Criterion Theatre
10 S. Water Street,
Sapulpa,
OK
74066
10 S. Water Street,
Sapulpa,
OK
74066
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The Criterion opened in 1935 and closed in 1980.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 6 comments)
The timeline above most likely came from movie-theatre.org. Those dates are usually rounded off for some reason, so use them at your own risk. I read that this theater was already operating in 1933 by a J. H. Moulder. He had recently closed the Empress theater and merged his business interests with the Criterion theater.
Here is a lawsuit from the 1930s involving a theater in Sapulpa. It could be the Criterion. I don’t know how many theaters were in business in Sapulpa around that time:
http://tinyurl.com/3x89h3
Basically the Criterion Theatre Building was quite modest in design, and no amount of dressy maruquees and signs could disguise this stark fact. See for yourself, type in word “criterion”, then search …
View link
An article about A.A. Moulder in the February 20, 1954, issue of Boxoffice said that he had opened the Criterion in 1931. The Boxoffice article was based on one published in the Sapulpa Sunday Herald, for which the author had interviewed Moulder.
The article also said that Moulder’s first theater had been the Lyric, which he bought in 1911. While still operating that house he and his father opened the Empress, across Main Street from the Lyric. They operated both houses for a while, but later sold the Lyric. The Moulders closed the Empress when the Criterion opened.
Both the Empress and the Criterion had sometimes presented vaudeville as well as movies, including some Orpheum circuit acts. A CinemaScope screen was installed at the Criterion in 1954.
Both modern and vintage photo of the drab Criterion Theatre can be found on Roadside Oklahoma.
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/626
The Cinema Section of Roadside Oklahome is closed, they no longer have theatre photos according to the site. Go to their home page for further details.