The Silver Screen / Le septième art

The growing appeal of movies led to the construction of the Colonial Theatre, which opened the night the Titanic sailed from England in April 1912. A fire in 1923 after a showing of the film "Way Down East" destroyed the building, and a new theater rose in its place. In 1927, the arrival of talkies greatly expanded movie audiences. The Colonial Theatre also hosted vaudeville acts, political rallies, concerts, and boxing matches. In its early years, the movie selection changed several times a week and admission cost only pennies. The current art deco facade was added in 1947, and the elephant sculpture Hawthorne was bought from Perry's Nut House and added to the Belfast skyline in 1997.

Belfast, Maine · United States