Photography courtesy of the Missouri History Museum
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When it opened, in 1924, Loew’s was luxe. It had a ticket booth clad in black marble, a rotunda ceiling, two fountains, and gilded balconies. The gent’s room had a smoking lounge with a fireplace. It was so glam, it hosted the world premiere of Meet Me in St. Louis. But it wasn’t above a good gimmick. A parrot and macaw lived in the lobby, at least until the parrot learned to swear; the ushers dressed like Groucho during the run of Marx Brothers movies. And then there was this giant telegram, advertising a 1931 Buster Keaton bedroom farce, which mostly just reminded people that they liked the guy better when he wasn’t talking. In August of 1977, Loew’s screened its last film: Autopsy, a grindhouse flick about a priest and a morgue nurse battling a rash of suicides caused by sunspots. The building got knocked down in 1983 to make way for the convention center—a bland, efficient space that can make you long for the days of smoking lounges and swearing parrots.
