Harlo Theatre
105 State Street,
St. Joseph,
MI
49085
105 State Street,
St. Joseph,
MI
49085
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The Cozy Theatre launched August 1, 1934 with “Paddy the Next Big Thing” likely on a ten year lease. Don Harlo was next up relaunching as the Harlo Theatre on October 21, 1944 with “Cobra Woman.” The Harlo closed in 1952 becoming a place of worship for the Church of Christ in 1953.
A lawsuit was filed against various film distributors and theater chains by Don Harlo, operator of the Harlo Theatre at St. Joseph, Michigan, on February 5, 1953. The record of the suit indicates that Harlo began operating the theater on July 1, 1944. It doesn’t say if the theater was new at that time or was an existing theater that Mr. Harlo took over.
An early comment by James Dumdei on this Facebook post says that the Harlo Theatre was at 107 State Street. This location opens the possibility that the Harlo was a house previously called the Cozy Theatre, which was listed at 105 State Street in a 1940 Benton Harbor-St. Joseph directory.
The site of the Harlo Theatre is now part of the parking lot of a hotel.
A report of May 1960 in the St. Joseph Independent mentioned that a printing company on Dixie Street had taken the place of the Harlo, or Harlow as the case may be. I can’t tell you much more than that.