Monstrous Marquees

[Mike Scott]

How about a showing of Chaney, Sr.'s "Phantom" with the proper organ accompaniment?

If I were in that theater watching "Phantom", I'd be keeping an eye out for falling chandeliers!

[Dr Wolfenstein]

A friend posted this on Facebook.The Plaza-George Street,Sydney.1935

The Bride of Frankenstein

[marsattacks666]

A friend posted this on Facebook.The Plaza-George Street,Sydney.1935

The Bride of Frankenstein

Fantastic photo.

[Monsters For Sale]

Revenge of the Creature - Okinawa, Japan - 1957 or 1958

[Sean]

i wish theaters did stuff like that today.

Completely agree.😎

[Monsters For Sale]

Here's another big monster - at least his marquee: (Click on pictures for larger images.)



                           Godzilla, King of the Monsters - 1956 - Loew's State, New York City, New York - A - B&W




                          Godzilla, King of the Monsters - 1956 - Loew's State, New York City, New York - B - Color

This 2nd peek of the same display, taken from inside cab, gives us a taste of how colorful those old posters really were for movie-goers of the time.  As charming as they look in black-and-white, they must have been overwhelming in person. 

Many posters  were so huge you could not have seen the entire thing without backing out into the street (not a good idea in big city traffic), they were dazzlingly colorful, and often stood side-by-side with a whole row of other theaters' displays.

(Note that Godzilla appears to be holding a sign that reads, "No Parking".  Boy, they really work their stars at Loew's.)

[Monsters For Sale]

It's 1938 and all across the country Universal Studios has re-released "Frankenstein" and "Dracula" as a double-feature.  The crowds are huge and Universal is making big profits off their monsters:  (Click on any of these pictures to see larger images.)



                         Frankenstein and Dracula  - St. Louis Theatre -  St. Louis, Missouri - 1938 - A

That looks like a pretty respectable sized daytime audience waiting to be buy 25¢ tickets to a pair of 7 year-old movies.




                        Frankenstein and Dracula  - St. Louis Theatre -  St. Louis, Missouri - 1938 - B

Bela "Lugsi"?  I guess even the large theaters sometimes run short of letters on the long scripts.




                        Frankenstein and Dracula  - St. Louis Theatre -  St. Louis, Missouri - 1938 - C

It's after dark - time for the 35¢ crowd.  (Couldn't they have borrowed an "O" from another theater? - I would have replaced the word "TWO" with a numeral "2" and used that letter "O".)

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                                Frankenstein and Dracula - Victory - Salt Lake City, Utah - 1938 - A

The monsters are loved in Salt Lake City, too.  From the look of that pile of bicycles, this must be a Saturday matinee.




                                Frankenstein and Dracula - Victory - Salt Lake City, Utah - 1938 - B

The Victory Theater has two box offices and lines of customers stretching both directions on the sidewalk.  (Seriously, how long did it take for the kids to untangle that briar patch of bikes when the show let out?)

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                                     Frankenstein and Dracula - Strand - Youngstown, Ohio - 1938

This is my favorite photo of this group.  Click on this picture to see the happy young faces.  (Wonder where all the bikes are?)

The Strand was a tiny theater that was kind of tacked on to the side of a hotel.  It was so little, there was no room for stairs.  The projectionist had to climb a ladder to enter the projection room.

Of the three theaters above, The Strand's picture was the hardest to attribute.  (The St. Louis has done business under many names and is currently presenting symphonies; The Victory burned down in 1943.)

There were lots of Strand theaters all over the country.  Even with periodic remodeling and name changes, many of the huge theaters in very large cities can be located without too much work.  But the patchwork Youngstown Strand was stuck in a corner between other buildings and probably not photographed all that much.

I had to trace it through the Isaly's Dairy store next door.  I learned that Christian Isaly did business in only 3 states.  Then I tracked down all the Strand's in those states through the Cinema Treasures site. I searched their listings for demolished theaters and read the comments of people who remembered them.  Luck!  One of them mentioned a nearby Isaly's and looking though the members' photos, I found one similar to the one I was trying to identify.

See?  That's why it takes me so long to make new "Monstrous Marquees" posts.  (That, and my natural sloth.)

[Hepcat]

Bela "Lugsi"?  I guess even the large theaters sometimes run short of letters on the long scripts.


                        Frankenstein and Dracula  - St. Louis Theatre -  St. Louis, Missouri - 1938 - C

It's after dark - time for the 35¢ crowd.  (Couldn't they have borrowed an "O" from another theater? - I would have replaced the word "TWO" with a numeral "2" and used that letter "O".)

I'm guessing that the fellow who slapped the letters together on the sign just wanted the artsy tapering effect from top to bottom. He could still have achieved the effect though since he had an extra space available on the left side of the bottom line.

[Monsters For Sale]

From "over there":



Frankenstein's Daughter - Le Colorado - Paris, France - 1960's

[Mike Scott]

"Fille of Frankenstein"! What'd they do, remove all his bones?

[ChristineBCW]

These are soooo excellent.  That CREATURE FROM BLACK LAGOON... my my, or that giantized Frank head outside the lobby.  Who needs steenkin' trailers when theaters could put THESE up?!!  I do love those long-lines full of kids, so excited to see both Frank & Drac.  (Just think of the MESS that the floor was in after both, in one sitting.  "Bring in the firehoses!")

[Joseph_Baeza]

What an awesome thread!  Nothing better than seeing our favorite monster films on the Marquee in their glory days!

[Monsters For Sale]

The Warfield Theatre in San Francisco:




Black Sabbath  &  Evil Eye - Warfield - San Francisco, California - 1964.

(A late Karloff picture and an Italian thriller, both released in 1963.)





Planet of the Apes & Beneath the Planet of the Apes & Escape From the Planet of the Apes & Conquest of the Planet of the Apes & Battle For the Planet of the Apes - Warfield - San Francisco, California - 1973

(All five "Planet of the Apes" movies in a row!  Oh, my aching butt.)

You will note the changes in the Warfield's marquee over the 9 years spanned by these views.  I think that was due to changes in city laws concerning structures hung out over sidewalks.  After all, 'Frisco is a place known for earthquakes. 

Some of these old marquees are very imposing structures.  It is not unusual to come across pictures of fallen marquees - especially in places where there are heavy snow storms.

I was glancing through this old thread and noticed an omission for the top picture:  Next door to the Warfield is the partially hidden Crest Theater.


Comedy of Terrors, The, Kid Galahad & Wild and the Innocent, The - Crest - San Francisco, California - 1964

Kid Galahad was an Elvis Presley movie about a boxer & Wild and the Innocent was an Audie Murphy film about a trapper.  An odd triple feature.

(Don't know how I missed spotting The Comedy of Terrors in my original post.)

[Monsters For Sale]

Horror Castle & Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies - E.M. Loew's Center - Boston, Massachusetts - 1964

[Monsters For Sale]

Here's a photo of the real thing...

Here is another view:



Day the Earth Stood Still, The - RKO Mayfair - New York City, New York - September 18, 1951

(The people at the bottom of the photo look so tiny.)