The Joy Theatre, named after Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Bush’s daughter Joy, opened its doors on May 4, 1928 with William Boyd in “Skyscraper” and an unnamed vaudeville act with no extras.
Information about the Joy Theatre as of 1928 goes as follows: The entire building was built out of solid concrete with a stucco finish, complete in fireproof, and outside the theater features a mission-style box office with a Spanish type tiling around the bottom. The original facade of the building in exterior stucco features a creative look of five cast-staffed ornaments. The large center one is a satyr with a harp and lion’s head on either side, and the original marquee as of 1928 is wine-colored on the top and gray underneath with 40 lights in total. The roof is tile with a tile coping in the front, and the store windows are heavy-plated glass with small transoms and top lights enclosed with woodwork.
Going inside, the original foyer, main aisles, and stairways are all covered with a Wilton pile carpet, and the lighting fixtures feature hammered glass in lantern effects. A large overstuffed occasional chair, two floor lamps, two fireside benches, hanging baskets, and a wicker davenport enhance the entirety of the foyer, alongside a drinking fountain and a large mirror. There are both left and right stairways. The right stairways lead to the balcony for the colored, while the left stairways lead to the cry room complete with rocking chairs and occasional chairs alongside a davenport. The men’s restrooms are located to the right of the foyer. The archway to the right leads to the business offices on the first floor. The entire walls of the body are California stucco in a brocade finish. Eight fountain brackets near the ceiling with red and blue lights creates an effect. Four large and hammered mission-styled glass chandeliers with seven bug globes in each other are worked with dimmer effects.
Inside the auditorium as of 1928 featured the original capacity of 560 leather cushioned seats (530 in the orchestra pit and 30 in the balcony). A total of 20 seats in the orchestra pit are upholstered cushioned loges on a carpeted floor behind a railing and was roped off from the rest of the seats. The original organ is an Aeolian manufactured model with arches to the right and left of the proscenium. The grand drape and sides are fireproof velour, with the main arch finished with variegated gold trimming. And lastly, the exit doors are draped with green velour with gold braid and black trimmings.
Built on site of the Thies Garage, the Diane Theatre opened its doors on May 30, 1937 with Charles Ruggles in “Turn Off The Moon” (unknown if extras added).
The Hill Theatre opened its doors on Christmas Day 1937 with Jeanette MacDonald in “The Firefly” (unknown if extras added). It was named after Harry C. Hill, who partnered with Venetian Theatre operator Orange Phelps.
The Venetian Theatre opened its doors by Mr. Orange Phelps on September 4, 1925 with Richard Dix in “The Lucky Devil” along with a few unnamed Paramount shorts and a few musical performances before showing. The Venetian opened just on time for Paramount to celebrate its 8th Annual Paramount Week, which the Venetian received a special honor in its advertisement.
Renamed the Granada Theatre on November 16, 1929, reopening after extensive remodeling with Normal Shearer in “The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney” and Lupino Lane in “Buying A Gun” along with silent MGM News.
Construction of the McKenzie Theatre with an estimate $70,000 lasted almost a year since ground broke on October 7, 1945, while under the war production board authority. Many delays were experienced due to material shortages and severe weather.
The McKenzie Theatre opened its doors on September 11, 1946 with Joel McCrea in “The Virginian” (unknown if extras added). The McKenzie originally housed 600 Haywood-Wakefield Deluxe seats, featuring RCA sound and Super Cinephor F-2 lenses in their projection.
The Antlers Theatre in the Elks building opened its doors on October 4, 1913 with a live presentation of “Officer 666”. As of 1913, the theater originally housed 776 solid mahogany heavily upholstered seats with black and gold striped iron frames to the lower floor of each seat, with 500 seats in the main pit, 144 seats in the balcony (100 normal seats and 44 box seats), and 132 seats in the gallery.
A lot of information about the theater as of 1913 goes as follows: Outside the theater featured a marquee with 140 electric lights with an electric sign spelling out the theater’s name, and going inside contains a grand total of 1,200 lights. The ticket booth is located at the right of the inside foyer, and the main floor is directly at the back of the foyer. The aisles and stairways are covered in a 36-inch heavy velvet carpet. There is a ladies dressing room with patent coat racks, a dressing table, and chairs located off of the boxes on each side. On the lower floor features another dressing room for the ladies which is larger ad bigger than the one near the balcony (damn the misandry gets hotter here). At the left of the outside foyer is the entrance to the balcony, which consists of a flight of stairs that approaches an inclined walk that goes across the front of the building and turns upward again to the balcony. The main decorations featured a light cream ceiling which gradually blends into darker shades till the bottom of the wall is reached when the shade is faded to a darker tan.
The original scenery curtain features a street scene, a garden scene and a combination of landscape and nature with a 12-piece interior drawing and dining room scene, in addition to the grand borders, tormenters, wings, interior and foliage borders. There is also a 12-piece kitchen scene which is home-like and attractive in the scenery, which the entire scenery curtain measures 44ft high in total. The stage opening measures 28 feet wide, 20 feet high, and 26 feet deep. The dressing rooms are also situated under the club rooms of the Elks temple. Up in the fireproof projection room contains Motiograph projectors, and lastly back down contains a 6-piece orchestra pit, which is low enough so that those in the orchestra will not interfere with the view of any of the audience.
The Antlers Theatre was renamed the Hunt’s Indian Theatre on October 15, 1930 after extensive remodeling, reopening with Spencer Tracy in “Up The River” along with a few unnamed shorts. It was managed by George Hunt, who partially named the theater after himself.
Here are the differences about the 1930 remodel: Walking through an archway hung with red silk plush curtains on wrought iron rods, one enters the foyer that is carpentered with a specially designed carpet laid over a 75-inch carpeting, and the walls have a special touch of Indian architecture, which fits the name of the theater. The foyer is furnished with luxurious upholstered furniture done in jacquard velour which harmonizes with the general color scheme. The motif for the wall and ceiling decoration through the building features touching designs of early Indian patterns. At one end of the mezzanine lounge is a ladies restroom which is done in a style radically different, with an art modern style.
The marquee was also updated in both size and design, measuring 33ft long and 5ft high at the center, with a green border and the red lettering, and flashes on and off. It was equipped with the same design of sign with a double line attraction board at each end and raised opalite glass letters illuminating to herald the attraction’s title. Four flood lights are mounted upon the marquee, which will throw a flood of colored light upon the facade of the building. The box office is an island type and decorated, retaining with the general decorative scheme. A small neon sign was added above the ticket window.
The capacity of seats was also upgraded and updated in the 1930 remodel, with 975 jacquard velour seats with bright red taupes, birch mahogany woodwork, and grey leather cushioning over heavy springing replacing the solid mahogany heavily upholstered seats with black and gold striped iron frames prior to the remodeling. The drape was also replaced with an Indian red silk plush with a 6-foot border of friar’s cloth and side drapes of the same material. Back of this is another set of side drapes of decorated friar cloth that matches the front stage drapes, and all were done by hand in oil. The theater’s original organ was also reinstalled in the pit, and lights were installed at the aisles to avoid a frontman using a flashlight. The screen was also updated with a firepoof asbestos one. Lastly, Western Electric sound was also added with an estimate $15,000, with 16-foot sized screen mounted directly behind the screen.
The Umpqua Theatres Company opened the Star Theatre’s doors on January 17, 1945 with Dorothy Lamour in “And The Angels Sing” along with an unnamed Bugs Bunny cartoon and an unnamed sports reel.
This started life as the Majestic Theatre and operated as early as 1912. After extensive remodeling, the Majestic Theatre was renamed the Rose Theatre, reopening by managers Lloyd Claver and O.L. Wood on April 7, 1931 with Joe E. Brown in “Top Speed” along with the musical short “Railroad Follies”, the Grantland Rice Sportlight “Racqueteers”, and the Hal Skelly comedy short “The Gob”, featuring RCA Photophone sound.
Information about the theater as of 1931 goes as follows: A flashing neon rose which includes 100ft of electric tubing throughout the marquee, and a double line border around the entire sign flashes on and off at regular intervals while the theater name in 24-inch letters above the marquee. The marquee is a sheet of metal with decorative motif. A large panel at the front contains the name of the theater, with eight large lights furnish illumination beneath the marquee, while the lower side is finished in pure white enamel. The background of the boards is metallic with little panels arranged to hold the photos used to advertise the picture. A box office features a glass window scheme and decorations fitting in with the general plan of the building.
The lobby is in the same scheme and leading to the two entrances enters the foyer. The foyer opens at one end into the managers' office and at the other into the ladies room. Heavy carpeting covers the foyer floor, and special light fixtures throw a soft light on the room. There is also a drinking fountain located at the center of the foyer. Two wide entrances lead to the auditorium. Its carpeting runs the full length of the two main aisles across the front and back of the auditorium, and covers the foyer, office, and ladies room. In the ventilating system which changes the air in the auditorium every four minutes, two large outlets in the ceiling provided the vents through which fans draw the warm air. Steam radiators heat up the building during the winter months.
A total of 400 upholstered seats with red velour seatbacks and red leather seat cushions were placed during the remodel. The original stage curtain is green plush, and green curtains of the same material across the entrances and the exits. Both of these were controlled by the projectionist at the projection room. Finally, one striking detail is the noiselessness of the curtain across the stage, as rubber rollers on the rubber lined track makes the movement of the curtain completely silent. The capacity of the seats was upgraded to 550 sometime later in its history, though I cannot confirm any information about it.
The Varsity Theatre opened its doors on November 18, 1937 with Eddie Cantor in “Ali Baba Goes To Town” (unknown if extras added) plus a special address delivered by Ashland Chamber of Commerce Frank J. Van Dyke before showing. It was originally owned by Walter Leverette and managed by Lee B. Ryan. A total of more than 1,000 people crowded the theater for its grand opening attraction.
Frank C. Clark and Robert Keeney are the main architects and was both erected and constructed by Elmer N. Childers with an estimate $75,000. The original “neon” marquee features a snow-white stucco front, which extends through the lobby, and both Western Electric Mirrophonic sound and Motiograph projectors with Brenkert Enarc lamps were the original ingredients in the projection room.
Opened on November 28, 1951 with Bob Hope in “Fancy Pants” (unknown if extras added). The screen is already gone by 1970. The exact address is 3846-3836 US-25, Millen, GA 30442, located next to Old Route 23, three miles south of Millen.
Opened with Mickey Rooney in “The Devil Is A S**sy” along with a few unnamed comedies. The older Pal Theatre closed two days before the newer theater’s opening.
The first Pal Theatre will have its own CT page soon. Thanks Dallas! This should be named “Pal Theatre (2)”.
The Joy Theatre, named after Mr. and Mrs. J.H. Bush’s daughter Joy, opened its doors on May 4, 1928 with William Boyd in “Skyscraper” and an unnamed vaudeville act with no extras.
Information about the Joy Theatre as of 1928 goes as follows: The entire building was built out of solid concrete with a stucco finish, complete in fireproof, and outside the theater features a mission-style box office with a Spanish type tiling around the bottom. The original facade of the building in exterior stucco features a creative look of five cast-staffed ornaments. The large center one is a satyr with a harp and lion’s head on either side, and the original marquee as of 1928 is wine-colored on the top and gray underneath with 40 lights in total. The roof is tile with a tile coping in the front, and the store windows are heavy-plated glass with small transoms and top lights enclosed with woodwork.
Going inside, the original foyer, main aisles, and stairways are all covered with a Wilton pile carpet, and the lighting fixtures feature hammered glass in lantern effects. A large overstuffed occasional chair, two floor lamps, two fireside benches, hanging baskets, and a wicker davenport enhance the entirety of the foyer, alongside a drinking fountain and a large mirror. There are both left and right stairways. The right stairways lead to the balcony for the colored, while the left stairways lead to the cry room complete with rocking chairs and occasional chairs alongside a davenport. The men’s restrooms are located to the right of the foyer. The archway to the right leads to the business offices on the first floor. The entire walls of the body are California stucco in a brocade finish. Eight fountain brackets near the ceiling with red and blue lights creates an effect. Four large and hammered mission-styled glass chandeliers with seven bug globes in each other are worked with dimmer effects.
Inside the auditorium as of 1928 featured the original capacity of 560 leather cushioned seats (530 in the orchestra pit and 30 in the balcony). A total of 20 seats in the orchestra pit are upholstered cushioned loges on a carpeted floor behind a railing and was roped off from the rest of the seats. The original organ is an Aeolian manufactured model with arches to the right and left of the proscenium. The grand drape and sides are fireproof velour, with the main arch finished with variegated gold trimming. And lastly, the exit doors are draped with green velour with gold braid and black trimmings.
Renamed the Broadway Theater on October 3, 1941.
Correction: This Pal Theatre replaced an earlier Pal Theatre (formerly the Shadowland Theatre).
Closed on September 4, 1997.
Operated as early as 1909.
Built on site of the Thies Garage, the Diane Theatre opened its doors on May 30, 1937 with Charles Ruggles in “Turn Off The Moon” (unknown if extras added).
The Hill Theatre opened its doors on Christmas Day 1937 with Jeanette MacDonald in “The Firefly” (unknown if extras added). It was named after Harry C. Hill, who partnered with Venetian Theatre operator Orange Phelps.
The Venetian Theatre opened its doors by Mr. Orange Phelps on September 4, 1925 with Richard Dix in “The Lucky Devil” along with a few unnamed Paramount shorts and a few musical performances before showing. The Venetian opened just on time for Paramount to celebrate its 8th Annual Paramount Week, which the Venetian received a special honor in its advertisement.
Renamed the Granada Theatre on November 16, 1929, reopening after extensive remodeling with Normal Shearer in “The Last Of Mrs. Cheyney” and Lupino Lane in “Buying A Gun” along with silent MGM News.
Construction of the McKenzie Theatre with an estimate $70,000 lasted almost a year since ground broke on October 7, 1945, while under the war production board authority. Many delays were experienced due to material shortages and severe weather.
The McKenzie Theatre opened its doors on September 11, 1946 with Joel McCrea in “The Virginian” (unknown if extras added). The McKenzie originally housed 600 Haywood-Wakefield Deluxe seats, featuring RCA sound and Super Cinephor F-2 lenses in their projection.
The Antlers Theatre in the Elks building opened its doors on October 4, 1913 with a live presentation of “Officer 666”. As of 1913, the theater originally housed 776 solid mahogany heavily upholstered seats with black and gold striped iron frames to the lower floor of each seat, with 500 seats in the main pit, 144 seats in the balcony (100 normal seats and 44 box seats), and 132 seats in the gallery.
A lot of information about the theater as of 1913 goes as follows: Outside the theater featured a marquee with 140 electric lights with an electric sign spelling out the theater’s name, and going inside contains a grand total of 1,200 lights. The ticket booth is located at the right of the inside foyer, and the main floor is directly at the back of the foyer. The aisles and stairways are covered in a 36-inch heavy velvet carpet. There is a ladies dressing room with patent coat racks, a dressing table, and chairs located off of the boxes on each side. On the lower floor features another dressing room for the ladies which is larger ad bigger than the one near the balcony (damn the misandry gets hotter here). At the left of the outside foyer is the entrance to the balcony, which consists of a flight of stairs that approaches an inclined walk that goes across the front of the building and turns upward again to the balcony. The main decorations featured a light cream ceiling which gradually blends into darker shades till the bottom of the wall is reached when the shade is faded to a darker tan.
The original scenery curtain features a street scene, a garden scene and a combination of landscape and nature with a 12-piece interior drawing and dining room scene, in addition to the grand borders, tormenters, wings, interior and foliage borders. There is also a 12-piece kitchen scene which is home-like and attractive in the scenery, which the entire scenery curtain measures 44ft high in total. The stage opening measures 28 feet wide, 20 feet high, and 26 feet deep. The dressing rooms are also situated under the club rooms of the Elks temple. Up in the fireproof projection room contains Motiograph projectors, and lastly back down contains a 6-piece orchestra pit, which is low enough so that those in the orchestra will not interfere with the view of any of the audience.
The Antlers Theatre was renamed the Hunt’s Indian Theatre on October 15, 1930 after extensive remodeling, reopening with Spencer Tracy in “Up The River” along with a few unnamed shorts. It was managed by George Hunt, who partially named the theater after himself.
Here are the differences about the 1930 remodel: Walking through an archway hung with red silk plush curtains on wrought iron rods, one enters the foyer that is carpentered with a specially designed carpet laid over a 75-inch carpeting, and the walls have a special touch of Indian architecture, which fits the name of the theater. The foyer is furnished with luxurious upholstered furniture done in jacquard velour which harmonizes with the general color scheme. The motif for the wall and ceiling decoration through the building features touching designs of early Indian patterns. At one end of the mezzanine lounge is a ladies restroom which is done in a style radically different, with an art modern style.
The marquee was also updated in both size and design, measuring 33ft long and 5ft high at the center, with a green border and the red lettering, and flashes on and off. It was equipped with the same design of sign with a double line attraction board at each end and raised opalite glass letters illuminating to herald the attraction’s title. Four flood lights are mounted upon the marquee, which will throw a flood of colored light upon the facade of the building. The box office is an island type and decorated, retaining with the general decorative scheme. A small neon sign was added above the ticket window.
The capacity of seats was also upgraded and updated in the 1930 remodel, with 975 jacquard velour seats with bright red taupes, birch mahogany woodwork, and grey leather cushioning over heavy springing replacing the solid mahogany heavily upholstered seats with black and gold striped iron frames prior to the remodeling. The drape was also replaced with an Indian red silk plush with a 6-foot border of friar’s cloth and side drapes of the same material. Back of this is another set of side drapes of decorated friar cloth that matches the front stage drapes, and all were done by hand in oil. The theater’s original organ was also reinstalled in the pit, and lights were installed at the aisles to avoid a frontman using a flashlight. The screen was also updated with a firepoof asbestos one. Lastly, Western Electric sound was also added with an estimate $15,000, with 16-foot sized screen mounted directly behind the screen.
The Umpqua Theatres Company opened the Star Theatre’s doors on January 17, 1945 with Dorothy Lamour in “And The Angels Sing” along with an unnamed Bugs Bunny cartoon and an unnamed sports reel.
This started life as the Majestic Theatre and operated as early as 1912. After extensive remodeling, the Majestic Theatre was renamed the Rose Theatre, reopening by managers Lloyd Claver and O.L. Wood on April 7, 1931 with Joe E. Brown in “Top Speed” along with the musical short “Railroad Follies”, the Grantland Rice Sportlight “Racqueteers”, and the Hal Skelly comedy short “The Gob”, featuring RCA Photophone sound.
Information about the theater as of 1931 goes as follows: A flashing neon rose which includes 100ft of electric tubing throughout the marquee, and a double line border around the entire sign flashes on and off at regular intervals while the theater name in 24-inch letters above the marquee. The marquee is a sheet of metal with decorative motif. A large panel at the front contains the name of the theater, with eight large lights furnish illumination beneath the marquee, while the lower side is finished in pure white enamel. The background of the boards is metallic with little panels arranged to hold the photos used to advertise the picture. A box office features a glass window scheme and decorations fitting in with the general plan of the building.
The lobby is in the same scheme and leading to the two entrances enters the foyer. The foyer opens at one end into the managers' office and at the other into the ladies room. Heavy carpeting covers the foyer floor, and special light fixtures throw a soft light on the room. There is also a drinking fountain located at the center of the foyer. Two wide entrances lead to the auditorium. Its carpeting runs the full length of the two main aisles across the front and back of the auditorium, and covers the foyer, office, and ladies room. In the ventilating system which changes the air in the auditorium every four minutes, two large outlets in the ceiling provided the vents through which fans draw the warm air. Steam radiators heat up the building during the winter months.
A total of 400 upholstered seats with red velour seatbacks and red leather seat cushions were placed during the remodel. The original stage curtain is green plush, and green curtains of the same material across the entrances and the exits. Both of these were controlled by the projectionist at the projection room. Finally, one striking detail is the noiselessness of the curtain across the stage, as rubber rollers on the rubber lined track makes the movement of the curtain completely silent. The capacity of the seats was upgraded to 550 sometime later in its history, though I cannot confirm any information about it.
Operated as the Palace Theatre as early as 1910.
The Varsity Theatre opened its doors on November 18, 1937 with Eddie Cantor in “Ali Baba Goes To Town” (unknown if extras added) plus a special address delivered by Ashland Chamber of Commerce Frank J. Van Dyke before showing. It was originally owned by Walter Leverette and managed by Lee B. Ryan. A total of more than 1,000 people crowded the theater for its grand opening attraction.
Frank C. Clark and Robert Keeney are the main architects and was both erected and constructed by Elmer N. Childers with an estimate $75,000. The original “neon” marquee features a snow-white stucco front, which extends through the lobby, and both Western Electric Mirrophonic sound and Motiograph projectors with Brenkert Enarc lamps were the original ingredients in the projection room.
Also opened with “Drums Across The River” (unknown if extras added).
Correction: This is mid-1950s.
This replaced an earlier Pal Theatre, opening on December 14, 1936.
Closed on April 6, 1935 with Tom Tyler in “The Silver Bullet” along with an unnamed comedy, when Pal Amusements opened their first Pal Theatre nearby.
Opened on November 28, 1951 with Bob Hope in “Fancy Pants” (unknown if extras added). The screen is already gone by 1970. The exact address is 3846-3836 US-25, Millen, GA 30442, located next to Old Route 23, three miles south of Millen.
Closed as a movie theater on December 13, 1977 with a triple feature of “The White Buffalo”, “Norman… Is That You?”, and “Burnt Offerings”.
Just counted, 230 seats.
First operated by Martin & Thompson Theatres.
The newer Pal Theatre originally housed 626 seats when it opened its relocated location.
Opened with Mickey Rooney in “The Devil Is A S**sy” along with a few unnamed comedies. The older Pal Theatre closed two days before the newer theater’s opening.
The first Pal Theatre will have its own CT page soon. Thanks Dallas! This should be named “Pal Theatre (2)”.