Fargo Theatre
From Fargo Filmmaking
The historic Fargo Theatre is an art-deco, art-moderne movie palace on Broadway in downtown Fargo, North Dakota.
Following construction in 1925, it opened to the public on March 15, 1926.
Now the home to the Fargo Film Festival, the theatre regularly shows first-run indepedent and international cinema along with special programming like Silent Movie Night and live events.
The theatre also hosts the Fargo Theatre Summer Film Institute, a moviemaking program for grade schoolers that takes place annually in July.
The current Executive Director of the theatre is Margie Bailly.
Contents |
[edit] History of the Fargo Theatre by Decade
[edit] 1920s
[edit] Construction and Architecture
The T.F. Powers and Company construction businesss began work on the Fargo Theatre at 314 Broadway, formerly the site of a fruit store known as the Idlekope Building, on September 15, 1925. The project took roughly six months to complete, at a total cost of $350,000 for land, building improvements, and equipment.
Henry Orth, of the architectural firm Buechner and Orth, designed the Fargo Theatre in the Baroque or Renaissance Revival style. The front facade of the building was clad in red brick and sat on a base of limestone. Entrance doors and a box office occupied the center at street level, and were flanked by a small storefront shop and a pair of exit doors on each side. Above the exits, stone consoles visually supported cornices, each of which were terminated at the top with a decorative cartouch. The second level featured large windows, topped by arched stone hood moldings. Protruding from the wall between the arches were stone faces with grotesque expressions, their mouths open to accept the hanger rods of the marquee. Directly above, stone dentil work formed a decorative building cornice.
Inside, a central lobby opened to a mezzanine level richly adorned with colored mirrors, a large crystal chandelier, and numerous art panels. The auditorium was furnished with seats of Spanish leather and seated 1300 patrons on the main level and in a balcony.
Owners Finkelstein and Ruben called it the finest and most modern playhouse in North Dakota. A state-of-the-art silent movie palace, it was complete with an elaborate Wurlitzer pipe organ and fully operating stage and flyloft for vaudeville shows. The $25,000 Wurlitzer organ was built especially for the Fargo Theatre by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda, New York in January 1926.
[edit] Public Opening and Early Programming
On Monday, March 15, 1926, the Fargo Theatre opened to the public. The opening was big news, and The Forum ran a 12-page supplement detailing the elegant structure. The entertainment bill that first day featured a varied program of pictures and vaudeville with accompaniment by Chicago organist Ramon Berry at the Wurlitzer, and the Theatre's own orchestra under the direction of Norman Ostby. The King Cole Revue, a musical extravaganza with 15 entertainers, was the feature number. Sydney Chaplin, brother of Charlie Chaplin, played the title role in the feature film, The Man on the Box (1925). A news reel, animated cartoon, and burlesque number completed the entertainment.
The Fargo Theatre's early days were filled with appearances by vaudeville stars. To the delight of virtually every school-aged child in town, Babe Ruth was the headliner in November 1926. He appeared on stage in his uniform, hitting a baseball that hung down from a wire on a string. Silent screen cowboy Tom Mix also appeared in person at the Fargo Theatre with his horse Tony.
[edit] Ed and Hildegarde Kraus
In July 1926, the American Amusement Company took over operation of the Fargo Theatre and made it its leading theatre in Fargo-Moorhead, or the "A" house. As the "A" house, the Fargo Theatre screen showcased the finest silent films of Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, and Colleen Moore. Sound effects for the films were provided by the Wurlitzer organ and the Theatre's orchestra.
The entrance of the American Amusement Company signaled the arrival of Ed Kraus, the manager who would guide the Fargo Theatre for the next 30 years. Ed came to Fargo in 1925 to handle advertising for the American Amusement Company's other theatres, including the Garrick, Orpheum, Grand, and State. When the American Amusement Company bought the Fargo Theatre, Ed moved his headquarters there, where he stayed until his retirement in 1960.
Ed's wife Hildegarde Usselman Kraus, would also become a significant part of the history of the Fargo Theatre, as well as the history of entertainment in Fargo-Moorhead. The couple met in 1925 when Hildegarde was staff organist at the State Theatre, and they married after a whirlwind courtship. Ed continued to serve as the local representative of the American Amusement Company, while Hildegarde played the organ for silent films at all of the area theatres. In 1926, she went to Minneapolis for advanced organ courses at the McPhail School of Music. Upon her return, she began a series of live, remote broadcast programs over WDAY Radio with the organs from both the State and the Fargo Theatre.
[edit] The Advent of Synchronous Sound
When Vitaphone, or "talking," picture equipment was introduced in 1927, the Fargo Theatre was the first in the area to install the equipment. On December 4, 1927, the Theatre presented a series of talking short subjects along with an opera solo by Giovani Martinelli, a welcoming address by Will Hays of Motion Picture Producers, Inc., a comedy monologue by Georgie Jessell, and a piece by the New York Philharmonic orchestra. The feature film that night, however, was a silent, The College Widow (1927) starring Dolores Costello.
Al Jolson's The Jazz Singer (1927) was the first full-length, part-talking picture at the Fargo Theatre, shown on February 20, 1928. Vitaphone short subjects were featured on Thursday through Saturday for a few months, with Monday through Wednesday devoted to a program of five acts of vaudeville with a silent picture feature. Talking pictures became a regular feature with Tenderloin (1928) on July 2, 1928.
[edit] 1930s
[edit] Decline of Silent Films and WDAY's Barn Dance
The advent of talking pictures brought about many changes in the 1930s. Vaudeville ended in the late 1920s, and organists were no longer needed to score the silent films. While many theatre musicians lost their jobs, Hildegarde Usselman Kraus became the full-time organist at WDAY Radio and continued to broadcast special event programs from the Fargo Theatre's Wurlitzer for many years. Another popular WDAY radio show, Barn Dance, was broadcast from the Fargo Theatre every Friday night in the 1930s.
[edit] Publicity Stunts
Film audiences in Fargo dwindled in the Depression years, and manager Ed Kraus became known for his publicity stunts and business tie-ins to bring in audiences. For Swing High, a 1930 circus picture, he set up two stands in the lobby and served pink lemonade to children before the movie, and gave them sacks of Jumbo peanuts on their way out. A local bank paid for the peanuts, and a local broadcasting station supplied the lemonade and radio announcements.
[edit] Art Deco/Art Moderne Redesign
In the 1930s, the Fargo Theatre came under the banner of the Minnesota Amusement Company. To attract more patrons, the new owners closed the Theatre for six weeks in 1937 for a complete redesign in the Art Deco or Art Moderne style. Minneapolis architect Jack Liebenberg, the region's most celebrated picture palace designer, replaced the elegant finishes of the 1920s with smooth curved lines and neon light. A special section in The Forum on March 26, 1937 provided the following description of the auditorium:
"The interior of the auditorium has been transformed into a composition of interesting planery surfaces, superimposed upon each other with rhythmic sequence. The sleek and sinuous curves of the ceiling surfaces leave a tingling effect upon the imagination when the play of light is released upon these areas. The wall surfaces in turn are a foil or background for further play of horizontal coursings of light which are brought together in a pleasing horizontal composition.
Use of indirect neon lighting of special gas density produces the unusual 'cold' reds and 'warm' blues almost paradoxical in their sensory efforts upon the eye."
The Art Deco style was carried through to the lobby and mezzanine as well. The special section of The Forum included the following description:
"In the decorative treatment of the entresole lounge, which is on the mezzanine level, quiet elegance has been obtained by combining the deep tonal qualities of a morocco brown with the fresh crispness of chartreuse and blue gray. The fireplace-ingle has a wall entirely of flesh-colored mirrors which adds spaciousness to a high degree. From the entresole an interesting perspective may be had of the lobby. This room has been treated in rare African mahogany wood veneers combined harmoniously with a blue mirrored ceiling. The only accents in this vast room are the blue and flesh mirrored ceiling and panels.
The foyer on the lower level has been executed in the streated effect in soft tones of coral, amber, maize, yellow, and white. Glass has been extensively used in the gold mirrored ceiling treatment."
[edit] New Air Conditioning System and Other Improvements
The $40,000 remodeling job also included the installation of an adiabatic air condition system, which changed the air without the gain or loss of heat. The Fargo Theatre was the first theatre of its size in the country to install this type of air conditiong. New seats, projection equipment, and an RCA high fidelity sound system were also installed. Outside, a new extended and streamlined marquee offered more advantageous billing features. The Fargo Theatre re-opened on March 27, 1937 with the film Swing High, Swing Low, starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray.
[edit] External Links
- Fargo Theatre website
- Fargo Film Festival website
