About the Cox Capitol Theatre

History

The first building known to be located at 368 2nd St. was the Commercial Savings and Loan, which was built in 1897 and was closed shortly thereafter.  Strong Shoe Company bought the building and was located on the site from 1900-1915.  In November of 1916, at a cost of $50,000, the Capitol, Macon’s first modern theater, was opened to the public. 

This state of the art theater was one of the most progressive of it’s time.  Leather furniture with mushroom air holes under each chair and cork floors provided for a comfortable and quiet motion-picture experience in the theater which sat 500 people on the lower floor and 450 in the balcony.  Chic ivory and black fixtures provided electric lighting throughout the house.  The women’s restroom, located on the mezzanine floor, was decorated with Persian upholstered white whicker furniture.  In the ladies’ room were a lavatory, mirror, dressing table, telephone, and of course, a maid.  The theater screen was made of gold-fiber, a modern answer to the problem of flickering on older screens.  The first operator was R.A. Smith.  In the box office, his wife was in charge of collecting the admission fee of fifteen cents.  The first motion picture at the Capitol Theater was “Anita Stewart” which was shown at 3 o’clock on November 10, 1916. (Macon Daily Telegraph 11/10/1916)

8/25/1927
  It was reported in the Macon Telegraph that a permit was issued for the Capitol to begin $8,000 in repairs to the building

9/4/1927
 The Macon Telegraph runs a special section on the Capitol Theater.
Headlines read: “MACON’S FINEST PLAYHOUSE OPENS TOMORROW.”
 It is reported that “An entirely new effect from that of the old theater may be expected as it is said that not one line of the old structure remains.”
The pointed openings on each side of the stage were made to resemble the balconies of an old Spanish house.

The Capitol was touted as the most imposing in the South.  She boasted a $30,000 Wurlitzer pipe organ, constructed especially for motion pictures, and able to play the most cutting edge sound effects of the time as well as new carpet, curtains, projection machines and an ‘ice water machine.’

The first two motion pictures shown during the first week of the Capitol’s re-opening were Paramount pictures, “Fireman, Save My Child” featuring Wallace Beery and Raymond Hatton in the beginning of the week, and later, “Chang,” which was produced by Ernest B. Shoedsach and Merian Cooper (of Macon).  The tickets cost 25 cents in the afternoon and 30 cents at night.  There were four showings each day.

6/9/1929- “End of Silent Film Near, Movie Authority Declares” in the Macon Telegraph
10/16/1930
 The Rialto closes and the Capitol becomes the theater in Macon for first run movies.  Tickets cost 50 cents.

5/05/1933
Lucas and Jenkins buy the Capitol, Grand, Ritz and Rialto.  The Grand Opera House is opened for road shows.  The Capitol remains Macon’s first run movie theater and there is discussion of widening the stage to accommodate vaudeville and musical comedies.  Tickets cost 25 cents for matinees and 30 cents for evening movies.

10/31/1933
Western Movie star Tom Mix and his “wonder horse” Tony entertain families at the Capitol with sharp shooting and hatchet throwing.  Later, “Last Round Up” is shown on the big screen, starring Randy Scott, a Georgia Tech grad, as hero.  A news reel was shown of an Atlanta prohibitionist woman performed “Hail Columbia,” the first American National Anthem.

7/9/1934
“The Legion of Decency Movie Clean-Up Reaches Macon,” warns the Telegraph.  “Two Pictures Playing Here This Week Are Declared ‘Immoral and Indecent” By Chicago Council of the Catholic Group; Pledges Are Signed

Many Protestants and members of other churches are interested in joining the movement

Pledge cards read:

“I hereby promise to remain away from all motion pictures except those which do not offend decency and Christian morality... I condemn absolutely those salacious motion pictures which with other degrading agencies, are corrupting public morals and promoting sex mania in our land... I shall do all that I can do to arouse public opinion against the portrayal of vice as normal conditions of affairs, and against depicting criminals of any class as heroes or heroines, presenting their philosophy of life as something acceptable to decent men and women...”

Maconites are urged to not to attend current features, “Little Man, What Now?” and “Manhattan Melodrama.”  Among the “salacious” movies shown in Macon before the movement were “The Cat and the Fiddle,” “Come on Marines,” “The Ninth Guest,” “I’ve Got Marker,” “Viva Villa,” “We’re Not Dressing,” “Tarzan and His Mate,” “It Happened One Night,” “All Men Are Enemies,” “This Man is Mine,” “Three On a Honeymoon,” “Here Comes the Groom,” “Double Door, and Stand Up and Cheer.”

Other nationally blacklisted movies included “Sadie McKee,” “Jimmy the Gent,” “Finishing School,” “Merry Wives of Reno,” “Sisters Under the Skin,” “He Was Her Man,” and “Laughing Man.”           

7/24/1938
The proceeds from the Capitol matinee Soap Box Derby will be donated to finance sending place winners in Macon’s amateur racing classic to Akron, Ohio, where they will cheer Macon Champion Billy Slocumb in the world’s Soap Box derby championship.

6/4/1939
*Of historical importance* Macon Telegraph and News- The First movie house in Macon was located on Third Street near Poplar.  The Theatorium, as it was called, began showing films which lasted about ten minutes.  “Projectionist R.A. Godfrey of the Ritz Theater smiled when he remembered how audiences would boo at him for flashing ‘One minute please while the projectionist changes reels.’ That was nothing, though, compared to the trouble I used to get into while trying to get some lady to take off her hat, for hats were awfully large and feathery in those days and the theater floor had very little slant.”

“Among other bothers for early operators was the frequent breaking of a film, but this interruption has almost ceased today, modern films being printed in continuous strips instead of having the old seams between every scene.  The strain accompanying the change of the reels, however, has shifted entirely to the projectionist, for he can no longer interrupt a show by taking a minute to change film sections.  As a reel is finishing in one projector, the operator watches the upper right hand corner of the screen for a tell-tail black dot which marks the end of the reel.  On seeing the signal, he simultaneously pulls a hand switch and kicks a floor pedal in order to switch the picture without a break to the next reel in a second projector.”

“Operators were thrown completely out of gear when talkies came in, for voice for movies was first carried on cumbersome records which were played in the projection booth in synchronization with the film...  The present method of carrying sound on the film strip has eliminated all this, electric eye in the projector now catching light variations sent through the sound strip and transmitting it to the amplifier behind the screen.” 

“Most of the operators believe television is well on its way and some day will supplant film projectors in theater booths. ‘Sound movies will then be run in large key cities like Atlanta, for instance... and the program will be sent over wires to all theaters in Georgia. 

Other early theaters in Macon were the Little Electric, Elite, three Bijoux (?), Star, Lyric, Victoria, Alamo, Savoy, Palace, Majestic, Macon, Princess, Gaiety and Criterion.   

5/6/1941
Mighty Little Sin in Six Sunday Cinemas
The Capitol film Blondie Goes Latin and other Macon features are reviewed by a Telegraph Reporter who finds no moral degradation.

5/9/1946
Theaters Plan Big Program of Renovation                       
Postwar renovations of the Capitol include instillation of air conditioning as well as candy and popcorn bars.  First run movies are now shown at the Grand.  Renovation of East Macon Theater includes new sound equipment, a new screen, and a parking lot to accommodate 100 cars.  Renovations to Macon’s five theaters will cost $70,000.

5/21/1946
The Capitol To Replace Grand As Deluxe Movie House
The high-bracket film, “They Were Expendable,” will be the first shown in the Capitol under her new designation.

2/27/1966
The Macon Telegraph and News reminisces on the evolution of the theater business in Macon.  “The first expansion for Macon was the deluxe Riverside Drive-In which was build on a 40 acre tract at Arkwright Road and Riverside Drive... Efforts were next directed to the construction and the operation of the Westgate Theater- a theater that is completely new and modern in every respect.

9/ 1/1976
The Macon Telegraph announces that the Capitol will close following Labor Day.  James Herndon, manager of the Georgia Theater Co., which owns the Capitol, reports that the closing ‘is purely a matter of money.’  This is partly because the theater companies restrict the number and quality of films available to smaller movie houses in attempt to lure crowds to the larger theaters.  The Capitol and the Bibb are the only downtown theaters currently in operation.  

9/5/1976
Curtains for Capitol
Georgia Theater Co. announces plans for the four theater complex at the Macon Mall.

9/6/1976
The last film shown at the Capitol is “The Black Godfather”.

4/1/1977
Paul Stevens and Wendell Scheffield aspire to reopen the Capitol for music, ballet and actors, hoping to raise $20,000 for restoration. 

2/20/1981
Empty Capitol May Find New Purpose
The brokerage firm Robinson-Humphrey Co. Inc requests money from the Macon-Bibb County Urban Development Authority for the transformation of the Capitol into offices.  The Authority approved $420,000 in low interest loans for the project. 

4/7/1981                                                                                                           
Appeal Made to Reopen Capitol Theater
“Robert Wright, president of the Intown Macon Neighborhood Association has written a letter to the Georgia Theater Co., asking that the building be preserved as an ‘alternative movie theater.’”

4/22/1982
Revitalization Could Spur Capitol Theater Reopening
Georgia Theater Co. explores the feasibility of reopening the Capitol in a similar fashion as has been successful in Athens.  Second run movies would be shown six to nine months after their first release.  Beer and wine would be served in the lobby along with pizza, popcorn, and hot dogs.   The cost of the required renovations, admits William Stembler of the GA Theater Co., would be the major obstacle.

11/24/1984
Capitol Theater readied for the arrival of MJC
The Capitol is used as a Macon Junior College satellite, containing two classrooms, a seminar room and a faculty office area.  Interior designer Karen Wheat and a gift shop also rent space in the Capitol.  Renovations cost owner Emmett Barnes III nearly $100,000.   

2004
Local leaders move to breathe life into the Capitol once again…