Delavan Theatres
405 E. Walworth Avenue,
Delavan,
WI
53115
405 E. Walworth Avenue,
Delavan,
WI
53115
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Once operated by Essaness Theaters and later Excellence Theatres prior to its Carmike takeover.
The NRHP nomination form for the Delavan Downtown Commercial Historic District says that the Delavan Theatre was designed by Milwaukee architect John Wolf. The twinning took place in 1978, and the stage house the theater originally sported was demolished at that time.
The “New Theaters” column in The Film Daily of March 12, 1929, said: “Delavan, Wis. — Construction of the new
Delavan is nearing completion.”
There is surprisingly little about this theater in the trade journals. In the 1940s it was a Warner Bros. house, and in 1949 the manager was named Bud Campbell, and that’s all I’ve found.
From the 1950s a photo postcard image of the Delevan in Delevan
(Janesville Gazette, September 26, 1969)
ELKHORN â€" Daniel F. Kelliher, 87, a native of Mt. Horeb and operator of the Sprague Theater here for 47 years, died at home Thursday September 25. Mr. Kelliher operated a movie theater at Mt. Horeb for 11 years. He bought a theater here in 1922 and later built the Sprague Theater, which he operated until his retirement. Mr. Kelliher also had operated theaters in Lake Geneva, Delavan, East Troy, and Burlington. He has been credited for holding the state record for longtime theater operation. The funeral will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church here. Friends may call at the Murray funeral home here after 4 p.m. today. He is survived by his wife, Luella.
Manager of this theatre quits after protest on Italian film Bitter Rice.
Article in Boxoffice magazine, July 7, 1951:
View link
[For the record, Bitter Rice is now considered a major Italian film classic and even appeared on an Italian postage stamp commemorating the films of the Italian neo-realist period after World War II.]
January 14, 1955) (AP) FREIGHT TRAIN KILLS DELAVAN THEATRE MAN
Irwin Stephan, 36, was killed Thursday afternoon when his car collided with a freight train at a crossing in Delavan. Stephan, married and the father of four, came here six weeks ago from Palmyra (Jefferson County) to manage the Delavan movie theatre.
Here is a better view of the 11/14/08 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/yz97gmj
Here is a view of the church from Google maps:
http://tinyurl.com/6s3u2e