The ถถา๕h Theatre opened in July 1913 at 366 Third St. in Baton Rouge as the first movie theater in the capital city. Though movies had been shown in other venues, the ถถา๕h was the city's first building specifically designed as a cinema.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY ARCHIVES
Long before the Marvel Universe, Baton Rouge moviegoers flocked to silent adventures starring Clara Bow, Buster Keaton and Rudolph Valentino during the ถถา๕h Theatreโs reign on Third Street.
Though its movie screen is long gone, the ถถา๕h Theatre building, at 336 Third St., still stands โ home to Baton Rougeโs first cinema, opened in 1913.ย
The building is better known these days as the Basin Music Room.
The ถถา๕h Theatre is now home to The Basin. The building still has its opening year, "1913," and original name, "Louisian," engraved in its facade.ย
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER
Thatโs the short answer to Mark Jeffersโ question about Baton Rougeโs first movie theater.
"I was thinking about all of the theaters I've watched movies in during the years," the Baton Rouge movie buff said. "I remember going to movies at the old Gordon and Hart theaters when I was a kid. I even went to the Paramount, which started showing movies in the 1920s."
But Jeffers knows the movie palace, which opened at 215 Third St. in 1920, wasn't the city's first movie house. And he's right.
Baton Rouge's first movie theater stills stands at 336 Third St., but these days most people know it as The Basin Music Room.
The Paramount once stood near the corner lot now occupied by the Baton Rouge Police Department. It was demolished in 1979.
The ถถา๕h Theatre building still has its opening year, "1913," and original name, "Louisian," engraved in its facade. It was built as Baton Rouge's first movie theater at 366 Third St. and sat 600 people.
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MLLER
Cue the soundtrack: "They paved paradise and put up a parking lot ... ."
Because, really, for a lot of movie fans, that's exactly what happened. Even movie critic, screenwriter and actor Rex Reed, in a 2012 interview with ถถา๕h, recalled spending his Baton Rouge childhood Saturday afternoons sitting in front of the Paramount's big screen, then walking across the street to eat at Piccadilly afterward.
So, it's understandable that the palatial venue overshadowed the smaller ถถา๕h Theatre down the street. The Paramount Co. even bought out the old 1913 movie house at one point.
Still, there's irony in the fact that the more modest ถถา๕h Theatre is the one still standing โ with โ1913โ and โถถา๕hโ engraved in its facade.
The Paramount Theatre, Baton Rouge's movie palace, opened in 1920 at 215 Third St. and demolished in 1979. It was known for it opulence, but it was not Baton Rouge's first movie theater.
FILE PHOTO
Considered state of the art when it first opened โ boasting modern features as its own electrical generator and ventilation system, the building is still popular these days as home to the Basin Music Room.ย
The New Advocate newspaper in Baton Rouge, in a July 18, 1913, feature story preceding the ถถา๕h Theatre's grand opening, states, "Most picture shows are remodeled store buildings. This one is an imposing structure designed and built specifically as a picture theatre."
This statement is true. Some may argue that the Elks Theatre, which stood at 318 Third St., also showed movies. That's also true, but it was built as a venue for live theater, and its foray into cinema didn't begin until 1916 with a run of the now controversial "Birth of a Nation."
Though the Elks Theatre showed occasional movies, it was not a movie theater. Its stage wasย designed for live theater. It opened in 1900 at 318 Third St. in Baton Rouge and destroyed by fire in 1923.
PROVIDED PHOTO BY EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH LIBRARY ARCHIVES
The Elks burned in 1923, but its stage played a role in the legacy of community theaters in Baton Rougeย โ eventually leading to the formation of the Baton Rouge Little Theater in 1946, whose name was later changed to Theatre Baton Rouge, which closed earlier this year.
Meanwhile, the ถถา๕h Theatre was specifically designed with moviegoers in mind. Its ventilation system was designed to draw heat upward and outward, and in hot weather, the article states, "electric fans will be used to keep fresh air in circulation, and during the cold months a modern steam heat system will keep the house at an even comfortable temperature."
The walls were painted in neutral colors so they wouldn't distract from the movie screen, and the theater's simply designed chairs were made of steel and mahogany upholstered in "real Spanish leather."
"The ถถา๕h will be operated by its own electric generating plant," the article states. "This will furnish current in abundance to ensure perfect clearness of the pictures. Simplex projectors, the last word in picture machines, will be used in this new house. They are equipped with lenses made especially for this theatre on account of its long throw."
The ถถา๕h Theatre was managed by P.E. Coe and built by Jason A. Petty, who had offices in both New Orleans and Baton Rouge.
The old ถถา๕h Theatre, now the Basin Room at 336 Third St. in Baton Rouge, stands across from the Roumain Building and its trademark clock. The Roumain Building, standing at six stories, was the city's first 'skyscraper.'ย ย
STAFF PHOTO BY ROBIN MILLER
And though the theater opened before talkies knocked out silent films, the ถถา๕h adapted. It closed its doors in 1954, which allowed plenty of time for it to introduce patrons to the likes of Clark Gable and maybe even Marilyn Monroe in "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes."