Plaza Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on September 7, 2021 at 10:35 am

The July 22, 1929 grand opening ad as the Uptown Theatre - located in the Allen Building and former Brooks Furniture store on the North Side of the Iola Square - is posted in photos. Clara Bow in “Persian Love” opened the venue for R. H. Montgomery. Within three months, the Dickinson chain purchased the Uptown closing it after the October 20th showing “The Romance of a Million Dollars.”

The announced change to the Plaza to reopen on December 1, 1929 didn’t occur due to financial complications. The theatre did have its new attractor and the inactive theater simply advertised the Kelley Theatre’s shows.

Dickinson’s Plaza Theatre (its formal name) launched as an ultra low priced continuous-run operation beginning on May 20, 1933 with Ken Maynard in “The Two Gun Man.” It was the Circuit’s 37th theatre. Its motto was “Cool as a cave” due to its air conditioning. Dickinson’s Plaza closed after the January 27, 1935 showing of “The Mighty Barnum.” Iola’s Public Welfare Board terminated the lease abruptly for its lottery-like Bank Night policy. The theater’s response, “Too much business seems to be a crime in Iola.”