Paramount Theater (originally Eltinge Theater) was an early movie theater located in the Eltinge Building on the 200 block of 3rd Street, on the site of today’s U.S. Bank building.
Edmond Hughes established Eltinge Theater in February 1920 (one source says 1918). Its likely that the building itself was built in 1918 and the theater was established there in 1920.
It became Paramount Theater in August 1929. It was originally to be called “Dacotah Theater” before being sold to Publix, then a division of Paramount Pictures. It received a major renovation at this time, including a new marquee and canopy containing 1,450 electric lightbulbs and more than 600 feet of neon lighting. It even added a sound-proof glass-enclosed “crying room” for babies.
Paramount Theater was noted to show the first “talkie” locally in 1929, a comedy film called Fast Company. The film was so popular that a late-night showing was added at 11:15 p.m. to accommodate demand – the first midnight showing in Bismarck.
It became Bismarck Theater in 1937 (a name formerly used by another local theater). It received renovations in the 1940s, 1954, and 1962.
Bismarck Theater closed after its final screening of A Boy Named Charlie Brown on August 31, 1970. The building was demolished in March 1977 for today’s U.S. Bank building.
