At a recent antique show, I purchased two small brochures advertising coming attractions for the Silver Theater in Greenville, Michigan.
The first from August 1938 advertises coming attractions “Boy Meets Girl,” “The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse,” and “Marie Antoinette.” It also promises summer moviegoers, air conditioned comfort, Latest News Events, Novelties, Don Bestor’s Orchestra, and a Lone Ranger serial on Saturday afternoon.
The second is from September 1942 and also promotes the Gibson Theater. Greenville moviegoers are urged to buy war bonds at the theater on their way to see “The Magnificent Ambersons” and “Careful Soft Shoulders” at the Silver or “City of Missing Girls” at the Gibson. Added attractions: News, Cartoons, Kaltenborn, and March of Time. Saturday matinee is Gene Autry in “Call of the Canyon” at the Silver and Bela Lugosi in “Spooks Run Wild” at the Gibson.
Thanks, Mark_L for the great find! So cool to finally see some pictures of the theater! Does it look to you like there was a car lot on W 5th in front of the theater?
Reading through Columbus Dispatch, looks like theater opened to public May 1 and then held grand opening July 11. Maybe once all the final details had been nailed down?
Found a year of movie calendars for this theater at a Columbus, Ohio flea market. Year is 1952-53. Apparently, theater mailed these out monthly to apprise neighbors of coming attractions. Posting May 1952 in the photos section.
Dusk til Dawn all-nurses show at the W. 5th Ave. Drive-In kicks off with “Candy Stripe Nurses,” then “Night Call Nurses,” followed by “Student Nurses,” next “Private Duty Nurses,” and finally “Young Nurses.”
Crystal was an early (very early) motion picture theater. Address is given as 2573 N. High. Listed in the city directories under “Motion Picture Theaters” but that’s about the extent of information available. No advertising (that I’ve found).
The Little Art regularly advertised in “The Lantern,” the student newspaper of nearby Ohio State University, in the 1960s and 70s but the paper refused to print the names of the adult features showing there.
Would love to know if there was any link between The Piccadilly and The Crystal Slipper (est. 1911). Crystal Slipper was nearby and closed about the same time (1917-18) The Piccadilly opened.
Program Friday, April 19 & 20, 1974- Dusk til Dawn horror quintuple feature. “I Dismember Mama,” “Blood-Splattered Bride,” and three other living dead features.
“Up-Chuck Cup” and Sanity Insurance policies offered to all patrons—just in case.
Free breakfast and a pass to a future show offered to patrons making it to dawn.
I really miss this one. My wife and I and our friends were frequent attendees in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
They had great film festivals, marathons, and midnight movies. They showed indies, art films, documentaries, foreign films, and quite a bit of cult fare. We saw pictures like “Akira,†“Brazil,†“Frankenhooker,†“Vampire Hunter D,†“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,†and “Robotjox†at the old Drexel North.
Outside wasn’t much but the inside was fun. The lobby had a weird futuristic shape and a bizarre color scheme and was sometimes decorated with props from past sci-fi marathons. It had a kitschy retro-future feel.
They usually had a drawing before the show where patrons could win promotional items like t-shirts, posters, and soundtrack CDs or free passes to upcoming shows.
Screenings were preceded by a mock 1950s educational film called “A Trip to the Movies.â€
The building is now (2009) home to a fitness center.
There are a couple local legends about the theater:
During the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic, the theater supposedly served as a makeshift morgue. Blood emptied from flu victims prior to embalming was poured out in the alley beside the theater, earning it the name “Blood Alley.”
There’s also a ghost of a girl in blue who’s said to sometimes sit in the audience during a show. She’s supposed to have a favorite seat and take it badly if someone sits there.
World Theater opened as a neighborhood theater called The Alhambra back in 1913. It was a movie theater continuously for the next 75 years.
In 1947, it changed its name to The World and began showing foreign films. The World fought the good fight for freedom of speech in a couple actions taken against it by the Columbus Film Review Board in the 1960s.
In the late 70s-early 80s, The World showed porn and the Q-FM Midnight movie on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. In 1985, it became The Roxy, showing second run, cult, art, and indie films. It closed in 1988.
The building was a gym and then a succession of nightclubs. It’s currently (7/2009) empty and for lease.
“Star Wars” played at the University Flick for 41 weeks! It opened there June 24, 1977 and didn’t close until April 6, 1978.
At a recent antique show, I purchased two small brochures advertising coming attractions for the Silver Theater in Greenville, Michigan.
The first from August 1938 advertises coming attractions “Boy Meets Girl,” “The Amazing Dr. Clitterhouse,” and “Marie Antoinette.” It also promises summer moviegoers, air conditioned comfort, Latest News Events, Novelties, Don Bestor’s Orchestra, and a Lone Ranger serial on Saturday afternoon.
The second is from September 1942 and also promotes the Gibson Theater. Greenville moviegoers are urged to buy war bonds at the theater on their way to see “The Magnificent Ambersons” and “Careful Soft Shoulders” at the Silver or “City of Missing Girls” at the Gibson. Added attractions: News, Cartoons, Kaltenborn, and March of Time. Saturday matinee is Gene Autry in “Call of the Canyon” at the Silver and Bela Lugosi in “Spooks Run Wild” at the Gibson.
I can scan and post if anybody’s interested.
Thanks, Mark_L for the great find! So cool to finally see some pictures of the theater! Does it look to you like there was a car lot on W 5th in front of the theater?
Reading through Columbus Dispatch, looks like theater opened to public May 1 and then held grand opening July 11. Maybe once all the final details had been nailed down?
Found a year of movie calendars for this theater at a Columbus, Ohio flea market. Year is 1952-53. Apparently, theater mailed these out monthly to apprise neighbors of coming attractions. Posting May 1952 in the photos section.
July 4, 1974- “Spend a night with the nurses!”
Dusk til Dawn all-nurses show at the W. 5th Ave. Drive-In kicks off with “Candy Stripe Nurses,” then “Night Call Nurses,” followed by “Student Nurses,” next “Private Duty Nurses,” and finally “Young Nurses.”
Crystal was an early (very early) motion picture theater. Address is given as 2573 N. High. Listed in the city directories under “Motion Picture Theaters” but that’s about the extent of information available. No advertising (that I’ve found).
Playing April 19, 1974- “Karate Killer” and “From China with Death.” Double feature from the theater’s days as a grindhouse in a slum neighborhood.
Area has since gentrified massively.
The Little Art regularly advertised in “The Lantern,” the student newspaper of nearby Ohio State University, in the 1960s and 70s but the paper refused to print the names of the adult features showing there.
May 8, 1962 double feature at the Little Art: “Nude in Charcoal” and “Nudes Around the World.”
Would love to know if there was any link between The Piccadilly and The Crystal Slipper (est. 1911). Crystal Slipper was nearby and closed about the same time (1917-18) The Piccadilly opened.
Program Friday, April 19 & 20, 1974- Dusk til Dawn horror quintuple feature. “I Dismember Mama,” “Blood-Splattered Bride,” and three other living dead features.
“Up-Chuck Cup” and Sanity Insurance policies offered to all patrons—just in case.
Free breakfast and a pass to a future show offered to patrons making it to dawn.
Pure drive-in.
I saw Madonna: Truth or Dare there. That would mean the theater was still open in May 1991.
Theater interior and exterior were functional and unremarkable, as previous commenters have observed.
The Applebee’s that currently occupies the site has a framed snapshot of the old theater hanging on the wall just inside the entrance.
I really miss this one. My wife and I and our friends were frequent attendees in the late 1980s-early 1990s.
They had great film festivals, marathons, and midnight movies. They showed indies, art films, documentaries, foreign films, and quite a bit of cult fare. We saw pictures like “Akira,†“Brazil,†“Frankenhooker,†“Vampire Hunter D,†“Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,†and “Robotjox†at the old Drexel North.
Outside wasn’t much but the inside was fun. The lobby had a weird futuristic shape and a bizarre color scheme and was sometimes decorated with props from past sci-fi marathons. It had a kitschy retro-future feel.
They usually had a drawing before the show where patrons could win promotional items like t-shirts, posters, and soundtrack CDs or free passes to upcoming shows.
Screenings were preceded by a mock 1950s educational film called “A Trip to the Movies.â€
The building is now (2009) home to a fitness center.
There are a couple local legends about the theater:
During the 1918 Spanish influenza epidemic, the theater supposedly served as a makeshift morgue. Blood emptied from flu victims prior to embalming was poured out in the alley beside the theater, earning it the name “Blood Alley.”
There’s also a ghost of a girl in blue who’s said to sometimes sit in the audience during a show. She’s supposed to have a favorite seat and take it badly if someone sits there.
World Theater opened as a neighborhood theater called The Alhambra back in 1913. It was a movie theater continuously for the next 75 years.
In 1947, it changed its name to The World and began showing foreign films. The World fought the good fight for freedom of speech in a couple actions taken against it by the Columbus Film Review Board in the 1960s.
In the late 70s-early 80s, The World showed porn and the Q-FM Midnight movie on Fridays and Saturdays at midnight. In 1985, it became The Roxy, showing second run, cult, art, and indie films. It closed in 1988.
The building was a gym and then a succession of nightclubs. It’s currently (7/2009) empty and for lease.
I wrote an article about the theater that at: http://www.indianolapark.com/alhambra.html