JF Theatres explained

JF Theatres
Type:Private
Founder:Jack Fruchtman Sr.
Area Served:Baltimore-Washington metropolitan area
Industry:Entertainment
Services:Movie theaters
Owner:Jack Fruchtman Sr.

JR Theatres was a chain of cinemas in the Baltimore metropolitan region. Now defunct, it was one of the largest movie theatre chains in Maryland between the 1950s and the 1980s. At its height, JF Theatres owned over 50 movie theatres, including all of the major cinemas in Baltimore, including the Royal Theatre and what is now the Charles Theatre.[1]

History

JF Theatres was founded and owned by Jack Fruchtman Sr., an office manager and chief accountant at the Washington, D.C. office of Paramount Pictures. Fruchtman was born on Manhattan's Lower East Side, the son of Polish-Jewish immigrants. Fruchtman's wife Goluem K. Bragg and their son Jack Fruchtman, Jr. were also involved in the family business.[2] Publicity for JF Theatres was managed by Herbert A. Schwartz.[3] [4] In 1956, Paramount chairman of the board Adolph Zukor selected Fruchtman's New Theater as one of the first cinemas to screen Cecil B. DeMille's The Ten Commandments. Following white flight to the suburbs in the 1960s, movie attendance fell at JF Theatres. An avowed liberal, Fruchtman began to cater to Black audiences. During the 1960s and 1970s, Fruchtman helped make Baltimore a major market for blaxploitation films.[5]

The Royal Theatre in Baltimore, then owned by JF Theatres, was damaged during the Baltimore riot of 1968.[6] Physical damage to facilities owned by JF Theatres was generally minimal. However, according to the film historian Robert Headley, the "psychic damage to the theater going public was terrible" and a wave of cinemas closed in the following decade.[1]

Former JF Theatres facilities

Demolished structures

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Lost City: The Regent Theater . Maryland Center for History and Culture . 2023-02-23.
  2. Web site: JMM Biographical Vertical Files -- Summaries . . 2023-02-23.
  3. Book: Box Office, Volume 78 . Columbus, Ohio . . 4 .
  4. Web site: Herbert A. Schwartz, artist . . 2023-02-22.
  5. Web site: Jack Fruchtman Sr., 86, theater owner . . 2023-02-22.
  6. Web site: buildings damaged during riots.pdf . . 2023-02-22.
  7. Web site: Movie Theaters Previously Operated by JF Theatres . Cinema Treasures . 2023-02-23.
  8. Web site: Avalon Theatre . Cinema Treasures . 2023-02-23.
  9. Web site: Columbia Palace 9 . Cinema Treasures . 2023-06-05.
  10. Web site: Loews Northpoint Plaza 4 . Cinema Treasures . 2023-02-22.
  11. Web site: Then and Now: the Mayfair Theatre on Fire . Maryland Center for History and Culture . 2024-06-03.
  12. Web site: New Sun Valley 6 Offers A Discounted Theater Experience . Pasadena Voice . 2023-02-22.