The Irvington Theater served as a local community theater for many years with its very first showing being for a now lost silent family drama titled “Boy of Mine”. This would be the trend for the Irvington theater throughout its lifetime including when it was part of Tom Moyers Luxury Theaters brand. Sunday was a consistent showing day in the early days of the theater and by the 1950s the theater had consistent screenings throughout the week. Irvington showed several different genres; however they were largely family friendly films with comedies, dramas and musicals being especially popular. Films were also advertised as being just a dollar, later changed to a dollar fifty which was an important aspect of the theater's accessible reputation especially in a historically exclusive neighborhood of Portland. The films shown were usually on their second run having released several months prior with a notable exception being the release of West Side Story on its first run in late 1962 which received abnormally prominent advertising compared the the theaters standard fair for advertising.
In terms of origin a significant number of films shown were of British origin with the year of 1975 featuring almost entirely British films, usually on a double feature with an older film or a short. Films often showed at the Irvington for months at a time and it was common for said films to be screening at Irvington exclusively. As previously stated the selected films were rarely the most popular of their time and were more accommodated to families living in the area and that local community is what the Theater relied on for its decades of operation.
