The Princess was a silent theatre in 1921 and had a brief transition to sound films closing in 1930. It reopened as a live and silent theatre in 1931 before closing again in June of 1931. Cecil Davis took on the venue equipping with sound and relaunching on on August 25, 1933 as the Cement Theatre beginning with “The Life of Jimmy Dolan” with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. The Cement Theatre went out of business briefly in 1934 and cracked in January of 1935.
Jack and J.A. Weiss took on the former Cement / Princess venue naming it the Holly Theatre beginning with showtimes on October 19, 1935 of Zasu Pitts in “Hot Tips.” Harry F. Smith next bought the Holly Theatre on January 26, 1939 renaming it as Harry’s Theatre. Harry’s ran through the end of May of 1945. In May of 1946, Jesse Sloan took on the venue re-renaming it as the Cement Theatre. In 1953, it appears to have been renamed once again - this time as the Tower Theatre.
Roy Eakins launched the new Royal Theatre on December 8, 1939 with “Here I Am Stranger.” It was in the retrofitted building previously run as the Gibson Brothers' Recreation Parlor. Eakins had run the Palace Theatre in town previously which closed in 1939. The venue was still operating in 1965.
Reading the local paper, there is a high likelihood that this began as the Crystal Theatre in 1909. The Crystal Airdome had opened as an outdoor venue in 1909 for the ventilation-challenged theaters of Cherokee, Oklahoma. It did so well that Frank Wilson equipped a movie theater in the existing Millspaugh Building as the Crystal Theatre also in 1909.
The silent movie house competed with the Majestic Theatre in the 1920s before coming under common ownership in 1927 with the Hawk Brothers and then Cherokee Amusement Co. Only one of the two theaters was equipped for sound and it was the Majestic turned Ritz. The Crystal continued as a place of worship in the early to mid 1930s discontinuing films. The Max Theatre was placed in this same Crystal space beginning after a major refresh on October 29, 1938 with the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film, “Swing Time.”
The theatre was rehabbed in the 1950s to show widecreen and erased much of its past. The building was then badly damaged in a fire in December 2, 1969. When it was rehabbed, the building was modern and not reflective of any of its past. It continued into the mid-1980s as the Max Theatre showing second-run discount movies.
The Aggie opened September 8, 1926 with “The Waning Sex.” It suffered a major fire closing the theater on January 19, 1948. The marquee was used to advertise the bookings which were moved to the Camera Theatre. The rebuilt Aggie opened in 1949.
This venue opened as the Camera Theatre for C.D. Jackson on November 15, 1912 with three-reel movies. At the conclusion of a second 20-year lease, it then closed as the Camera in March 9 1952 with a double feature of “Francis Goes to the Races” and “Borderline.” Under new operators relaunched after a refresh as the Crest Theatre on April 13, 1952 with “An American in Paris.” Woodie B. Sylvester of Video Independent Theatre Circuit took on the venue on July 1, 1954. Also a part of Griffith Circuit, it was closed January 6, 1956 with “Drumbeat” and the building was sold. It was converted that summer for other retail purposes.
Walsie Campbell launched the Corral Drive-In on May 1, 1956 with “Day of Fury.” In September of 1956, he sold both the Deal hardtop theater and the Corral to Elvin Anderson and James Gaskins.
Frank Deal launched the Met Theatre in the Fall of 1910 on a ten-year lease. As the lease was ending, Deal then acquired the neighboring building and expanded the Met as the new Deal Theatre on October 4, 1920. The theater converted to sound and closed for the first time in 1956 as the new Drive-In launched. New operators then purchased by the Corral Drive-In and the Deal reopening on December 7, 1957. But business wasn’t strong and the Deal was closed permanently following April 24, 1960 showings of “Tarzan, the Ape Man.”
E.M. Loew’s Augusta Drive-In Theatre launched in 1950. Its last listings are in 1980 likely indicating closure at the end of a 30-year lease (though not a guarantee).
The Jay Hill Drive-In launched July 10, 1953 with a double-feature of “Desert Legion” and “Meet Me at the Fair.” (Not that it matters particularly, but I don’t see that it ever went by the name of “Drive-In” as stated above and simply opened and closed as the Jay Hill Drive-In.) The ozoner closed for the season on September 11, 1977 with a double-feature of “The Gumball Rally” and “The Domino Principle.” It did not reopen for another season. The concession stand and projection booth was razed in 1983. The screen tower was subsequently razed in August of 1984 ending hopes of a relaunch.
The Rumford Drive-In Theatre launches October 5, 1949 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” and “Shocking Miss Pilgrim” supported by a cartoon. It closed permanently on May 12, 1985 with a double feature of “Missing in Action” and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning.“ The owners were fed up with underage drinking and behavioral issues ending their 27th season not long after it had opened for the season.
General Cinema opened its GCC Northwood Park Cinema with “Tobruk” on February 17, 1967. GCC architect William Riseman had the task of taking the existing Holiday Lanes bowling alley and converting it to a General Cinema location (information above is incorrect). Like many GCC theatres, it had an art gallery area for local artists. February 17, 1967. Five years later, the venue was twinned becoming the GCC Northwood Plaza I & II.
Cinema Centers Corporation of Boston took over the venue on July 19, 1978 altering its name to the Northwood Twin Cinema. Under Hoyts Cinema Circuit’s watch, the theatres were known as Northwood Cinemas. Hoyts bought out the 111-screen Cinema Centers Corp. in 1986. Hoyts operated the Northwood Cinemas until December 13, 1990 closing with “The Rookie” and “The Rescuers Down Under.” They opened the Auburn Cinemas the next day closing the Northwood, the Promenade Mall in Lewistown and the Auburn Mall theatres. After closing, the venue was converted once again - this time to the Fitness Connection Gym in 1991.
A major refresh was conducted in 1936 by architects Thalheimer & Weitz including air conditioning, a new marquee with silhouetted lettering, and a bathing in royal blue and stainless steel for a streamlined moderne makeover. The theatre closed at the end of a 15-year lease with “Dancing in the Dark” and “Brimstone.” It found new operators and continued, apparently, as a theatre for African American patrons until 1957.
The College Theatre launched on September 20, 1946 with “Waltz Time.” It appears to have closed with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on December 5, 1987. If so, that’s a good way to go out.
The Princess was a silent theatre in 1921 and had a brief transition to sound films closing in 1930. It reopened as a live and silent theatre in 1931 before closing again in June of 1931. Cecil Davis took on the venue equipping with sound and relaunching on on August 25, 1933 as the Cement Theatre beginning with “The Life of Jimmy Dolan” with Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. The Cement Theatre went out of business briefly in 1934 and cracked in January of 1935.
Jack and J.A. Weiss took on the former Cement / Princess venue naming it the Holly Theatre beginning with showtimes on October 19, 1935 of Zasu Pitts in “Hot Tips.” Harry F. Smith next bought the Holly Theatre on January 26, 1939 renaming it as Harry’s Theatre. Harry’s ran through the end of May of 1945. In May of 1946, Jesse Sloan took on the venue re-renaming it as the Cement Theatre. In 1953, it appears to have been renamed once again - this time as the Tower Theatre.
Roy Eakins launched the new Royal Theatre on December 8, 1939 with “Here I Am Stranger.” It was in the retrofitted building previously run as the Gibson Brothers' Recreation Parlor. Eakins had run the Palace Theatre in town previously which closed in 1939. The venue was still operating in 1965.
Roy Eakins launched the new Royal Theatre on December 8, 1939 with “Here I Am Stranger.”
Reading the local paper, there is a high likelihood that this began as the Crystal Theatre in 1909. The Crystal Airdome had opened as an outdoor venue in 1909 for the ventilation-challenged theaters of Cherokee, Oklahoma. It did so well that Frank Wilson equipped a movie theater in the existing Millspaugh Building as the Crystal Theatre also in 1909.
The silent movie house competed with the Majestic Theatre in the 1920s before coming under common ownership in 1927 with the Hawk Brothers and then Cherokee Amusement Co. Only one of the two theaters was equipped for sound and it was the Majestic turned Ritz. The Crystal continued as a place of worship in the early to mid 1930s discontinuing films. The Max Theatre was placed in this same Crystal space beginning after a major refresh on October 29, 1938 with the Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire film, “Swing Time.”
The theatre was rehabbed in the 1950s to show widecreen and erased much of its past. The building was then badly damaged in a fire in December 2, 1969. When it was rehabbed, the building was modern and not reflective of any of its past. It continued into the mid-1980s as the Max Theatre showing second-run discount movies.
The Aggie opened September 8, 1926 with “The Waning Sex.” It suffered a major fire closing the theater on January 19, 1948. The marquee was used to advertise the bookings which were moved to the Camera Theatre. The rebuilt Aggie opened in 1949.
The Leachman Theatre launched June 22, 1948
Opened May 5, 1939 with “The Lady’s From Kentucky,” the trade press ranked it among the Top Ten New Theatres launched in the year of 1939.
This venue opened as the Camera Theatre for C.D. Jackson on November 15, 1912 with three-reel movies. At the conclusion of a second 20-year lease, it then closed as the Camera in March 9 1952 with a double feature of “Francis Goes to the Races” and “Borderline.” Under new operators relaunched after a refresh as the Crest Theatre on April 13, 1952 with “An American in Paris.” Woodie B. Sylvester of Video Independent Theatre Circuit took on the venue on July 1, 1954. Also a part of Griffith Circuit, it was closed January 6, 1956 with “Drumbeat” and the building was sold. It was converted that summer for other retail purposes.
Woodie B. Sylvester of Video Independent Theatre Circuit took on the venue on June 1, 1953. VIT closed the Mecca with “Wild Heart” on July 15, 1954.
The Alamo Theatre launched in 1909.
Claude Leachman of the Leachman Theatre launced the Moonlite on June 16, 1949 with Canyon Passage.
Walsie Campbell launched the Corral Drive-In on May 1, 1956 with “Day of Fury.” In September of 1956, he sold both the Deal hardtop theater and the Corral to Elvin Anderson and James Gaskins.
Frank Deal launched the Met Theatre in the Fall of 1910 on a ten-year lease. As the lease was ending, Deal then acquired the neighboring building and expanded the Met as the new Deal Theatre on October 4, 1920. The theater converted to sound and closed for the first time in 1956 as the new Drive-In launched. New operators then purchased by the Corral Drive-In and the Deal reopening on December 7, 1957. But business wasn’t strong and the Deal was closed permanently following April 24, 1960 showings of “Tarzan, the Ape Man.”
Max Paul opened his new Max Theater on September 4, 1947 with “It Happened on 5th Avenue.”
E.M. Loew’s Augusta Drive-In Theatre launched in 1950. Its last listings are in 1980 likely indicating closure at the end of a 30-year lease (though not a guarantee).
The Jay Hill Drive-In launched July 10, 1953 with a double-feature of “Desert Legion” and “Meet Me at the Fair.” (Not that it matters particularly, but I don’t see that it ever went by the name of “Drive-In” as stated above and simply opened and closed as the Jay Hill Drive-In.) The ozoner closed for the season on September 11, 1977 with a double-feature of “The Gumball Rally” and “The Domino Principle.” It did not reopen for another season. The concession stand and projection booth was razed in 1983. The screen tower was subsequently razed in August of 1984 ending hopes of a relaunch.
Louis Chiaramonte was responsible for the major renovation in 1959 changing the interior and exterior look of the Morton Theatre.
Louis Chiaramonte was responsible for the 1957 remodeling and its transformation as the “new” Gray Cinema in 1957.
The Rumford Drive-In Theatre launches October 5, 1949 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue” and “Shocking Miss Pilgrim” supported by a cartoon. It closed permanently on May 12, 1985 with a double feature of “Missing in Action” and Missing in Action 2: The Beginning.“ The owners were fed up with underage drinking and behavioral issues ending their 27th season not long after it had opened for the season.
Ceased operations on April 25, 1982 with “Vice Squad.”
Final shows on September 25, 2021 were “I Can Only Imagine” with “Cry Macho” and “It” with “It Chapter 2.”
General Cinema opened its GCC Northwood Park Cinema with “Tobruk” on February 17, 1967. GCC architect William Riseman had the task of taking the existing Holiday Lanes bowling alley and converting it to a General Cinema location (information above is incorrect). Like many GCC theatres, it had an art gallery area for local artists. February 17, 1967. Five years later, the venue was twinned becoming the GCC Northwood Plaza I & II.
Cinema Centers Corporation of Boston took over the venue on July 19, 1978 altering its name to the Northwood Twin Cinema. Under Hoyts Cinema Circuit’s watch, the theatres were known as Northwood Cinemas. Hoyts bought out the 111-screen Cinema Centers Corp. in 1986. Hoyts operated the Northwood Cinemas until December 13, 1990 closing with “The Rookie” and “The Rescuers Down Under.” They opened the Auburn Cinemas the next day closing the Northwood, the Promenade Mall in Lewistown and the Auburn Mall theatres. After closing, the venue was converted once again - this time to the Fitness Connection Gym in 1991.
Looks to have closed as a discount sub-run dollar house with “Shampoo” at the end of a leasing period on September 28, 1975 with “Shampoo.”
A major refresh was conducted in 1936 by architects Thalheimer & Weitz including air conditioning, a new marquee with silhouetted lettering, and a bathing in royal blue and stainless steel for a streamlined moderne makeover. The theatre closed at the end of a 15-year lease with “Dancing in the Dark” and “Brimstone.” It found new operators and continued, apparently, as a theatre for African American patrons until 1957.
The College Theatre launched on September 20, 1946 with “Waltz Time.” It appears to have closed with “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” on December 5, 1987. If so, that’s a good way to go out.