This Week in Odessa History

Odessa had a movie theater in 1913. The films were silent with piano accompaniment to provide the mood.

There is the story of the silent movie era in Odessa when someone brought a dog into the theater. The film had reached its climax, with the villain ready to choke the heroine, when suddenly the dog barked. It practically sent the audience into a panic.

The Dime was the first movie theater in Odessa. Our files don’t tell us exactly where this theater was located, but it was somewhere on the south side of First Avenue, between what is now Division and Alder streets.

By 1917, the Empress Theate...