Ritz Theater
216 C Avenue,
Lawton,
OK
216 C Avenue,
Lawton,
OK
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Lauren Grubb
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Recent comments (view all 15 comments)
Another angle of the same shot, and much clearer -
http://www.tulsalibrary.org/JPG/F0104.jpg
seymour cox
would love to see the olds ads as i have no recollection of the pix, reno or midwest in okc or circle cinema in tulsa being owened by video. i worked in shipping part -time or was one of the delivery drivers from roughly 1968 to 1974 don’t recall either the names or deliviering to more than 4 theaters in okc-will rogers, may, twilight gardens and rialto.with regard to the boomer as a college town it was a little more racy but i think the only time anything slightly hard-core was shown ws when my cohorts and i rented it for midnight movies when i was in school there from 1970 to 1978. then again that was long time ago and my memory might be real foggy. would love to know more if you have the time
It looks like the letters on the building spell “Newman”. I think the building was named first and the theater was added later, by the appearance in the photo.
Grand opening ads clearly list the Reno Theater as a Griffith Bros. house. Have no proof that the Midwest or Pix were ever Video operations, but have heard that they were during their last few years. Tulsa Circle was definitely run by Video.
Another (and better) view of the (Lawton?) Ritz …
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What difference does it make if Video Independent Theatres operated one or a dozan porn theatres? Everyone knows they regularly booked X-rated product into several of their theatres.
Anyway, both the Pix and Reno were closed long before 1968, and before hard-core films came out of the closet,
Nuf sed!
The 1981 IMPA shows these Video Independent theaters in Lawton:
Vaska, 82nd Street Twin Drive-In, Video Twin Theater, Showcase Twin.
In 1970 the lineup was a bit different: Lawton, Diana, Vaska, Ritz, Auston Drive-In, Capitol Drive-In.
I’ve been told that throughout the 30’s & 40’s when not showing second run movies the Ritz was an on and off burlesque house. Listen to the type music the small house band would have played for strip-tease performers -
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Don:
Sorry it took two years to respond, but my interest in cinema history comes and goes.
I gathered a lot of info about Video theatres from morgue newspaper articles, ads, and also by word of mouth.
It would have been prior to 1968 when Video operated the Pix, Reno, and Midwest. These theatres were listed together within Video theatre block ads.
I believe Video operated the Circle Cinema in Tulsa because I have heard that it was managed by Ed Swallow who later transferred to Okmulgee (his home town) to manage the Orpheum.
Here is a November 1972 ad from the Lawton Constitution. I guess Lusticolor never really caught on.
http://tinyurl.com/qc23m7
Here is what the neighborhood looks like these days, the Ritz is long gone!
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