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© St. Petersburg Times, published January 16, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG -- Open-air movie theaters were a short-lived fashion of the 1920s, with three venues in and around downtown.
The Airdome was the first to arrive and the first to go, victimized by a storm.
The Capitol and the Patio continued for decades after being enclosed.
"It was fun to look up at the sky overhead and then see the movie," said Helen Day, 93. But that coexistence with nature was tenuous and temporary.
"The audience was plagued by sudden showers, mosquitoes, and other nuisances," Ted White wrote in Marquee, a journal of the Theatre Historical Society. "Folks would not sit still and watch movies while being rained on or bitten."
The Airdome, at 110 First Ave. N, opened in 1924, The projection booth rested on a platform above the entrance. Patrons sat on planks supported by palmetto palm trunks.
"I saw Ben-Hur there (in 1925)," recalled Maxine Lee, the daughter of pioneer activist Mattie Lou Cherbonneaux. "There was a lady pianist who matched the action of the chariot races. I was so thrilled that I'd just scratch (the mosquito bites) and forget about them."
A storm destroyed the screen and closed the Airdome in 1927. "Apparently, some in the front row got injured," said local Bill Mangold, now 88.
The Capitol opened in June 1925 at 140 First St. N. "There was no sloping floor," Day said. "It was hard to see the movies."
Owner John Gillooly made news when he defied an ordinance that prohibited Sunday shows. Voters ended the ban in a referendum and, after church let out, stars such as Lionel Barrymore filled the screen at the cinema that was fronted by a two-story tower.
New seats and a steel-framed truss roof were added in 1928, after showers and bugs hurt attendance. "On good nights," Charlie Kaniss recalled, "the roof folded back and you were sitting under the stars."
On Sept. 2, 1933, patrons paid $1.10 to attend the Capitol's world premiere of Playthings of Desire, starring Molly O'Day. Stars of the film, which was produced at T.C. Parker's Sun Haven Studios on Weedon Island, mingled with customers between presentations.
O'Day, sporting a vermilion and black satin jacket, reportedly said, "The picture was by far the best she had ever seen put out by an independent company."
On the other hand, director George Melford was apologetic: "It really wasn't ready for release, but a preview had been promised."
The Capitol was the city's only legitimate theater in 1959, when Auditorium Hotel Inc. purchased it for $65,000. When the air-conditioned Capitol became the Family Theatre in 1965, evening shows were 50 cents.
After booking such films as Sex and the Single Girl and Strange Bedfellows, new owners said they planned "to show films for the entire family." In 1968, the Capitol was razed.
The Patio Theatre opened in July 1925 at 1850 Central Ave. Day said the movie house "looked like you were in a Spanish palace," with a balcony, a huge ravenswood screen and a Spanish tropical garden motif.
The Patio was enclosed in 1928 and its ceiling featured the moon and clouds. "They had lights that simulated stars," Mangold said.
Manager A.C. Thornton attracted crowds with comedies, cartoons, newsreels and serials. "During the Depression, you could see two movies for 25 cents," Day said. "My brother waited for them to quit selling tickets and would sneak in."
For decades, the fireproof brick and stucco structure endured as the Patio, Reno, Ritz, Playhouse and Papa's Dream theaters. It's been the Golden Apple and the Encore, a dinner theater, and is today the Extra Inning, a sports bar.
"It was glamorous," Day said. "Look in my diary. It's all going to say "I went to the movies today.' "
- Scott Taylor Hartzell can be reached at hartzel@msn.com.