GC4N6PM (DCH) The Alhambra Theatre (Traditional Cache) in Michigan, United States created by RayQix

GC4N6PM ▼

A cache by RayQix Message this owner

Hidden : 10/21/2013

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Geocache Description:

The Detroit Cinema History (DCH) caches are dedicated to the local creation, viewing,
or enjoyment of movie and cinema-related items in the local area.

This can include, and is not limited to, people, places, and things of Cinema or both past-and-present.

(This series is a companion to the Michigan Cinema History (MCH) and Ontario Cinema History (OCH) series.)

Detroit Cinema History:
The Alhambra Theatre
9428 Woodward Ave - Detroit

OPEN: Nov 1 1914 | CLOSED: 1959 (as a theatre)
SEATS: 1475 | DEMOLISHED: 2007

1967 photo of the Alhambra Theatre

The Alhambra Theatre was built as a movie house, but it's remembered more for being a place that was movin' and groovin' in the 1970's as a recording studio near the upper-class Boston-Edison district of Detroit.

The Alhambra opened on Nov. 1, 1914, as part of the John Kunsky’s chain of theaters. It was an early design by architect C. Howard Crane, who would later become renowned for his work on theaters and entertainment venues across Detroit and elsewhere.

The theater served Detroit’s upper-crust neighborhood of Boston-Edison and was located closer to the midtown-area of Detroit, rather than Downtown where many of the other theatres were located in the early-part of the 1900's.

This means that some of the area’s residents, including Henry Ford (of Ford Motor Company), Walter Briggs (owner of the Detroit Tigers), Horace Rackham (one of the original stockholders in the Ford Motor Company and a noted philanthropist) and Sebastian S. Kresge (founder of Kresge Corporation, aka K-Mart) may have wandered in to take in a picture-show at the Alhambra whenever they had a chance.

The auditorium of the Alhambra was done in a Neoclassical design with a nod to the Adam style.

The exterior of the building was rather plain, and was done in an eclectic design that was borrowed from the "arts & crafts" movement. This design also included a classical pediment above the marquee on the front of the building.

The auditorium of the Alhambra was Neoclassical and had room for 1,475 patrons. During its time as a theatre, the Alhambra not only hosted films, but Vaudeville shows and other live acts including many shows by famous names such as Gypsy Rose Lee and others.

Gypsy Rose Lee (January 8, 1911 – April 26, 1970)
was an American burlesque entertainer famous for her striptease act.
She was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957
memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.

Many theatres would see their busiest business days on Sundays. Unfortunately, because of the area patrons, many of whom would visit their country-clubs or participate in other higher-class social activities of the day, the Alhambra was very slow business-wise.

Much like many of the theatres of the time, the Alhambra featured a $2,900 Hillgreen & Lane pipe-organ and was also known to have a six-piece orchestra accompany the silent films as a musical-soundtrack.

A Hillgreen Lane four manual, 50+ rank organ

The Alhambra had an issue with being popular as well. It had to change its films on an almost daily basis at times. Unlike most other theaters, those patrons in the neighborhood were affluent and financially able to attend a film whenever they wanted, which led to a shortage of entertainment in 1916 because there wasn't enough films being produced for the demand at the theatre.

The manager of the Alhambra, Thomas D. Moule, was quoted in 'The Moving Picture World' magazine as saying “I have had difficulty getting just the right films … and of course the character of the attendance here precludes my showing anything but good pictures,”

The main reference in this quote was the high-class patrons from the area. He went on to say "There are too many suggestive pictures and too many that are fit only for grown people to see. … Producers must remember that the majority of people are not only honest, but decent and that they object to anything suggestive in pictures the same as they do in a speaking play. It will be for the best interests of the motion picture business for the producers to realize this before suggestive pictures force Detroit to appoint a board of censorship.”

The rather simple lobby of the Alhambra

The 1950's brought the Automobile into more of the public's hands and the tastes of the public were changing as well. This was also the time after World War II and folks were beginning to move towards the Suburbs of Detroit. There were closer entertainment venues and the Alhambra couldn't keep-up with the shrinking business and clientele visiting less-and-less every week.

The marquee of the Alhambra would go dark in 1959 and would not light-up again for that purpose.

Artie Fields at the controls at his studio in the former Alhambra Theatre in 1977.

A young music producer named Arthur "Artie" Fields was looking for a professional-place to call 'home' and in 1967 he found the then-empty Alhambra Theatre with its 1910's acoustics and ambiance just sitting there awaiting a new life along Woodward Avenue.

He turned the Alhambra into a recording studio and began recording commercial jingles and other musical interludes.

Artie had come from Brooklyn, NY and moved to Ann Arbor before moving to Dearborn when he was still young. At age 15, he was playing with various bands around Metro Detroit and had been known as a musical staple in the Detroit Music Scene for years, if only as a member of the background players.

He'd led an Orchestra for Fortune Records in the late 1950's and also been a writer of music for musicians Don Rondo, Spanky Wilson, and a few others.

He created the song "Go Get 'Em Tigers" for the 1967 Detroit Tigers Baseball Team and also created some of the most well-known commercial ditty's of the day.

After purchasing the Alhambra, Artie had the lobby divided up into smaller rooms and oddly-enough, the control room was in a different area of the building from the where the recording studio was located. The auditorium was used for storage and as well as an echo chamber for recordings.

The Detroit-based MC5

Above and beyond all else, the best-known album recorded at the studio was the Detroit-based group, the MC5 who had the old theatre jamming and rocking for their “High Time” album. This was recorded in September and October 1970.

Gladys Knight’s “Midnight Train To Georgia” was also recorded in the old Alhambra, as well as other artists signed to the record label Westbound Records. Some of those acts included the Ohio Players, the Detroit Emeralds and the Fantastic Four.

Fields also had his own record label, Top Dog Records, and he produced all of the label’s singles by artists like Joe Towns, the Camel Drivers, Rondo and Kris Peterson.

Artie Fields kept producing records throughout the 1970's and at some point the decision was made to close-up the theatre-turned-studio.

The building would later be sold and converted to a church, which later would be abandoned by the late 1990's to early 2000's.

After it was abandoned, it fell into disrepair and would be demolished in 2007.

Artie Fields had retired after his time at the Alhambra and later passed-away on October 14, 2009 at the age of 87 years old.

The Alhambra is a part of Metro Detroit...and was a beautiful sight to behold. This is what makes it part of Detroit Cinema History.

IF you have any more information or details on this theatre,
please email me and i will include it in the description.

Thank you.