Stanley Warner Corporation

The Stanley Warner Corporation, also known as Stanley Warner Theatres, was an American movie theater chain that existed from 1953[1] until 1967 when it was acquired by the Glen Alden Corporation to form RKO–Stanley Warner Theatres.[2] Its headquarters were located in Manhattan at 1585 Broadway.[3]

History

The Stanley Warner Corporation (SWC) had its roots in the Warner Bros. Pictures company, who purchased the Stanley Corporation of America (SCA) theater chain in 1928; a history which informed the crafting of the SWC's name.[4] Warner Bros. used the former SCA theaters to start their Warner Bros. Theatres chain empire which existed from 1928 until it was forced by consent decree to divest itself of its 436 theaters[2] following an antitrust lawsuit.[4] The consent decree made with the United States Department of Justice was reached on January 5, 1951 and in December 1952 a sale of the theaters was made to Fabian Enterprises Inc.[5] Stockholders voted to form a new company to oversee the theatre chain purchased by Fabian, and the SWC was formally incorporated on January 30, 1953.[6]

The newly formed SWC was led by M. A. Silver as its director and Simon H. Fabian as the president of its board.[7] In 1954 the SWC purchased the International Latex Corporation (now Playtex).[8] The Warner Cinerama theater was one of its theaters, and the company partnered with the Cinerama corporation to operate that venue. The company was also under contract to co-produce Cinerama technology films with the Cinerama company for a five year period during the 1950s.[9] The company funded the development of Hans Laube's Smell-O-Vision after seeing a demonstration of his 1955 short film My Dream demonstrating a prototype of the technology.[10]

In 1953, Van Curler Broadcasting Company, a subsidiary of Stanley Warner, received a construction permit for a new television station in the Albany, New York, area.[11] The station began broadcasting as WTRI on channel 35 on February 28, 1954,[12] and moved to channel 13 as WAST on January 1, 1959.[13]

In 1967 it merged with the Glen Alden Corporation to form RKO–Stanley Warner Theatres,[2] a company which had previously acquired the RKO Theatre Corporation chain owned by RKO Pictures when it too had been forced to relinquish its chain by consent decree.[14] WAST, which had been profitable for several years, was spun off.[15] After an attempt to sell the station to RKO General[16] was scrapped over regulatory concerns,[17] the Sonderling Broadcasting Corporation of Oak Park, Illinois, acquired WAST for $8 million in 1968.[18] In 1971, RKO–Stanley Warner was sold to the Cinerama corporation.[2]

References

Citations

  1. ^ "New Charters Filed". Journal-Every Evening. Wilmington, Delaware. February 9, 1953. p. 28.
  2. ^ a b c d Slide 2014, p. 194.
  3. ^ Aaronson, Charles S., ed. (1964). "Stanley Warner Corporation". 1964 International Motion Picture Almanac. Quigley Publications. p. 481.
  4. ^ a b Hoyt 2014, p. 238.
  5. ^ "Warner Bros. Movie Empire To Be Divided". The Morning Union. International News Service. December 10, 1952. p. 31.
  6. ^ "Stockholders Vote to Form 2 New Warner Companies". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. February 18, 1953. p. 9.
  7. ^ "M. A. Silver Director of New Film Firm". The Pittsburgh Press. February 18, 1953. p. 18.
  8. ^ "STANLEY WARNER BUYS LATEX CORP.; $15,000,000 Cash Deal First for Movie Concern Outside Field of Entertainment". The New York Times. 4 May 1954.
  9. ^ Hall & Neale 2010, p. 143.
  10. ^ Gilbert 2008, pp. 154–155.
  11. ^ Lewis, Richard J. (June 12, 1953). "TV Struggle Ends, 2 Permits Issued". The Times Union. Albany, New York. p. 8. Retrieved January 13, 2026 – via GenealogyBank.com.
  12. ^ "Sunday to Mark Opening of Newest UHF Video in Area". Albany Times Union. Albany, New York. February 24, 1954. pp. 26, 28. Retrieved January 17, 2026 – via GenealogyBank.com.
  13. ^ "TV Station WAST Now on Channel 13". The Daily Gazette. Schenectady, New York. January 1, 1959. p. 15. Retrieved March 16, 2026 – via GenealogyBank.com.
  14. ^ Reckert, Clare M. (July 22, 1967). "18% of Stanley Warner Shares Sold to Alden; Both in Theaters; GLEN ALDEN BUYS STOCK IN WARNER". The New York Times. p. F28.
  15. ^ "Friendly Co. Eyes Albany's WAST-TV". Variety. Vol. 249, no. 10. January 24, 1968. p. 35. ProQuest 1032457694.
  16. ^ "RKO Buys Albany TV-er WAST From Glen Alden". Variety. Vol. 250, no. 1. February 21, 1968. p. 36. ProQuest 1032461128.
  17. ^ "Closed Circuit: Second thought". Broadcasting. Vol. 74, no. 10. March 4, 1968. p. 5. ProQuest 1016842122.
  18. ^ "Sonderling $8-Mil For Albany WAST, 4th Buy This Year". Variety. Vol. 251, no. 5. June 19, 1968. p. 46. ProQuest 964078441.

Bibliography

  • Gilbert, Avery N. (2008). What the Nose Knows: The Science of Scent in Everyday Life. Crown Publishers. ISBN 9781400082346.
  • Hall, Sheldon; Neale, Steve (2010). Epics, Spectacles, and Blockbusters: A Hollywood History. Wayne State University Press. ISBN 9780814336977.
  • Hoyt, Eric (2014). Hollywood Vault: Film Libraries Before Home Video. University of California Press. ISBN 9780520958579.
  • Slide, Anthony (2014). "Stanley Warner Corporation". The New Historical Dictionary of the American Film Industry. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 9781135925543.
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