Regent Theater
109 E. Water Street,
Elmira,
NY
14901
109 E. Water Street,
Elmira,
NY
14901
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Additional Info
Previously operated by: Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp.
Architects: Harry S. Bair
Nearby Theaters
The Regent Theater was opened on October 4, 1915 with Theda Bara in “Two Orphans”. It is listed in a 1917 Elmira, NY directory. In the 1940’s it was operated by Warner Bros. Circuit Management Corp. The Regent Theater was still open in 1957.
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Lost Memory
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Recent comments (view all 11 comments)
These entries are from the 1918 diary of Edmond Burke Maloney ( 1879 – 1946).
Jan 8, 1918 “In the evening I took Annie’s mother to the moving pictures at the Regent. The feature was “Nan of Music Mountain†a melodrama with much gun play and narrow escapes. “
Jan 28, 1918 “Went to see the moving pictures~ “Barbary Sheep†being the offering. Good scenery~but a poor plot.
Feb 4, 1918 “ I took Bob downtown to do a bit of banking and then we went to the Regent. Geraldine Farrar played in “The Devil’s Stone†~ not very good. Bob talked a good deal during the play and annoyed a fat lady near us.
Feb 8,1918 “In the evening Annie and I went to the Regent to see Mary Pickford in a picture play called “Stella Mariaâ€~ unusually good we agreed.
May 1,1918 “In the evening I took mother to see the picture at the Regentâ€
May 3,1918 “Annie and I went to the Regent to see a picture.â€
May 6,1918 “Annie and I went to the Regent to see “The Shuttleâ€. I was much more interested in some pictures of wild duck and other water foul feeding.â€
May 10,1918 “Mother can up to tea with us and I took her to the Regent to see Mary Pickford in “Amarillo of Cloths line Alley†( a comedy about an Irish working class girl.)
May 14,1918 “Annie and I went to the Regent (theater) and enjoyed an unusually good set of pictures.â€
May 16,1918 “Annie and I went to the Regentâ€
May 29,1918 “After leaving his office I went to the Regent to see (Alla) Nazimova in a picture plat called “Revelation†which was well produced.â€(A film about a Paris cabaret singer and her lover)
I read a diary a few years ago written by a woman who lived in South Jersey in the thirties. It was amazing to see how many movies this lady and her husband went to in a week. Probably a dozen if not more. They pretty much went to the movies every night.
I saw a photo dated June 23, 1972 & the theater was there at that time. Elmira was flooded that day due to Tropical Storm Agnes, & took several feet of water. I’m not sure when it was torn down, but the studios of WETM TV are at that spot now.
Here is an early postcard photo of Elmira with the Regent Theatre’s vertical sign and entrance in the foreground. The caption says that the Regent opened on October 4, 1915. As the picture is from Cezar Del Valle’s Flickr photostream I’d say that’s probably the right date.
An item in the “Theatres to be Built” column of the April 1, 1915, issue of The New York Clipper could be about about the Regent, given the fall, 1915 opening of the house. It says that a $50,000 theater was to be built for the Pittsburgh-based Harton Theatre Company at Elmira, New York. Pittsburgh architect Harry S. Bair was drawing the plans.
I was a child when I went to this theater, I lived across the street in a second floor apartment era 1954 which was over a diner that my grandmother Bernice Mattison worked in. I was hoping that someone might have a more recent photo like one in the 50’s. I believe this theater was torn down after Agnes Tropical Storm
Lindamay: This photo gallery of Elmira theaters from stargazette.com includes a shot of the entrance of the Regent in 1958 (thumbnail #6.) That’s the only photo from the 1950s I’ve been able to find.
I am not a subscriber to Star Gazette so I can’t see anything
I’m not a subscriber, either, but I see the photos. It might be an issue with your browser. Try this individual photo.
October 4th, 1915 grand opening ad in the photo section.