The Home of Clean and Moral Shows: The Princess Theatre (1912-1915)

In September of 1912, F.C. Carroll of Richmond, Virginia came to Lenoir and bought the Casino Theatre, located in the Shell Building on South Main Street, from the Triplett brothers. Carroll changed the theater's name to the Princess and immediately set about making improvements: a new air ventilation system and daily fumigation, fire exits in the rear of the building, even a large cooler with ice water, in sanitary cups of course. He enlarged the building, adding more movable chairs to accommodate as many as 500 people. These patrons could watch both the latest films from Hollywood, as well as live vaudeville shows--strictly of the "high class" type.

Carroll ran the normal array of gimmicks and tricks common to the small town exhibition practices of the time: lucky ticket numbers for a cash prizes, essay contests with agricultural themes, free shows for Veterans on Memorial Day, a float in the 4th of July parade. In an era of silent film, he experimented with Edison's talking pictures. He also hired a local church organist to play piano for the films and eventually a four-piece orchestra, loaned out on occasions to bolster civic pride. By September of 1913, Carroll was ready to move into the Jones Building, a few stores to the North on the same street, and open what he claimed to be one of the best theaters in North Carolina. The new Princess Theatre was not to be run by Carroll for long. By the end of October 1913, Carroll claimed he was moving on to a bigger and better theatrical venue in Charlotte, also named the Princess. Carroll left with a flourish and high praises for Lenoir, which he had published prominently in the local newspaper:

Thanks To One And All.

I take this method of extending my heartfelt thanks to each and every citizen of Lenoir for their kind and generous patronage which they have tended to me since I have been engaged in the motion picture business here, and only because I feel that the way I have been treated by the people of this glorious little town, it is my duty to do so. I leave behind nothing but a good word for the town and the highest praise for its people. I beg to remain with success and best wishes to all. MR. and MRS. F.C. CARROLL. (Lenoir News 11/28/1913 p. 2)

Carroll seemed to be the model early twentieth-century entrepreneur. But film exhibition was not his only business and the law was keeping a close eye on F.C. Carroll. His place of residence would soon be the Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas . . .

The Princess Theatre occupied first the Shell Building on South Main Street from September 1912 through September 1913, and then was moved up the same street to the Jones Building, where it remained for the rest of its existence. It had four different owner/managers:

• • F.C. Carroll (9/9/1912-10/21/1913)

  • E.M. Hukill (10/21/1913-11/1913)

  • W.M. Spangler (11/1913-8/5/1915)

  • Will England (8/5/1915-before February 1916)

Newspaper advertising throughout this period is inconsistent for the Princess; only a general summary of some of the equipment and personnel used, as well as major films and events, can be made based on surviving information.

Equipment

F.C. Carroll purchased the Casino Theatre from M.C. and N.R. Triplett in September of 1912. The Caldwell County Deed Book entry for this transaction gives details of the exhibition equipment the Triplett brothers were using in the Casino:

One Powers No. 5 Moving Picture Machine; One Hinze upright piano; Two 12 inch electric fans; One 8 inch electric fans [sic]; One set of trap drums; One Ticket booth, One machine booth and all tools and fixtures belonging to machine; One stage curtain and all stage fixtures now in the building herein after mentioned, One Graphophone and all records; Two hundred and four folding chairs; All lights and lighting fixtures, all of said property being located at the present time in the building now known as the Casino Theatre and belonging to the estate of M.E. Shell, deceased. (Caldwell County Deed Book 54, pp. 273-275)

All of this equipment passed into Carroll's hands for $600: $200 cash down and the rest to be paid in $50 monthly installments. Carroll immediately renamed the theater the Princess and opened on 24 September 1912. There are no actual ads for the theater until that December; local notices in the meantime state only that "high-class Vaudeville and Motion Pictures" were shown, giving no details of the actual films exhibited. Shows ran nightly, Monday through Saturday, with costs at 5 and 10 cents—one assumes a nickel for children and a dime for adults.

In October, Carroll added a newly patented Pullman air ventilation system, improved lighting, and fumigated and disinfected the building daily (Lenoir Topic 10/2/1912, p. 3). The latter steps were more than just cosmetic: at the time there were real and reasonable fears of contagious diseases in cramped public spaces. By spring of 1913, the building was expanded to accommodate as many as 500 patrons on movable chairs (Lenoir News 2/21/1913, p. 3 and Lenoir News 3/7/1913, p. 3). In May, Carroll added a large drink cooler, with water apparently free-of-charge (Lenoir News 5/27/1913, p. 3). Exhibitors were yet to figure out that selling drinks and food to movie patrons could earn as much or more money as the admission price itself. And show lengths were still relatively short at this time anyway.

In May of 1913, Carroll at least advertised that he was experimenting with Edison talking pictures:

MATTERS LOCAL AND PERSONAL . . . Mr. F.C. Carroll, received a telegram on Wednesday from the Eagle Film Co., informing him that a man would be here on the 26th to install his talking pictures. These pictures are the latest production of Edison, and it will take an electrical engineer two weeks to set up the work. (Lenoir News 5/23/1913, p. 2)

This must be the projecting Kinetophone Edison was promoting at this time. Troubles with synchronization doomed the new device to the scrap heap of history and it is not surprising that there is no further mention of it in Lenoir. A more useful machine would have been the new projector purchased that July:

MATTERS LOCAL AND PERSONAL . . . Mr. F.C. Carroll has sold his old moving picture machine to Mr. W.S. Spangler of Mortimer and has purchased a new Standard Simplex machine of the very latest design from the American Moving Picture Machine Company of New York. It arrived yesterday and has already been installed. (Lenoir News 7/29/1913, p. 3)

Whether and how W.S. Spangler used the old projector, apparently the original Powers No. 5, is unknown. Mortimer was a small lumber mill town in western Caldwell County, on the narrow gauge railroad, that was destroyed in the great floods of both 1916 and 1940—not unlike Shulls Mills in Watauga County. Like Shulls Mills, it had a "moving picture show" although about the only mention of it is to note its destruction in the flood (Lenoir News 7/21/1916, p. 1).

Filmography

Little can be said about the types of films exhibited at the Princess Theatre, either in its location in the Shell Building or later in the Jones/Hartley Building. During this period of a little over three years, there were over one thousand potential days to show films at the Princess Theatre (Monday through Saturday), yet there are specific films advertised in the newspaper on only 50 of those days. So only around 5% of the total films for the venue's existence are known; this despite two major local newspapers, the Lenoir News and the Lenoir Topic. Obviously, the owners of the Princess depended primarily on posters and signs around the theater itself rather than the newspaper, reserving that advertising for the occasional special or new serial.

During his tenure with the Princess, Carroll appeared to depend almost entirely on sidewalk advertising. Only 11 films, all but two a short, are found in ads from this time. The first one comes from December 1912:

The famous Western show at the Miller Brothers 101 Ranch in northeastern Oklahoma was one of several wild west shows touring the country at the time. There are several different films of their performances and not enough information here to identify this specific, no doubt long-lost, hour-long film. The other 10 advertised films during Carroll's tenure are listed here:

• • 3/7/1913 The Story of a Kiss

  • 3/7/1913 Heroine of the Plains

  • 3/24/1913 From the Manger to the Cross; or, Jesus of Nazareth

  • 4/15/1913 The Star of Bethlehem

  • 5/1/1913 The Duelists

  • 5/10/1913 The Close of the American Revolution

  • 5/30/1913 The Wizard of the Jungle

  • 5/31/1913 The Newlyweds

  • 9/18/1913 The Sorrows of Israel

  • 9/27/1913 The Battle of Manila Bay

All but From the Manger to the Cross; or, Jesus of Nazareth (1912) are shorts under a half-hour in length, most just one or two reels. Among the shorts, the bulk of the films are dramas. A more typical and informative film program can be seen from Spangler's time of management, after the Princess had moved to the Jones Building (Lenoir News 1/6/1914 p. 3):

This begins 6 weeks of Tuesday-Saturday weekly ads that leave us with more of an indication of what the typical program for the Princess Theatre might have been like in 1914. Of the 67 films listed during this period, all but 5 are one- or two-reelers. They are all, of course, silent and black and white. Twelve different production companies are represented:

• • Crystal Film Company 12

  • Rex Motion Picture Company 9*

  • Independent Moving Pictures Co. of America (IMP) 8*

  • Bison Motion Pictures 7*

  • Nestor Film Company 7

  • St. Louis Motion Picture Company 6

  • Victor Film Company 5

  • Universal Film Manufacturing Company 4

  • Eclair American 3

  • Powers Picture Plays 3

  • Société des Etablissements L. Gaumont 3

  • [unknown] 2

  • Société Française des Films Éclair 1

*Three of the films list two companies, so the numbers here will be more than the overall total.

As far as the contents of the films shown, again almost all shorts, there is a preponderance of comedies and dramas, as identified in the International Movie Database:

• • Comedy 30

  • Drama 28

  • Western 7

  • Thriller 5

  • Romance 4

  • Crime 3

  • Adventure 1

  • Animation 1

  • Documentary 1

  • Family 1

  • Sci-Fi 1

*Note that films can have more than one genre.

For a relatively short sample in the life of a venue—a little over one month—this is a healthy variety of films for a wide audience.

After this flurry of ads, Spangler seemed content to revert to walk-up advertising again, with only an occasional ad for a lengthier feature, such as this special from May of 1914, a nearly 90 minute historical drama with doubled prices (Lenoir News 5/13/1914 p. 3):

One important aspect of films known to be shown at the Princess is the weekly serial. Spangler ran three beginning in July 1914 and combined them with text chapters printed in the local newspaper:

• • 7/9/1914 Lucille Love: The Girl of Mystery

  • 10/19/1914 The Million Dollar Mystery

  • 11/4/1914 The Trey o' Hearts

Lucille Love lasted for 15 episodes, as did The Trey o' Hearts; The Million Dollar Mystery was more ambitious at 46 reels or 23 episodes. The first two appear to have had a complete run at the Princess, while the advertising for the latter leaves it unclear as to whether it was completed or not. These serials continued into 1915 and ads for the theater all but cease for most of that year. By August, when Will England takes over the Princess in conjunction with his outdoor venue, The Hippodrome, there are a few more spotty ads and one final serial: The Diamond from the Sky with Lottie Pickford, Irving Cummings, and William Russell. Beginning on 19 October 1915, it is doubtful that this 30 episode serial was ever completed. By the following February, the building was being converted into a merchandise store (Lenoir Topic 2/23/1916, p. 3).

Finally, local films made by the railroad were shown in August of 1914, another early example of local interest film exhibition:

OF LOCAL INTEREST . . . The Princess Theatre will show moving pictures of local interest next Monday night, August 10th. The pictures were taken by the Carolina and North Western Railway and show points of interest between Chester and Edgemont. In Lenoir pictures of the automobile parade, the fire horses running through the square, scenes in front of the postoffice, at the Carlheim hotel and many places will be shown. (Lenoir Topic 8/5/1914, p. 3)

Musicians

An early note about the Princess Theatre concerns its musicians. While unknown touring vaudeville acts came and went, there was evidence of a core of musicians giving both accompaniment to the films and playing before and after them. The piano was by far the most common instrument used for film accompaniment, and the Princess had one who was mentioned frequently at the time: Hardy Turner of Morganton:

Prof. Hardy Turner has accepted a position as organist in the Episcopal church at Morganton. This will not interfere with his playing at the Princess Theatre. (Lenoir News 6/17/1913, p. 3)

Before this, Turner's name also appears in conjunction with the Electrical Theatre in the Cloyd and Johnson Building (Lenoir News 5/14/1909, p. 3), the Airdome, an open-air theater in Hickory (Lenoir Topic 8/[28]/1912, p. 3), and as late as 1926, where he is playing at the Universal/State Theatre (Lenoir News Topic 7/15/1926, p. 1) on a new Wurlitzer organ.

Carroll also advertised for musicians in the Asheville paper in August (no word on what had happened to Turner, but he was obviously easily employed elsewhere):

WANTED--At once, experienced trap drummer, violinist and piano player for moving picture house. Drummer must have all effects for moving pictures. F.C. Carroll, Princess Theatre, Lenoir, N.C. P1229 2-3 (Asheville Citizen-Times 8/3/1913, p. 22)

The ad was quickly successful and the Princess had a "full" orchestra of four musicians by mid-August:

MATTERS LOCAL AND PERSONAL . . . Mr. F.C. Carroll, proprietor of the Princess Theatre, who is always on the lookout for something better for his patrons, has added a four-piece orchestra, consisting of a trap drummer, violinist, pianist and cornetist to his place of amusement. Mr. and Mrs. R.F. Wetzel, pianist and violinist have already arrived and appeared for the first time last night, furnishing most delightful music. The other two musicians will arrive Sunday. The price of admission will remain 10 cents. (Lenoir News 8/15/1913, p. 3)

This orchestra was able to play a local dance at the end of the month—apparently, the Princess was closed on Mondays as advertised later the next year:

MATTERS LOCAL AND PERSONAL . . . A most delightful and enjoyable dance was given in the opera house Monday night to the visiting young ladies by the young men of the town. Splendid music was furnished by the orchestra from the Princess Theatre. (Lenoir News 8/29/1913, p. 3)

This of course meant not just additional income for the musicians (we assume), but also advertising for the theater itself.

The Motion Picture King: F.C. Carroll

Although he left town in November of 1913, a series of newspaper articles from neighboring papers in 1916, right at the time the Princess disappears from the newspapers, gave the people of Lenoir some indication of the stranger who had spent a year in their midst, the first quoted from a Lexington, NC newspaper:

LENOIR MOVING PICTURE KING GOES UP FOR LONG TIME

The following story sent out from Lexington to the daily papers will be of much interest to LENOIR people.

"According to information contained in a letter from [a] Washington, D.C., officer, a couple who styled themselves as Mr. and Mrs. F.C. Carroll and who left here about a year ago, after having gone broke while running a picture show, have submitted to a charge of grand larceny. Carroll gets 18 months at Leavenworth and Mrs. Carroll will serve the same term in the Federal prison for women at Baltimore. They are understood to have been charged with stealing several picture films, and Federal officers have been on their trail for a year or more.

The couple are said to be wanted at Clayton and other places in this State on charges of various kinds of fraud. Local attorneys here have judgements against them aggregating several hundred dollars.

Carroll, who is said originally to have been from LENOIR and whose real name is alleged to be Phillips, came here and announced that he was the 'motion picture king,' and recounted how he actually started the business in Chicago. He entertained lavishly at wine suppers and, it is reported, while pretending to be drunk he would start a little poker game and separate some of his guests from their cash. He had members of the local fire company sell tickets on a partnership basis, and he took the coin and skipped. He was arrested and jailed at Winston-Salem and brought back and forced to 'divvy.' It is reported that he conducted an auto contest at Clayton, took in the money and left town.

Carroll and his wife are said both to have had records in Chicago and other cities before they came to this State and 'broke into society.'

Their 'finish' was discovered when a local physician made inquiries as to the whereabouts of the couple in hope that he might collect a bill." (Lenoir News 1/18/1916, p. 1)

The Lexington Dispatch contains a few more details on the nefarious duo:

NOTED COUPLE IN PRISON

F.C. Carroll and Wife Sentenced to Federal Prison on Charge of Grand Larceny. . . . Carroll, or rather Phillips, which is his real name, and the woman claiming to be his wife came to Lexington from Lenoir in the summer of 1914. He opened the Princess Theatre and operated it until about April 1915. He then secured the services of the local fire company to sell tickets, the proceeds to be divided upon an agreed percentage. Carroll was to do the dividing, but instead he collected the money and went to Winston-Salem. He was arrested, put in jail and brought back here, where he was made to pay the money due the fire company, plus the cost. . . . (Lexington Dispatch 1/19/1916, p. 1)

By February, some details of the story have changed a bit, although with similar results:

WHAT THREW CARROLL PAIR

Information received by persons in Lexington about the plight of F.C. Carroll and paramour is to the effect that the immediate cause of their sentence was stealing from department stores instead of securing motion picture films by weight. . . . The method used by the couple now under sentence and seeking parole was a rather slick one. They would go to department stores or send order[s] and have quantities of valuable goods sent to a house supposed to be their residence, the goods marked "C.O.D." and taken out by carrier. While Phillips and his companion went inside the house with the expressed purpose of examining the goods to see if in proper condition and to secure the change for their purchase, the carrier was requested to wait out in front. The couple then made their exit from the back door, taking with them the goods and the alleged cash for which the carrier was so impatiently waiting. They worked this trick on Kann's department store in Washington, but apparently Kann made good on his name when he took out after the couple who were trying the same thing on him.--Lexington Dispatch. (reprinted in Lenoir News 2/8/1916, p. 2)

The twisted story of Carroll/Phillips remains puzzling. While reporters in Lexington claim that he originated in Lenoir, no one from Lenoir ever seems to have recognized him or known of him before the Princess Theatre incident. Obviously, the Carrolls relied on quick relocations from one town to the next, yet he stayed in Lenoir for a year and seemed to have been successful and well-liked. Later, there are rumors of lingering lawsuits once the truth came out, although no legal actions are detailed in local papers. And while Carroll, Phillips or whatever his real name was may have cheated film distributors and department stores, there is no indication that those who attended his shows either were or felt cheated. As detailed above, the Princess Theatre name was kept by his successors--at least until early 1916 when the truth came out--indicating that there was no stigma attached to it.

Dr. Gary R. Boye

Music Librarian and Professor

Appalachian State University

boyegr@appstate.edu