I noticed the pipes stacked at the back too. The console is also there up on the stage, so I suspect that was just the deconstruction crew moving them. The organ lofts are plainly visible on each side of the front seating area.
I saw my first Cinerama films at the Capitol, “How the West Was Won” Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" and “The Best of Cinerama” in three strip. The last film I saw there was the 70mm Cinerama film of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” Had the pleasure of being shown the projection booths and the separate sound player up in the old projection room. I believe the manager was named Beman Richey, and he invited me into the Cincinnati home movie club.
armleder
I saw a number of films at the Albee in the early sixties. Gorgeous wonderful palace of a theater, including “The Music Man” in stereo sound. I attended a couple times with a black friend and have no memory of any racial discrimination.
Looking at the picture of the State auditorium, it appears to confirm my memory that it did not have a balcony but was of the single floor plan design with a large orchestra and a large steeper loge. I believe designers call that stadium seating. Am I right about that?
I wish I had photos to contribute but I didn’t even own a camera when these theaters were open. The only contribution I had to make was the Palace in Hubbard. I very much appreciate what you have been contributing. This Christmas I plan to visit family in Hubbard and hope to find a way to visit the Powers, the only place left I can actually visit.
Thank you for posting photos of the interiors, even though so badly decayed. The big screen, big format films, made the State the most amazing film experience of my teens.
There are a number of photos (about30) posted on flickr of the State before and during demolition. You might have to ask permission to repost them here.
It’s cool to see the ad mentioning the unreserved matinees and the tickets available at Sears for reserved. Thanks for finding that. I didn’t see the Big Fisherman there, however, but at the Hubbard Palace.
I imagine you have already thought of this, but I recall John Hegfield of the Palace in Hubbard talking about his movie booking agent in Cleveland, so if they still exist in Cleveland with a history back to those days, they may still have old booking files.
wolfgirl500
Are you familiar with the WideScreen Museum? The site owner is extremely picky about getting facts right, so it’s a very reliable source.
http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/
“The Ten Commandments” was released Oct 5, 1956. “Ben Hur” was premiered in November of 1959. Both were originally released “roadshow” reserved seats, so I would imagine you’d find them booked into the State shortly after their release date. That’s all I have to offer.
PS to the 3-D. Using my relationship to the Palace in Hubbard I got into the projection booth, and had the projectionist explain to me the selsyn motors to sync the projectors, the polarizers, and the special numbers printed on the edge of the film to keep the reels in sync if there were a splice. I was amazed at the triple size reels of film (6000 ft) allowing over an hour of film on one reel.
I saw my first 3-D movie at the Paramount, a badly scripted “September Storm” from Fox. It was remarkable in that so much of it was shot underwater which must have been terribly difficult because it was a two camera setup with CinemaScope lens. The picture was perhaps the first to be 3-D, CinemaScope, color (meaning polarized glasses) and stereo sound. Pretty impressive for the release date!
It’s very sad to see the Paramount in this condition. I imagine it’s now totally gone. Thank you for all the pictures. As I recall the projection angle was so steep the top of screen was tilted back. The photo of the booth with the projectors on the platform show the mounts cranked all the way up.
I saw “Ben Hur” at the State in 70mm. At that time MGM was using an UltraPanavision lens to get a wider picture (a 25% anamorphic), but they called it Camera 65. The stereo sound was very realistic. My own Grandmother had not seen a movie since silent days with a piano, since she thought movie people were sinful. Ben Hur was her favorite book, so her sons got her to go. You can imagine her shock at the difference between her silent movie experience and this road show experience. As I recall, you had to order your tickets in advance and got reserved seats. It ran that way for months before it was released to the other area theaters in 35mm.
My first memory of the State Theater was “The Ten Commandments”. It may have been the first movie to advertise on television. Believe it or not, the schools would arrange for whole classes to go on a field trip to see it. That wouldn’t happen today. That my second time to see it. The first was my sister taking me to see it as a birthday present. I went a third time, just before it closed and got to see the projection booth, when I mentioned my relationship to the Palace in Hubbard. I swear I saw real VistaVision projectors there, but they were installed in so few places, it’s hard to confirm that. A chat with someone at Paramount a few years ago, suggested Youngstown may have been a test installation.
The map is wrong however. I e-mailed the correct Google map location. It was on Liberty, just one door from Main Street. Did anyone salvage the projectors?
I posted some personal history on the State and Paramount but they disappeared so I’ll try again. Yes, I saw Ben Hur at the State in 70mm as well as the Ten Commandments, but I’m been trying to tease out some information on whether it was true VistaVision or not. My comments on the Belmont, the Palace and Powers are there, however. I got started by posting some photos on the Hubbard Palace Theater. I’m just 67 myself.
About my senior year in HS I was deeply interested in film technology, so I was very aware of the stereo sound when I saw “Around The World in 80 Days” at the Palace. I had missed the original 70mm Todd-AO release so I was happy to see the 35mm magnetic. The sound was extraordinary. I had to take the bus from Hubbard to see anything at the Palace, the Warners, the State or the Paramount. Didn’t go to any of the other theaters, however.
It was heartbreaking when I returned to Youngstown as an adult and saw it had then been turned into a discount furniture store. It may have several other things before it’s current use.
I noticed the pipes stacked at the back too. The console is also there up on the stage, so I suspect that was just the deconstruction crew moving them. The organ lofts are plainly visible on each side of the front seating area.
I saw my first Cinerama films at the Capitol, “How the West Was Won” Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm" and “The Best of Cinerama” in three strip. The last film I saw there was the 70mm Cinerama film of “It’s a Mad Mad Mad Mad World” Had the pleasure of being shown the projection booths and the separate sound player up in the old projection room. I believe the manager was named Beman Richey, and he invited me into the Cincinnati home movie club.
armleder I saw a number of films at the Albee in the early sixties. Gorgeous wonderful palace of a theater, including “The Music Man” in stereo sound. I attended a couple times with a black friend and have no memory of any racial discrimination.
Looking at the picture of the State auditorium, it appears to confirm my memory that it did not have a balcony but was of the single floor plan design with a large orchestra and a large steeper loge. I believe designers call that stadium seating. Am I right about that?
I would love to visit the Powers, thank you. Although not a movie theater, I have great memories of the Stambaugh.
I wish I had photos to contribute but I didn’t even own a camera when these theaters were open. The only contribution I had to make was the Palace in Hubbard. I very much appreciate what you have been contributing. This Christmas I plan to visit family in Hubbard and hope to find a way to visit the Powers, the only place left I can actually visit.
My point about the pictures on-line is that some of them have very good details of the facade.
Thank you for posting photos of the interiors, even though so badly decayed. The big screen, big format films, made the State the most amazing film experience of my teens.
There are a number of photos (about30) posted on flickr of the State before and during demolition. You might have to ask permission to repost them here.
It’s cool to see the ad mentioning the unreserved matinees and the tickets available at Sears for reserved. Thanks for finding that. I didn’t see the Big Fisherman there, however, but at the Hubbard Palace.
I imagine you have already thought of this, but I recall John Hegfield of the Palace in Hubbard talking about his movie booking agent in Cleveland, so if they still exist in Cleveland with a history back to those days, they may still have old booking files.
wolfgirl500 Are you familiar with the WideScreen Museum? The site owner is extremely picky about getting facts right, so it’s a very reliable source. http://www.widescreenmuseum.com/
BTW, “September Storm” was released in 1960, and since it was not a roadshow, I imagined it showed at the Paramount on a first run basis in that year.
“The Ten Commandments” was released Oct 5, 1956. “Ben Hur” was premiered in November of 1959. Both were originally released “roadshow” reserved seats, so I would imagine you’d find them booked into the State shortly after their release date. That’s all I have to offer.
Thank you Matt for the link to your photographs. Amazing and heart breaking. The shot of the projectors made clear how steep the projection angle was.
PS to the 3-D. Using my relationship to the Palace in Hubbard I got into the projection booth, and had the projectionist explain to me the selsyn motors to sync the projectors, the polarizers, and the special numbers printed on the edge of the film to keep the reels in sync if there were a splice. I was amazed at the triple size reels of film (6000 ft) allowing over an hour of film on one reel.
I saw my first 3-D movie at the Paramount, a badly scripted “September Storm” from Fox. It was remarkable in that so much of it was shot underwater which must have been terribly difficult because it was a two camera setup with CinemaScope lens. The picture was perhaps the first to be 3-D, CinemaScope, color (meaning polarized glasses) and stereo sound. Pretty impressive for the release date!
It’s very sad to see the Paramount in this condition. I imagine it’s now totally gone. Thank you for all the pictures. As I recall the projection angle was so steep the top of screen was tilted back. The photo of the booth with the projectors on the platform show the mounts cranked all the way up.
I saw “Ben Hur” at the State in 70mm. At that time MGM was using an UltraPanavision lens to get a wider picture (a 25% anamorphic), but they called it Camera 65. The stereo sound was very realistic. My own Grandmother had not seen a movie since silent days with a piano, since she thought movie people were sinful. Ben Hur was her favorite book, so her sons got her to go. You can imagine her shock at the difference between her silent movie experience and this road show experience. As I recall, you had to order your tickets in advance and got reserved seats. It ran that way for months before it was released to the other area theaters in 35mm.
My first memory of the State Theater was “The Ten Commandments”. It may have been the first movie to advertise on television. Believe it or not, the schools would arrange for whole classes to go on a field trip to see it. That wouldn’t happen today. That my second time to see it. The first was my sister taking me to see it as a birthday present. I went a third time, just before it closed and got to see the projection booth, when I mentioned my relationship to the Palace in Hubbard. I swear I saw real VistaVision projectors there, but they were installed in so few places, it’s hard to confirm that. A chat with someone at Paramount a few years ago, suggested Youngstown may have been a test installation.
The map is wrong however. I e-mailed the correct Google map location. It was on Liberty, just one door from Main Street. Did anyone salvage the projectors?
Are the Greek masks still on the side of the building? I always liked those as a kid.
I posted some personal history on the State and Paramount but they disappeared so I’ll try again. Yes, I saw Ben Hur at the State in 70mm as well as the Ten Commandments, but I’m been trying to tease out some information on whether it was true VistaVision or not. My comments on the Belmont, the Palace and Powers are there, however. I got started by posting some photos on the Hubbard Palace Theater. I’m just 67 myself.
About my senior year in HS I was deeply interested in film technology, so I was very aware of the stereo sound when I saw “Around The World in 80 Days” at the Palace. I had missed the original 70mm Todd-AO release so I was happy to see the 35mm magnetic. The sound was extraordinary. I had to take the bus from Hubbard to see anything at the Palace, the Warners, the State or the Paramount. Didn’t go to any of the other theaters, however.
It was heartbreaking when I returned to Youngstown as an adult and saw it had then been turned into a discount furniture store. It may have several other things before it’s current use.