Movie Theaters
As Euro-American settlers moved west in the mid-1800s, demand for live entertainment followed. Early opera houses hosted traveling performances such as operas, stage plays, and musical variety shows and functioned as community centers. In Montana, richly ornamented theaters such as the Ming Opera in Helena or the McDonald Opera in Philipsburg provided residents a luxurious escape from daily cares. The 1907 Babcock Theater in Billings featured balcony seating and a retiring room, earning it the reputation as the finest theater in the Northwest.
As moving pictures emerged in the late 1890s and early 1900s, existing theaters adapted for silent films, adding screens, film projectors, and organs. As films gained in popularity, New York City’s opulent 2,989-seat Mark Strand Theatre, built in 1914, became America’s first movie palace.
Movie palaces were just as, if not more, ostentatious than early theaters. Common features included velvet curtains and seats, carpeted floors, multiple balconies, and ornate gilded light fixtures. By the 1920s, movie theaters such as the Rialto Theatre in Deer Lodge or the Roman Theatre in Red Lodge welcomed laborers and managers alike to view silent films, and later “talkies,” which incorporated recorded sound.
Movie theater architectural styles varied widely. While the Art Deco style was popular nationwide in the 1920s, Montana architects chose a variety of designs. With their highly ornamented Beaux Arts, Bavarian-inspired Swiss Chalet, or exotic Spanish Eclectic designs, the buildings enhanced the magical spell cast by motion pictures. Though diverse in character, nearly all of Montana’s early twentieth century movie houses shared recessed entries for displaying posters and prominent marquees. Brightly-lit neon marquees caught the attention of passersby and could often be seen for blocks.
Some Montana movie theaters declined during the Great Depression while others flourished. In Billings, more than one third of the theaters closed by 1932. Towns like Fort Peck and Forsyth, which benefited from local industry or economic recovery projects, saw new or remodeled theaters. Despite ever-changing technology and challenging economic factors, many historic Montana theaters still operate, recalling the heyday of movie palaces in Montana.
Babcock Theatre
Constructed in 1907 during a period of robust city growth, the Babcock replaced the original Billings Opera House, which was destroyed in a catastrophic fire. Owners first planned a four-story commercial block, then a seven-story building, but only built the two-story base. The first floor features…
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Alcazar (Star) Theatre
Red Lodge Commercial Historic District
A combination moving picture theater and boardinghouse were the original tenants of this two-story masonry building, completed in 1908. Several directors managed the rather short-lived Alcazar, including Steve Roman, whose family long monopolized Red Lodge’s theater business. Roman closed the…
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Liberty Theatre
Great Falls Central Business Historic District
Thirty-six hundred people watched Nomads of the North at the grand opening of the Liberty Theatre in August 1921. A musical score, played on a $47,000 Wurlitzer organ, accompanied the silent film. An overflow crowd of two thousand toured the theater’s lavishly appointed interior. The Renaissance…
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Ruby Theatre
The town of Three Forks, born to serve as a division point for the Chicago, St. Paul, and Milwaukee Railway, took root in 1908. As the town grew to a sizable settlement of 2,300, the Empire Theatre opened to serve local audiences. Manager David R. “Slim” Byrd attracted traveling troupes on their…
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Roman Theatre
Red Lodge Commercial Historic District
Original rusticated and ashlar concrete blocks and the 1935 ROMAN marquee distinguish the façade of this early movie theater. Austrian immigrant Steve Roman built the theater in 1917. One of fourteen sons, nineteen-year-old Roman came to Red Lodge in 1897 to work in the mines. He launched into the…
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Ellen Theater
Main Street Historic District
The first building in Bozeman expressly constructed as a theatre, the Ellen opened in December 1919. Calling it “a superb piece of architecture,” the Bozeman Chronicle praised the 800-seat theatre as “the most modern … in the state.” Bozeman architect Fred Willson designed the two-story Beaux Arts…
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Rialto Theatre
“What you hear and what you will see will linger in your memory like a beautiful dream,” proclaimed the Powell County Press when the Rialto Theatre opened with a glittering production of the opera Robin Hood in May of 1921. The Butte architectural firm of Arnold and Van Hausen designed the theater…
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Masonic Temple Annex / Fox Theatre, Butte
Butte National Historic Landmark District
An overabundance of copper on the world market all but halted building activity in Uptown Butte during the 1920s. This splendid, long-established theater is one exception, completed in 1923. Following the example of Butte’s most significant twentieth-century buildings, the Masons commissioned the…
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The Iris Theater
Red Lodge Commercial Historic District
Originally intended as a meeting hall with storefront space, tenants Byton Down and Robert Pryde redesigned the building’s ground floor before its completion for use as a theater. When the Iris opened in 1925, residents viewed it as welcome competition since ownership of Red Lodge theaters had…
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Roxy Theatre
Forsyth Main Street Historic District
“May You Prosper Well in Your New Theatre with Your Steadfast Faith in Forsyth,” read one of the many ads that filled the August 28, 1930, Forsyth Times. Car and clothing merchants joined building contractors and suppliers in congratulating Anthony Wolke and Frank Faust on the construction of their…
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Yucca Theatre and David M. Manning Residence
An optimistic, cheerful nature and keen sense of humor helped make legislator, contractor, and engineer David Manning instrumental in getting Montana “out of the mud.” A champion of Montana’s rural communities, Manning initiated significant improvements across Montana’s sparsely populated areas:…
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Washoe Theater
Seattle-based theater architect B. Marcus Pinteca (1890-1971) drew the plans for this remarkable structure in 1930. However, the Depression delayed interior finishing and the $200,000 movie theater did not open until 1936. The Washoe Theater and Radio City Music Hall in New York were the last two…
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Fort Peck Theatre
When President Roosevelt authorized the Works Progress Administration construction of the Fort Peck Dam in 1933, the “instant” town with a population of 10,000 created a need for social and recreational diversions in this remote area of Montana. The Army Corps of Engineers designed and constructed…
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Roxy Theater
University Area Historic District
Neighboring business owners welcomed the Roxy Theater by purchasing more than a page of newspaper advertisements recognizing “the latest addition to Missoula’s South Side Business District!” Missoula suffered less than most Montana communities during the Great Depression—it was one of the few towns…
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