Valley Theater
6345 Alameda Avenue,
El Paso,
TX
79905
6345 Alameda Avenue,
El Paso,
TX
79905
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Opened on Labor Day 1948.
Contributed by
Ken McIntyre
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Recent comments (view all 19 comments)
I visited the Naked Harem several years ago, for cinematic research purposes only. Apparently, the screen and theater seats had been removed long ago, replaced by a couple of stages with odd-looking support beams right in the center of them. Stranger still, the stages were so small they could only accomodate one performer at a time. It seems I arrived early, as I saw two young women who appeared to be changing their clothes, oblivious to the people in the darkened seating areas around them. Immediately recognizing my error, I beat a hasty retreat to the exit. It is no wonder the theater was closed by the police, as most of the performers seemed to be sitting very close to the members of the audience instead of performing their acts on stage.
The Valley was converted into a dinner theater in 1971, according to a 1975 article in the El Paso Herald-Post. That lasted two years before the theater re-opened as the Cine Azteca, showing Spanish films. That incarnation lasted until February 1975, when the theater closed. Cine Azteca should be another name for this theater.
Here is a September 1948 item from the Herald-Post:
The new Valley Theater at 6345 Alameda Avenue, described by its builders as one of the finest and most modern suburban amusement houses in Texas, will have its formal opening at 7:30 p.m. Monday. “That’s My Man,” starring Don Ameche and Katherine McLeod, is the film scheduled for the opening.
I only give accurate addresses. :P
There was also a Valley Theatre AKA Yandell at 1118 E. Yandell Dr., not listed on CT. anyone have info on that Valley Theatre?
The Yandell Theater is listed in 1950 with 434 seats. It’s still listed in 1955. I haven’t found anything on a Valley Theater operating prior to the one on this page. The Valley Theater on Alameda Avenue is listed in 1955 with 803 seats.
The Yandell Theatre is mentioned frequently in Boxoffice in 1947 and 1948, when operator C.M. Garrett wrote capsule reviews for the magazine’s “The Exhibitor Has His Say” feature. I haven’t found it mentioned anytime before 1947.
Neither have I been able to find any mention of a Valley Theatre in El Paso before the Alameda Avenue house opened. If the Yandell was called the Valley before 1947 then it must have been run by somebody who lacked Mr. Garrett’s adeptness at publicity.
The May 9, 1960, issue of Boxoffice said that Clayton Garrett had closed the Yandell Theatre after operating at a loss for several months. Attempts to sell the theater were a failure, and finally the projection room equipment was sold to a local theater equipment dealer and removed. That must have been the end of the place.
Here is a photo of the Cine Azteca from the 1975 Herald-Post article:
http://tinyurl.com/yj6x8v5
Is there a direct link to that article, maybe it would be clearer to read.
The women who ran the Naked Harem was convicted for running a prostitution ring and having under-age girls.
There was a theater called the Garden Airdome at 900 E. Yandell. Cynthia Farah Haines states it was listed at that address from 1921-22, then for the next three years at 1116 E. Yandell. She also says, “Since 1925, a theatre called the American had been located at 2806 E. Yandell but moved to 1120 E. Yandell where it showed movies until 1935.” She adds, “The American was known as the Little Theatre from 1937 until 1942. it was renamed the Western in 1943and then the Yandell from Oct. 7, 1946 until 1960. (Cynthia Farah Haines, Showtime! From Opera Houses to Picture Palaces in El Paso, Texas Western Press 2006).