Movie Palace

Dan Munyon never dreamed of being in the movies. He wanted an old-fashioned palace to showcase them. But four years after he bought the 1920s-vintage Broadway Theater with its gilt carpet and towering chandeliers, that dream is in danger of slipping through his fingers. Munyon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, two hours before the Gloucester County sheriff was set to auction off the historic theater in the heart of downtown Pitman. The bank is demanding full payment of his $40,000 loan, and creditors from movie companies and the Internal Revenue Service have come calling.

It was a dizzying reversal of fortune. In July, Dan Munyon conceded it was unlikely he would ever own or operate Pitman's historic Broadway Theatre again. "It's way out of reach for me," he said in the midst of a tumultuous bankruptcy proceeding. This month, Munyon - a grandson of vaudeville performers who had dreamed of running an old-time movie palace since he was 8 - got a second chance. More than $15,000 in community donations helped him make a down payment and pay legal fees, and on Sept.

Standing amid plasterboard and electrical wiring, Walter Strine Sr. strung crystals beads onto an ornate chandelier at what will soon be the Media Theatre for the Performing Arts. His shock of white hair bobbed as he carefully threaded the decorative light fixture. "I have to get it finished because we're having auditions here over the weekend," he said cheerily. Strine, a successful entrepreneur now in his mid-80s, has owned the old movie palace for 20 years and is the force behind the effort to transform it into a performing arts center.

Back around World War I, everyone went to the movies, said Calvin Pryluck, a professor of radio-television-film at Temple University. They would not go to see any specific movie or actor, he said; rather, it was just a habit, the way television is today. Friday nights were for high school students, Saturday was date night for high school and college-age couples, and Sunday was family night. And it was never just the movie, added Pryluck. People would go out for a shake before or a soda after.

Standing amid plasterboard and electrical wiring, Walter Strine Sr. strung crystals beads onto an ornate chandelier at what will soon be the Media Theatre for the Performing Arts. His shock of white hair bobbed as he carefully threaded the decorative light fixture. "I have to get it finished because we're having auditions here over the weekend," he said cheerily. Strine, a successful entrepreneur now in his mid-80s, has owned the old movie palace for 20 years and is the force behind its transformation into a performing arts center.

United Artists, owner of the Sameric 4, has signed an agreement of sale that will close the city's last surviving movie palace. "It's almost a done deal," said Bill Quigley, senior vice president of marketing and new business for UA, the Denver-based theater chain. Philadelphia real estate investors Neil Rodin and Ralph Heller confirmed yesterday that they were "in the midst of purchasing" the four-plex at 1908 Chestnut St. The plan, said Rodin, is to convert the Sameric into an "exciting" retail space.

ACCORDING TO the owners of the Sameric theater, everyone can relax. They are not planning on tearing down the famed movie palace. "That's not our inclination," said Leslie Smallwood, spokesman for the Goldenberg Group. So maybe this means that the well-intentioned Committee to Save the Sameric/Boyd can stand down. At least for now. But the rest of us should be ready to man the barricades, because even though the Goldenberg Group says it won't tear the Sameric down, what it does want to do is even worse.

Instead of show times and ticket prices, a sign outside the Broadway Theatre in downtown Pitman announced last week that the historic movie palace was closed "by order" of a bank. The old-time theater had to shut down after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur converted the bankruptcy case from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation on March 29. Voorhees lawyer Andrew Sklar was appointed trustee of the theater. A sheriff's sale of the theater is scheduled for April 20. The owner owes more than $271,000 to The Bank, of Woodbury, according to the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office.

The white words beneath the yellow brick road are there for a reason. You're sitting in a dark, 1926 movie palace watching what could be Hollywood's most popular classic, The Wizard of Oz, when the urge strikes. Fear not. No one will stare if you break into song or point Dorothy toward the glittering path of her dreams. In fact, your companion may wonder at your lack of heart if you resist. The Wizard of Oz Sing-a-Long, scheduled at Pitman's Broadway Theatre, is the latest in an interactive movie genre that turns audiences into choruses - and into busybodies who warn and coax Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, and the pinafore-clad Dorothy.

Nearly a century ago, the Levoy Theatre, built in a classical revival style, opened in downtown Millville with great fanfare. The theater drew crowds hungry for vaudeville and motion picture entertainment a decade after their local opera house burned down, leaving a void. Over the next two decades, the Levoy would become one of largest theaters in the state. It would attract thousands of people who stood in lines that snaked around the block, according to a history compiled by the Levoy Theatre Preservation Society, a nonprofit that acquired the building in 1998 and is working to restore it. William Somers, a designer of the precursor to the Ferris wheel, opened the theater Jan. 9, 1908, in what was then a two-story building.

The Academy Awards ceremony is, by nature, a rite of self-congratulation and self-love - the movie industry showers plaudits and prizes on itself for the work of the last year, but also for achievements of a lifetime. Venerable stars and filmmakers are honored for the length and breadth of their careers, vintage clips are spliced into thematic reels, the actors, screenwriters, shooters, costumers, composers, and directors who passed away in the preceding 12 months are remembered.

A Philadelphia developer is wrapping up a deal to buy the shuttered Boyd Theater and says he intends to use the historic Chestnut Street movie palace as the anchor for a $95 million hotel-and-entertainment complex inspired by Atlantic City's Borgata, offering many of the same amenities but no gambling. Hal Wheeler of the development firm ARCWheeler said he had signed an agreement with Live Nation that would enable him to purchase the 2,350-seat theater by Nov. 25. If the sale goes through, it could provide a happy ending to the Boyd's long-running drama.

Live Nation, the national media company that promised to reincarnate the sumptuous but shuttered Boyd movie palace as a first-class venue for big, traveling Broadway shows, has withdrawn its construction crews and is reconsidering the project, a company spokesman confirmed yesterday. Live Nation apparently decided to shut down the project because construction costs on the Chestnut Street theater have risen at an alarming pace, said Duane Bumb, deputy director of the city's Commerce Department.

Life has had its ups and downs lately for the art-deco Yeadon movie theater, vacant for six years. First, as 2006 rolled around, there appeared to be a good chance the building might find a new use, with its most prominent architectural features preserved. Then three weeks ago, an arson fire in the structure again raised the possibility of demolition, which almost happened in late 2003. Now, with the Borough Council set to meet tomorrow to vote on demolishing the building, a theater entrepreneur is talking about reopening the 70-year-old theater as a movie house.

It was a dizzying reversal of fortune. In July, Dan Munyon conceded it was unlikely he would ever own or operate Pitman's historic Broadway Theatre again. "It's way out of reach for me," he said in the midst of a tumultuous bankruptcy proceeding. This month, Munyon - a grandson of vaudeville performers who had dreamed of running an old-time movie palace since he was 8 - got a second chance. More than $15,000 in community donations helped him make a down payment and pay legal fees, and on Sept.

Instead of show times and ticket prices, a sign outside the Broadway Theatre in downtown Pitman announced last week that the historic movie palace was closed "by order" of a bank. The old-time theater had to shut down after U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Judith Wizmur converted the bankruptcy case from a Chapter 11 reorganization to a Chapter 7 liquidation on March 29. Voorhees lawyer Andrew Sklar was appointed trustee of the theater. A sheriff's sale of the theater is scheduled for April 20. The owner owes more than $271,000 to The Bank, of Woodbury, according to the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office.

Nearly a century ago, the Levoy Theatre, built in a classical revival style, opened in downtown Millville with great fanfare. The theater drew crowds hungry for vaudeville and motion picture entertainment a decade after their local opera house burned down, leaving a void. Over the next two decades, the Levoy would become one of largest theaters in the state. It would attract thousands of people who stood in lines that snaked around the block, according to a history compiled by the Levoy Theatre Preservation Society, a nonprofit that acquired the building in 1998 and is working to restore it. William Somers, a designer of the precursor to the Ferris wheel, opened the theater Jan. 9, 1908, in what was then a two-story building.

The white words beneath the yellow brick road are there for a reason. You're sitting in a dark, 1926 movie palace watching what could be Hollywood's most popular classic, The Wizard of Oz, when the urge strikes. Fear not. No one will stare if you break into song or point Dorothy toward the glittering path of her dreams. In fact, your companion may wonder at your lack of heart if you resist. The Wizard of Oz Sing-a-Long, scheduled at Pitman's Broadway Theatre, is the latest in an interactive movie genre that turns audiences into choruses - and into busybodies who warn and coax Scarecrow, Tin Woodman, Cowardly Lion, and the pinafore-clad Dorothy.

Dan Munyon never dreamed of being in the movies. He wanted an old-fashioned palace to showcase them. But four years after he bought the 1920s-vintage Broadway Theater with its gilt carpet and towering chandeliers, that dream is in danger of slipping through his fingers. Munyon filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week, two hours before the Gloucester County sheriff was set to auction off the historic theater in the heart of downtown Pitman. The bank is demanding full payment of his $40,000 loan, and creditors from movie companies and the Internal Revenue Service have come calling.

Philadelphia could lose a priceless piece of its architectural and cultural legacy, the former Sameric theater on Chestnut Street, if its owners demolish the grand old movie palace. But it doesn't have to be that way. If a city such as Los Angeles can attract savvy real estate developers willing to preserve and restore their rich trove of movie theaters, there's no reason a similar effort can't succeed on a smaller scale here. Our downtown has a dynamic arts scene, rich and diverse architecture, a large population, and a vast array of tourist destinations.