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You are here: Home / Movie Collectibles / Let’s Go to the Movies! Clementon Theatre Pre-Code Programs, 1933-34

Let’s Go to the Movies! Clementon Theatre Pre-Code Programs, 1933-34

May 7, 2012 By Cliff Aliperti 2 Comments

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I love getting the old movie house programs in because there’s always something good playing! I recently picked up a small handful of 1933-1934 programs for the Clementon Theatre in Clementon, New Jersey.

The Clementon Theatre

Clementon TheatreLocal stockholders financed the building of the Clementon Theatre and construction was completed in 1928. The Theatre, located at 16 Berlin Road, was adjacent to the Clementon Lake Amusement Park, dubbed New Jersey’s Coney Island at that time. When the Clementon Theatre went up Clementon was a growing town, recently incorporated in 1925, and a convenient stop by either trolley or train for visitors.

Far from your local hole-in-the-wall theatre, the Clementon featured a marble lobby and marble restrooms. There was a staircase and originally a crystal chandelier measuring ten feet in diameter hanging over patrons inside the theatre. It was soon removed due to safety concerns. The Clementon Theatre could seat approximately 1,200 moviegoers in 897 orchestra level seats, 323 more in the balcony, plus 24 box seats located on either side of the full-size stage. The stage was large enough to host revues and vaudeville performances.

From 1934, about the time of our programs, the Clementon was part of the Stanley-Warner chain of theatres. The Clementon had many owners throughout its history and was eventually renamed the Kate Theatre in tribute to financial backer Kate Smith in 1967. In 1965 a fire tore through nearby Frisch department store which never reopened. Following the fire several other businesses in the area began to close and the Clementon/Kate Theatre would soon be one of them. It closed in the late 1960’s and the building was razed in 1970.

Clementon Sources

  • Burrows, Danielle L. Image of America: Clementon. Arcadia Publishing, 2007.
  • Hauss, Allen F. Image of America: South Jersey Movie Houses. Arcadia Publishing, 2006.

The Programs

As I already mentioned I only received a few of these programs, but they were all from the same Clementon Theatre during a semi-brief period at the end of 1933 into the first half of 1934.

They included advertisements for many of my pre-code favorites including one for lost Holy Grail title Convention City. Actually, that’s a lie. This small lot included two of the same Convention City programs, one which I sold at auction last week for $17.08 plus shipping.

The second Convention City Clementon Theatre Program is at auction as of this writing with all of the other pictured Clementon Theatre programs to follow — you can bid on any or all HERE.

Showing the Weekend of November 17, 1933:

Lionel Barrymore in One Man

Bureau of Missing Persons advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Too Much Harmony advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Showing the Weekend of November 24, 1933:

Alice Brady in Stage Mother advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Paul Robeson in Emperor Jones advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Frank Capra

Showing the Weekend of December 8, 1933:

Footlight Parade advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Footlight Parade advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Maurice Chevalier in The Way to Love advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Showing the Weekend of December 15, 1933:

Barbara Stanwyck in Ever in My Heart advertised in Clementon Theatre program

William Powell as Philo Vance in The Kennel Murder Case advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Jean Harlow and Lee Tracy in Bombshell advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Showing the Weekend of December 29, 1933:

Ruth Chatterton in Female advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Walter Winchell

Mae West in I

Showing the Weekend of February 25, 1934:

Convention City advertised in Clementon Theatre program

The Private Life of Henry VIII advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Bombay Mail advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Massacre and Flying Down to Rio advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Showing the Weekend of May 13, 1934:

The Lost Patrol advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Barbara Stanwyck in Gambling Lady advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Man of Two Worlds advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Come On Marines advertised in Clementon Theatre program

Wishing we were there!

The auctions for the Clementon Theatre programs end next Sunday night, May 13, and can be found on eBay HERE.

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Filed Under: Movie Collectibles, News - Notes Tagged With: clementon nj, clementon theatre, convention city, movie programs, pre-Code, programs, theater programs

← 1934-35 Box Office Performance Rankings from Harrison’s Reports 1935-36 Box Office Performance Rankings from Harrison’s Reports →

About Cliff

I write about old movies and movie stars from the 1920s to the 1950s. I also sell movie cards, still photos and other ephemera. Immortal Ephemera connects the stories with the collectibles. Read More…



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Comments

  1. whistlingypsy says

    May 7, 2012 at 6:11 pm

    Cliff ~ a really
    great collection of film programs, “Bureau Of Missing Persons” is exactly what
    you would expect of a lurid pre-code film. A few of the titles are familiar,
    films I’ve seen on TCM a time or two, but there are an equal number that are
    entirely new: “Broadway Through A KeyHole”; “Bombay Mail”; “Come On Marines”
    (with Richard Arlen and Ida Lupino!). A few are a bit sad for silent actors
    brought low: Richard Barthelmess in “Massacre” and Fatty Arbuckle shorts on a
    program with a Barbara Stanwyck film.

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    • Cliff Aliperti says

      May 8, 2012 at 12:02 pm

       Thanks @f0934d8c4fde0ba73d071bc8610f86a2:disqus – I haven’t seen the same 3 that you mention. I actually liked Massacre quite a bit, if memory serves that was Barthelmess’ last movie under contract to Warner. The Arbuckle shorts caught me by surprise tucked away like that though!

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