Roy R. Bair of R.R. Bair Theatre Circuit ran Bair’s South Side Theatre (most definitely not Hair’s) along with five other theaters in the Uptown, St. Clair, Strand, Lincoln, and Ritz. It opened on May 14, 1918 on the site of a smaller theater that had originally held a retail store (G.H Vail’s Newsstand and Confectionary and briefly Kester’s Saloon) before becoming the 300-seat Green’s Theatre in 1913. The Bair circuit took on Green’s Theater changing it to Bair’s South Side Theatre in 1914 and had success.
Bair razed the original Green/South Side late in 1917 to double the capacity creating a new 600-seat facility opening in 1918. However, Bair dropped the theater in 1922. It existed as a silent operation under the George H. Sanders Circuit (including the Apex and the Sanders).
When the Granada Theatre opened across the street at 1045 Virginia and installed sound, Sanders was in trouble. He was unable to convert any of his theaters to sound. His theatres are all auctioned off in 1928 including the South Side. It was purchased and used for some sporadic live events and doubled as home to the Sunshine Mission to assist Depression-era south side residents in need.
The South Side had a hiatus before getting one more shot as a cinema being equipped for sound late in the 1930s but advertising ceases in 1940. That is likely the end of the theater’s life as it becomes home to Sablosky’s Department store by 1943. Its longest stint was an antique mall that operated into the 21st Century.
H. M. Newsome completed the Trianon Theatre on Second Avenue North in 1913 according to two books of that era and then purchased the Bonita. Mudd & Colley Amusement Company took on the theater in 1916 along with the Strand from Newsome adding to their existing Princess Theatre there.
The Trianon went out of business in 1926 when the Ritz was used to supplant the Trianon. Mudd & Colley would be purchased by Karl Hoblitzelle in 1926 (finalized on January 13, 1927) becoming part of the Interstate Circuit. Soon thereafter, the Trianon had one more chance and reopened under new ownership likely as a sublease agreement with Interstate. (The operator was likely Richard M. Kennedy who had taken on the former Mudd & Colley Rialto in 1925 though not positive.) The Trianon was remodeled only to close again in 1932 probably completing a 20-year lease with the building repurposed for new retail use.
The Rialto was built upon the site of the former Macon Theatre by the Southern Enterprises Inc. Circuit of Atlanta with seating for 800 at its launch (500 on the main floor and 300 in the balcony) in August of 1921. It had a $20,000 Robert Morton organ with Powers Projection at launch.
Architected by its owner J.C. Hartman, the $100,000 Park opened in 1921. A Wurlitzer-Hope-Jones organ was there at opening along with Simplex projectors.
Bill Hart’s theatre held 150 patrons and was purportedly a converted stable. He had success, reportedly, by constructing a billboard at the railway station and used enormous 24-sheet posters to keep potential patrons apprised of each show at his theatre. A picture is in the photos section.
When J. Louis Rome added the Apollo to the State Theatres Circuit in January of 1921, it was the firm’s fifth Baltimore theatre joining the Poplar, Capitol, Rialto and Broadway. With Powers projection and Minusa screen at opening, the $250,000 neighborhood theatre sported reasonable prices at 22 cents for regular shows and 11 cents for the matinees though Rome said matinee attendance towered over lightly-attended evening shows. A Moller organ added to the presentation and management was by Rome’s relative, Samuel H. Rome.
Architected by Lester Avery, the Capitol launched with the feature, “Dinty” on March 21, 1921. Sporting Powers 6B projectors, the 600-seat theatre was owned by H. Pittman of Dunedin’s Dixie Theatre. A Seeburg Photo Player piano complemented the 5-piece orchestra.
Grand opening shot of the Hermon Weingarten Parthenon on February 26, 1921 in photos section. The $300,000 complex opened with 1,600 seats and Type S Simplex projectors
John Hamrick owned and designed his $350,000 showplace launching on Christmas Day 1920 with “The Furnace.” The glassed-in projection room with Simplex projectors was fashioned after the famous Capitol Theatre in NYC.
Old Forge had two theatres on Main Street: John M. Holland’s original Holland Theatre dating to at least 1913 and the Pilosi family’s Pilosi’s Theatre which dates back to at least 1915. Someone in Old Forge probably knows the answer but the Holland Theatre appears to originate as part of the Holland House operation. Plans are drawn up for a new facility in 1922 but construction occurs in 1925/6 with Comerford Circuit taking on the operation with the New Holland opening in the present-day Holland Building launching March 25, 1926. “Little Annie Rooney” was the first film. A Link pipe organ was the original instrument though later replaced. Management stayed in the family with the first manager Daniel Holland.
Pilosi’s Theatre was within Pilosi Building and continued as a silent operation until 1928 It played Paramount and Fox films before ceasing film exhibition deciding not to enter sound films. It was used for live events until the early 1930s and its use was discontinued. The Holland became Old Forge’s only movie theatre before also ceasing operation and becoming a church. Photos of Pilosi’s and the Holland are in the photos area.
Chariton had two silent era theaters in the Grand Theatre (apparently opening in 1903) and the Temple Theatre owned by Victoria Dewey and Becker & Bowen. The two entities got together and consolidated in the 914 Court location becoming the Lincoln Theatre. Henry Cramer then built the Ritz Theatre in March of 1927 taking over a retail spot held by The Woman’s Shop at 908 Court with the Lincoln just feet away. The 800-seat Ritz launched August 31, 1927.
Unfortunately, that theatre and the entire Lincoln Building with the Lincoln Barber Shop, the Lincoln Cafe, Ostman Jewelry, and apartments burned on February 27,1930 in a huge blaze. The Ritz Theatre auditorium was a casualty as well as only one building and some facades remained in the block.
William L. Perkins architected the Ritz retaining just the facade and — building very quickly — reopening May 22, 1930. Pictures of the Lincoln are in the photos section.
The entrance doors to the theater were on Barrett Street and the exit doors were on Clinton Street. The name of the theater was a fusion of these two touching streets making it the distinctive Barcli Theatre. William E. Gladstone was its first manager and it was owned by Lincoln Theatre operator John Walker. Charles H. Travis was the opening projectionist in 1920.
William Ostenberg bought the Orpheum in January of 1919 and – under his of the Midwest Amusement and Realty Company circuit – renamed it the Bluffs Theatre.
Opened as the Happy Hour Theatre and changed to the more patriotic American Theatre during World War I by Walter James and Barry Sisk.
Roy R. Bair of R.R. Bair Theatre Circuit ran Bair’s South Side Theatre (most definitely not Hair’s) along with five other theaters in the Uptown, St. Clair, Strand, Lincoln, and Ritz. It opened on May 14, 1918 on the site of a smaller theater that had originally held a retail store (G.H Vail’s Newsstand and Confectionary and briefly Kester’s Saloon) before becoming the 300-seat Green’s Theatre in 1913. The Bair circuit took on Green’s Theater changing it to Bair’s South Side Theatre in 1914 and had success.
Bair razed the original Green/South Side late in 1917 to double the capacity creating a new 600-seat facility opening in 1918. However, Bair dropped the theater in 1922. It existed as a silent operation under the George H. Sanders Circuit (including the Apex and the Sanders).
When the Granada Theatre opened across the street at 1045 Virginia and installed sound, Sanders was in trouble. He was unable to convert any of his theaters to sound. His theatres are all auctioned off in 1928 including the South Side. It was purchased and used for some sporadic live events and doubled as home to the Sunshine Mission to assist Depression-era south side residents in need.
The South Side had a hiatus before getting one more shot as a cinema being equipped for sound late in the 1930s but advertising ceases in 1940. That is likely the end of the theater’s life as it becomes home to Sablosky’s Department store by 1943. Its longest stint was an antique mall that operated into the 21st Century.
Opened in 1918
H. M. Newsome completed the Trianon Theatre on Second Avenue North in 1913 according to two books of that era and then purchased the Bonita. Mudd & Colley Amusement Company took on the theater in 1916 along with the Strand from Newsome adding to their existing Princess Theatre there.
The Trianon went out of business in 1926 when the Ritz was used to supplant the Trianon. Mudd & Colley would be purchased by Karl Hoblitzelle in 1926 (finalized on January 13, 1927) becoming part of the Interstate Circuit. Soon thereafter, the Trianon had one more chance and reopened under new ownership likely as a sublease agreement with Interstate. (The operator was likely Richard M. Kennedy who had taken on the former Mudd & Colley Rialto in 1925 though not positive.) The Trianon was remodeled only to close again in 1932 probably completing a 20-year lease with the building repurposed for new retail use.
Sol Lesser
The Rialto was built upon the site of the former Macon Theatre by the Southern Enterprises Inc. Circuit of Atlanta with seating for 800 at its launch (500 on the main floor and 300 in the balcony) in August of 1921. It had a $20,000 Robert Morton organ with Powers Projection at launch.
November 12, 1914 grand opening ad for the Delft Theatre – never as the Opera House other than in planning stages.
Gregory Burkitt Webb architected and his plans from 1920 are in the photos area
Architected by its owner J.C. Hartman, the $100,000 Park opened in 1921. A Wurlitzer-Hope-Jones organ was there at opening along with Simplex projectors.
Architected by Charles G. Davis and built by H.T. Underwood Contractors Company of New Orleans.
Bill Hart’s theatre held 150 patrons and was purportedly a converted stable. He had success, reportedly, by constructing a billboard at the railway station and used enormous 24-sheet posters to keep potential patrons apprised of each show at his theatre. A picture is in the photos section.
Architected by Harry Lawrie of Mendelssohn, Fisher and Lawrie
This Skouras Brothers Circuit location opened in April of 1921 with its first feature “Good Women”
When J. Louis Rome added the Apollo to the State Theatres Circuit in January of 1921, it was the firm’s fifth Baltimore theatre joining the Poplar, Capitol, Rialto and Broadway. With Powers projection and Minusa screen at opening, the $250,000 neighborhood theatre sported reasonable prices at 22 cents for regular shows and 11 cents for the matinees though Rome said matinee attendance towered over lightly-attended evening shows. A Moller organ added to the presentation and management was by Rome’s relative, Samuel H. Rome.
Architected by Lester Avery, the Capitol launched with the feature, “Dinty” on March 21, 1921. Sporting Powers 6B projectors, the 600-seat theatre was owned by H. Pittman of Dunedin’s Dixie Theatre. A Seeburg Photo Player piano complemented the 5-piece orchestra.
Grand opening shot of the Hermon Weingarten Parthenon on February 26, 1921 in photos section. The $300,000 complex opened with 1,600 seats and Type S Simplex projectors
John Hamrick owned and designed his $350,000 showplace launching on Christmas Day 1920 with “The Furnace.” The glassed-in projection room with Simplex projectors was fashioned after the famous Capitol Theatre in NYC.
1921
Old Forge had two theatres on Main Street: John M. Holland’s original Holland Theatre dating to at least 1913 and the Pilosi family’s Pilosi’s Theatre which dates back to at least 1915. Someone in Old Forge probably knows the answer but the Holland Theatre appears to originate as part of the Holland House operation. Plans are drawn up for a new facility in 1922 but construction occurs in 1925/6 with Comerford Circuit taking on the operation with the New Holland opening in the present-day Holland Building launching March 25, 1926. “Little Annie Rooney” was the first film. A Link pipe organ was the original instrument though later replaced. Management stayed in the family with the first manager Daniel Holland.
Pilosi’s Theatre was within Pilosi Building and continued as a silent operation until 1928 It played Paramount and Fox films before ceasing film exhibition deciding not to enter sound films. It was used for live events until the early 1930s and its use was discontinued. The Holland became Old Forge’s only movie theatre before also ceasing operation and becoming a church. Photos of Pilosi’s and the Holland are in the photos area.
A picture of the Lyric from 1920 is posted in photos.
Chariton had two silent era theaters in the Grand Theatre (apparently opening in 1903) and the Temple Theatre owned by Victoria Dewey and Becker & Bowen. The two entities got together and consolidated in the 914 Court location becoming the Lincoln Theatre. Henry Cramer then built the Ritz Theatre in March of 1927 taking over a retail spot held by The Woman’s Shop at 908 Court with the Lincoln just feet away. The 800-seat Ritz launched August 31, 1927.
Unfortunately, that theatre and the entire Lincoln Building with the Lincoln Barber Shop, the Lincoln Cafe, Ostman Jewelry, and apartments burned on February 27,1930 in a huge blaze. The Ritz Theatre auditorium was a casualty as well as only one building and some facades remained in the block.
William L. Perkins architected the Ritz retaining just the facade and — building very quickly — reopening May 22, 1930. Pictures of the Lincoln are in the photos section.
The entrance doors to the theater were on Barrett Street and the exit doors were on Clinton Street. The name of the theater was a fusion of these two touching streets making it the distinctive Barcli Theatre. William E. Gladstone was its first manager and it was owned by Lincoln Theatre operator John Walker. Charles H. Travis was the opening projectionist in 1920.
William Ostenberg bought the Orpheum in January of 1919 and – under his of the Midwest Amusement and Realty Company circuit – renamed it the Bluffs Theatre.
Architected by William H. McElfatrick and opened in 1913
Architected by Nathan Myers and launching in 1913.