RKO Albee Theatre

Keebaugh on July 28, 2004 at 2:37 pm

I was brought up in Cincinnati and I remember the downtown theatres with passionate affection. The Albee was the most beautiful, right across from the fountain on the square. Just walking into the theatre after buying a ticket was a journey; the place was immense. You had to walk through the huge lobby, then take a left down a long corridor, and all this was on plush red carpet. Portraits hung all over the place. Even the men’s restroom downstairs (with the largest urinals I ever saw) had its own adjoining lounge with dark wood furniture.

In the fifties and early sixties downtown Cincinnati had six big movie palaces. My parents told me a few were once old vaudeville houses (The Albee, The Keith’s, The RKO Palace, The Grand, and The Capitol were the major ones), and the city also had a great legitimate live theatre, The Schubert. Remembering the times I saw movies in those places is such a pleasure. The Albee was the first theatre in that area to widen its screen to Cinamascope in 1953; my father took me then to see “The Robe.”

By 1975 Cincinnati had razed every major downtown theatre. All those treasures were destroyed.

I have searched for photographs of the Albee and other Cincinnati theatres everywhere but can’t find anything except this.

Thank you for at least this photo.