Community Theatre

Colonial Theatre operators Mr. and Mrs. C.W. Landman opened Manchester’s third movie house, the Modern Theatre, on July 4, 1935 with Shirley Temple in “Our Little Girl” along with a few specialty shorts and a newsreel.

The Modern Theatre was built on the site of two stores which caused the level to be a lower, and the body of the 300-seat theater itself measures 28x60ft featuring a large marquee being built on the front. There is also a spacious lobby with a ticket booth in one floor. A marble floor was provided throughout the lobby. Entrance is made from the lobby into a hallway and through a second set of doors into the main auditorium. Opening from this hallway at one end are restrooms for both genders, at the other is the ticket office and stairs to the projection room.

The seats are located 15ft away from the screen to the first row. The stage measures 15x40ft in size with an opening of 12x20ft, and features installations of Western Electric Wide-Range sound, and was also one of the first few movie theaters in Vermont to have that sound system.

The Modern Theatre was renamed the Community Theatre in July 1952, but this didn’t last long. Because of its lack of both patrons and CinemaScope, the Community Theatre closed its doors on May 23, 1955 following a fire, leaving the Manchester Playhouse as the only indoor movie theater in the downtown part of town.

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