Lyric Theatre
31 West Liberty Street,
Sumter,
SC
29150
31 West Liberty Street,
Sumter,
SC
29150
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The Lyric Theatre was a silent-era theatre opened in 1908. It became the most successful and long-running of the African American theatres in the city and among the most successful in the State. It opened with 500 seats and would close with modifications through the years to 300 seats. Opened just weekends at the end, the Lyric Theatre lasted more than 50 years as an African American movie theater closing in 1974.
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A letter from J. H. Grady of the Lyric Theatre, Sumter, S. C., appeared in the February 24, 1912 issue of The Implet, the magazine published by the IMP (Independent Moving Pictures) films company. Mr. Grady was offering praise for the company’s films, especially one called “From the Bottom of the Sea” which he singled out as “…one of the best and most instructive films ever shown here.”
IMP had been founded in 1909 by Carl Laemmle as one of the independent production companies operating in defiance of the Motion Picture Patents Company, the trust controlled by the Edison interests, which since being formed in 1908 had attempted to establish a lasting monopoly over the movie industry. In 1912 Laemmle formed the Universal Film Company, into which IMP was folded, though the name remained in use for some time as a brand under Universal’s control.