Kemp Theatre
104 Dewey Avenue,
Poteau,
OK
74953
104 Dewey Avenue,
Poteau,
OK
74953
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This theater had a very interesting start. The Kemp Theatre’s original name was the K&H Theatre but immediately changed to the Kemp Theatre before opening its doors on September 1, 1937 with Jack Oakie in “Super Sleuth”. W.O. Kemp, former Victory Theatre operator, named the theater after himself.
Right when the 1950s rolled along, the Kemp Theatre was starting to fall apart on films. Films completely ended at the Kemp Theatre during the first week of 1952 and the Kemp started to shift gears towards special events and church services until ultimately closing in 1954. After sitting abandoned for three years, the building was placed for sale in June 1957.
I’ve been unable to find anything about any of Poteau’s theaters in Boxoffice, but a Mr. O.K. Kemp of Poteau is mentioned twice in 1954. In June he visited Film Row in Oklahoma City, and in December he was re-elected as a director of the Theatre Owners of Oklahoma.
A snippet of a 1940 Motion Picture Herald item from Google Books mentions a W.O. Kemp in connection with the Victory Theatre at Poteau.