A bit confusing to someone who is not from the area. Seems there were two (more?) Staten Island Lewis locations. I have a NY Times theatre directory page that lists two Lewis theatres – this is from 6-22-1981: “Mariner’s Harbor – Jerry Lewis Cinema (yes, still using the Lewis name) phone 720-9300. No street address given. "tentative” booking was “Bustin' Loose”. The Surfside in Rockaway Park (formerly a Lewis theatre) street address given as “103-22 Rockaway Beach Blvd. phone 945-4632” Playing “Hardly Working”(!) and “Tribute.”
There were many owners of the Arcade Theatre. It did not close in ‘69. It ran to at least late 1977, possibly into 1978. Donald Guttman acquired it from Harry Dickerman in 1944 along with the Roxy in St Paul and the Alhambra and Northtown in north Minneapolis. In the 1970s the programming was X-rated or 2nd run Hollywood films. Two articles about it were in the St Paul papers, 12/8/76 and 9/20/77. There were probably a few closings and then reopenings post-1969 which may explain the confusion. The theatre definitely was operating in late 77.
Another lawsuit, earlier, 1987:
http://www.leagle.com/decision/19871335681FSupp654_11241/THE%20MOVIE%201%20&%202%20v.%20UNITED%20ARTISTS%20COMMUNICATIONS,%20INC.
Movie 1 & 2 filed a lawsuit against UA Theatres and distributors: http://www.leagle.com/decision/19902154909F2d1245_11941/MOVIE%201%20&%202%20v.%20UNITED%20ARTISTS%20COMMUNICATIONS
Wayne, NJ was the first Lewis theatre anywhere. The first publicity, press conferences, etc., about the start of the company was in Sept. 1969. The problems came to a head in 1973; it took until 1980 for the bankruptcy to go through, apparently. 1970-71 were the better years but the downfall was 1972-73. At that time many of the theatre operators were bolting from the Lewis franchise and either closing or went independent and dropped the Lewis name.
The Capitol Theatre’s final closing was probably 1978, so it lasted far longer than 1950.
It was a Finkelstein & Ruben house; the circa 1930 remodel was a Jack Liebenberg project. The theatre was in the atmospheric style and was a Paramount neighborhood house until 1954, when it was let go, after the decree and the downturn of the early ‘50s. Martin Lebedoff acquired it then; it ran until April 1973. Then it was sold to porno kings Ferris and Edward Alexander, who wanted to show “Deep Throat”. There was a huge neighborhood protest, and the city council fought against it. In June however, a judge ordered the St Paul City Council to issue a license, but whatever manuevering went on behind the scenes, the Alexanders backed down and leased the theatre to David Levy, according to the Mpls Tribune of 7-28-73, who was also operating the Midtown Theatre in St. Paul. Hollywood product began to be shown again in Aug. 1973, “you asked for it — family entertainment.”
The following May, the newspaper advertising suggests that Levy’s tenure had ended and Alexanders may been the exhibitors of some soft X and R pictures. No advertising in the newspapers after May 20, 1974.
No advertising seen until May 1975 when the operation was taken over by Richard Ebensteiner, who was operating the Astor Theatre as well. A few classics were shown occasionally — Marx Bros., and W. C. Fields, and the Capitol scored a coup in Feb. 1976 when with one other theatre, got the first break of “Jaws” after the first run. “The only shark in Minnesota”. A frozen shark was displayed in the theatre, “directly from Sarasota, Florida — bring your camera.”
By April 1976, according to the Minneapolis Star, 6-4-76, Ebensteiner’s operation had suffered numerous break-ins and vandalism, and since the theatre was not doing well, he turned it back to Alexander, who in turn placed a display ad in the Minneapolis Star (6-3-76) selling the theatre, and to contact “Mr. Ferris.” There were also “For Sale” ads in the 3-21-77 and 4-4-77 issues of Boxoffice magazine.
There was some newspaper advertising for only a couple weeks in Sept. 1976 (Hollywood films); a kiddie matinee sponsored by a business association was held on Dec. 18, 1976. A neighborhood newspaper soon reported that Mark Schmitz had taken over the theatre.
Newspaper advertising was confirmed in March, April and June 1977, with the last ad 6-20-77 for “The Child” at 99 cent admission. A 6-15-77 St Paul Dispatch article showed indications that upcoming attractions were booked into July.
Nothing to be found in either St Paul paper until Bill Diehl reported on 2-15-78 that in a couple days Schmitz would reopen the theatre again. In his Boxoffice Magazine column of 2-27-78, he described theatre as being “open again”. No advertising could be found to verify this Feb. 1978 reopening and how long it lasted.
http://www.moviesbystarlight.com/drivein-list/closed-driveins/stardusk-superior/superior.htm has the opening ad. Closed in June 1985 (did not finish out the season). According to trade magazines, a fire in July 1963 destroyed the concession stand.
Latts is correct. 1914 was the opening. Closing was April 1957. A 2-25-57 article in the Ashland Daily Press said the last performance in the theatre was going to be a legit show “Showboat Minstrel Days” on April 24-25, 1957 put on by “Irish Bill” Dormady, who had put on many shows in the city’s theaters. The photo “take your family to the movies tonight” was featured in this article but the date of that photo(?) it could have been a file photo. And, no confirmation found yet as to when the last films were actually shown here.
This isn’t a real theatre, lest anyone gets the wrong idea. This is a screening room inside the visitor’s center and it’s on the level of some (more affluent) people’s home theaters.
John J. Friedl was the head of Minnesota Amusement Company, which was the theatre subsidiary of Paramount in MN, WI, ND and SD. This theatre was in that chain for a number of years, from inception. Liebenberg designed a lot of theatres for Paramount/Minnesota Amusement in the 1920s, 30s and many remodelings in the 40s and 50s. A few theatres were divested in the 1950s by decree, and some closed and others continued on. The early 50’s merger between Paramount theate chain and ABC created “AB-Paramount Theatres” and by 1968 the name was just ABC Theatres. This particular region was called ABC North Central Theatres, sold to Plitt in 1974. Friedl was of the 1930s and 40s; he had successors such as Harry French, Charles Winchell, etc. The “Minnesota Amusement Company” name was dropped around 1968, then “ABC Theatres” logo became to be used in the newspaper ads.
Was listed in 1947 MPAA directory as being operated by Ralph Green; may have been the same Ralph Green who had some theatres in Minneapolis; 9-20-71 Boxoffice article mentioned this theatre was one of many rural theatres in MN and WIS that would be closing for the winter; theatre forums on the internet suggest this theatre was operating in 2000.
To clarify, this theatre should be listed as either the Duluth Theatre (1966 on) or the West Theatre (1937 to 66 name). The name on this page’s header should be changed and eliminate the Spirit Valley. That was only an advertising gimmick tried by businesses in that area during the mid 1970’s and on. The theatre name never was officially changed. Crosier did a lot of theatres in MN and WIS in the late 30s, but I haven’t come across indications he did much work for the larger chains – he seemed to do work for independents and small local chains. The Paramount work around here was primarily done by Liebenberg & Kaplan. Kaake died in 1993.
The links Joe Vogel provides in his 7-26-2014 post: do some more searching on that site and you will find photos for many of the downtown Duluth theatres – there are 1963 photos of the Granada, Norshor, Strand; there is a late 50’s photo of the closed World Theatre (fka Lake), and there are Lyric and Lyceum photos.
Remodeled 1970; last Hollywood films shown 4/3/79. X-rated fare from May 1979 to Jan 1980. Floor leveled and theatre stripped out Oct 1980; after floors were leveled became a used bookstore; demolished 6/17/87.
The above are links to the Facebook page of the theatre and the chamber of commerce FB as well; and the DNT article is still there, and two photos – from probably late 1947 or early ‘48 of the front and a more current photo – both are on the Duluth News Tribune page and the links to the photos are above. The 1947-48 photo is the only one I could find that shows the “Harbor” name. Those letters were still there until more recent years.
There were a number of silent theatres in Two Harbors; one was the Rex, which burned in 1914. Information on these early theatres is very sketchy. By the 1930s there were two theatres – the State and the Harbor. In trade magazine accounts during 1945-46, the Harbor that we know today was a re-build of the previous theatre. That is how it was phrased – “rebuild”. One can assume it was a new theatre on the same site. How extensive was the remodeling, or a totally new building, is unknown. At some point the State theatre closed – most likely 1950’s. Minneapolis area theatre owners Mans and O’Reilly sold Bill Holisky the new Harbor. Trade magazines suggest the sale happened during the construction phase, in Jan. 1947. The 1947-48 photo of the front that the Duluth News Tribune has on its site, shows a poster for “The Long Night”; “Magic Town” is often credited as the first film played in the new theatre (to be verified).
The theatre closed around late 1983 or 1984, but was reopened again by another set of operators in April 1985, and went to about ‘88 or ‘89. This was the last period of time when 35mm film was run in this theatre. The building was either vacant or used for warehousing-industrial types of businesses since then. Funny to note how many people seemed to have forgotten the theatre ran up to ‘88 or ‘89, no recent articles mention this.
If you look at the theatre’s Facebook page today, the photos show a very nice job done in the lobby but the auditorium has been altered considerably. Gone are the murals and paint work, the stage build out was not there before, and it looks like the auditorium is about half the length it used to be. Of course the flourescent lighting wasn’t there.
The theatre is now showing only DVDs or video files. Some of the photos on the Facebook pages show what that is like – something akin to a PowerPoint presentation.
The theatre had dual 35mm projectors – never had a platter. No recent articles have said anything about what became of the projectors, nor any detail given about the alterations to the auditorium – some of which may have been made by the businesses that used the building in the 1990s and 2000’s.
The seating capacity given on this page’s header is 600, but it was around 400 to 425 in its later years as a film house.
The Google photos don’t look right they are not showing St Aubin … anyway, the Esquire eventually became the Cinema Theatre, always was a single screen, and it ran well into the 1980’s – don’t know when it closed. Also not mentioned on the Sioux City theatres page is the Cameo Theatre which was downtown on 409 Nebraska, a twin with narrow auditoriums and it was in business from around the late 60s to the late 80s.
A 9-24-71 Peter Citron column in the Omaha World Herald asked about the delay in opening promised Jerry Lewis theatres. The franchise holder was Mid-America Theatres Inc., and the article said a partner in that company was David Tews, a lawyer from Lincoln, and was interviewed for this article to explain the status of the theatres. All were in the construction phase or dirt hadn’t been turned over yet. Besides one to be built in Bellevue, there were three – 84th and Frederick; 90th and Maple (which did open in Nov 72) and 119th and Pacific. So this ‘Gemini" theatre apparently was a Jerry Lewis theatre originally.
The ad in the photos section says the theatre was in “La Grange”. The ad is from 11/8/72
I have a poor photo of it from late 1997 and it was out of business at that time.
A bit confusing to someone who is not from the area. Seems there were two (more?) Staten Island Lewis locations. I have a NY Times theatre directory page that lists two Lewis theatres – this is from 6-22-1981: “Mariner’s Harbor – Jerry Lewis Cinema (yes, still using the Lewis name) phone 720-9300. No street address given. "tentative” booking was “Bustin' Loose”. The Surfside in Rockaway Park (formerly a Lewis theatre) street address given as “103-22 Rockaway Beach Blvd. phone 945-4632” Playing “Hardly Working”(!) and “Tribute.”
There were many owners of the Arcade Theatre. It did not close in ‘69. It ran to at least late 1977, possibly into 1978. Donald Guttman acquired it from Harry Dickerman in 1944 along with the Roxy in St Paul and the Alhambra and Northtown in north Minneapolis. In the 1970s the programming was X-rated or 2nd run Hollywood films. Two articles about it were in the St Paul papers, 12/8/76 and 9/20/77. There were probably a few closings and then reopenings post-1969 which may explain the confusion. The theatre definitely was operating in late 77.
Another lawsuit, earlier, 1987: http://www.leagle.com/decision/19871335681FSupp654_11241/THE%20MOVIE%201%20&%202%20v.%20UNITED%20ARTISTS%20COMMUNICATIONS,%20INC.
http://www.leagle.com/decision/19872223828F2d1395_12000/THEEE%20MOVIES%20OF%20TARZANA%20v.%20PACIFIC%20THEATRES,%20INC.
1987 lawsuit Theee Movies of Tarzana vs. Pacific Theatres
Movie 1 & 2 filed a lawsuit against UA Theatres and distributors: http://www.leagle.com/decision/19902154909F2d1245_11941/MOVIE%201%20&%202%20v.%20UNITED%20ARTISTS%20COMMUNICATIONS
Wayne, NJ was the first Lewis theatre anywhere. The first publicity, press conferences, etc., about the start of the company was in Sept. 1969. The problems came to a head in 1973; it took until 1980 for the bankruptcy to go through, apparently. 1970-71 were the better years but the downfall was 1972-73. At that time many of the theatre operators were bolting from the Lewis franchise and either closing or went independent and dropped the Lewis name.
Demolished March 2002.
Closed early 1980s because the street was being widened. Demolished.
the opening may have to be double-checked. An article in the Des Moines Register on Oct. 26, 2001 says “opening today”
The Capitol Theatre’s final closing was probably 1978, so it lasted far longer than 1950.
It was a Finkelstein & Ruben house; the circa 1930 remodel was a Jack Liebenberg project. The theatre was in the atmospheric style and was a Paramount neighborhood house until 1954, when it was let go, after the decree and the downturn of the early ‘50s. Martin Lebedoff acquired it then; it ran until April 1973. Then it was sold to porno kings Ferris and Edward Alexander, who wanted to show “Deep Throat”. There was a huge neighborhood protest, and the city council fought against it. In June however, a judge ordered the St Paul City Council to issue a license, but whatever manuevering went on behind the scenes, the Alexanders backed down and leased the theatre to David Levy, according to the Mpls Tribune of 7-28-73, who was also operating the Midtown Theatre in St. Paul. Hollywood product began to be shown again in Aug. 1973, “you asked for it — family entertainment.”
The following May, the newspaper advertising suggests that Levy’s tenure had ended and Alexanders may been the exhibitors of some soft X and R pictures. No advertising in the newspapers after May 20, 1974.
No advertising seen until May 1975 when the operation was taken over by Richard Ebensteiner, who was operating the Astor Theatre as well. A few classics were shown occasionally — Marx Bros., and W. C. Fields, and the Capitol scored a coup in Feb. 1976 when with one other theatre, got the first break of “Jaws” after the first run. “The only shark in Minnesota”. A frozen shark was displayed in the theatre, “directly from Sarasota, Florida — bring your camera.”
By April 1976, according to the Minneapolis Star, 6-4-76, Ebensteiner’s operation had suffered numerous break-ins and vandalism, and since the theatre was not doing well, he turned it back to Alexander, who in turn placed a display ad in the Minneapolis Star (6-3-76) selling the theatre, and to contact “Mr. Ferris.” There were also “For Sale” ads in the 3-21-77 and 4-4-77 issues of Boxoffice magazine.
There was some newspaper advertising for only a couple weeks in Sept. 1976 (Hollywood films); a kiddie matinee sponsored by a business association was held on Dec. 18, 1976. A neighborhood newspaper soon reported that Mark Schmitz had taken over the theatre.
Newspaper advertising was confirmed in March, April and June 1977, with the last ad 6-20-77 for “The Child” at 99 cent admission. A 6-15-77 St Paul Dispatch article showed indications that upcoming attractions were booked into July.
Nothing to be found in either St Paul paper until Bill Diehl reported on 2-15-78 that in a couple days Schmitz would reopen the theatre again. In his Boxoffice Magazine column of 2-27-78, he described theatre as being “open again”. No advertising could be found to verify this Feb. 1978 reopening and how long it lasted.
Theatre is for sale, June 2015. “By Bank. 920-459-5600, ext. 5812” said sign in the window
http://www.moviesbystarlight.com/drivein-list/closed-driveins/stardusk-superior/superior.htm has the opening ad. Closed in June 1985 (did not finish out the season). According to trade magazines, a fire in July 1963 destroyed the concession stand.
Latts is correct. 1914 was the opening. Closing was April 1957. A 2-25-57 article in the Ashland Daily Press said the last performance in the theatre was going to be a legit show “Showboat Minstrel Days” on April 24-25, 1957 put on by “Irish Bill” Dormady, who had put on many shows in the city’s theaters. The photo “take your family to the movies tonight” was featured in this article but the date of that photo(?) it could have been a file photo. And, no confirmation found yet as to when the last films were actually shown here.
This isn’t a real theatre, lest anyone gets the wrong idea. This is a screening room inside the visitor’s center and it’s on the level of some (more affluent) people’s home theaters.
John J. Friedl was the head of Minnesota Amusement Company, which was the theatre subsidiary of Paramount in MN, WI, ND and SD. This theatre was in that chain for a number of years, from inception. Liebenberg designed a lot of theatres for Paramount/Minnesota Amusement in the 1920s, 30s and many remodelings in the 40s and 50s. A few theatres were divested in the 1950s by decree, and some closed and others continued on. The early 50’s merger between Paramount theate chain and ABC created “AB-Paramount Theatres” and by 1968 the name was just ABC Theatres. This particular region was called ABC North Central Theatres, sold to Plitt in 1974. Friedl was of the 1930s and 40s; he had successors such as Harry French, Charles Winchell, etc. The “Minnesota Amusement Company” name was dropped around 1968, then “ABC Theatres” logo became to be used in the newspaper ads.
Was listed in 1947 MPAA directory as being operated by Ralph Green; may have been the same Ralph Green who had some theatres in Minneapolis; 9-20-71 Boxoffice article mentioned this theatre was one of many rural theatres in MN and WIS that would be closing for the winter; theatre forums on the internet suggest this theatre was operating in 2000.
May 2015: the building is for sale again, had a sign on it.
To clarify, this theatre should be listed as either the Duluth Theatre (1966 on) or the West Theatre (1937 to 66 name). The name on this page’s header should be changed and eliminate the Spirit Valley. That was only an advertising gimmick tried by businesses in that area during the mid 1970’s and on. The theatre name never was officially changed. Crosier did a lot of theatres in MN and WIS in the late 30s, but I haven’t come across indications he did much work for the larger chains – he seemed to do work for independents and small local chains. The Paramount work around here was primarily done by Liebenberg & Kaplan. Kaake died in 1993.
The links Joe Vogel provides in his 7-26-2014 post: do some more searching on that site and you will find photos for many of the downtown Duluth theatres – there are 1963 photos of the Granada, Norshor, Strand; there is a late 50’s photo of the closed World Theatre (fka Lake), and there are Lyric and Lyceum photos.
Remodeled 1970; last Hollywood films shown 4/3/79. X-rated fare from May 1979 to Jan 1980. Floor leveled and theatre stripped out Oct 1980; after floors were leveled became a used bookstore; demolished 6/17/87.
http://www.facebook.com/HarborTheater616
http://www.twoharborschamber.com/members/harbor-theater/
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/content/harbor-theater-brings-big-screen-back-two-harbors-first-time-1980s
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sites/default/files/styles/16x9_860/public/field/image/theater0906c1.jpg
http://www.duluthnewstribune.com/sites/default/files/styles/full_1000/public/field/image/theater0906cx.jpg
The above are links to the Facebook page of the theatre and the chamber of commerce FB as well; and the DNT article is still there, and two photos – from probably late 1947 or early ‘48 of the front and a more current photo – both are on the Duluth News Tribune page and the links to the photos are above. The 1947-48 photo is the only one I could find that shows the “Harbor” name. Those letters were still there until more recent years.
There were a number of silent theatres in Two Harbors; one was the Rex, which burned in 1914. Information on these early theatres is very sketchy. By the 1930s there were two theatres – the State and the Harbor. In trade magazine accounts during 1945-46, the Harbor that we know today was a re-build of the previous theatre. That is how it was phrased – “rebuild”. One can assume it was a new theatre on the same site. How extensive was the remodeling, or a totally new building, is unknown. At some point the State theatre closed – most likely 1950’s. Minneapolis area theatre owners Mans and O’Reilly sold Bill Holisky the new Harbor. Trade magazines suggest the sale happened during the construction phase, in Jan. 1947. The 1947-48 photo of the front that the Duluth News Tribune has on its site, shows a poster for “The Long Night”; “Magic Town” is often credited as the first film played in the new theatre (to be verified).
The theatre closed around late 1983 or 1984, but was reopened again by another set of operators in April 1985, and went to about ‘88 or ‘89. This was the last period of time when 35mm film was run in this theatre. The building was either vacant or used for warehousing-industrial types of businesses since then. Funny to note how many people seemed to have forgotten the theatre ran up to ‘88 or ‘89, no recent articles mention this.
If you look at the theatre’s Facebook page today, the photos show a very nice job done in the lobby but the auditorium has been altered considerably. Gone are the murals and paint work, the stage build out was not there before, and it looks like the auditorium is about half the length it used to be. Of course the flourescent lighting wasn’t there.
The theatre is now showing only DVDs or video files. Some of the photos on the Facebook pages show what that is like – something akin to a PowerPoint presentation.
The theatre had dual 35mm projectors – never had a platter. No recent articles have said anything about what became of the projectors, nor any detail given about the alterations to the auditorium – some of which may have been made by the businesses that used the building in the 1990s and 2000’s.
The seating capacity given on this page’s header is 600, but it was around 400 to 425 in its later years as a film house.
The Google photos don’t look right they are not showing St Aubin … anyway, the Esquire eventually became the Cinema Theatre, always was a single screen, and it ran well into the 1980’s – don’t know when it closed. Also not mentioned on the Sioux City theatres page is the Cameo Theatre which was downtown on 409 Nebraska, a twin with narrow auditoriums and it was in business from around the late 60s to the late 80s.
A 9-24-71 Peter Citron column in the Omaha World Herald asked about the delay in opening promised Jerry Lewis theatres. The franchise holder was Mid-America Theatres Inc., and the article said a partner in that company was David Tews, a lawyer from Lincoln, and was interviewed for this article to explain the status of the theatres. All were in the construction phase or dirt hadn’t been turned over yet. Besides one to be built in Bellevue, there were three – 84th and Frederick; 90th and Maple (which did open in Nov 72) and 119th and Pacific. So this ‘Gemini" theatre apparently was a Jerry Lewis theatre originally.