Martin Theatre

941 Starling Avenue,
Martinsville, VA 24112

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Additional Info

Previous Names: Starling Theatre, Bee Dee Theatre,

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Martin Theatre

The Starling Theatre was opened on September 11, 1941 with Robert Montgomery in “Here Comes Mr Jordan”. It was closed on December 10, 1944 with Belita in “Lady, Let’s Dance”. It reopened as the Bee Dee Theatre on April 24, 1947 with Myrna Loy in “The Best Years of Our lives”. On June 29, 1949 it was equipped with air conditioning and was renamed Martin Theatre screening “June Allyson in "Good News” & Randolph Scott in “Trail Street”. It was closed on July 3, 1985 with Sean Astin in “The Goonies”.

Contributed by Ken Roe

Recent comments (view all 3 comments)

dallasmovietheaters
dallasmovietheaters on June 14, 2024 at 12:28 am

The E.M. MacDaniel Building was built to house multiple business in 1939 with a theater in the center at 941 Starling. The delayed project opened on September 11, 1941 as the Starling Theatre, a streamlined movie house playing sub-run discount films. F.W. Carper opened the Starling with “Here Comes Mr. Jordan.” It was managed by John L. Garst of Martinsville’s National and Roxy theaters also owned by Carper’s circuit. The building also had Reed’s Confectionery that served as the de facto concession stand and was the original home of Gilbert’s Beauty Salon.

The Starling booth was equipped with E7 Simplex projectors with 4-Star Simplex sound. The stage was installed by Novelty Scenic of New York and the seats were designed by Heywood-Wakefield. But Wartime worker shortages were cited as the end of the road as the Starling closed with “Lady, Let’s Dance” on December 10, 1944.

The theater came back to life after the War when Bernard Depkin opened the former Starling as the Bee Dee (Bernard Depkin’s nickname) Theatre. The Bee Dee launched on April 24, 1947 with “The Best Years Of Our Lives.” At that time, Depkin operated the Rives Theatre as as manager an co-owner.

In October of 1948, W. Pritchett took on the venue and renamed it as the Martin Theatre. Pritchett moved it to a double-feature, discount sub-run movie house. Opening titles as the Martin were on October 29, 1949 were June Allyson in “Good News” and Randolph Scott in “Trial Street.” Martinsville Theatre Management (MTM) Circuit closed the Martin some 35 years later on July 3, 1985 with “The Goonies” as the theatre needed major repairs.

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