The first movie theaters in Cleveland consisted of converted storefronts
with sawed-off telephone poles substituting for chairs and bedsheets
acting as screens. In 1905, Clevelanders marveled at moving images at
Rafferty's Monkey House while dodging real monkeys and raccoons that
wandered freely through the bar. By the early 1920s, a collection of
marvelous movie palaces like the Stillman Theater lined Euclid Avenue,
but they survived for just two generations. Clevelanders united to save
the State, Ohio and Allen Theaters, among others, as wrecking balls
converged for demolition. Those that remain compose one of the nation's
largest performing arts centers. Alan F. Dutka shares the remarkable
histories of Cleveland's downtown movie theaters and their reemergence
as community landmarks.