The Fox Theatre at Sprague and Monroe was originally to have been an atmospheric house designed by John Eberson, when it was in its planning stage in 1928, but financing problems due in part to the onset of the depression lead to delays and a change in architects. This early notice about the original project appeared in the September 29, 1928 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer:
“Ready for Bids Soon-Theater. Sprague and Monroe. Revised plans nearing completion, bids will be called within 30-60 days accordg to Louis Cohen, (now at Davenport Hotel), mgr Real Estate Dept, West Coast Theaters Corp, Los Angeles. To be financed by LN Rosenbaum & Co, New York, Seattle Theater Bldg, Seattle. (Prev anned) Local ARCHTS Riggs and Van Tyne, Peyton Bldg, main plans by ARCHT John Eberson, Chicago and NY. Fireprf constr, stl, re and brk constr, overage of exits; atmospheric style; ext frame, brk trim with t cover stl and conc skeleton; 13 shops on Sprague st; 1 sty 30' deep, 3 stys to be back of shops; 8 shops on Monroe 30' deep; theater lounges on 2nd, 3rd, 4th flrs above shops; main entrance on Sprague and Monroe; rotunda, double tower effect; auditrm 48' hi; auditrm 3000 capy, $1,400,000.”
As much as I like John Eberson’s work, I can’t help but think that Spokane got very lucky, given how splendid the theater turned out as designed by Robert Reamer and Anthony Heinsbergen.
The November 24, 1928 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer had a brief notice about the Woodland Theatre project. The theater would occupy half the building, which was 100x90 feet. The remainder was occupied by a store, 25x90 and a stage terminal (bus station) also 25x90. The 50x90 foot theater was to seat 418.
The Royal Theatre at Guelph was designed in 1934 for developer Joseph Wolfond by the city’s leading architect, William Austin Mahoney. As the project was announced in December, 1933, it was probably opened before the end of 1934.
The Royal theatre was one of three houses listed at Woodstock in 1938, the others being the Capitol and the Princess. The Royal was designed in 1937 for Samuel D. Axelrod by Guelph architect William Austin Mahoney, and might have opened before the end of 1937. Mahoney also designed the Royal Theatre at Guelph in 1934 and the Grand Theatre at Fergus in 1928.
The Orpheum Theatre was mentioned in the 1923 edition of the Westville Hugh School Janus Yearbook. An even earlier mention was in the November 15, 1912 issue of The Player in a list of “Houses which book independently” which says “Westville, Orpheum; Mike Gerrib.” The surname connects the Orpheum to a mention of Westville’s Eagle Theatre in the February 18, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald which notes that it was being operated by a Walter Gerrib.
Despite the 1912 mention, the Orpheum is not one of the three theaters listed at Westville in the 1914-1915 AMPD. The Eagle is listed, but the other two were the Union and a house called The Ark Theatre at 5 S. State Street. On the 1915 Sanborn map of Westville, 5 S. State is a vacant store, but there is a building at 12 S. State labeled “Motion Pictures” immediately north of an alley that used to run west from State Street just midway between Main Street and South Street, so just where Apple Maps puts the pin icon for modern 102 S. State. I’m thinking this must have been the Orpheum, possibly with the aka Union in 1914. The site was a vacant lot on the 1909 Sanborn.
The site of the second theater on the 1915 map was also a vacant lot in 1909. That one, then 23 N. State, on the east side of State a bit less than halfway north from Main to Short Street, was probably the Eagle/State. Interestingly, the 1909 map shows two storefronts labeled as Electric Theatres, one across and a bit north from the Eagle, and one on the northwest corner of State and Main.
The Eagle Theatre at Westville was mentioned in the February 18, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It was being operated by Walter Gerrib. In later years the State was being operated by Mike Gerrib. A December 7, 1957 Boxoffice item congratulated Mike Gerrib on his 70th birthday, with “…the wish that he will continue his operation of the Georgetown at Georgetown and the State, Westville for many years to come.”
What would become the Miller Theatre on Sutter Avenue was announced in the May 16, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “SUTTER AV.-Farber & Markwitz, 189 Montague st, are preparing plans for a 1-sty brick moving picture theatre and stores at the southwest corner of Sutter and Miller avs, for M. Lesselbaum, 432 Ashford st, owner. Cost, about $18,000.”
An item in the May 1, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has me wondering if this house might have opened earlier than we thought, or was this just an earlier proposal for the same intersection that fell through? The item said that architect Paul H. LaVelle was preparing plans for a $100,000 brick and terra cotta theater and two stores, 70x175 feet, at Jackson and Westchester Avenue. The project was to be built for Harthill (or Hartbill?) Realty and Mortgage Company, Joseph Hersberg, president. Bids were to be taken on the general contract around May 20.
It took me a while to realize that this item from the May 2, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide was about the Williamsburg Theatre. There were so many theaters on this short stretch of Broadway, it must have been a great place for kids who loved movies to grow up.
The Miller Theatre likely opened in 1914. The May 2 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide that year carried this notice: “SARATOGA AV, es, 67 n St. Marks av, 1-sty brick theatre. 52.2x52.3, slag roof: cost, $10.000; owner, Main Bldg. Co., 1464 Eastern parkway; architects, Eisenla & Carlson, 16 Court st. Plan No. 2523.”
I came across a notice about a proposed two-story brick, stucco and tile moving picture theater, 50x100 feet, at the northeast corner of Bushwick and Hancock, for the Beacon Photo Play Corporation of Manhattan. Plans were being prepared by architects Hopkins & McKentee. The notice appeared in the April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide. I imagine this was the same project noted in the New York Times that year. The item does confirm the location John Dereszewski surmised for the project in 2011.
The January 3, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had an item about a proposed theater in this immediate neighborhood. It was to be on the East side of Melrose south of 157th street, for the Benenson Realty Company. It was to be a two-story building with a theater and two stores, and the project had been designed by architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag. I know it’s not a perfect match for the Boro Theatre, but plans do change sometimes so the developer might have just abandoned the plan for second floor.
From the February 7, 1914 Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “New Brooklyn Picture Theatre. Tobias Goldstone, architect, 49 Graham avenue, Brooklyn, has completed plans and specifications for a moving picture theatre to be erected at 577-583 Gates avenue, Brooklyn. The owner is Herman Weingarten, a builder, 676 Humbolt street, Brooklyn. The theatre will be modern in every respect, one story, 33 by 100 feet, with a facade of Tapestry brick and Indiana limestone. The auditorium is planned to accommodate about 450 people. The interior of the theatre will be plastered on expanded metal lath with ornamental plaster panels. The building will be heated by steam and have all necessary sanitary conveniences. As noted elsewhere, the owner will build and will be ready about February 15 to take estimates on subcontracts and materials.”
Here is an item about this theater from the March 11, 1916 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “PATERSON, N. J.- Charles E. Slaight, architect, Romaine Bldg., is taking estimates on general and separate contracts to close March 15th for a brick moving picture theatre, at 204 Market st, for Max Gold, Main st, owner. Cost, about $20,000.”
The item misspells the surname of architect Charles E. Sleight, who also designed the Majestic Theatre in Paterson. His son Albert E. Sleight designed Paterson’s Plaza Theatre.
A 1913 Sanborn map of Newburgh shows “Moving Pictures” at 13 S. Colden Street, a few doors south of 1st street. There were no other theaters between that and Broadway, so that one must have been the Royal. Unfortunately, neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps nor Bing maps will show that address in its proper location, all three displacing it several blocks south. Addresses work fine on Water street, one block east, but fail on Colden Street. The entire neighborhood from the west side of Water Street to Grand Street has been ravaged by an Urban Removal project. The Royal’s site is now part of a park.
This item about the recent opening of Michigan City’s New Lido Theatre appeared in the July 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice: “Many Chicagoans Attend New Lido Opening
“Michigan City, Ind.—Many Chicago film industry figures attended the formal opening of the New Lido, 900-seat house here being operated by Maurice and Harry Rubin and Alex Manta and Jack Rose of Chicago. Managing director is Maurice Rubin.
“The house features the new sphere-o-torium, designed by Pereira & Pereira, Chicago architects and members of the Boxoffice Modern Theatre Planning Institute. The new design gives the auditorium a cone effect. All 900 seats are on the main floor, and the color scheme is blue and buff.”
The article continues with a long list of the attendees, which included architect Hal Pereira, William’s partner and brother, who would eventually launch a second career as a leading Hollywood set designer.
I’ve come across something a bit puzzling. The September 28, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald has an item headed “Hightower Dresses entire staff for ‘Public Hero’” and the item says: “For ‘Public Hero,’ R. H. Hightower, Ritz Theatre, Dublin, Ga., had a man dressed in guard uniform carrying rifle walking his post between two lookout towers on either side of theatre. On each side of entrance and exit doors, guards paced back and forth. Usherettes were dressed as convicts with the number one on their backs. For foyer display, Hightower had a display of submarine guns, pistols, etc., taken from city and county criminals.”
The “submarine” guns were obviously meant to read submachine guns, but the point is that Dublin had a Ritz Theatre operating more than a year after the original Ritz burned. I doubt that Mr. Hightower would have sent the magazine the wrong name for his theater, so the logical conclusion is that the rebuilt house that is now the Dublin Theatre opened as the Ritz, just as its predecessor had. Indeed, the 1935 FDY lists the 400-seat Rose Theatre and the 900-seat Ritz. In later editions the Ritz is listed through the 1940s. In 1945, a Dublin Theatre appears, with 850 seats, but both the Rose and the Ritz continue to be listed along with it. In 1949, the Ritz finally vanishes, and the Dublin is suddenly listed with an astonishing 1,650 seats. Obviously that was extraordinarily unlikely for town of little more than 7000 population.
I suspect that the continued listing of the Ritz after 1945 was a mistake, and this house was called the Dublin Theatre from then until the early 1950s. I don’t have access to FDYs from the 1950s, so I don’t know when it became the Martin Theatre, but it might be that Martin took over the house in 1949, when a brief item datelined Dublin in the July 23 issue of Boxoffice said “Theatre sold to Martin Theatres by Jack Powell.”
Given the information that has come to light, I suspect that the Ritz was not destroyed by the 1934 fire, but was probably just gutted and soon restored, and reopened later that same year.
The December 17, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Rose Theater: “Dublin, Ga., Dec. 14. - Work was commenced recently to enlarge the Rose Theatre. Mr. T. C. Fountain was given the contract by Manager Yeomans to build an additional thirty feet for seating capacity, and also to erect a stage. This will include the seating capacity of the Rose to 750. Contract was also given for one of the latest heating systems.”
The Rose first appears in the 1928 FDY, indicating a likely 1927 opening. It joined a 400-seat house called the Crystal Theatre, which appeared in editions from 1926 through 1929, but had actually opened in 1916. Only the Rose is listed in 1930. In the 1914-1915 AMPD, Dublin is the home of the Amusu Theatre on Jackson Street and the Gem Theatre, no address.
Dublin had a movie house by 1908, as a January 2, 1909 Moving Picture World item said that the Star (or Old Star) theater in Dublin had changed hands, and the new owners would rebuild the house and hold a contest to chose a new name. The item said the house would open “around Christmas,” revealing a considerable delay in the item’s publication.
The Star might have been a storefront marked on the 1913 Sanborn Map as a “Picture Show” in the third space east of Jefferson Street on the south side of Jackson. This might also have been the Amusu Theatre of 1914. The 1913 map also showed an Opera House (from plans) upstairs in a building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Franklin. This house had burned by 1920, as the Sanborn published that year shows theater ruins on that lot. I haven’t found much about this theater, but perhaps it was the house that operated as the Gem in 1914.
The January 26, 1929 issue of The Billboard had this announcement: “MUSCODA, Wis., Jan. 19. -Synchrotone has been installed at the Muscoda Theater and the first sound program was given Sunday night.”
Frank Paulick frequently submitted capsule movie reviews to trade journals, continuing well into 1923.
Although the Muscoda Theatre burned in 1937, it was still listed in the 1940 FDY, though with the notation that it was closed. The October 5 issue of Boxoffice that year said that “Muscoda, which is
without a theatre, is now showing film every Saturday night in the school auditorium through the cooperation of local merchants.”
On December 21, 1940, Boxoffice said that the town’s merchants were actively seeking someone to build a theater in the town. Local residents going to other towns to see movies were also patronizing retail shops in those towns, much to the displeasure of Muscoda’s business community. They did finally get a new theater, but it took the better part of a decade.
One interesting bit of Muscoda history is that the May 6, 1916 issue of American Contractor, which carried a notice of Fred Paulick’s theater project also carried an adjacent notice of another theater project in Muscoda, a house 40x100 owned by a W. Davis. I’ve been unable to find any evidence that Mr. Davis’s project was completed, but if it was the competition must have been fierce once Mr. Paulick began running movies. I doubt that Mr. Davis’s smaller house would have survived for long.
The Woodstock Theatre, then called the Town Hall Theatre, was in operation at least as early as mid-1937. This article from the Woodstock History Center cites an article in the December 24, 1942, Vermont Standard saying that Peter Latchis had run the movie theater in the Town Hall for 5 ½ years. That would take his tenure back to mid-1937.
It doesn’t say if Mr. Latchis was the first operator of the house, so it might have opened even earlier. The 1936 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Fireman’s Hall at Woodstock, but it was closed. Earlier, according to the History center article, Woodstock had a theater called the Gem, which had occupied a room at the elementary school for at least part of its history. It might also have been the 300-seat house listed in the 1926 FDY as the Community theater.
50sSNIPES: Auburn is the name of the town where the Starlight Theatre opened in January, 1940. It’s listed at Cinema Treasures as the Marian Theatre.
The 1935 FDY lists two theaters in Cumberland, a 242-seat Cumberland Theatre and a 156-seat Ritz Theatre. The 1938 FDY lists the 500-seat Novo and a 156-seat Cumberland. One of the older two had to have been the house next door to the Novo, which replaced it. The Ritz is listed in the 1929 FDY, but without a seating capacity.
Incidentally, a small photo of the entrance to this theater when it was called the Time can be found on this Facebook post. Unfortunately, the five comments on the post are all about how scary “The Exorcist” was, with no more information about the theater.
The Cozy is listed in the 1931 FDY as closed, and with 200 seats. It doesn’t reappear until the 1936 edition, when it is listed with 500 seats. In 1937 and 1938, the Cozy is listed, but with 300 seats. The Ritz is listed, with 500 seats, in all the editions from 1931 though 1938. I don’t have access to a 1939 Year Book, but the 1940 edition lists the Cozy as closed, and the 1941 edition lists it with 400 seats. The Ritz continues to have 500.
To add a bit of complication, this item from the July 2, 1938 issue of Motion Picture Herald might be about the Cozy, but there’s no evidence that it isn’t about the Ritz. “…R. L. Barton, who is mayor of Stroud, Okla., has signed a five year lease on an air-conditioned theatre being built by the Disney Lumber Company.” It’s also possible that this project wasn’t even in Stroud, since Mr. Barton expanded his theater holdings during this period. Given the name of the construction company, the house might have been in the town of Disney.
This 1939 item is explicitly about the Cozy, in Boxoffice of July 1: “Hurricane Paris is rebuilding Lewis Barton’s Cozy Theatre at Stroud, Okla., and is contemplating producing a color newsreel of Disney, Okla.” This must have been the iteration of the Cozy that burned in February, 1940, after having been open only about four months.
A “Picture Theater” is shown at the Cozy’s location on both the 1916 and 1925 Sanborn maps. It is the only movie theater shown on either map, but both show the Stroud Opera House, an upstairs theater of 600 seats built in 1902 at the northwest corner of Main (then called 3rd) Street and 2nd Avenue. The 1910 map shows the Opera House, and also a “Cheap Theater” on the north side of Main in the second storefront east of 4th Avenue, but the Cozy’s site was then a vacant lot.
The Fox Theatre at Sprague and Monroe was originally to have been an atmospheric house designed by John Eberson, when it was in its planning stage in 1928, but financing problems due in part to the onset of the depression lead to delays and a change in architects. This early notice about the original project appeared in the September 29, 1928 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer:
“Ready for Bids Soon-Theater. Sprague and Monroe. Revised plans nearing completion, bids will be called within 30-60 days accordg to Louis Cohen, (now at Davenport Hotel), mgr Real Estate Dept, West Coast Theaters Corp, Los Angeles. To be financed by LN Rosenbaum & Co, New York, Seattle Theater Bldg, Seattle. (Prev anned) Local ARCHTS Riggs and Van Tyne, Peyton Bldg, main plans by ARCHT John Eberson, Chicago and NY. Fireprf constr, stl, re and brk constr, overage of exits; atmospheric style; ext frame, brk trim with t cover stl and conc skeleton; 13 shops on Sprague st; 1 sty 30' deep, 3 stys to be back of shops; 8 shops on Monroe 30' deep; theater lounges on 2nd, 3rd, 4th flrs above shops; main entrance on Sprague and Monroe; rotunda, double tower effect; auditrm 48' hi; auditrm 3000 capy, $1,400,000.”
As much as I like John Eberson’s work, I can’t help but think that Spokane got very lucky, given how splendid the theater turned out as designed by Robert Reamer and Anthony Heinsbergen.
The November 24, 1928 issue of Pacific Builder and Engineer had a brief notice about the Woodland Theatre project. The theater would occupy half the building, which was 100x90 feet. The remainder was occupied by a store, 25x90 and a stage terminal (bus station) also 25x90. The 50x90 foot theater was to seat 418.
The Grand Theatre at Fergus was designed by Guelph architect William Austin Mahoney.
The Royal Theatre at Guelph was designed in 1934 for developer Joseph Wolfond by the city’s leading architect, William Austin Mahoney. As the project was announced in December, 1933, it was probably opened before the end of 1934.
The Royal theatre was one of three houses listed at Woodstock in 1938, the others being the Capitol and the Princess. The Royal was designed in 1937 for Samuel D. Axelrod by Guelph architect William Austin Mahoney, and might have opened before the end of 1937. Mahoney also designed the Royal Theatre at Guelph in 1934 and the Grand Theatre at Fergus in 1928.
The Orpheum Theatre was mentioned in the 1923 edition of the Westville Hugh School Janus Yearbook. An even earlier mention was in the November 15, 1912 issue of The Player in a list of “Houses which book independently” which says “Westville, Orpheum; Mike Gerrib.” The surname connects the Orpheum to a mention of Westville’s Eagle Theatre in the February 18, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald which notes that it was being operated by a Walter Gerrib.
Despite the 1912 mention, the Orpheum is not one of the three theaters listed at Westville in the 1914-1915 AMPD. The Eagle is listed, but the other two were the Union and a house called The Ark Theatre at 5 S. State Street. On the 1915 Sanborn map of Westville, 5 S. State is a vacant store, but there is a building at 12 S. State labeled “Motion Pictures” immediately north of an alley that used to run west from State Street just midway between Main Street and South Street, so just where Apple Maps puts the pin icon for modern 102 S. State. I’m thinking this must have been the Orpheum, possibly with the aka Union in 1914. The site was a vacant lot on the 1909 Sanborn.
The site of the second theater on the 1915 map was also a vacant lot in 1909. That one, then 23 N. State, on the east side of State a bit less than halfway north from Main to Short Street, was probably the Eagle/State. Interestingly, the 1909 map shows two storefronts labeled as Electric Theatres, one across and a bit north from the Eagle, and one on the northwest corner of State and Main.
The Eagle Theatre at Westville was mentioned in the February 18, 1928 issue of Exhibitors Herald. It was being operated by Walter Gerrib. In later years the State was being operated by Mike Gerrib. A December 7, 1957 Boxoffice item congratulated Mike Gerrib on his 70th birthday, with “…the wish that he will continue his operation of the Georgetown at Georgetown and the State, Westville for many years to come.”
What would become the Miller Theatre on Sutter Avenue was announced in the May 16, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “SUTTER AV.-Farber & Markwitz, 189 Montague st, are preparing plans for a 1-sty brick moving picture theatre and stores at the southwest corner of Sutter and Miller avs, for M. Lesselbaum, 432 Ashford st, owner. Cost, about $18,000.”
An item in the May 1, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide has me wondering if this house might have opened earlier than we thought, or was this just an earlier proposal for the same intersection that fell through? The item said that architect Paul H. LaVelle was preparing plans for a $100,000 brick and terra cotta theater and two stores, 70x175 feet, at Jackson and Westchester Avenue. The project was to be built for Harthill (or Hartbill?) Realty and Mortgage Company, Joseph Hersberg, president. Bids were to be taken on the general contract around May 20.
It took me a while to realize that this item from the May 2, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide was about the Williamsburg Theatre. There were so many theaters on this short stretch of Broadway, it must have been a great place for kids who loved movies to grow up.
The Miller Theatre likely opened in 1914. The May 2 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide that year carried this notice: “SARATOGA AV, es, 67 n St. Marks av, 1-sty brick theatre. 52.2x52.3, slag roof: cost, $10.000; owner, Main Bldg. Co., 1464 Eastern parkway; architects, Eisenla & Carlson, 16 Court st. Plan No. 2523.”
The April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had a notice about this project. The architect was William H. McElfatrick.
I came across a notice about a proposed two-story brick, stucco and tile moving picture theater, 50x100 feet, at the northeast corner of Bushwick and Hancock, for the Beacon Photo Play Corporation of Manhattan. Plans were being prepared by architects Hopkins & McKentee. The notice appeared in the April 25, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide. I imagine this was the same project noted in the New York Times that year. The item does confirm the location John Dereszewski surmised for the project in 2011.
The January 3, 1914 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide had an item about a proposed theater in this immediate neighborhood. It was to be on the East side of Melrose south of 157th street, for the Benenson Realty Company. It was to be a two-story building with a theater and two stores, and the project had been designed by architects Gronenberg & Leuchtag. I know it’s not a perfect match for the Boro Theatre, but plans do change sometimes so the developer might have just abandoned the plan for second floor.
From the February 7, 1914 Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “New Brooklyn Picture Theatre. Tobias Goldstone, architect, 49 Graham avenue, Brooklyn, has completed plans and specifications for a moving picture theatre to be erected at 577-583 Gates avenue, Brooklyn. The owner is Herman Weingarten, a builder, 676 Humbolt street, Brooklyn. The theatre will be modern in every respect, one story, 33 by 100 feet, with a facade of Tapestry brick and Indiana limestone. The auditorium is planned to accommodate about 450 people. The interior of the theatre will be plastered on expanded metal lath with ornamental plaster panels. The building will be heated by steam and have all necessary sanitary conveniences. As noted elsewhere, the owner will build and will be ready about February 15 to take estimates on subcontracts and materials.”
Here is an item about this theater from the March 11, 1916 issue of Real Estate Record and Builders Guide: “PATERSON, N. J.- Charles E. Slaight, architect, Romaine Bldg., is taking estimates on general and separate contracts to close March 15th for a brick moving picture theatre, at 204 Market st, for Max Gold, Main st, owner. Cost, about $20,000.”
The item misspells the surname of architect Charles E. Sleight, who also designed the Majestic Theatre in Paterson. His son Albert E. Sleight designed Paterson’s Plaza Theatre.
A 1913 Sanborn map of Newburgh shows “Moving Pictures” at 13 S. Colden Street, a few doors south of 1st street. There were no other theaters between that and Broadway, so that one must have been the Royal. Unfortunately, neither Google Maps nor Apple Maps nor Bing maps will show that address in its proper location, all three displacing it several blocks south. Addresses work fine on Water street, one block east, but fail on Colden Street. The entire neighborhood from the west side of Water Street to Grand Street has been ravaged by an Urban Removal project. The Royal’s site is now part of a park.
This item about the recent opening of Michigan City’s New Lido Theatre appeared in the July 6, 1940 issue of Boxoffice: “Many Chicagoans Attend New Lido Opening
“Michigan City, Ind.—Many Chicago film industry figures attended the formal opening of the New Lido, 900-seat house here being operated by Maurice and Harry Rubin and Alex Manta and Jack Rose of Chicago. Managing director is Maurice Rubin.
“The house features the new sphere-o-torium, designed by Pereira & Pereira, Chicago architects and members of the Boxoffice Modern Theatre Planning Institute. The new design gives the auditorium a cone effect. All 900 seats are on the main floor, and the color scheme is blue and buff.”
The article continues with a long list of the attendees, which included architect Hal Pereira, William’s partner and brother, who would eventually launch a second career as a leading Hollywood set designer.
I’ve come across something a bit puzzling. The September 28, 1935 issue of Motion Picture Herald has an item headed “Hightower Dresses entire staff for ‘Public Hero’” and the item says: “For ‘Public Hero,’ R. H. Hightower, Ritz Theatre, Dublin, Ga., had a man dressed in guard uniform carrying rifle walking his post between two lookout towers on either side of theatre. On each side of entrance and exit doors, guards paced back and forth. Usherettes were dressed as convicts with the number one on their backs. For foyer display, Hightower had a display of submarine guns, pistols, etc., taken from city and county criminals.”
The “submarine” guns were obviously meant to read submachine guns, but the point is that Dublin had a Ritz Theatre operating more than a year after the original Ritz burned. I doubt that Mr. Hightower would have sent the magazine the wrong name for his theater, so the logical conclusion is that the rebuilt house that is now the Dublin Theatre opened as the Ritz, just as its predecessor had. Indeed, the 1935 FDY lists the 400-seat Rose Theatre and the 900-seat Ritz. In later editions the Ritz is listed through the 1940s. In 1945, a Dublin Theatre appears, with 850 seats, but both the Rose and the Ritz continue to be listed along with it. In 1949, the Ritz finally vanishes, and the Dublin is suddenly listed with an astonishing 1,650 seats. Obviously that was extraordinarily unlikely for town of little more than 7000 population.
I suspect that the continued listing of the Ritz after 1945 was a mistake, and this house was called the Dublin Theatre from then until the early 1950s. I don’t have access to FDYs from the 1950s, so I don’t know when it became the Martin Theatre, but it might be that Martin took over the house in 1949, when a brief item datelined Dublin in the July 23 issue of Boxoffice said “Theatre sold to Martin Theatres by Jack Powell.”
Given the information that has come to light, I suspect that the Ritz was not destroyed by the 1934 fire, but was probably just gutted and soon restored, and reopened later that same year.
The December 17, 1927 issue of Moving Picture World had this item about the Rose Theater: “Dublin, Ga., Dec. 14. - Work was commenced recently to enlarge the Rose Theatre. Mr. T. C. Fountain was given the contract by Manager Yeomans to build an additional thirty feet for seating capacity, and also to erect a stage. This will include the seating capacity of the Rose to 750. Contract was also given for one of the latest heating systems.”
The Rose first appears in the 1928 FDY, indicating a likely 1927 opening. It joined a 400-seat house called the Crystal Theatre, which appeared in editions from 1926 through 1929, but had actually opened in 1916. Only the Rose is listed in 1930. In the 1914-1915 AMPD, Dublin is the home of the Amusu Theatre on Jackson Street and the Gem Theatre, no address.
Dublin had a movie house by 1908, as a January 2, 1909 Moving Picture World item said that the Star (or Old Star) theater in Dublin had changed hands, and the new owners would rebuild the house and hold a contest to chose a new name. The item said the house would open “around Christmas,” revealing a considerable delay in the item’s publication.
The Star might have been a storefront marked on the 1913 Sanborn Map as a “Picture Show” in the third space east of Jefferson Street on the south side of Jackson. This might also have been the Amusu Theatre of 1914. The 1913 map also showed an Opera House (from plans) upstairs in a building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Franklin. This house had burned by 1920, as the Sanborn published that year shows theater ruins on that lot. I haven’t found much about this theater, but perhaps it was the house that operated as the Gem in 1914.
The January 26, 1929 issue of The Billboard had this announcement: “MUSCODA, Wis., Jan. 19. -Synchrotone has been installed at the Muscoda Theater and the first sound program was given Sunday night.”
Frank Paulick frequently submitted capsule movie reviews to trade journals, continuing well into 1923.
Although the Muscoda Theatre burned in 1937, it was still listed in the 1940 FDY, though with the notation that it was closed. The October 5 issue of Boxoffice that year said that “Muscoda, which is without a theatre, is now showing film every Saturday night in the school auditorium through the cooperation of local merchants.”
On December 21, 1940, Boxoffice said that the town’s merchants were actively seeking someone to build a theater in the town. Local residents going to other towns to see movies were also patronizing retail shops in those towns, much to the displeasure of Muscoda’s business community. They did finally get a new theater, but it took the better part of a decade.
One interesting bit of Muscoda history is that the May 6, 1916 issue of American Contractor, which carried a notice of Fred Paulick’s theater project also carried an adjacent notice of another theater project in Muscoda, a house 40x100 owned by a W. Davis. I’ve been unable to find any evidence that Mr. Davis’s project was completed, but if it was the competition must have been fierce once Mr. Paulick began running movies. I doubt that Mr. Davis’s smaller house would have survived for long.
The Woodstock Theatre, then called the Town Hall Theatre, was in operation at least as early as mid-1937. This article from the Woodstock History Center cites an article in the December 24, 1942, Vermont Standard saying that Peter Latchis had run the movie theater in the Town Hall for 5 ½ years. That would take his tenure back to mid-1937.
It doesn’t say if Mr. Latchis was the first operator of the house, so it might have opened even earlier. The 1936 FDY lists a 250-seat house called the Fireman’s Hall at Woodstock, but it was closed. Earlier, according to the History center article, Woodstock had a theater called the Gem, which had occupied a room at the elementary school for at least part of its history. It might also have been the 300-seat house listed in the 1926 FDY as the Community theater.
50sSNIPES: Auburn is the name of the town where the Starlight Theatre opened in January, 1940. It’s listed at Cinema Treasures as the Marian Theatre.
The 1935 FDY lists two theaters in Cumberland, a 242-seat Cumberland Theatre and a 156-seat Ritz Theatre. The 1938 FDY lists the 500-seat Novo and a 156-seat Cumberland. One of the older two had to have been the house next door to the Novo, which replaced it. The Ritz is listed in the 1929 FDY, but without a seating capacity.
Incidentally, a small photo of the entrance to this theater when it was called the Time can be found on this Facebook post. Unfortunately, the five comments on the post are all about how scary “The Exorcist” was, with no more information about the theater.
The Cozy is listed in the 1931 FDY as closed, and with 200 seats. It doesn’t reappear until the 1936 edition, when it is listed with 500 seats. In 1937 and 1938, the Cozy is listed, but with 300 seats. The Ritz is listed, with 500 seats, in all the editions from 1931 though 1938. I don’t have access to a 1939 Year Book, but the 1940 edition lists the Cozy as closed, and the 1941 edition lists it with 400 seats. The Ritz continues to have 500.
To add a bit of complication, this item from the July 2, 1938 issue of Motion Picture Herald might be about the Cozy, but there’s no evidence that it isn’t about the Ritz. “…R. L. Barton, who is mayor of Stroud, Okla., has signed a five year lease on an air-conditioned theatre being built by the Disney Lumber Company.” It’s also possible that this project wasn’t even in Stroud, since Mr. Barton expanded his theater holdings during this period. Given the name of the construction company, the house might have been in the town of Disney.
This 1939 item is explicitly about the Cozy, in Boxoffice of July 1: “Hurricane Paris is rebuilding Lewis Barton’s Cozy Theatre at Stroud, Okla., and is contemplating producing a color newsreel of Disney, Okla.” This must have been the iteration of the Cozy that burned in February, 1940, after having been open only about four months.
A “Picture Theater” is shown at the Cozy’s location on both the 1916 and 1925 Sanborn maps. It is the only movie theater shown on either map, but both show the Stroud Opera House, an upstairs theater of 600 seats built in 1902 at the northwest corner of Main (then called 3rd) Street and 2nd Avenue. The 1910 map shows the Opera House, and also a “Cheap Theater” on the north side of Main in the second storefront east of 4th Avenue, but the Cozy’s site was then a vacant lot.