The first movie theater that I remember going to was the Preston Royal, being dropped off by Mom with a few siblings to see some ‘kid’s film’ and waiting in a very long line that snaked around the building, to enter the 1,000 seat theater.
The theatre graced the cover of the December 7th, 1959 issue of Boxoffice magazine. The seven photos in the issue scream 1960’s to me, with one wall heightened by floor to ceiling fiberglass draperies, figured with hour glass designs in black, turquoise and tangerine on a natural background; a mirrored wall above the theater doorway; another wall of Honduras mahogany paneling and vinyl. Tear drop lighting fixtures hanging down in the 30' x 50' lobby, suspended at random heights and in random placement in red, turquoise and yellow venetian glass, the spotlights on the inside foyer ‘garden area,’ with walls of ledge stone, plastic plantings, a waterfall and aquarium; the Ladies lounge with natural wood wainscot with gold vinyl wall covering and powder bar backed by a mirrored wall and I must mention the marbleized vinyl in large tiles below your feet (all photos black and white.) Of course today they build restrooms w/o mirrors since they will just get scratched with grafitti.
The text on the cover: Dallas' first new indoor theatre in more than a decade, the Preston Royal was opened last month – a $265,000 project developed by B.R. and Gordon McLendon, a father-son team. the McLendons, who also have TV-radio interests and a motion picture production company, placed the theatre in a new shopping center. The solar screen above the marquee is backed by a wall which is lighted with floods on a power dimmer.
Inside text: One of the most beautiful theatres of recent years is the Preston Royal, just opened, the first new conventional theatre built in Dallas, Tex., in twelve years, a period in which the population of that city more than doubled. It is located in the new
Preston Royal Shopping Village in one of the never sections of North Dallas with a population of 25,000 within three miles of the theatre, and the area served is composed of top income families.
It is owned by well-known showmen, B.R. and Gordon McLendon, father and son. The theatre building is of reinforced concrete construction with masonry curtain walls. It was built at a cost of $140,000, and equipment, including air conditioning, ran to another $125,000.
The first movie theater that I remember going to was the Preston Royal, being dropped off by Mom with a few siblings to see some ‘kid’s film’ and waiting in a very long line that snaked around the building, to enter the 1,000 seat theater.
The theatre graced the cover of the December 7th, 1959 issue of Boxoffice magazine. The seven photos in the issue scream 1960’s to me, with one wall heightened by floor to ceiling fiberglass draperies, figured with hour glass designs in black, turquoise and tangerine on a natural background; a mirrored wall above the theater doorway; another wall of Honduras mahogany paneling and vinyl. Tear drop lighting fixtures hanging down in the 30' x 50' lobby, suspended at random heights and in random placement in red, turquoise and yellow venetian glass, the spotlights on the inside foyer ‘garden area,’ with walls of ledge stone, plastic plantings, a waterfall and aquarium; the Ladies lounge with natural wood wainscot with gold vinyl wall covering and powder bar backed by a mirrored wall and I must mention the marbleized vinyl in large tiles below your feet (all photos black and white.) Of course today they build restrooms w/o mirrors since they will just get scratched with grafitti.
The text on the cover: Dallas' first new indoor theatre in more than a decade, the Preston Royal was opened last month – a $265,000 project developed by B.R. and Gordon McLendon, a father-son team. the McLendons, who also have TV-radio interests and a motion picture production company, placed the theatre in a new shopping center. The solar screen above the marquee is backed by a wall which is lighted with floods on a power dimmer.
Inside text: One of the most beautiful theatres of recent years is the Preston Royal, just opened, the first new conventional theatre built in Dallas, Tex., in twelve years, a period in which the population of that city more than doubled. It is located in the new Preston Royal Shopping Village in one of the never sections of North Dallas with a population of 25,000 within three miles of the theatre, and the area served is composed of top income families. It is owned by well-known showmen, B.R. and Gordon McLendon, father and son. The theatre building is of reinforced concrete construction with masonry curtain walls. It was built at a cost of $140,000, and equipment, including air conditioning, ran to another $125,000.