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Franklin Theatre
Franklin Theatre
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1928

Franklin Theatre
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IMAGE DATE1928
FromNew York Public Library logoNew York Public Library

Franklin Theatre, 1928.

Built by successful theatre owner and producer B.S. Moss and named for Benjamin Franklin (Moss was a Franklin fanboy), the Beaux-Arts venue opened in 1921. Designed by famed theatre architect Eugene DeRosa, the space had a capacity for nearly 3000 patrons. Originally presenting Keith-Albee vaudeville and movies, the theatre eventually became strictly a movie house. In 1954 the theatre was robbed at gunpoint. While a movie was playing, the manager and two staff were forced to hand over $2,500 and their own jewelry, before being handcuffed to water pipes. The victims called out for almost an hour before they were heard by a few movie-goers.

The theatre closed by the 1960s and the space was converted into a supermarket. The building was demolished in the 1980s and a garden apartment complex was constructed in the site.

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