Black Forest Theatre
1920 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard,
Dallas,
TX
75215
1920 Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard,
Dallas,
TX
75215
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The building appears to house a health clinic now.
April 2011
RE: Richard Keiffer’s 2005 comments, above. The Forest was neither the largest neighborhood house in Texas, nor was it the last theatre built by Interstate Theatres, in Texas OR in Dallas – don’t know your source but Interstate built many new theatres in Dallas and other locations after 1947, including the Medallion, Cameo, and Westwood, all in the late 1960’s. In fact, the Medallion was intended as the first of a new generation of prestige first-run venues intended to replace the old downtown venues (Majestic, Tower, and Palace) which were already slated for closing. There was to be a new single-screen Palace near LBJ and Montfort but the trend away from single-screens to multiscreens put the kabosh on those plans.
This illustrated article about Interstate’s new Forest Theatre appeared in Boxoffice of December 3, 1949. The architects were Pettigrew & Worley.
This is a recent photo. Still looks empty.
An old movie theater ad from 1949 for the New Forest Theatre which later became the Forest and as of 3/20/09 is still standing. This unique theater building with its towering vertical sign is worth takeing a look if anyone out there happens to be in the Dallas area.
It looks to me like it is being actively used for performances:
http://upcoming.yahoo.com/venue/140028/
Here is a 1957 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/83vuxo
In 1955 the Forest Theater had 478 seats.
The last name used by this theater is/was, the Black Forest Theater.
My photograph of the FOREST View link
According to this website, the Forest theater is now the Black Forest theater. Read the history page on their website. It gives 1949 as the opening date. It also claims that this theater ceased being a movie theater in the late 1960’s and switched to live performances.
Here is a photo of the Forest Theater in Dallas.
The “modern” address for this theater is:
1920 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd
Dallas, TX 75215
The Forest was built about 1947 by Interstate Theatres, Inc. Its neighborhood was made up of Dallas' Jewish population. The theatre was the largest neighborhood house in Texas and was an example of a number of progressive features. Instead of stairs leading up to the balcony, it had a winding rampway. It was the last theatre built by the chain and probably the last built in Dallas. Times changed the neighborhood and white flight changed the demographics so that the theatre no longer could operate at a profit and closed. Later it was rescued and is being used as a music venue.
In what year was the Forest Theatre built? It’s not listed in the 1957 Film Daily Year Book, which suggests that it was either a later arrival on the scene, or had another name before Forest.