Majestic Art Theatre

nsortzi on March 20, 2024 at 5:22 am

This theater has been demolished.

Joe Vogel on June 13, 2009 at 5:26 am

The Majestic was probably never one of the Denniston family’s theaters. Boxoffice Magazine gives conflicting dates, but it is clear that from at least 1931 until 1962, when it was sold to a Mr. Jack Rapp of Decatur, the Majestic was operated by Rene Germani.

An item about the sale in the June 25, 1962, issue of Boxoffice gives 1931 as the year when Germani began operating the house, but a December 3, 1955, article about Germani says that he built the Majestic in 1927. The 1955 article also says that the house was extensively remodeled in 1937, which would account for the rather moderne appearance of the facade in the photo Lost Memory linked to above.

There are dozens of references in Boxoffice during the 1940s into the early 1960s to Germani being operator of the Majestic, but I find no mentions at all of the Dennistons in relation to this theater even after Germani sold it. In fact I can find no mentions of the Majestic at all between 1962 and 1970.

Then the Majestic was offered for sale at $40,000 in the classified ad section of various issues of Boxoffice in early 1970. Apparently it was purchased by a porn operation. An item in the November 16, 1970, issue of Boxoffice said that a restraining order had been issued to prevent the reopening of the Majestic Arts Theatre at 1030 2nd St. in Monroe. The owner, manager, and projectionist had been cited for showing an obscene film the previous week, and the projectionist had been arrested.

The May 10, 1971, issue of Boxoffice said that the restraining order had been made permanent, but the July 5 issue that year said that the obscenity charges had been dropped after the earlier ruling had been reversed by an appeals court judge. After that I find no mentions of the Majestic in Boxoffice, so I don’t know how long it survived as a porn house.