New Cleveland Theatres Planned

 This article gives an indication of the scope of the theatre construction boom of the early 1920's.

From, Moving Picture World, March 27, 1920. The Playhouse Square theatres are here as are the Capitol, Keith's 105th, Loew's Park, Detroit, Regent, Corlett, Astor, to name a few. The Lyceum is on here twice, Loew ended up only building one west side house.

Frank Arena

 Frank Arena was a longtime Loew manager whom we met on a trip to Buffalo in 1976.

From Motion Picture Herald, July 18, 1953. The Park was Loew's big uptowner at 10209 Euclid Avenue. Polly Bergen, on the ladder and co-star of the picture isn't mentioned in the caption.

I'd been following with interest stories in Variety about the rebirth of Shea's Buffalo, so in April 1976 I took a train ride with a friend and co-worker, Jed Ellis to go check it out. I'm not sure if the exact dates, but we left on a chilly Friday night. Trains still ran into Central Station, which required a cab ride into town. We stayed at the Hotel Lafayette, "cheapest of the best" according to the taxi driver. That Saturday morning we met with Curt Mangel who gave us an in-depth tour. We even helped hoist a chandelier before that evening's performance of LaBoheme, by the Royal Canadian Opera Company, which was quite outstanding. During a discussion of Loew's Inc., the name of Frank Arena came up, Curt gave him a lot of credit for keeping the theatre intact during the waning days of the Loew era. We found out that Arena was just down the street, at Loew's Teck, 766 Main Street. So after LaBoheme, we went down the street and met him, he was super nice, we talked for around an hour on that cold Saturday night. He was quite happy to hear of the ongoing restoration of Loew's Ohio and State in Cleveland. Later we walked back to Shea's and got a ride back to Central Station, arriving back in Cleveland on a chilly Sunday morning. Not sure how we got to/from the Amtrak station. We might have gotten a ride on Friday, but I think there was a shuttle bus to Public Square we rode on Sunday morning. Frank Arena remains as one of the two Loew era employees I've met over the years. Of course there was Nick Spontelli, whom we worked with for about a year back in 1973.

From Motion Picture Exhibitor, March 16, 1966.

From Exhibitor, July 15, 1953.

Loew's Theatres

 At your favorite Loew's Theatres, from the Plain Dealer, June 28, 1925.

click to enlarge.

Happy Easter

 Nothing says Easter more than Jack Benny doing five-a-day at Loew's State!

From the Plain Dealer, April 12, 1936.

Loew's Theatres

At your favorite Loew's Theatre, from the Plain Dealer, April 28, 1929.

Kirk Douglas

The passing of Kirk Douglas reminded me the first picture I saw was Spartacus. I didn't see it at the Palace, Denison Square or the Lyceum most likely. My Grandmother liked the Big Carnival (aka Ace in The Hole), and would watch whenever it came on telly.

 Plain Dealer, February 2, 1961.

Plain Dealer, August 25, 1951.

New Years Eve

At your favorite Loew's Theatres, from the Plain Dealer, December 30, 1928.

Loew's Park Theatre

60 years ago today Loew's Park Theatre closed. This was once one of the major Uptown houses at 105th & Euclid, for several decades it would usually day-and-date with Loew's Granada on the west side. The theatre was later used as a church for the next 10-15 years, then it sat empty for about ten years before it was razed in early 1981. In late 1976 my friend Russell and I explored the place a few different times, it was pretty much left wide open then.

Loew's Park during the short lived Associated Theatres era in the mid 1950's. Photo from Cinema Treasures.

From The Plain Dealer, November 10, 1957.

From Box Office, November 16, 1957.

Undated photo from Cinema Treasures.

More information on Loew's Park can be found here.

Loew's Ad

Loew's ad from The Plain Dealer, May 29, 1931.

Loew's Park Theatre

Today is the 95th anniversary of the opening of Loew's Park Theatre at 10209 Euclid Avenue in the Uptown Theatre District. The Park was designed by Thomas Lamb, who also did Loew's State at Playhouse Square which would open a few weeks later. During the 30's and 40's the park would usually day-and-date with Loew's Granada. Loew's sold the theatre to Associated Theatres in October 1954. The Park would close on November 10, 1957 and was later used as a church for a number of years. The theatre was vacant by the mid 1970's. In late 1976 my friend Russ Richards and I spent a couple nights poking around in here. The theatre was razed in the spring of 1981.

 Loew's Park ad, from the Plain Dealer, December 30, 1920.

From The Plain Dealer, January 23, 1921.

 From The Plain Dealer, January 23, 1921.

 From The Plain Dealer, January 23, 1921.

From The Plain Dealer, January 23, 1921.

From Motion Picture News, February 19, 1921.

From Exhibitors Herald, December 30, 1922.

From The Plain Dealer, October 16, 1921.

Prologue for Scrap Iron, from Exhibitor's Trade Review, November 5, 1921.

From The Film Daily, July 21, 1924.

A rather shocking incident, organist Lillian Tyler murdered, from Variety, April 1, 1925. More on this incident can be found here.

From Motion Picture News, September 18, 1926.

College amateur nights, from Motion Picture News, October 9, 1926.

From The Plain Dealer, April 15, 1928.

From The Plain Dealer, October 14, 1928.

 Crows in front of Loew's Park, August 1931, photographer unknown.

Garden arrangement in the lobby, from Motion Picture Herald, July 16, 1932.

From Box Office, February 5, 1938. Arnold Gates was a longtime Loew manager in the Cleveland area. He was later manager of Loew's Stillman and later Loew's Ohio.

Street ballyhoo, from Motion Picture Herald, July 26, 1941.

From Motion Picture Herald, April 11, 1942.

From Motion Picture Herald, September 26, 1942.

From Box Office, October 30, 1954.

The Park in the mid 1950's, photo from the Cinema Treasures.

From The Plain Dealer, November 10, 1957.

From Box Office, November 16, 1957.

Back of the auditorium, from Cinema Treasures.

Cleveland: Loew's Theatres

At Loew's Theatres in Cleveland, October 19, 1934.

Loew's Park: A Shocking Crime

A shocking incident happened at Loew's Park Theatre, 10209 Euclid Avenue in the late afternoon of Saturday, March 28, 1925. Organist Lillian Tyler was shot to death in a murder-suicide by her estranged boyfriend Homer Walters in the front row of the theatre. I think the most shocking thing is this happened in a theatre filled with people and no one noticed for 10 minutes. Lillian Tyler was a rarity in Cleveland, not many girl organists in the city.

From the Plain Dealer, March 29, 1925.

From the Plain Dealer, March 30, 1925.

Crowd lining Euclid Avenue in front of Loew's Park, August 1931, photographer unknown.