Village Theater

RoadsideArchitecture.com on September 6, 2011 at 9:51 pm

This theatre listing is duplicated here.

JackCoursey on December 25, 2010 at 1:22 pm

Curious as to what modifications have been made to the interior. The theatre was completely gutted in 1986 with only the façade left intact. The four cinemas which were built in the former balcony area only accommodated 475. If the operation was having difficulty realizing a profit with a four screen mini cinema how will it be successful with only half the auditoria and fewer seats? Photos from 2006:
1, 2, 3

rivest266 on October 18, 2009 at 11:52 am

November 15th, 1935 grand opening ad is at View link

kencmcintyre on August 16, 2009 at 10:44 pm

Closed but not demolished, I don’t think, unless it was torn down after they took the Google maps photo a couple of years ago.

lrostochil on June 17, 2009 at 11:57 am

I think that half of the teenagers in Dallas spent the 70’s and early 80’s going to see “The Rocky Horror Picture Show” here as the midnight movie on the weekends. I also remember seeing “Pink Floyd’s The Wall” here and a revival of “Tommy.” It was THE place to be on the weekends if you were a teenager in those days.

I don’t live in Dallas anymore and had no idea that this great theater had closed. So sad.

kencmcintyre on February 24, 2009 at 5:54 pm

Here is part of an article from Park Cities People dated 7/10/86:

The end of an era flickered out of existence Tuesday night July 8, when the Highland Park Village Theater closed its doors. The community landmark, erected in 1935, is due to reopen early next year, according to a spokesperson for Henry S. Miller Company, who is remodeling the facility to include retail shops downstairs and two or three small movie screens upstairs. “It will never be the same,” said present operator Fred Biersdorf. “They don’t make movie houses anymore like the Village Theater.”

Biersdorf, president of HP Cinemas, bought the theater from the Howard Corporation 10 years ago. The Howard Corporation sold the shopping center to Miller, who has been leasing Biersdorf the space. Biersdorf, along with partner James Bramlett, will open up new movie houses in areas around the metroplex, but he does not know if he will be operating the Village Theater when or if it reopens. “I have given the negotiations with Miller my best shot, but he has not decided”, Biersdorf said. Biersdorf also operates the Cinema Group, a movie distribution company. The Miller spokesperson said Miller has been in negotiations with various movie operators but has not made a decision on who will operate the theater.

The feeling among the theater employees was shock and depression and a little bit of bitterness exhibited toward Miller. “We all are a little bit sick about the theater closing,” said Connie Byers, who has been working there five months. The theater manager is Wayne Hicks, a two-year employee. The Village Theater employed 15-16 persons. Byers, who has also worked security for Henry S. Miller Company, said she feels Miller is underestimating at how much business traffic the movie generates for the shopping center. She is not convinced Miller will reopen the theater as a theater.

“He seems to be looking at strictly what he can receive in rental from retail shops. When he brought his plans before the Highland Park Town Council, not enough citizens attended to show their support for the movie theater. It would not surprise me to see them lose it,” Byers said. Miller was out of town this week and could not respond directly to fears that the theater might not reopen. He has, however, publicly stated before that he intends to have a theater operate in the space. For the better part of a year, however, Park Cities citizens will have to look outside Highland Park or University Park for their movie entertainment.

DonLewis on February 1, 2009 at 8:02 pm

A 1950s movie poster ad from the Village Theater promoting Gene Autry in “Riders of the Whistling Pines”.