Today, if you want to take in a movie without venturing too far from Center City, your options are limited. So it’s hard to believe that there was a time when roughly 400 movie houses lined this city’s streets. According to Hidden City Philadelphia, only 5 of these classic theatres remain in operation today. One of the many that have been defunct since the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age is located at 425 South St. and was once known as the Model Theatre. The image here below, taken from G.W. Bromley’s 1910 Philadelphia Atlas, shows the location roughly around the time that construction on the Model Theatre would have been underway.
By 1911, the theatre was in operation. According to The Julius Cahn-Gus Hill Theatrical Guide and Moving Picture Directory, the establishment was use primarily as a Vaudeville stage. However, as the entertainment business and the surrounding neighborhood modernized, the Model Theatre did as well. According to Cinema Treasures, the building was given an art-deco facelift in 1930 and became a top draw for moviegoers in the area. The image here below, taken from the Philadelphia Department of Records, shows the refurbished Model Theatre on the far left hand side, in the midst of a vibrant South Street.
Cinema Treasures reports that the theatre had a seating capacity of 778. Previously independently owned, Cinema Treasures tells that the theatre came under Warner Brothers control in 1941. The image here below, also taken from Cinema Treasures, shows the theatre in operation under the Warner umbrella in 1945.
Like so many theatres of its time, The Model would not survive out of the middle 20th century. The movie house ceased operations in 1958. Today, 425 South St. is the site of a Bare Feet Shoes. Though the building has been repurposed and the marquee removed, you can still see the faint traces of the its former Hollywood use.
