Randolph Theatre
1116 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19107
1116 Chestnut Street,
Philadelphia,
PA
19107
10 people
favorited this theater
Showing 1 - 25 of 61 comments
Enlargeable version of previously posted 1907 photo.
https://www.shorpy.com/node/10738
I would say that William Goldman was a showman,his successors were in the movie business. Thank God growing up in Philadelphia I got to experience the Fox,Stanley,Boyd and Randolph which were real movie palaces. Sadly,all departed.
jackjswartz: Unfortunately Cinema Treasures cannot put other contributors in touch with each other. Hopefully your comment of June 6, 2019 will be seen by Bertinphilly. Ken Roe, Volunteer Theatre Editor
Howard I haven’t been on this site since ‘14 but I just saw a post from Bertinphilly and since he mentioned me by my full name I would love to make contact with him to reminisce I don’t know if you could help me with this ,Jack
Link with a 1953 photo of Richard Nixon riding by the Randolph Theatre. Copyright The Grand Review.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/230827677/vice-president-nixon-meets-1950s-3d-sci?fbclid=IwAR0f7FmK3OKFTElyk5yVwRUlhRd-SH3yi28gNwaCtIE37Nk15sHkyzXh1BI
My father worked as an usher at the Randolph Theater when he was young, I believe in the early 1950s. His name was Thomas Warner Titlow. He passed away in 2005 at age 72. He said he earned 50 cents an hour at the Randolph and saw the movie “Showboat” 187 times. He later worked at another movie theater in Philadelphia called the Midtown. If anybody happens to remember the name Titlow from many years back, give me a shout.
November 9th, 1902 grand opening ad in the photo section as Keith’s.
Linkrot repair: The Boxoffice articles mentioned in my previous comment have been moved. The April 1, 1950, article about the remodeling is now here:
Page 1
Page 2
The October 7, 1950, article about theater lighting which is illustrated by a photo of the Randolph Theatre’s lobby is here:
Page 1
Page 2
I went to all these ctr city theatres in the 50’s. Back then the c c theatres were the best places to see a movie. In the 60’s I worked for Budco Theaters out of Doylestown. Manager and dist. manager. Budco was the D-I king. In my opinion buying the Goldman chain hurt Budco. It seemed to be down hill from there.
Bertinphilly, I get you want to chat with others from that era, but not from then (child then),I learned from the weekend tuxedo reference & would be eager to hear about any movie premieres, stars, or anything about the moviegoing experience then. FYI, that’s primarily my Intro above. I also wrote the Intros for the Goldman & Regency. Any recollections about movies specific to those theaters would fit nicely on those pages. Thanks!
Stumbled on this site accidentally. I worked for Goldman theaters from 1969 to about 1972. Assistant manager at the Goldman, then assistant manager at the Regency. Manager at Goldman was a short bald gentleman whose name I cant recall and the manager at the Regency was Mr. Tota. My friend Alan Kosher got me the initial job. I remember the assistant managers would meet at the old Pub restaurant on Walnut St. after evening shifts for steaks, lettuce wedges and two sorts of bread on a bread board. Jack Swartz, Alan K and a fellow whose name was something like Einhorn plus a fourth fellow whose name I dont recall at all. Weekends we wore tuxedos. Would enjoy chatting anyone from that era, .
When HELLO, DOLLY! and TORA! TORA! TORA! played, I practically moved-in to The Randloph. I saw both those films, many times there. Loved this theater and its great screen and sound system. Jack’s comments, about so few people in the audience for HELLO, DOLLY!, don’t match-up to my recollection, at all. The 10 times I saw it there, were with very large houses. Also, it was the 5th highest-grossing film of the year. Of course, he worked there, so he would know better. TORA! I recall experiencing the dwindling audiences. I love that film.
Grand opeing ad at
http://fultonhistory.com/Newspapers%2023/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201949/Philadelphia%20PA%20Inquirer%201949%20b%20-%206317.pdf
as well as the photo section
Here are links to a couple of items about the Randolph Theatre in Boxoffice that were mentioned in previous comments but not linked:
Article about the remodeling from April 1, 1950.
Photo of the lobby from October 7, 1950.
Dial M for Murder world premiere in 3D here http://www.3dfilmarchive.com/dial-m-blu-ray-review
To Andyp From BREAKTIME,Thanks for response,after 40 yrs.you also remembered the OJ.IM Sure you still have marks on your neck from wearing the Usher Uniform Rock Hard Cardboard Fake shirts with Black Bow Tie. If I Still remember the Jackets were Burgundy.
Breaktime: I remember those OJ cartons, I sold them also when I worked a the Midtown from 1969 to 1970. Saw the movie “OLIVER!” for ten months.
HI;My Name is Joe I WORKED THE Randolph from 1967 until 1970. I Was a usher then so called chief usher. I Remember during the intermission of the show in the middle of the lobby we would sell these small cartons of orange juice, we set up a small table.A FEW Times when the candy stand got busy Mr.Burke asst Mgr .or MR.Cohen told me go help behind the counter,could never forget that Butter Machine
Multiple sources from the early 20th century indicate that Bruce Price was the lead architect of Keith’s Theatre in Philadelphia, and Albert E. Westover his local associate. The web site of the Art Institute of Chicago displays three photos of Keith’s Theatre, originally published in the journal The Inland Architect and News Record:
Entrance
Crystal Room
Lobby
The March, 1904, issue of The Theatre had an article about Philadelphia’s theaters which included the following description of Keith’s Theatre:
as we started to close the theatre,nothing was left we pulled ou the seats and sent them to a theatre in chambursburg. the screen,which was made up of 2 inch louvre strips was simply cut down and we sold the scaffolding on which it was installed. the cinemascope lenses ,which were rented, i retuned.with the warning,if you drop these kid,just keep going.
last show at the randollph theatre was tora,tora,tora. reserved seating with advanced sales. opened to alarge audience. but was not received very well. apparently the older americans, who served during word war two,memories of the event were far different than those portrayed in the film.quote , by one customer “if you think we were that stupid, you’re crazy!” “who made this movie a bunch of commies.!” at any rate within a few weeks the theatre as well as the show died a slow,painful death.
Jack, please add your Patton recollection directly on the Goldman Theatre page, including whether there were any of the movie stars, director, etc present or whatever hoopla there was. So few people for “Hello Dolly” implies to me that the Randolph really was too far east on Chestnut, from the other movie theaters. I look forward to your later postings!
howard,i worked at the randolph for two years from ‘69-closing in '71 the only “hollywood” style 0pening that i can remember was the running of patton at the gold man theatre. by the time I was working there the hay day of hard ticket films were at a close. during hello dolly there were perhaps 5-15 people in the audience,with about 30 in the evening show. I have to leave for work now, but I have more for you on tora,tora,tora.when I’m done this evening.
Jack, you were there when it closed? what year did you begin working at the Randolph? were there any movie premieres, perhaps with movie stars, when you were there? What regular movie screenings do you recall? did the theater do well in attendence for the regular screenings? if you worked or saw movies at other Philadelphia theaters, your recollections on those pages would also be welcome. Other Center City theaters run by Goldman would be listed on this site by their last names, Prince Music (prior: Midtown), Goldman, and Regency I & II.
my name is jack swartz,I was the last assistant mgr of the randolph theatre. norman cohen was our district mgr. and his office was located in the randolph. my office was located just down the hall from the old ice house,which was used for early air conditioning efforts during the keiths era.since the randolph was built inside of the keiths we used to store our supplies up the old marble staircase which led to the balcony of the keiths theatre.any information that I may have I will be glad to furnish. there may be some lapses of memory to to a recent stroke I sustained but I hope I may be able to help out some people.