Vito, the run of “The French Line” at the St. Louis Fox lasted but a week. It opened December 29, 1953 and was preceeded with an ad campaign (both radio and newspaper)that was something else. Such phrases as “J.R. in 3-D: It’ll knock both your eyes out!” and “Jane Russell in 3 Dimensions—and what dimensions!”
The film was not granted a seal; and was condemned by the Legion of Decency. The Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis warned Catholic St. Louisans that to attend the film would be a mortal sin. Miss Russell, who was slated to be at the premiere, backed out when informed the film was not granted a code seal.
The St. Louis nabes that exhibited the film months later opted for the 2D version.
As for my “disappointment”…this was in reference to the video making those mistakes; mistakes which would not have been made with
a modicum of research.
“The French Line” may have had its first NYC showing at the Criterion, but the world premiere of the film was at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis.
Indeed, very disappointed to read that “The Robe” was in 3-D and that red/green glasses were used for those classic 50s releases. Is research a thing of the past?
Digging further into my research, an item in the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch of June 23, 1920 stated the new 12th Street Theatre was purchased by the Skouras interests from Richards and Flynn for $250,000 (including the FN franchise).
It was noted in the July 3, 1920 issue of Billboard that Spyros Skouras announced the purchase of the 12th Steet Theatre in Kansas City, together with the purchase of the Kansas City First National franchise and that F. L. Newman was to be the managing director of the theatre. It is not clear what the status of the theatre was at the time. This was the Skouras Brothers' first venture out of St. Louis and they already had the St. Louis First National franchise and obtaining the KC franchise gave them the entire state of Missouri.
For what it’s worth department: When the complex was first announced in 1920, the names of the theatres were to be the Selwyn and the CHICAGO. The eventual CHICAGO Theatre also went through various planning name changes…the Capitol, to the Ambassador, to, finally, the Chicago.
An item appearing in Billboard on 9/15/1916 with the headline “It Fooled Rathapfel”:
When Sam Rothapfel got back on the job at the Rialto recently, after a five-day trip, he thought for a moment that some one had slipped a new pipe organ into his theatre. Anything the organ had ever done sounded almost half hearted compared with what it was doing now. Then he remembered that the original scenic background had been ripped out and replaced by a set of transparencies. The plaster had cut off the sound from several groups of pipes, and when it was removed the organ preceded to let out a roar of relief that shook the auditorium.
Soon after the Washington opened this item appeared in Billboard Magazine on February 1:
“The new Washington Theatre, at Belleville, has been the best addition to this city that has occurred in some years. Playing the best attractions, it has proved a most popular resort, and one that has been arranged for both comfort and amusement. The business done at this house since its opening has surpassed the expectations of its promoters. It is beautiful in design and accomodations and has put Belleville in a class with its sister cities. A condition that all here have looked forward to.
The Studio at 6235 Natural Bridge was the second theatre with that name. It opened on Christmas Day, 1937 and closed in July 1957.
The previous Studio was across the street at 6220 Natural Bridge and closed a few days before the new theatre opened. This theatre had a capacity of 460.
According to a report in Billboard Magazine the Gravois opened February 11, 1911. As the report said: “a beautiful piece of architecture, and the opening night all were unable to get in that wanted to. With a seating capacity of 1700 and the packed houses of each performance, much of the first cost of construction was canceled.” The opening policy was three acts of vaudeville and moving pictures. Admission all of 10-cents.
The (old/original) Ivory opened in June 1916. The closing date has yet to be definitively determined, but the structure was converted into an A&P grocery store in 1938.
The latest on plans for the Ozark:
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Correcting my earlier entry, the Roxy had its grand opening (as the Southampton) on February 27, 1926.
AMC took over operation from Kerasotes in June 2010.
AMC took over operation from Kerasotes in June 2010.
AMC took over operation from Kerasotes in June 2010.
AMC took over operation from Kerasotes in June 2010.
In August 1998 it started appearing in newspaper movie times as the Northland 4.
Vito, the run of “The French Line” at the St. Louis Fox lasted but a week. It opened December 29, 1953 and was preceeded with an ad campaign (both radio and newspaper)that was something else. Such phrases as “J.R. in 3-D: It’ll knock both your eyes out!” and “Jane Russell in 3 Dimensions—and what dimensions!”
The film was not granted a seal; and was condemned by the Legion of Decency. The Catholic Archbishop of St. Louis warned Catholic St. Louisans that to attend the film would be a mortal sin. Miss Russell, who was slated to be at the premiere, backed out when informed the film was not granted a code seal.
The St. Louis nabes that exhibited the film months later opted for the 2D version.
As for my “disappointment”…this was in reference to the video making those mistakes; mistakes which would not have been made with
a modicum of research.
“The French Line” may have had its first NYC showing at the Criterion, but the world premiere of the film was at the Fox Theatre in St. Louis.
Indeed, very disappointed to read that “The Robe” was in 3-D and that red/green glasses were used for those classic 50s releases. Is research a thing of the past?
Digging further into my research, an item in the St. Louis Post-
Dispatch of June 23, 1920 stated the new 12th Street Theatre was purchased by the Skouras interests from Richards and Flynn for $250,000 (including the FN franchise).
It was noted in the July 3, 1920 issue of Billboard that Spyros Skouras announced the purchase of the 12th Steet Theatre in Kansas City, together with the purchase of the Kansas City First National franchise and that F. L. Newman was to be the managing director of the theatre. It is not clear what the status of the theatre was at the time. This was the Skouras Brothers' first venture out of St. Louis and they already had the St. Louis First National franchise and obtaining the KC franchise gave them the entire state of Missouri.
For what it’s worth department: When the complex was first announced in 1920, the names of the theatres were to be the Selwyn and the CHICAGO. The eventual CHICAGO Theatre also went through various planning name changes…the Capitol, to the Ambassador, to, finally, the Chicago.
When the Palace was opened in Autust 1917, Butterfield’s other theatres in Flint were the Majestic and the Garden.
Theatre opened as the Isis in 1916. Original policy was pictures and vaudeville.
An item appearing in Billboard on 9/15/1916 with the headline “It Fooled Rathapfel”:
When Sam Rothapfel got back on the job at the Rialto recently, after a five-day trip, he thought for a moment that some one had slipped a new pipe organ into his theatre. Anything the organ had ever done sounded almost half hearted compared with what it was doing now. Then he remembered that the original scenic background had been ripped out and replaced by a set of transparencies. The plaster had cut off the sound from several groups of pipes, and when it was removed the organ preceded to let out a roar of relief that shook the auditorium.
Opening date has been narrowed down to Christmas week of 1915.
Opening date has been narrowed down to Christmas week of 1915.
Opening date has been further narrowed down to Christmas week, 1915.
Soon after the Washington opened this item appeared in Billboard Magazine on February 1:
“The new Washington Theatre, at Belleville, has been the best addition to this city that has occurred in some years. Playing the best attractions, it has proved a most popular resort, and one that has been arranged for both comfort and amusement. The business done at this house since its opening has surpassed the expectations of its promoters. It is beautiful in design and accomodations and has put Belleville in a class with its sister cities. A condition that all here have looked forward to.
Two of the auditoriums were converted to stadium seating and these opened in November 1996.
The Studio at 6235 Natural Bridge was the second theatre with that name. It opened on Christmas Day, 1937 and closed in July 1957.
The previous Studio was across the street at 6220 Natural Bridge and closed a few days before the new theatre opened. This theatre had a capacity of 460.
According to a report in Billboard Magazine the Gravois opened February 11, 1911. As the report said: “a beautiful piece of architecture, and the opening night all were unable to get in that wanted to. With a seating capacity of 1700 and the packed houses of each performance, much of the first cost of construction was canceled.” The opening policy was three acts of vaudeville and moving pictures. Admission all of 10-cents.
In 1927 the seating capacity was listed as 835.
The (old/original) Ivory opened in June 1916. The closing date has yet to be definitively determined, but the structure was converted into an A&P grocery store in 1938.
Theatre opened in 1915 as the NEWSTEAD Theatre; was renamed the LEE in 1930. Theatre, at 4366 Lee, closed in May 1949.