The Empire Theater

During the early twentieth century, McHenry had several forms of entertainment. One thing they were lacking though was a theater until the Empire Theater was constructed in 1919. Before that, most people went to the Opera House in Woodstock or attend the Air Dome by the Fox River. The early part of the twentieth century was an interesting time for theatergoers, as they had a traditional theater, silent films, and “talkie” films, all in a short period of time. The first years of the Empire would offer all of these formats to the citizens of McHenry. Over time, the Empire was one of the more respected theaters and would attract people from all over the area.

The Theater was built by John W. Smith and his wife, Mattie Smith (nee McComber). When the couple was first married in 1882, they lived in Aurora for three years. They then took to the road for the next twenty years performing in vaudeville and theatrical acts. While on the road, John was noted as being a very talented cartoonist, and Mattie, a gifted musician who could play a variety of instruments. The couple settled in McHenry in 1907. Mattie grew up in McHenry and for a time her parents ran the Riverside Hotel. When they came to McHenry, the Smiths ran the Opera House and the Air Dome.

In March 1919, the Smiths began construction of the Empire Theater on a piece of property just north of Boone Creek. The property was home for a long time to blacksmiths, Weber & Nordquist, whose shop was torn down to construct the Theater. The building was constructed by Jacob Schaefer and his crew from the beginning of April until the first week of July. The building was 120 feet long and 40 feet wide, with the stage dimensions of 40×22. This gave it a larger stage than the Woodstock Opera House. It was constructed with wood, steel, and a stucco finish. One impressive feature of the building was that it had a rounded ceiling. The rounding offered strong, arched support and allowed for the lack of support beams that would obstruct the audience’s view. During the end of July, a dressing room was constructed on the southeast corner of the theater for live performances. When the Empire was first opened, it held both live performances, such as vaudeville acts, as well as silent films.

In 1923, a production crew from one of the Chicago company filmed in McHenry and played the film for the citizens of the town at the Empire. By the latter part of the 1920s, silent films were on the way out as technology allowed for actors voices In 1923, a production crew from one of the Chicago companies filmed in McHenry and played the film for the citizens of the town at the Empire. By the latter part of the 1920s, silent films were on the way out as technology allowed for actors’ voices to be played along with a film, not just atmospheric music. In April 1929, right before the Empire’s ten-year anniversary, John Smith put in Vitaphone equipment to play the talkies. Vitaphone was a system that played a disc simultaneously with the movie. The first talkie played was the film “On Trial”, which is now considered a “lost” film. Oddly enough recordings of the film still exist and are located in the UCLA Film Archive. The Empire not only was a home for movies, it was a community center, holding fundraisers and other events. Magicians, radio celebrities, school events, the American Legion, and other groups used the Theater as a venue.

On March 26, 1931, John Smith passed away after fighting an illness for some time. Mattie retained ownership of the theater. She rented it out to a man named Swanson in June 1931. Swanson owned five theaters and got to work renovating the Empire. He took little time and renovated the lobby, put in new lighting, and changed out and improved the sound and projector system. The day-to-day management was tended to by Roy Miller, who worked at the theater for many years. The depression didn’t seem to slow the Empire down. Focusing more on motion pictures, the theater was showing movies every day except for Tuesdays. Shows went for .25 a ticket and .10 for matinees. During the early 1930s, a parking lot was put in across from the theater for guests’ automobiles. The N.R.A. (National Recreation Act) sponsored the film “70,000 Witnesses” for the people of McHenry. In Aug 1935, the first technicolor film, Becky Sharp, was shown. On September 1, 1937, Mattie Smith passed away, leaving Roy Miller to fully run the Theater. In the latter part of September, a new cooling system was put into place that would refresh the air in the building every ten minutes. Working with ice and a generator, the system was one of the best at the time. In 1939, Roy Miller changed the name of the Empire Theater and it became the Colony Theater. More on the history of the Colony Theater in December’s blog post!

Sources

• “The carpenters started work….” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 24 April 1919, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Jacob Schaefer and his gang from Johnsburg” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 1 May 1919, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Will Build New Theater” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 27 Mar 1919, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “The “Empire” Theatre” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 26 Jun 1919, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “The dressing room….” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 24 Jun 1919, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Full House Greats Empire’s Vitaphone” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 2 May 1929, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Talking Movies at Empire Theatre” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 25 Apr 1929, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Final Curtain For Theatre Man” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 26 Mar 1931, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Empire Theatre To Re-Open Sunday” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 2 Apr 1931, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Our Invitation To Visit Empire Theater” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 1 Jun 1933, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Empire Under New Management” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 4 Jun 1931, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Splendid Pictures As Empire Theatre” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 6 Sep 1934, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Latest Pictures Are Shown At Empire” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 10 Mar 1932, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “R.N.A. to Sponsor Movie” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 27 Oct 1932, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “R.J. Miller Is New Owner” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 10 Sep 1934, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “New Equipment Installed At Empire Theatre” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 16 Sep 1937, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “Final Curtain Falls On Life of Mattie Smith” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 9 Sep 1937, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• “New Operator At Empire” The McHenry Plaindealer. (McHenry, IL) 7 Nov 1935, 1. Newspapers.com. Web. 9 Aug 2016.
• Groat, G. de. (2010, February 22). Pauline Frederick – On Trial. “On trial”. Retrieved September 27, 2021, from https://web.stanford.edu/~gdegroat/PF/reviews/ot.htm.
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from McHenry, McHenry County, Illinois. Sanborn Map Company, Jan, 1922. Map. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/sanborn01985_004/>.