Peerless Theatre
424 E. Center Street,
Milwaukee,
WI
53212
424 E. Center Street,
Milwaukee,
WI
53212
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The Peerless Theatre opened in 1913. It was located on Center Street near Holton Street. The theater remained in operation until 1958.
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Bryan
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Recent comments (view all 5 comments)
With 454 seats, the Peerless was one of Milwaukee"s smallest movie houses. In the 1940s and 50s the Peerless showed last run films.
The program changed three times a week: Sun-Mon; Tues-Wed; Thurs-Fri-Sat. Tuesday and Wednesday were bargain nights with admission set at twenty cents. I saw SCOTT OF THE ANTARCTIC on bargain night. Not only was the admission low but this was one of the few theaters in Milwaukee which showed the British film.
The word ‘peerless’ means ‘without equal’ but oftentimes it is really ballyhoo and hyperbole to mean ‘the very best!’ At only some 400 seats, Milwaukee’s PEERLESS once on Center St. may have had something unique, but it certainly had many peers of similar construction in its era! It was razed many years ago.
Maybe Jim Rankin or another Milwaukee moviegoer can confirm my memory, but I carry around the idea that the Peerless and the Milwaukee theater on Teutonia Avenue were taken over for a time in the early fifties by the Milwaukee branch of the Mirisch family.
What I’m recalling is that one of Walter Mirisch’s brothers, immensely proud of his success at Monogram/Allied Artists, took over these two theaters for a time and offered first-run showings of Walter’s films, many of them described by him years later as ‘B-plus’ pictures.
Assure me, someone, that I’m not making this up.
Angus, I contacted Larry Widen, author of the 1986 book “Milwaukee Movie Palaces” and he recalls the Mirisch name in regard to these theatres, though he does not recall just where he found it back then. So, as he sayes, you are not imagining it. I am an architecture specialist, so I defer to his memory.
(October 23, 1939)
Safe Burglaries Reported in Milwaukee
MILWAUKEE, Oct 23. â€" Four safe burglaries, only one of them successful, were reported to police today. Unsuccessful attempts to crack safes were made during the weekend at the Riverview Ballroom, the Coffee Trailer company and the Peerless theater. At the latter the burglar stole two fountain pen sets and a small motion picture camera.