The Golden Age of Indianapolis Theaters

11. The 1920s and the Birth of New Challenges

11 The1920sandthe BirthofNewChallenges Downtown theater activity continued in the early 1920s, but there were many challenges along the way. Competition reached a new level with the addition of five new major theaters downtown and twenty others in various city neighborhoods. Six of the latter would be called deluxe suburban theaters with seating capacities larger than the typical neighborhood movie house and stages added for live entertainment. With rare exceptions, their feature films had already appeared downtown. The first of the deluxe suburbans to appear was the Zaring Egyptian. While noting that “the new theater was Egyptian in architecture,” Gene Gladson also found that “huge square blocks of concrete were molded to resemble an ancient Egyptian temple.” The Zaring featured a house organist and modest stage productions from time to time. Seven months after the Zaring opened, the brand-new Uptown was in business . It was built by the Circle Theater Company, and its first week featured Circle organist Dessa Byrd. Two more of these more sophisticated outlets opened in 1927, the Ritz and the Rivoli. The Ritz opened with an organist and a feature film. One week, early in its new life, it made use of its stage with an all-girl band. A few months later, the Rivoli opened. Built and managed by the Universal theatrical chain, it changed film features four times a week and planned some stage attractions, but the introduction of sound films eventually curtailed that plan. Facing. The first of the deluxe suburbans to appear was the Zaring Egyptian. Newspaper advertisements claimed that “crowds stormed the opening.” An Indianapolis News reviewer called it “one of the most beautiful and distinctive motion picture houses in the middle west.” Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. Above. The 1,400-seat Ritz opened at 34th and North Illinois Street. It claimed that hundreds were turned away. Attractions included an all-girl band. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. Below. When the Rivoli opened at 3155 E. 10th Street, it promised stage attractions, but sound films, still ahead, changed those plans. Owned by a theatrical chain, it announced it would change offerings four times a week. It could seat 1,500. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. 97 The Granada (above) and Fountain Square (facing) both opened during the spring of 1928. Both had a stage suitable for vaudeville, an orchestra pit, and an organ console. Both had elegant lobbies and auditoriums with foreign themes. Bass Photo Company Collection, Indiana Historical Society. 99 The last two big suburban show houses to be built were just steps apart from each other in Fountain Square, a few blocks southeast of the downtown business area. They opened within a month of each other. The circumstances leading to these theaters were not coincidental. Gladson found an article in a September 1939 issue of the Indianapolis Times that explained it all. The Fountain Square Realty Company was in the process of building a theater when it was approached with a proposal. The proposal came from an unidentified party who was willing to purchase an option to operate the theater once it was completed. When the realty company would not provide the identity of the purchaser, Fountain Square rejected the proposal. Within weeks someone started building what supposedly was to be an apartment on the opposite corner of the Fountain Square theater site. The so-called apartment turned out to be the Granada Theater at 1045 Virginia Avenue. The previously unidentified owner was the Universal theatrical chain, which also had acquired the Rivoli. 100 The Granada opened first in April 1928, and the Fountain Square followed a month later. Both had a stage suitable for vaudeville, an orchestra pit, and an organ console. Both had elegant lobbies and auditoriums with foreign themes. The Granada was described as keeping with its name, containing “draperies and interior decorations with a Spanish atmospheric design.” The Fountain Square’s auditorium represented “a large Italian garden under a night sky with twinkling stars.” Lawrence Connaughton (better known as Connie) and his orchestra appeared opening week at the Fountain Square with Connie doubling as the master of ceremonies . He and his group were well known and popular in the city. Also on the stage that week was Mlle. Theo Hewes and her...