River Oaks Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on December 26, 2021 at 10:53 am

Technically, this opened and closed as the River Oaks Theater. It launched for Interstate Theatres Circuit on April 27, 1945 with “Here Come the Waves.” The theatre was subleased in 1952 when Interstate divested of many theaters as a result of the Paramount decree.

As an independent , it switched to widescreen projection showing CinemaScope titles beginning on January 3, 1955. The operator bolted after a 20-year leasing expiry closing on December 13, 1964 with a double-feature of “Hell is for Heroes” and “Son of Captain Blood.

Ted Gould decided to take on the theatre rebranding it as the Riviera Theatre on March 12, 1965 with “Elmer Gantry” opening the venue. That ended after less than 18 months on September 4, 1966 with Peter Noone in “Hold On” and David Niven in “Where the Spies Are.”

The theatre returned in January of 1967 under the River Oaks Theater nameplate as an adult theater. Successful protests ended that operation soon thereafter in 1967 and it never screened movies. again although it hosted live political events in 1968.

The River Oaks was razed in 1969 and replaced with a new location of White’s Auto Store and garage. That opened on April 23, 1970.