Alabama Theatre

Built in 1927 as a movie palace for Paramount, the Alabama Theatre is one of downtown Birmingham's grandest buildings. Stanleigh Malotte played its Mighty Wurlitzer from 1936 to 1955 and, by local account, never quite gave it up; he died in New York in 1973. In 1986 the theatre's longtime organist, Cecil Whitmire, was rehearsing with a singer when a full-bodied figure crossed the stage in front of them both and vanished. Whitmire believed it was Malotte, come to inspect the performance. Staff and performers have also reported doors locking, windows slamming shut, footsteps in empty parts of the building, and shadows moving through the balcony, where one staff member watched a spring-loaded seat fold down with no one there to sit in it. The theatre is restored and still in use.