Ritz Theatre

Ownership of Ritz Theatre (aka Radio, New Radio) John Clark, 1922 Cecil “Lefty” Seff, 1922-1928 Cecil & Everett St. Peters, 1928-1929 L. W. Splichal, 1929-1939 Richard (Dick) DeVries, 1939-1951 Edward Osipowicz, 1951-68 (?)

The Ritz theatre was one of several theatre buildings in Correctionville, Iowa. When it was built in 1922, it was first known as The Radio Theatre, and later, New Radio Theatre. “The Ritz” was the name given by new owners and brothers, Cecil & Eli St. Peters, in 1928. They met tragedy when their mother took the wrong door past the concession stand and fell down the basement stairs and died. There have been many owners and operators over the years, but Joe Vogel (comment above) rightly notes that R. P. (“Dick”) Devries sold it to Eddie Osipowicz in 1951. He and his family were the last operators, with full-time scheduled showings ending in 1966. The chairs and equipment were removed in the 1980s and since then it has been gutted and used for storage. I’d be happy to answer any questions or share more details, thanks for the opportunity to comment. B.R. Hoffman

Sources: 150th Anniversary History, Correctionville, Iowa; The Correctionville News; Interview with Denny Osipowicz; and “Bailey: A Wonderful Life.”

The Ritz Theatre first appears in the FDY in 1928, which is also the first year in which two other theater names are not listed: the Scenic and the New Radio. Those two were listed 1926 through 1928. Correctionville does not appear in the 1914-1915 American Motion Picture Directory. I’ve been unable to discover if the Ritz was an entirely new house or if it was either the Scenic or the Radio under a new name. As the Ritz first appears in the 1928 FDY it must have opened in 1927, and would have appeared on the 1927 Sanborn (kdavis' first comment above) whether it was a new building or an older one. The Ritz was first listed with 200 seats, but no seating capacities were listed for the Scenic or Radio.

The local belief that Eddie Osipowicz built and operated the Ritz is partly correct. Boxoffice of October 27, 1951 reported that R. P. DeVries had sold the Ritz Theatre at Correctionville to Edward Osipowicz. After that, Osipowicz is mentioned in connection wit the Ritz in many issue of Boxoffice, as late as the issue of May 11, 1964. The Ritz might not have been providing an adequate income for him by then, though, as the item noted that Osipowicz was busy painting a drive-in restaurant that was to be operated by his brother-in-law. Earlier items had noted the Ritz closing, or re-opening after being closed for extended periods of time, and often operating on a limited schedule.

The Columbia Opera House (321 5th) showed movies for a time and the small building just to the east of it (323 5th) also was a movie theater in the 1910s.