Beverly Theater

This Art Deco movie theater was designed by St. Louis architect Oliver W. Stiegmeyer and completed in 1938. The Beverly Theater is one of the last intact neighborhood theaters in St. Louis and reflects the development of American movie theaters throughout the early 20th century. Although repurposed in recent years, the building retains its historical significance and structural integrity, with the only substantial change to its facade being the removal of the marquee. Stiegmeyer was born in 1891 and created several notable buildings in the St. Louis Area. The building operated as a theater until 1986, later serving as a church before being converted into a restaurant.

The first theater to appear in the United States was built 60 years before the Revolutionary War in colonial Williamsburg. Theaters for stage productions and musical entertainment spread across the country over the next few centuries, but they found a new purpose at the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century when moving picture technology was being developed. Early films were shown in kinetoscope parlors, which were housed in already existing buildings. A kinetoscope was a box with a light source, a lens, and a film reel inside as well as a small viewer for people to watch films through. They are credited as being invented by Thomas Edison, who was inspired after meeting "the Father of Motion Pictures" Eadward Muybridge in 1888. In reference to the development of the kinetoscope, Edison wrote: “I am experimenting upon an instrument which does for the eye what the phonograph does for the ear.” Edison’s associate William K.L. Dickson did much of the labor involved inventing the kinetoscope. By 1891, patent applications were made and by 1894, kinetoscope parlors were spreading throughout New York City and other major cities. These parlors were rooms which were lined with kinetoscopes where people could view short films individually. Films were also shown in stage theaters and music halls, but the lighting wasn’t ideal so they were usually billed alongside vaudeville shows and musical performances. The next major development was the nickelodeon. Nickelodeons were small, unadorned buildings constructed specifically for showing films. They usually had a small stage and a sheet to be used as a screen, a space for a piano player or a band, and benches for the audience. These places were looked down upon by the upper classes who frequented theater and stage productions. They pushed for regulations such as censoring the films. During this period, film reels were being shown as part of vaudeville and stage shows to the same people who had disdain for nickelodeons. This made it evident that movie theaters were in demand.

The first “motion picture palace” to open in the United States was the Regent which opened in 1913 in New York City. Early movie theaters were extravagantly built, referred to as palaces because that was the kind of buildings in mind when they were being designed. Oftentimes, these theaters followed certain motifs that allowed the audience to be fully immersed in the film and the music. One theater called Cort Theater in Chicago was designed to feel like it was outdoors and was meant to emulate Italy. This was considered the second age of movie theater development. Like many other businesses and people, movie theaters felt the effects of the Great Depression. Because so many were struggling to even put food on the table during this time, going to the movies seemed like a luxury they couldn’t afford. Some theaters tried to offer other forms of entertainment within the theater, like the Roxy in New York City which put a mini golf course in the lobby, but ultimately the buildings were too expensive for the studios which owned them to maintain them and many were eliminated. These large, grandiose buildings were also counterintuitive when it came to showing “talkies” – movies with sound, which were new in the 1930’s. The buildings were designed for live orchestras to play during silent movies, not for movies with dialogue which could hardly be understood by the audience. Despite these struggles, movies continued to make money and theaters were still being built. Throughout the 1930’s, the architectural design for these theaters changed in order to accommodate the new talking movies being released. It is also theorized that because movies were no longer the novelty they had been in the decades before, people began viewing film as simply another art form. Therefore, the buildings that showed movies didn’t have to be extravagant and exotic. These new design styles included Art Deco, Art Moderne, and the Streamlined style. Their geometric shapes and flat lines were more accommodating to talkies.

The development of movie theaters in St. Louis was similar to the rest of the country, with movies first being shown in storefronts and music halls. There were even movies being produced in St. Louis which were being shown in the theaters. One of these was the 1911 movie “The James Boys in Missouri,” the first 3-reel film produced in the United States. It was produced by Orrin T. Crawford, who also built the first theater in St. Louis specifically for movies. Theaters grew in popularity in St. Louis. In 1924, Loew’s State Theater was built and had 4,000 seats. It was the third largest theater of its time. Fox theater took over that accomplishment when it was built in 1929, becoming the third largest theater in the country until 1948. During the Great Depression, St. Louis theaters were also being built in the new styles and there was one built in nearly every neighborhood. This ushered in the third age of movie theater development: the neighborhood theater.

Beverly Theater is considered to be part of the neighborhood theater age. It was built early in this period in the Art Deco style. Art Deco had been gaining popularity throughout the 1920s. It is viewed as the first American architectural style to embrace modernity, straying away from the revivalist architecture that was popular before. It first gained recognition in 1922, when Eliel Saarinen (a Finnish architect) submitted an Art Deco design to a competition at the Chicago Tribune Headquarters. It did not win the competition, but its publicization caused it to gain popularity. It was used in many different forms of American construction, most notably the novel skyscrapers of the period. Eventually, its popularity spread to movie theaters including the Beverly Theater. Many of the Art Deco characteristics are evident in the Beverly Theater’s design, including the chevrons, fan shapes, reeding, and stepped roof design. It was designed by architect Oliver W. Steigmeyer and operated by Henry Holloway. In 1910, Steigmeyer was listed as a draftsman in the St. Louis directories. From 1909 to 1910, he worked for August F. Haeussler followed by Duggan and Huff from 1910 to 1912. The following year, Stiegmeyer partnered with Mr. Kennerly and they worked together until 1931. He practiced architecture until 1948 and died in 1985.

In 1967, it was renamed the New Beverly Theater until 1970 when it was renamed Fine Arts Theater. During this time, it would show G-rated, family-friendly movies during the day and X-rated movies at night. It remained in business until 1986 and the following year it was purchased to be used by a church. Now, it houses a Chinese restaurant called Wei Hong Seafood Restaurant.

National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, MO State Parks. Accessed October 19th, 2022. https://mostateparks.com/sites/mostateparks/files/Beverly%20Theater.pdf.

Bellis, Mary. Biography of Thomas Edison, American Inventor, ThoughtCo. December 4th, 2019. Accessed October 19th, 2022. https://www.thoughtco.com/thomas-edison-1779841.

Bellis, Mary. Biography of Eadweard Muybridge, the Father of Motion Pictures, ThoughtCo. May 15th, 2019. Accessed October 19th, 2022. https://www.thoughtco.com/eadweard-muybridge-profile-1992163.

Bibbler, Chuck Van. Beverly Theater, Cinema Treasures. Accessed October 19th, 2022. http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/4956.

Art Deco Style 1925 - 1940, Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. Accessed October 19th, 2022. http://www.phmc.state.pa.us/portal/communities/architecture/styles/art-deco.html.