Colony Theatre 9/24/27

It was eighty years ago this month when Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie made its debut at New York’s Colony Theatre — and the history of animation was changed forever.

I was rummaging through my movie files over the weekend and I came across this four page program for the Colony Theatre from 1927, a little more over a year before Mickey’s gala premiere. At the risk of going slightly OT, I thought I’d post this (below) for my friends J.B. Kaufman, Leonard Maltin, David Gerstein, Michael Barrier and the six other people I know who might find this fascinating.

There are a couple of things to note. First off, it has a great cover illustration by C.E. Millard, and a logo which designates the Colony as “A Universal Theatre”. On page 3 you’ll see Disney’s The Ocean Hop, an Oswald Rabbit cartoon, is programmed to play after the feature (as a “chaser”?). Also note that cigarettes are provided free, and there is no tipping the hostesses. The final page features the theatre floor plan and indicates that the admission price is only 25 cents before 2pm.

Ahh, moving-going in the 1920s. Click on thumbnails below to enlarge – and return to the way it used to be.