Amuse-U

From Bhamwiki
Jump to navigation Jump to search

The Amuse-U (also called the Amus-U or the Amuse-You) was a cinema which was opened in March 1908 by Edward Colley and Hollis Newsome at 1904 2nd Avenue North in Downtown Birmingham.

When it opened it was simply known as Colley & Newsome's. The owners advertised a naming contest, promising "a pony and trap to the lady or child suggesting the best name." On March 18 they announced that the finalists were Calena Krackenberger, who suggested "The Grand", Lillian Dillahunty, who proposed "The Amuse-U", and Mrs S. L. McKinney, who favored "The Unique". Miss Dillahunty was awarded the prize.

The Birmingham News described the 200-seat auditorium as "one of the handsomest places of its kind in the city," and noted that it had been "fitted up artistically in every detail." The owners marketed the entertainment primarily to ladies and children, promising a "clean" bill. To that end, Newsome occasionally published "Direct Talks" in the Birmingham News to reassure mothers that his theaters were perfectly suited for patronage by women and children without fear.

In addition to the "best pictures", the cinema hosted small-scale stage dramas, and featured a music program with tenor James O'Hare and baritone George Broyles leading illustrated songs and anchoring "the finest male quartette in the South".

In August 1908 Colley and Newswome acquired controlling interest in the Lyric Theatre on the corner of 2nd Avenue and 19th Street North, which was renamed the Pastime Theatre. In September the Amuse U presented escape artist Sir Charles Clift. Franklyn Wallace succeeded O'Hare as the theater's featured tenor in January 1909.

Also in January 1909 Colley and Newsome participated in a Birmingham News contest for the advertising jimgles, adding 25 show tickets to the $1.00 prize offered by the paper. Harriet Broyles of Woodlawn was the winner of that contest. The theater's management found so many of the submissions delightful that they had as many as would fit printed in the News on January 23.

In 1909 the partners split, with Newsome staying with the Amuse U and the older and smaller Princess Theatre on 20th Street, and Colley continuing to operate of the Pastime and opening the new Rialto Theater on 3rd Avenue. In February 1912 Newsome advertised that his theaters exhibited only "Licensed Films" and were "advised by the National Censorship Board".

On November 22, 1909 the Amuse-U opened in a new location, at 209 19th Street North. The new 400-seat auditorium with two aisles was described as having "a large stage, sloping floors and fine opera chairs conveniently arranged, a commodious entrance and ample emergency exits." A newspaper article acclaimed the sloping seating as "an innovation" which "affords the person who gets seated in the back row the same view as one in the front has."

The ventilation of the hall was described as "perfect", with the ceiling and mural decorations and stage front proclaimed as "the most beautiful in Birmingham." A new electric sign was described as "one of the most attractive ever brought south." New equipment included an "electric orchestrian", a Pathe film projector from Paris. The daily program, priced at 5¢, included "four snappy vaudeville stunts, [and] two illustrated songs and motion pictures." Francis Lowe and Hollis Newsome's brother Emry joined him in the expanded venture, which was incorporated with $12,000 in authorized capitol stock, in January 1910.

Later that month, George Eaves of First Congregational Church began holding non-sectarian Gospel services on Sunday evenings at the Amuse-U, having led a similar program at the Air Dome the previous summer. On the evening of May 25, 1910, after counting receipts, Emry was showing his brother a new Colt automatic pistol and accidentally shot him in the right hip. The wound was not fatal. On August 29 of the same year a fire broke out in the projection room at the Amuse-U, which was separated by fireproofed walls from the rest of the building. The operator on duty burned his right hand badly in trying to stamp out the fire. The full auditorium was quickly evacuated without further injury, and the Birmingham Fire Department soon extinguished the flames.

By November Rev. Eaves had moved his series to the Congregational Chapel several blocks north, and Sunday afternoons at the Amuse-U became the province of Evangelist W. C. Wales. On April 16, 1911 the theater hosted a "Grand Temperance Rally" hosted by the International Health and Temperance Association, with Wales as featured speaker. In October of that year, Mary Earle acquired a half-interest in the theater building's parcel from James Gillespie for $47,500.

In December Newsome and his former partner Colley both attended a meeting requested by Mrs Zac Smith of the Women's Civic League and with censor H. S. Ryall to discuss the problem of girls using cinemas as places to "tryst" with boys. The managers agreed to bring the lights up between reels to prevent lingering and to seek out a "better class" of shows and pictures that would not encourage such behavior. Just two days later, the Tuesday feature at the Amuse-U was "The Awakening of John Bond", a film promoting hygiene which was produced under the auspices of the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis and promoted locally by the Jefferson County Anti-Tuberculosis Association.

In December 1911 the Amuse-U was remodeled and renovated. Advertising copy acclaimed the decor as "attractive to the uninitiated and soothingly restful to the theatergoer long since jaded of all theatrical effect." Also admired were the up-to-date projection equipment and the five-piece orchestra which alternated between light selection and classical pieces. In May 1912 the theater put on a full Sunday-night program as a benefit for those affected by the 1912 East Birmingham fire. On October 20 Birminghamians packed the theater to see a stereopticon lecture by Socialist Party activist Kate Richards O'Hare. She fell ill, however, and the talk was delivered instead by her husband Frank. The theater continued to host meetings of the Socialists of Birmingham over the winter. United Mine Workers of America official Frank Hayes lambasted the Alabama Coal Operators Association from the Amuse-U stage on April 27, 1913. Haickel Elkourie and Thomas Dozier used the theater to promote woman's suffrage on May 4 and May 18, respectively.

Newsome, who had been active in the Birmingham Motion Picture Exhibitors League to lobby against the laws which kept theaters from screening films on Sundays, welcomed the end of those restrictions in November 1915. The theater closed in 1916 to make way for redevelopment of the site for the Patton-Pope Building.

References

Retrieved from "http://bhamwiki.com/w/index.php?title=Amuse-U&oldid=211785"