It's quizz time.

Who created the first twin theatre, where, and when?

I'm pretty sure that I know the answer, but wonder just how many other people do.
 

Lance:
AMC generally gets the credit for the first, but they weren't...not by a long shot. They were superceded by two other chains, both still in existence today. I'm always supprised that neither of those chains ever argue this point.

Keep trying. I have the proof. The news stories and photos of the earlier twins.

Hints: There was one on the west coast and one on the east coast. I won't say at this time which was first. Both started as singles and were added on.
There were two that were built as twins, both a long time before AMC, but one was in Canada and the other in Cuba so we won't count them as we will keep this strickly to US theatres.
 

Joe
 

Good work...the Edwards Alhambra in Alhambra, CA was the one that I was referring to on the west coast. It was a single that had an adjoining store within the same building converted into a 2nd auditorium. It was entered from the original lobby. Therefore it shared the same entrance, boxoffice, lobby, and restrooms as the original theatre so was indeed a twin using one staff and meeting the definition of a twin theatre. It did have a separate projection booth, but that wasn't uncommon in many twins just like it isn't uncommon even today in many megaplexes.

However... it still isn't the oldest or the first one!

Mark:
Thanks for the info on the Bexley. It is even older by several years then the Alhambra, and one I didn't know about. See what we can learn on these forums. That's why I like to ask these questions, as I'm always seeking to learn more.

The one that I think was the first was on the east coast and came into existance in the twenties.

Keep guessing everyone...you're doing very well.
 

AMC's 'claim to fame' as I understand it is having built (from the ground up) the first twin, and yes it was the Ward Parkway Twin (now 22-plex and recently dropped Ward from the name) in Kansas City, Missouri.

The Edwards Alhambra in Alhambra, CA wasn't built as a twin it was upgraded, right? I am not trying to glorify AMC, I am not that crazy, but just wanted to point that out. Still, I could be wrong.
 

The question here is not who built the first twin from the ground up, but who had the idea first, and acted upon it, to have more then one auditorium in the same building and thus share the operating expenses while having the drawing potential of more then one film.

Incidentally, the Alhambra ran the same double feature in both auditoriums, as a way to make each feature available at whatever time the patron wanted to see it. They just reversed the showings in each one. The Bexley ran the same film on both screens with one print simultaneously. I don't see much advantage to that, but that's what they did.

The east coast theatre, built as a single and then enlarged to a double in the twenties, ran two separate first run films...one in each auditorium for separate admission, and shared the same marquee, vestibule, box office, and lobby. It therefore fits all the requirements to be a twin theatre. This is the one that I'm looking for.

Someone out there must know the answer...so please keep trying.
 

There were some good ones. I'll wait till Friday at midnight to see if anyone has any more...and then will post what I believe was the first twin theatre and who developed it.
 

The oldest one I know of is:
The Century/Valencia Theatres in Baltimore
around 1926 by Loew's.

The Valencia was converted from the Century ballroom above the Century Theatre around 1926. They shared the same marquee, upright sign, entrance vestibule, and outer lobby. They both ran first run movies with separate admission.
 

The theatre for which you speak, The Winter Garden did indeed open in Feb. 1914 It's sister theatre below, on ground level, originally called the Yonge Street opened in Dec. of 1913. Both houses were originally designed for vaudeville and featured eight acts of such along with several film shorts. The Yonge Street ran continuous all day while the Winter Garden ran only one evening show with reserved seats.

With the death of both silent films and vaudeville the Winter Garden was closed by 1930 not to reopen again until after the theatre complexe was completely restored as a performing arts center during the 1980s.

In 1935, a few years after the closing of the Winter Garden the theatre was remodeled and the name shortened to just LOEW'S.

Originally I was looking for the first twin movie theatre in the US, where both auditoriums ran movies on a full time basis as their main bill of fare. I did that as I believe that we all here are associated with the motion picture business. If I was interested in the first twin theatre per say, including live theatres as well...then the first would be much older as the idea of housing two auditoriums in one building goes back to the 1890s in New York when it became popular to add a "roof garden" theatre above an existing theatre so that they could continue summer programing in those pre air conditioning days. The outdoor roofgardens eventually were closed in and became 2nd indoor auditoriums so that they could be used year-round. The first New York theatre built with a permanent indoor upper floor auditorium was the New Amsterdam in 1903 on 42nd Street.

Loew's first double decker theatre was the American in New York City. It was originally built in 1893 by others. Marcus Loew aquired the building and made it the headquarters of his emerging theatre empire. In 1909 he added the 2nd auditorium above the American and called it the Winter Garden. This theatre was the prototype for his new theatre to be built in Toronto. The New York Winter Garden was designed to look like an outdoor garden with trees, vines and trellaces and looked very much like the later Toronto one. When Loew submitted plans to the Toronto authorities for his piggyback theatre, they were reluctant to approve it as they had never seen anything like it and were concerned with how people would safely exit in case of fire. Loew and his architect, Thomas Lamb, brought the officials to New York to see his piggy back theatres there and convinced them that they had nothing to worry about.

While the American and the Yonge Street and their respective upper level Winter Garden theatres, as well as others, ran a combination of vaudeville and film...it is still my belief that the Century/Valencia theatres in Baltimore were the first true twin movie theatres. What constitutes a full time movie theatre is certainly a subject open to debate. The Baltimore facility seems to be without a doubt the first in the US. If we are including all of North America (and who knows about the rest of the world)and we include combination houses, and legitimate theatres as well...then it will have to go to the New Amsterdam in NY. (1903)
 

Your mentioning of the bicycling of the shows from downstairs to upstairs is correct and is proof that it wasn't the first ture twin theatre. It was in effect a theatre with two auditoriums running the same program in both. The whole idea of a twin movie theatre is to share costs of one facility while having the income of two. That is where the Century/Valencia garners the title as first as it did exhibit two completely different programs with separate admissions while sharing the same facility.
 

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