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MoviesContiued from Page 3IBleaving little evidence that they ever existed.Film history in Hutchinson opened early in the century. The first movie shown in town played at the Opera House, which was at the present site of the Wiley Building. But movies weren’t a permanent part of Hutchinson until the city's first projector was installed at the Home Theater,The Home Theater was built in 1901 on the southwest corner of B and Main, and was also called the Shaw. It had live stage performances, and soon brought in films. The stone, fireproof’ building was considered the finest theater in Kansas, boasting an ornate lobby, the state's largest stage and 1,200 seats.But its glory was not to last. In 1929. a flood heavily damaged the theater, causing the curtain loft to collapse. Soon after that, the entire building was condemned. It was repaired, and today houses Key Rexali Drugs at 201 South Main.The Home opened a boom period for movie houses in Hutchinson that may never be matched. The De Luxe Theater, which opened in 1910, was part of that boom. A 1930 fire led to a complete renovation of the theater, and it was renamed the Strand in 1931, and continued as a theater until late 1960. The last occupant of that building was Spangler’s Photo,Another downtown business, Crossroads Bookstore, 304 North Main, also sits on an old theater site. The Iris Theater was there until 1930, when a lack of silent films caused it to close.The Iris came back in 1932 with 10-cent “talkies,” and stayed open until the early ’40s. In 1936, construction was completed on the State Theater at 310 North Main, just a few doors away. The State« *tinued to operate until it closed early in 1986.But such smaller theaters as the Flag, Iris and Strand were not necessary the norm. Downtown Hutchinson was bursting with large theaters as well. The Home was the first of the big movie houses, but it was followed by others, such as the Midland, which opened in 1920 at 8 North Main, near the site of the present-day Anthony’s.The Midland was extensively remodeled in the early ’30s — so extensively that some news reports said it was razed. But that didn’t really happen until much later. The theater closed per* manently in 1958, and the building was torn down in 1984.The Royal was another of Hutchinson’s finer theaters, billed as “Hutchinson’s second best house of entertainment.” It opened several years before the Midland did in 1920, but didn’t have that theater's staying power.In June of 1931, it closed abruptly, leaving only the Fox and Strand theaters, which opened that year, operating that summer. The building was stripped of all its theater equipment in 1934 by the Fox Co., which ownedthe equipment.Some theaters had even less staying power. The Elite Theater operated in the early part of the century at 13 South Main, a space now occupied by the Family Wa-terbed Center. The Elite was later called The Rex, and closedaround 1918.The Pearl showed films at 7 North Main until the late part of World War I, when it was replaced by the Liberty, which showed the first, primitive “talkie films in Hutchinson during the ’20s. The Liberty closed before 1930, an action possibly aided by the 1929 flood.But perhaps the most inter-ih**?Pers in Hutchinson’spast left even fewer records. Both were built in response to city practices that stopped people from seeing movies.As late as the ’30s, city law prohibited showing movies on Sunday, But that didn't stop Hutch resident “Koon” Beck from making Sabbath day presentations.He simply put a screen over the Arkansas River, technically outside the city, and people would line the banks to watch the show.Much of the information in this article came from records provided by local historian Pat Mitchell.
Newspaper Details
Hutchinson News
Hutchinson, Kansas, US
Sun, Oct 26, 1986
Page 273
Full Page
Clipped by
Patrick S.
NA, NA 06 May 2023
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