20th Century Theatre
3021 Madison Road,
Cincinnati,
OH
45209
3021 Madison Road,
Cincinnati,
OH
45209
9 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 54 comments
On December 28, 1974, there was a world premiere of a movie called Let’s Go for Broke at the 20th Century Cinema in Cincinnati with the stars in attendance. One of the stars was Christa Helm, an amateur actress who was murdered in Hollywood in 1977. Her murder has not yet been solved, and I’ve been investigating it for the past six years.
I heard that the mayor was also in attendance during the screening, so I would think there have to be photos of Christa at this event. I know it’s a long shot, but if anyone on this forum recalls attending that evening and meeting/having their photograph taken with Christa, I’d love to chat with you. My email is or you can just reply on this thread. Thank you!might have?
July 27th, 1941 grand opening ad in photo section
It was operated by Levin Services during the 1974 union strike against all of the Levin Theatre in Cincinnati except for one of the drive ins.
To JenniWiethe….P.S. Lou Wiethe raised the money for my Movie so he was the “Executive Producer” Send me your E-Mail address and I can send you pictures of our Movie if you like. Luke
JenniWiethe……surprise of your day! I can tell you a LOT about your Grandfather. I was his closest friend in Florida. I wrote the sreenplay for the Movie “Little Laura & Big John” I own the copyrights to it. I also Produced it, Directed and Edited it. I owned the Movie Studios in Ft. Lauderdale where it was filmed. I still live in Fl.and am writing my life story, “MEMORIES and FANTASIES” and he will be mentioned in it. You can write to me at and I will be happy to hear from you. Thanks, Luke Moberly
My guess would be that it was being shown there in Todd-AO, a 70mm widescreen process that originator Michael Todd created to rival Cinerama. If that was the case, you probably saw it at the Valley Theater which installed the necessary 70mm equipment around that time specifically to show that film in Todd-AO.
In 1956 our family drove done to Cincinnati to from Troy, OH to see “Around the World in 80 Days” and I am trying to determine if this was the theater that we saw the film. I cannot understand why we had to drive to Cicinnati to see the movie. Can anyone offer and ideas?
The original owner was Willis Vance he had quite a few local cinemas, including The Ohio in Norwood,Guild in Cincinnati,,State in Newport,Kentucky and others. He seemed to keep F&Y Construction Builders very busy.
The 20th Century and the Ambassador Theaters were in the Oakley neighborhood of Cincinnati and were about a block apart. The United Dairy Farmers Store was originally directly across Madison Road from the 20th Century where one could buy ice cream cones, etc. Across from the Ambassador was a wonderful ice cream parlor run by the Aglamesisi Brothers. http://www.aglamesis.com It is still there and it is a real, rare treat. Incredible ice cream , malts, shakes, sundaes, all manner of candy and ice cream treats. Definitely worth the trip.
I spent many a Sunday afternoon at the matinees with my friends for $.25. Had my first real date there as a 4th grader. Took a lovely 3rd grade beauty to see The Ten Commandments. Chauffered by my older brother in dad’s ‘49 Packard. Ah, the memories.
Wish I could do this with the Valley. And Hank, I would love to hear any stories you have about my Grandfather. I’m sorry this is kind of a re-post, but I think I have misplaced your contact info. You can email me with any memories you have of Louis Wiethe Sr, Ed Wiethe, or Lou Jr at I would love to hear anything. I have a passion for all things movie related, and I would love to hear more. Do you all ever get together in Cincy to share memories?
I’m told the vertical stands out with the leaves off the trees from 6 blocks away ! It’s our Statue of Libery in Ohio!
Hooray! What a classy piece of architecture to return to Oakley Square,way to go 20th Century Theater!!!!!Tyrone Powers would have been thrilled to see his hometown marquee vertical re-lit after a 30 year absence. And thanks to Mr Bowers as well for the pictures!!!And even a movie included too!Wow!
I have great news about the 20th Century. I live near it, and on the way home, I saw the full tower marquee all aglow. It was beautiful, but don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself
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I attended the movie tonight as part of the celebration, and they said the tower part of the marquee fell into disrepair 30 years ago, and hasn’t been lit again until tonight.
Classic movie, classic theater, $1 popcorn = perfect night.
I have great news about the 20th Century. I live near it, and on the way home, I saw the full tower marquee all aglow. It was beautiful, but don’t just take my word for it, see for yourself
View link
I attended the movie tonight as part of the celebration, and they said the tower part of the marquee fell into disrepair 30 years ago, and hasn’t been lit again until tonight.
Classic movie, classic theater, $1 popcorn = perfect night.
Just happened upon this site as I was looking for more info on the history of the Valley Theater. I am Louis Wiethe’s granddaughter and I have a fascination with his theater life and work. I have pictures of his theater during openings for “Around the World in 80 Days” (with him on an elephant) and “Breakfast at Tiffany’s”. I also have pictures of his cast from a movie he produced called “Little Laura and Big John”. It starred Karen Black and Fabian. I would love to have and share more info. Anyone who worked for him and has memories of his theater that would like to share them please email me!
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Skyfire, While you were usher at the Valley, I was usher and subsequently ticker taker ( a big promotion at the time) at the Westwood. My parents were friends and neighbors of the Wiethe Family who lived on Harrison Ave in Westwood. I suspect your manager was Louis Wiethe Jr., son of the owner. I recall that ED Wiethe also had managerial duties at the Valley. Ed was a great guy and was Lou Sr’s brother.
The letter F in F&Y Construction was Leo Yassenoff,s first partner in the firm based in Columbus,Ohio. That Mr. F who’s full name I can’t remember was the architect for the F&Y firm. Later the architect Mr. F. left the company to design projects on his own. I don"t believe that Leo Yassenoff was trailed as an architect.
Hello SKYFIRE if you’ve not looked at The Valley Th. site on C.T. checkout the results and please add what you lived thru there.
45 years in the business beats my seven years,SKYFIRE hope you add plenty of theatre stories for us old theatre dawgs.
On August 9 1974 a friday one of the worst film makers ever and the 20th Century is showing it is BACK BY POPULAR DEMAND…“BORN LOSERS” with Tom Laughlin as Billy Jack.This re-release is rated PG.It also opened at the ESQUIRE Theatre the same night. Long way from “THE ROBE”.
Nice looking.
I was an usher at the Valley Theater from 1953-1955. Mr. Louis Wiethe was the manager who hired me. I still remember the green uniform with the stripe down the pants. I was usher for the shut-down to convert the theater to CinemaScope. When we re-opened our first movie was THE ROBE iwth Richard Burton. It ran for almost 6 months. That job as usher began my 45 year career in the movie business.
Skyfire
Does anyone know if this theater had “double” seats in its heyday?
(They’ve been described as small loveseats.)