Historic Hood River
Liberty Theater, 1919
12-8-2011
Notes
Here we have the Liberty Theater right after the end of World War I. The Statue of Liberty above the ticket booth is a nice touch.
The feature “The Heart of Humanity” was a war film starring Dorothy Phillips, William Stowell and Eric von Stroheim. The film was controversial for scenes like one where Von Stroheim, as an evil Prussian officer, throws a baby out of a window because it is making too much noise.
The theater was located at 308 Oak Street, which is now a plaza next to the First National Bank Building.
Charlott
The Liberty Theatre would later become known as "The Cascadian". Not that the Rialto was a large theatre, but this one was about 1/2 the size.
Dorothy Phillips was a silent film star who was in approximately 150 films. She lived to the ripe old age of 90.
Will Stowell was a "silent screen heartthrob" who met an untilmely death in 1919 in a railroad accident in the Belgian Congo while scounting possilbe film locations.
Eric von Stroheim, an Austrian was an actor in his early career, but became of the of great directors of the silent film era. Spent his last years in France, where he died.
Naturally in "The Heart of Humanity" Stowell was the hero, Phillips the herone and von Stronheim the villian.
l.e.
What was it about the name Liberty? Seems like so many little towns had a "Liberty" theater.
I grew up with the one in Camas, WA. If you drive through eastern Washington, you will find old Liberty theaters.
l.e.
I wonder if that is Arthur Kolstad standing outside.
And what do you suppose those two white buckets are for? Cigarettes?
Charlott
Did we determine if he owned that theatre or the Rialto. I don’t think that the Liberty/Cascadian had much of a stage and it was a very small theatre. I am inclined to think that he owned the Rialto. There is a posibility that he owned both. I can’t tell you when the Rialto came to be.
Joe Vogel
Arthur Kolstad was indeed a partner in the Rialto Theatre, with Judson Ferguson. Ferguson opened the Liberty as the Electric Theatre sometime before 1913, the year that Kolstad moved to Hood River to become manager of the Electric and Hood River’s other early movie house, the Gem. The Gem apparently closed when the Rialto opened in 1921.
The name Liberty Theatre suddenly became very popular in 1917, when the United States entered the World War. Many theaters were renamed the Liberty that year. Victory Theatre also became a popular name during the period.