Relics - Colonial / Grand

The Colonial Theater circa 1936

One A.M. at The Colonial

Mutual Film Corporation previewed Charles Chaplin’s production of One A.M. at Seattle’s Colonial Theater on Sunday, August 6, 1916. The film went into general release the following day. The Seattle Daily Times ran large advertisements announcing, "A brand new first run Charlie Chaplin." The "latest and greatest novelty comedy in which Chaplin only appears, starting today for one hilarious week. It’s funnier and cleverer than anything he ever did."

Also on the bill, a "Special added attraction, Helen Holmes of ‘Whispering Smith’ fame in ‘Judith of The Cumberlands’, from the famous novel of the same name. All stars, five acts, action, drama, thrills! Come early today – continuous 11 to 11. Bring Along the Children."

Chaplin’s next picture, The Count, had a four day run at The Colonial, beginning on October 18, 1916, several weeks after the September 4, 1916 general release date. Included in the program, "Winnifred Greenwood in ‘A Woman’s Daring’. A girl’s bitter battle with ‘the past’," in six acts, and "Two acts of thrills in the Shielding Shadow."

Admission prices for both dates with "no raise" were 10 ¢ for adults and 5 ¢ for children.

The Colonial Theater opened for business in 1913 at 1515 4th Avenue, between Pike and Pine Streets. Opening night featured The Tiger Lily, a Vitagraph three reeler released on July 3, starring Julia Swayne Gordon and Princess The Tiger. The Colonial’s columned façade was a well known downtown landmark for decades and witness to numerous Seafair torchlight parades as well as victory celebrations for both the First and Second World Wars. In the sixties the theater was known for continuous bargain triple-features. Closed and altered for use as a bank in 1972, the building was finally razed to make way for the Century Square Tower, built in 1985.

The Pawnshop at the (not so) Grand

Offered for general release on October 2, 1916, Charles Chaplin’s sixth film produced for The Mutual Film Corporation came to Seattle’s Grand Theater for a one-week engagement on December 3. What appears to be a hastily prepared advertisment in the Seattle Daily Times mistakenly identifies the film as The Pawnbroker. Chaplin’s film was part of a mixed vaudeville program which included five live acts, "The Eccentric Four – nonsense and burlesque, The Waynes – comedy talkers and dancers, The Waif Trio – a riot of songs and comedy, Norton and Company – Of three, in ‘Our New Parson’," and "Maud Shirley – novelty musical entertainer." Sunday’s program ran, "Continuous, 1 to 11 P.M. – Any seat 10¢ - Children 5¢, and one child free with each adult.

The ‘Grand’ at 217 Cherry Street, had seen better days by 1916. Opened in 1900 by legendary theater manager John Cort, The Grand Opera House was one of the first large theaters built north of Yesler Way. With its handsome Romanesque façade and over two thousand seats it was considered Seattle’s showcase prior to the opening of Cort’s Moore Theater in 1907, and The Metropolitan Theater in 1911. A small fire reportedly started by a burglar in 1906 did little damage, but drew attention to the theater’s interior wood frame construction, and the building was soon thereafter considered a run-down firetrap.


The Cherry Street Garage (Grand Opera House) 2007

In the years immediately following the turn of the century The Grand Opera House shared the Vaudeville spotlight with The Seattle Theater, located on the northeast corner of 3rd and Cherry, and Cordray’s Opera House, later renamed The Third Avenue, on the northeast corner of 3rd and Madison. As ‘the movies’ invaded Seattle, and the rest of the world, many aging Vaudeville houses began the gradual transition to film. By 1916, The Grand was managed by one of Seattle’s earliest movie house operators, Eugene Levy. Programs included a wide variety of entertainment, but gradually, more film crept into the show. One of the last live acts Levy booked was a children’s circus. On the morning of January 20, 1917, a spectacular fire destroyed the theater. Several firemen narrowly escaped when the roof collapsed, and a battalion chief was killed. The shell of the building, and the only part that was fireproof, was saved. Seattle’s Grand Opera House survives today (as it has for most of its existence) as a parking garage located on the south side of Cherry Street between 2nd and 3rd Avenues.

Photo courtesy of Washington Secretary of State, Puget Sound Regional Archives