This page was pieced together from Minneapolis permit records and information from Richard Varani at CinemaTreasures.org.  No guarantees that I have interpreted the data correctly.

SAVOY THEATER

The Savoy Theater was located at 242 Hennepin Ave. at Washington Ave. No.  The three-story building was originally a saloon, hotel, and restaurant, built in 1885.  In 1919 the first floor was altered into a theater.  Above the theater was the Grayfield Hotel, run by Betty “Frenchy” Ryan.  The building was owned by Harry M.  Dreyer.

The theater opened as a silent movie house, complete with organ and full orchestra.  It turned into a venue for nudie films, was fraught with crime, and was apparently  shut down after a raid in 1940.

GRAND THEATER

By 1946 it had been renamed Grand Theatre, run by Sam Berger. It was very small, had only a single aisle, and was very nondescript.   Varani described it as:

a grind house operating every day from 10:00 am to 11:30 pm. The Grand Theatre specialized in showing burlesque and “girly” films, i.e. “A Night At The Follies”, etc.

In 1953 Berger paid a $100 fine for showing “French Peep Show,” under the alias “Parisian Burlesque.”

The Grand Theatre was a rare example of the projection booth being located behind the screen.  Varani:

This was a straight on rear projection system. Screen was translucent glass. The projectors were set to a slight upward angle so the audience would not see a “hot spot.” Used a 2-½ inch lens. The throw (distance from the lens to the screen) was between 30 and 40 feet. In a normal operation the projectionists always worked with the sound track toward him/her. At the Grand we had to work with the sound track away from us. Worked many a shift in the booth during 1957-58. Booth equipt with Standard Simplex Heads, Peerless Low Intensity Arc Lamps, and Ultraphone Sound. Ultraphone made a special sound head to handle the sound track being on the other side.

242 Hennepin was demolished in 1961 as part of the Gateway clearance.  In 2019 it remains vacant land.

The Grand should not be confused with the New Grand Theater that opened in 1911 at 617 Hennepin Ave. and lasted until about August 1929.  That building was demolished in September 1979.