Cameo Theatre
527 Market Street,
Chattanooga,
TN
37402
527 Market Street,
Chattanooga,
TN
37402
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Reopened as Rialto on October 8th, 1948.
Cameo renamed the 2nd Rialto theatre 08 Oct 1948, Fri Chattanooga Daily Times (Chattanooga, Tennessee) Newspapers.com
The Cameo Theatre Opened Its Doors On March 15, 1929 With Antonio Moreno And Ben Lyon In “The Air Legion”.
On January 25, 1948, The Theater Lost $170 After A Robbery. Less Than A Month Later On Valentines Day 1948, The Theater Was Damaged By A Fire. It Is Closed In 1950.
The Cameo showed many of the B Westerns, mainly I recall the “Red Ryder” series from Republic Pictures with both Rocky Lane and Wild Bill Elliott. I attended the Cameo many times in the late 40’s/early 50’s.
It had a small concession stand located on the right side of the small lobby. Inside was not that large from what I recall, so the 527 seat capacity surprised me.
Later on, the Cameo showed a lot of the exploitation films for “adults only” and it wasn’t long afterwards that they closed down.
It was located directly across from the Capitol Theater on Market Street.
The organ was Wurlitzer’s opus 372 which had been built for the Capitol Theatre in Macon Georgia (q.v.) in 1920. It was relocated to the York in December 1925. It was a model 135a, which is 4 ranks of pipes (Trumpet, Salicional, Flute, Vox Humana), tuned percussions, traps, sound effects and piano.
Seems Chattanooga had 4 Wurlitzers: the York/Cameo, the State, the Tivoli and St Elmo’s Methodist, an original Wurlitzer church installation.
The Cameo opened as the York around 1925 and was equipped with a Wurlitzer pipe organ.