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PRINCESS
. COLUMBIA . LOEW'S
PRINCESS . PARAMOUNT |
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169 S.
Main St. |
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Opened 1912
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Closed 1969 . Seats 641 . Demolished 1972
An article
in the Commercial Appeal states that The Princess was originally a
Nickelodeon named COLUMBIA which opened in 1906. It was acquired
by Frank Montgomery, the "Moving Picture Man" in 1910, from C. E.
Denton. It's safe to say that it was one of Memphis's oldest
theaters.
The Memphis
Directories list COLUMBIA at 177 S. Main in 1910. Another
COLUMBIA is listed in 1914 at 318 Beale. The first PRINCESS listing
is 1912 at 167-171 S. Main. In the 1914 listing the address
becomes 169-171 S. Main. The listings continue up to 1918 when
the name changes to LOEW's PRINCESS for two years. And then
listed as PRINCESS from 1920-1958 except for a name change to
PARAMOUNT for one year in 1932. |
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Col: Richard Brashier |
Princess 1957:
Richard Brashier |
Princess:
Richard Brashier |
1918 Ad for LOEW's
Princess |
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Kemmons Wilson purchases the Princess Theatre:
It's
doubtful that many Memphians remember this fact or even know
about it, but Kemmons Wilson did indeed purchase the Princess
Theatre for $85,000 from M. A. Lightman on September 8, 1944. This
website is grateful to the Kemmons Wilson Family for
making the original, signed contract available to us, and for
allowing us to publish it in its entirety. Click on any
small page to enlarge it to full screen size. They're
big files. Please be patient while they load. |
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Cover |
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
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Page 5 |
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Find the Princess - 1940 |
Princess 1940s |
Princess Demo 1971 |
1953 Ad |
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| COMMENTS: |
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Walter Bolton:
"The
Princess on Main was also an interesting theater. It was owned
by Malco and they would show most of the Republic B westerns
there. They would first run a lot of the B movies like the
Bowery Boys there also. In later years after B movies went away
it became a last run house for many movies and usually had a
triple feature. It was one of the first theaters to have air
conditioning. But it had the old water cool system which made it
very cold in summer but also very moist in the theater. You
would come out of the theater almost damp. The real
interesting thing about the Princess was that the refreshment
stand was outside on Main street. You could stop and buy
something at the refreshment stand without going into the
theater. The stand had a lot of items including Popcorn, candy,
hot dogs, french fries, drinks and some of the best soft serve
ice cream around. A lot of people downtown would have a quick
lunch at the Princess refreshment stand. The
Princess stood on Main next to the alley between Beale and
McCall so it had an alley entrance for African-American
customers. It was a very narrow theater but it had several
balconies."
Vincent Astor:
"The most memorable aspect of the Princess had to do with the alley. It’s
convenience to Main street made it usable for personal purposes as there
was a storm drain there. The stink at the Princess was
legendary and lingered long after the theatre closed, inside and out."
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CREDITS:
The "Historic-Memphis" Team would
like to acknowledge and thank the following organizations and
individuals for their
contributions which helped make this page possible:
Memphis
Public
Library, Memphis University Library, Memphis Commercial Appeal,
Memphis Press Scimitar, Greater Memphis Chamber, Memphis Flyer, Vance
Lauderdale Family Archives, Memphis Heritage, FultonHistory.com, Tom
Leatherwood Shelby County Register,
Cinema Treasures, Joe Spake, Richard S.
Brashier, Lee Askew, George Whitworth, and many other individuals whose assistance is
acknowledged on individual photos. |
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