Renel Theatre

If you google search EXACTLY “Boxoffice May 29, 1937” and when the issue appears, type “Philadelphia” in the search box then after enough clicks, you will eventually see a photo of the glass block fireplace & mural above it! (next to a photo of a giant Hollywood vertical sign).

Does the fireplace & mural survive?

Thanks, Howard, for the link to the Renel’s fireplace. I remember those chairs very well, although I never sat in them. When I was going to the Renel in the late 50’s and early 60’s the lounge always seemed to be very dimly lit and creepy to this young boy. I was very quick in going to the boys room (I think to the left of the fireplace, girls to the right) and did not want to linger in the lounge at all.

I was an usher in the Renel Theatre in 1952 or 1953 (I was 15 years old). At that time, my responsibilities were to usher patrons to their seats by holding a flashlight behind me and focusing is on the patrons feet, to clean the theatre after performances (a formidable task after Saturday matinees), and to clean the restrooms. I also had to change the marquee on a very high ladder (in poor condition) with new performances. I got to know the projectionist quite well and he would invite me into the upstairs booth to watch while he switched from one projector to the next. When he needed to splice broken film he would give me a few 35 mm frames from films. I had frames from “Young Bess,” “Stalag 17” and others. Most of the films shown I would watch 15-20 times, and it was after “The Juggler” played that I taught myself to juggle. My most vivid memory was when we converted to 3-D. I worked until 3:00am while the screen was painted silver and a device was added to the two projectors for coordinated projection. Films that we had during this period were “Bwana Devil” and the “Wax Museum.” The Renel was a “2nd Run” theatre so most of the films that were presented were several weeks or months old by the time they arrived at the theatre. Several years later, my sister worked at the Renel in the ticket booth selling tickets.

The last day of advertising for the Renel in the Inquirer looks like September 12, 1970, with “Cry of the Banshee” and “Kiss and Kill” as the features. A November 28, 1971 story about neighbors protesting the XXX policy calls the house simply the Adult Theater, while a Daily News story from February 8, 1972 about a robbery of the place calls it the Consenting Adult Theater. The adult operation does not appear to have advertised in either of those papers.

Google street view shows the former theater is Upper Room Missionary Baptist Church