The wonderful thing about living on Capitol Hill is that there are always those who have lived here much longer than you, who can tell you about what it was like long before you moved here. I had that happen to me recently at a party, where a neighbor mentioned the Penn Theater, which was located on Pennsylvania Avenue SE, and had been torn down to make way for apartments and retail space. I have been by the building and noticed that the entrance looked more like a theater than a mixed-use building, but had never put two and two together.
Encouraged by this story, I decided to do some research, and found out the fascinating story of one of the first “stream-lined” theaters in America.
On December 24, 1935, the Washington Post announced the opening of a new theater in an article with the somewhat obtuse headline “Stream Lines and Sound Perfection Promised in Penn Theater, Opening Friday.” The writer himself did not quite know what to make of a theater described as stream-lined, but admitted that residents of Southeast would be able to find out for themselves soon enough, and, he continued, “it is understood that patrons from other sections of the Capital will not be refused admittance.”
Five days later, the same writer described the interior as well, “Deep-piled carpets, a concealed lighting system, that throws into bas-relief a unique ceiling design, and a consistent carrying out of the dubonnet, deep blue and ivory color scheme makes the Penn Theater a symphony of harmonious chromatics.” Since the writer was presumably paid by the word, he repeated the words from “a consistent” to “Penn Theater,” rendering the sentence even less comprehensible.
The theater also had the best in sound reproduction equipment, and provided the best possible movie-going experience. The first movie to be shown was Captain Blood, which was claimed to be “THE MOST MAGNIFICENT & THRILLING SEA ADVENTURE EVER FILMED.” (And yes, it really was in all-caps in the advertisement, which is probably why they needed the sterling sound reproduction.) The movie starred Olivia de Havilland, Basil Rathbone, and Errol Flynn, in his first starring role in the US.
Exciting action fare was not the only thing to be seen at the Penn Theater. Starting in 1940, the theater was used for services during Lent, presumably as its 1438 seats were necessary to accommodate all those seeking spiritual solace in the run-up to Easter. A few years later, it was also the site of a bond rally.
However, its primary business remained the cinema, offering such fine fare as David and Bathsheba (1951), From Here to Eternity (1953), and From Russia With Love (1963), the last somewhat marred by the stabbing of one of its patrons, an FBI agent, on his way home from seeing James Bond in action. Although From Russia with Love is considered a high point in the Bond filmic oeuvre, it may also have represented a final apex in the life of the Penn Theater. In 1967, critics decried the Andy Warhol move, Chelsea Girls, that was playing there, and soon thereafter, I, a Woman, a Danish erotic movie was the feature. The 70s were no better, starting with the X-rated fare of Caged Desires in April 1970 (while the Penn’s sister theater, the Capitol Hill, across the street, was showing Doctor Zhivago) and ended with the schlocky Charles Berlitz’s The Bermuda Triangle running there in 1979.
In 1983, Barnes, Morris, & Pardoe announced that they had brokered a deal to sell the theater to the Carley Capital Group. Coincidentally, the name of the broker was “Haviland,” a small reflection of the bright light of Olivia de Havilland, who starred in the first movie ever shown there.
In order to make the most of the space, the architect, David Schwarz, wrapped a modern building around the original theater, of which really only the facade was kept. Today a bank, a flower store, and a large number of medical offices fill the space which once drew crowds from all over the city.
