100 years ago in The Saratogian

Sunday, April 15, 1917

In the latest round in the legal battle over Sunday movies, Schenectady’s theaters are open again tonight, and Saratoga Springs’ movie houses may follow suit.

New York State’s law against public amusements on the Christian Sabbath has always been observed erratically when it came to movie theaters. Because movies and movie theaters didn’t exist when the law was enacted, some lawyers have argued that the law doesn’t apply to the cinema. On that theory, some municipalities allowed theaters to stay open on Sundays while others, like Albany, have forced them to stay closed.

Saratoga Springs permitted Sunday movies until last November, when an Appellate Division ruling in an Albany case affirmed that they were an illegal public amusement. Mayor Walter P. Butler ordered Spa City theaters to close on Sundays, but the Broadway Theatre, following a Schenectady example, secured a temporary injunction in late December 1916 blocking law enforcement from raiding the theater.

Earlier this year, shortly after the Schenectady theaters’ injunctions were lifted, so was the Broadway’s. The theater has been dark on Sunday since then, but the move by Schenectady theater owners to secure a new injunction that allowed them to open tonight may inspire the Broadway or other Spa City cinemas to go back to court. Sundays traditionally have been the most lucrative night for theater owners.