It was a block buster event in Glens Falls entertainment history.
A WGLC radio announcer on June 1, 1933 was in front of the Paramount Theatre at Ridge and Maple streets to announce over the air the names of local residents arriving for the special 45-minute musical review prior to the showing of the evening’s feature film “A Lady’s Profession,” starring Alison Skipworth, Roland Young, Sari Maritza, Roscoe Karns and Warren Hymer.
The “premier performance as a group” featured more than 25 local entertainers that broadcast regularly over the local airwaves, such as the Welsh Male Quartet, Accordion Twins, Freddie Bazinet, Ruth Bombard and Cy, the rural philosopher.
“In all, four microphones will carry the program over the air and a special public address system has been installed in the theater auditorium so that the artists may be plainly heard by the audience,” The Post-Star reported on June 1, 1933.
For more than 50 years the Paramount Theatre, across Ridge Street from The Queensbury Hotel, was a gathering place in downtown Glens Falls for movies, musical entertainment and social interaction.
Often the theater worked hand-in-hand with local radio.
The theater closed in 1978, and in 1979 the building was demolished to make space for a parking lot, ending a run of countless memorable moments.
On Dec. 28, 1947, Mrs. “Wenceslas” La Fond was crowned “Queen for Christmas,” in a contest broadcast from the theater over WWSC radio from 9:30 to 10 p.m., a holiday version of the weekly “Queen for Friday” contest.
“Mrs. La Fond was chosen by the applause of the audience as registered on the applause meter located in the WWSC studios,” The Post-Star reported.
She received new clothes, jewelry, ice skates, door chimes, candy, dinner at a local restaurant and use of a new car and chauffeur for an evening, contributed by local businesses.
Those from the Baby Boom generation remember attending WWSC radio Battle of the Bands shows at the Paramount.
“The Good Things,” a South Glens Falls rock band, won the contest on March 1, 1970.
Band members were John Thompson, William Gonyea, Mark Robillard and Dan Titterington.
“The Good Things” beat out 1969 champion “The Tyde” and three other local bands: “The Resurrection” from South Glens Falls, “Sunday’s Garden” from Glens Falls, and “The Rainbow’s End” from Fort Ann.
Radio celebrities Pete Cloutier and Dave Covey, known as “The WWSC Hitmakers,” directed the show that included an audience participation dance contest.
The 1,200-seat Paramount had the largest seating capacity of any theater in the Glens Falls area when it opened on Jan. 22, 1932.
“The new theatre building is of such beauty and design as to warrant admiration of thousands who will inspect it,” The Post-Star reported at the time.
The theater had a “modestly Colonial” exterior and a Spanish interior design.
Its 22-to-24-inch wide seats provided comfort, and the theater was wired with the latest in sound technology.
Organist Bob Hamilton performed on a three-manual organ positioned on an elevator-raised platform.
“A very striking effect takes place when music is heard and the organist comes up from seemingly nowhere,” The Post-Star reported.
“Two Kinds of Women,” starring Miriam Hopkins, Phillips Holmes and Irving Pichel was the opening-night feature film.
Admission for all seats was 50 cents – the equivalent of $9.06 in 2020 dollars.
Over the decades, attendance at the theater, as at downtown movie theaters around the nation in general, waned as new multi-screen theaters opened outside downtown.
Around 1976, the owner of The Paramount put it up for sale, asking $85,000.
In June 1978, Kamyr Inc., a company that manufactured machinery for the paper industry, bought the building for $40,000 and closed the theater.
Kamyr owned The Queensbury Hotel, across the street, and had its office building at the corner of Ridge and Lawrence streets.
By that time, The Paramount was showing salacious movies, which Kamyr officials thought detracted from the neighborhood’s quality of life.
In March 1979, Mark Frost, then an announcer at WWSC radio and now editor of The Chronicle weekly newspaper, organized a group that made a last-ditch effort to find an investor that would buy the building and reopen it as a theater showing older and foreign films.
Kamyr demolished the building in August 1979 to develop a parking lot in conjunction with an expansion of its office building.
The Paramount was the last of four historic movie theaters to close downtown.
The Park, on Park Street, closed in 1933. Developer Elizabeth Miller bought the building in 2014, and renovated it for a performing arts center and restaurant that opened in 2018.
Empire Theatre, on South Street, closed in 1949. Developer Mike Kaidas bought the building in 2007 and renovated it for a retail, office and apartment complex.
The Rialto, on Warren Street, was demolished in 1969.
The State Theater, on Warren Street, closed in 1953 and the building was demolished in 1969.
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Sources: The Post-Star Jan. 22, 1932; June 1, 1933; Dec. 29, 1947; Feb. 27, March 18, 1970; June 13, 24, 1978; March 17, Aug. 22, 1979; July 19, 2014; “Bridging the Years,” The Glens Falls Historical Association, 1978
This story was made possible by The Park Theater.
What a great way to support our local Arts and History community! A Virtual Silent Film Fundraiser!
The Park Theater, in partnership with The Chapman Museum, presents “The Marriage Circle" featuring a live musical score by Ben Model via YouTube livestream on September 10 at 7pm.
The live stream will begin with a presentation by The Chapman Museum, featuring images and news articles from Glens Falls during the 1910s and 20s, and will highlight the bustling 20s theater scene in our area following the Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918.
This virtual event will feature live accompaniment to the silent film, "The Marriage Circle” (1924), which centers around the trials and tribulations of marriage and infidelities. "The Marriage Circle” features American-born silent film star, Esther Ralston, who lived in the Glens Falls area during the 1970s.
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MAURY THOMPSON
Maury Thompson was a reporter for The Post-Star for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He now is a freelance writer and documentary film producer specializing in regional history. Thompson is collaborating with Snarky Aardvark Films to produce a documentary about Charles Evans Hughes and the Adirondacks, which is expected to release in September 2020. See the trailer here. Read his full bio here.