Newsreel Theatres

Newsreel theatres were a brief but fairly commonplace type of theatre in the pre-television era in major cities. Patrons could come in to catch up on the current events of the day by sitting through an hour long program of stories from around the world. 

Many of the newsreel theatres were typically smaller containing 100-200 seats. Since programs were short they could play them continuously throughout the day and still sell a fair number of tickets considering the theatre size.

Several chains specialized in newsreel theatres – Newsreel Theatres, Inc., Telenews, and Trans-Lux. Trans-Lux specialized in a rear projection style of exhibition as opposed to the traditional style of cross auditorium projection. This allowed theatres to be set up in former storefronts and smaller spaces, not needing the large cavernous auditoriums of traditional theatres.