Seattle's Coliseum Theatre, at the northeast corner of Fifth Avenue and Pike Street, was the world's first theater designed just for the movies. Unlike other theaters of its time, it had no stage for live acts. It did, however, have a nursery for children, and an organ and orchestra to play with silent movies. Designed by B. Marcus Priteca (1889-1971), a noted local architect, the theater remained Seattle's premier movie house into the 1980s, when it lost out to suburban multiplexes. The Coliseum closed in 1990 but was reborn as a Banana Republic store in 1994 and maintains some of its original architectural features.
This poster advertises "The Wonderful Thing," a motion picture shown at the Coliseum Theatre from November 19-25, 1921. A portrait of its star, silent film actress Norma Marie Talmadge (1894-1957), decorates this poster.
Caption information source: "Coliseum Theater opens in Seattle on January 8, 1916," by Eric L. Flom, HistoryLink.org Essay 2538.
Physical Description: 1 poster : color ; 14 x 22 in.
Additional Information: Digital copy of this item available thanks to funding from a 2016 Institute for Museum and Library Services grant. Metadata updated as part of a grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services administered by the Library Services and Technology Act, through the Washington State Library, a division of the Office of the Secretary of State.
