Manor Theater
1729 Murray Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15217
1729 Murray Avenue,
Pittsburgh,
PA
15217
9 people
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Does anyone remember whether the original Manor had a balcony?
I was only there once–in late 1975–and for the life of me can’t remember if they had one or not.
Here’s a new 4-page 50th anniversary FIDDLER ON THE ROOF retrospective featuring a roadshow playdate chronology and historian Q&A. The Manor’s year-long run is mentioned in the piece.
The Manor theatre opened on May 15th, 1922
Grand opening ads:
The obituary of Squirrel Hill architect Edgar A. Kwalwasser in the August 6, 1998, issue of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette listed alterations to the Squirrel Hill and Manor Theatres among his works. The remodeling of the Manor he handled might have been the 1965 project for Stanley-Warner I mentioned in my comment of March 6, 2010, or it might have been the 1978 renovations rivest266 mentioned in the comment of last month, or it might have been both, as Kwalwasser established his practice in 1951 and remained active until April, 1998.
The obituary says that he designed theaters in six states, but only mentions three theater projects by name. The third was the Cranberry Mall Cinemas in Cranberry Township.
Manor renovations December 20th, 1978 ad in photo section.
The Manor Theatre has indeed been wonderfully remodeled. The theater features upgraded seating and a full bar next to the concession stand.
I take my 2010 comment back. The Manor has been recently (and beautifully) renovated, and is now Squirrel Hill’s crown jewel. Sadly, it’s also the only theater in the area now that the Squirrel Hill theater down the street has closed.
Apparently they’ve been doing some renovations to the Manor. Plus they’re going to have a horror film festival for October.
Also the new website is www.manorpgh.com
Looks somewhat similar to this:
/theaters/72/
The Manor was predominantly a roadshow house back in the late 60s/early 70s: lots of UA stuff like “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Last Tango” and “Man of La Mancha.” When roadshow-style movies fell out of fashion, they experienced an identity crisis and struggled to remain in business.
It’s a miracle the theater still exists—albeit in a (sadly) tacky contempo version.
Cinemagic closed the nearby Squirrel Hill. I hope they keep the Manor open. They show movies here that AMC won’t.
The Manor was mentioned as a Warner Bros. house in Motion Picture Times of May 5, 1931.
Boxoffice of February 8, 1965, reported: “The remodeled Manor Theatre, now a SW art house, has 1024 seats, inside ticket desk, 50-foot wall-to-wall screen, modern sound and projection, large lounge area, deep pile carpeting, plus new decorations, etc….” An item from February 1 had said that the Manor seated 884 on the main floor and 140 in the balcony.
The Stanley Warner circuit also operated the nearby Squirrel Hill Theatre, which had long been an art house. The Guild Theatre also operated as an art house at times during this period. Squirrel Hill must have been an arty neighborhood in those days.
A 1937 photo of the Manor can be found here View link
It looks like it’s always had the Tudor style. Maybe Cinema Treasures can update this page to reflect that?
Barnes and Noble is in the same building.
This theater is right around the corner from my house. I love it! Not only can I walk to it, they play “national indie” films that I like.
Unless the facade was remodeled into this style, I believe it should be a “Tudor”.
Maybe style should be Tudor?
2007 exterior photo
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jbcurio/514195607/
Not great, but not a bad place to see a show. They play a lot of “indie” flicks that you can’t see anywhere else in the area.
The AFY yearbook for 1936 shows the Manor as having 1,146 seats. They must have done quote a remodeling job when they multiplexed it.
Here is a 1937 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/pbos3