Artilla Theatre
302 N. Davis Street,
Hamilton,
MO
64644
302 N. Davis Street,
Hamilton,
MO
64644
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Additional Info
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Hamilton Auditorium, Auditorium Theatre, McBrayer Auditorium Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Courter Theatre
Nearby Theaters
The Hamilton Auditorium was opened on July 1, 1922 with Wallace Reid in “Too Much Speed” and Max Sennett in “Beware of the Borders”. Movies were screened on Tuesday, Thursday & Saturday, with live events such as dancing and roller skating on other days. It had a flat floor. New operators took over in 1930 and sloped the floor, installed sound equipment and renamed it Plaza Theatre. The Plaza Theatre was opened on May 28, 1930 with Rin Tin Tin in “On the Border”. It was renamed Courter Theatre on September 1, 1933 when it screened Leo Carrillo in “Moonlight and Pretzels”. In 1936 it was taken over by Harry T. Till. In 1948 it was given a Streamline Moderne style makeover and renamed Artilla Theatre on September 9, 1948, opening with Kirby Grant in “Gun Town”. It was destroyed by fire on February 5, 1949.
A new theatre was built on the site, named Till Theatre, it opened on June 2, 1949 (it has its own page on Cinema Treasures as the Hamilton Community Arts Theatre)
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Recent comments (view all 4 comments)
Google Maps is loopy from this address. It is fetching Hamilton, Illinois. This is probably because there is no Main Street in Hamilton, Missouri. The correct address is most likely 302 N. Davis Street, which is now the site of a parking lot on the northeast corner of Davis and Bird Street.
Street name needs to be changed. On older maps, Davis is also labeled Main.
This opened as the Plaza Theatre on May 28, 1930 featuring Western Electric sound, and was renamed the Courter Theatre in September 1933 (named after manager Earl J. Courter).
If you read the town history, this venue started as the Hamilton Auditorium opening by Mark E. Feltis on July 1, 1922 launching with Wallace Reid in “Too Much Speed” supported by the Mack Sennett comedy, “Beware of the Borders.” Movies were shown on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. Live events could be booked the other days. Dancing and roller skating were among them because the Hamilton Auditorium had a flat maple floor. The Rex Theatre was the town’s other silent movie house at that time ceased operations in November of that same year.
Claude McBrayer took on operation of the venue renaming it as the. Auditorium Theatre and sometimes the McBrayer Auditorium Theatre. The Royal Theatre in Cameron, just 14 miles away converted to sound and the operators of the Plaza closed the venue with silent films on November 30, 1929 unable to make the conversion. Fred Greenberg and Frank Cassil take on the venue in 1930 wiring it for sound, sloping the floor, giving it a modern lobby, installing a fireproof projection booth, and giving it a modern sign reading, Plaza Theatre. The Plaza would have Indianapolis-based Sonofilm sound equipment. The new Plaza Theatre launched on May 28, 1930 and people liked the elevated 450 seats and Rin Tin Tin in “On the Border.”
John E. Courter and Earl J. Courter of Gallatin took on the Plaza in 1933. On Sept. 21, 1933, the venue was renamed as The Courter Theatre with “Moonlight and Pretzels.” Harry T Till took over as manager in 1936 while Courter passed away in 1945. The Tills and Roy Huey take on the venue and give it a drastic streamline makeover in 1948. J.R. Henry took part in the Till renaming contest choosing Artilla. He says he’s fused the names of the theater operators. It relaunches with that name on Sept. 9, 1948 with “Gun Town.” On February 5, 1949, it’s all over as the Artilla Theatre (former Courter Theatre, Plaza Theatre, Hamilton Auditorium, McBrayer Auditorium and Auditorium Theatre) and the Kavanaugh Motor Company are wiped out by fire.
The new Till Theatre would be built to replace it. It was a new-build venue costing $50,000 and opening on June 2, 1949. The information above attributed to Chuck is simply not accurate but should be left as is in his name in case that is the preferred history for this theater by him.