre on May 26, 2019 at 3:05 pm

According to the Arcadia Publishing Company’s book Fort Atkinson, the auditorium of the Fort Theatre was demolished in April, 2001. The older, adjacent building at 23-25 Milwaukee Avenue E. that once housed the Lyric Theatre was demolished at the same time.