He sold his theaters for about $6 million, the Adams wound up in the 1930s under the Chicago-based chain H&E Balaban Corp., controlled by Barney Balaban, a future president of Paramount Pictures. In 1931, Kunsky lost everything when his disinvestment in the theaters was forced. SILVER SCREEN MADISON MOVIEThe movie features California bow hunter Art Young, who captivated a young bear and led him to start carving his own bows and arrow shafts in the basement of his home on Tireman Avenue in Detroit. Hunting legend Fred Bear, who spread the popularity of archery and bow hunting, said his visit to the Adams in 1927 to watch a silent movie called "Alaskan Adventures" planted the seed for his career. Among the most successful Vitaphone films was 1927's "The Jazz Singer." Unlike modern movies, the soundtrack was not on the film itself, but supplied by a 16-inch phonograph record. Vitaphone was used on almost 2,000 films from 1926 to 1930 that were produced by Warner Bros. In 1927, the Adams entered the era of the talkies, installing the Vitaphone sound film process. The Adams also was designed in a far more simple, classical decoration than the movie palaces that would come a decade later. The 1,700-seat Adams - when compared with the behemoths like the 5,041-seat Fox and 4,038-seat Michigan - was rather small, but the switch in 1918 from vaudeville to silent films proved to be a successful one. Between 19, Grand Circus Park saw the addition of 24,000 seats with the openings of the Adams, Capitol, Fox, Madison, Michigan, Oriental, State and United Artists theaters. Starting in the mid-1910s and picking up in the early 1920s, Detroit's entertainment mecca moved north from Monroe Street - where the Columbia, National and Gayety theaters and Old Detroit Opera House were - to Grand Circus Park. Kunsky had so many theaters on Grand Circus Park, in fact, that the area was dubbed "Kunsky Circle" at one point in the 1920s. While the name Kunsky might not be familiar to current Detroiters, he is responsible for the Birmingham, Fisher, Madison, Michigan, Oriental, Redford, Royal Oak (Music) and State theaters, as well as the Capitol Theatre, now known as the Detroit Opera House. Among Crane's creations: The Fox, Majestic, State (Fillmore Detroit) and United Artists theaters, the Lafayette Building and Olympia Stadium. Crane did nearly 60 movie theaters around Detroit and other landmarks. 2, 1911, was the first of architect Crane's many stunning movie palaces. The Columbia, which opened at 50 Monroe St., on Oct. He also was responsible for many of Detroit's most successful theaters, as well as the city's first major movie palace, the 1,000-seat Columbia. Such a clever business move was nothing uncommon for Kunsky, a Detroiter who made himself a fortune in the vaudeville, movie theater and nickelodeon business - and was the man who first brought movies to Detroit on a regular basis, at his Casino Theatre. It was one of only three known alley-jumpers in the city. Grand Circus Park was a desirable and high-priced piece of real estate at the time, so by having a narrow, small entrance on the park and the large theater on a side street, Kunksy got the prestigious address without the high cost. Balcony patrons would then go up some stairs and cross an enclosed sky bridge over an alley into the auditorium, while main floor guests would go down steps and through a tunnel underneath the alley. Patrons would enter the lobby through the Fine Arts and buy their tickets and concessions. The theater itself was on Elizabeth, across from the State Theatre (now known as the Fillmore Detroit). The Fine Arts, built in 1905 and designed by Louis Kamper, was well-established by the time the Adams opened 12 years later. The Adams was a so-called alley-jumper, with its entrance in the Fine Arts Building on Grand Circus Park. One of the things that made the Adams so different was how its lobby was separated from the theater's auditorium. 1, 1917, with a stage performance called "Romance." Within a year, however, the Adams was converted into a movie theater and would spend almost its entire life as a major movie house. Howard Crane as a playhouse for John Kunsky's chain of entertainment venues. The Adams Theatre was a 1,770-seat theater designed by famed architect C. Nestled among the hotels and office buildings dominating the west side of Grand Circus Park was an unusual theater designed by a master, built by a Detroit movie tycoon and torn down by a pizza maker.
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