Wynnewood Theater
666 Wynnewood Plaza,
Dallas,
TX
75224
666 Wynnewood Plaza,
Dallas,
TX
75224
3 people
favorited this theater
Closed and boarded up with the sign and marquee long gone, the Wynnewood Theatre was demolished around 2000. It was situated with a corner box office, towering vertical sign with individual letters spelling out “Wynnewood” and a cool marquee extending out from the building that you drive under and let people out.
It was twinned in the 1970’s.
Contributed by
Don Lewis
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Recent comments (view all 25 comments)
That’s definitely a July 3, 1951 opening. The June 30, 1951, issue of Boxoffice said that Rowley United Theatres had been scheduled to hold its annual managers meeting at the Adolphus Hotel and at the new Rowley Wynnewood Theatre on the 28th and 29th, so I guess the managers got a preview of the house.
The July 21, 1951, issue of Boxoffice reported that the opening had been a great success, with a capacity house for the first show.
I’ve been unable to find the name of the architect of the Wynnewood, but the theater was built by the Dallas construction firm of Vivrett & Vivrett.
The Wynnewood Theatre installed Todd-AO equipment in 1958 for the Dallas road show run of “South Pacific”, which opened April 16 and ran at the house for over a year. One Boxoffice item from 1959 said that the management ran a special shuttle bus to downtown hotels to bring patrons to the theater’s suburban location.
“Windjammer,” mentioned in a comment above, began its run at the Wynnewood on January 25, 1961.
Besides SOUTH PACIFIC in 58' and WINDJAMMER in 61' did the Wynnewood get any other of the 70mm roadshow reserved seat pictures that were released during the late 50’s to middle 60’s? I know the Tower in downtown Dallas played many of them but not all. Were their other neighborhood theaters that were converted to 70mm roadshow houses? Houston for example, started with the Tower but then added the Uptown, Delman, Alabama, Windsor & Village. I’m sure Dallas did the same.
ennis…
During the course of the 1950s-1960s roadshow era, the following Dallas theaters were equipped to show 70mm:
CINE 150
ESQUIRE
INWOOD
MELBA / CAPRI
NORTHPARK CINEMA I & II
PRESTON ROYAL
TOWER
WYNNEWOOD
And in Houston:
ALABAMA
DELMAN
GALLERIA CINEMA I & II
GAYLYNN
MEYERLAND PLAZA
OAK VILLAGE
TOWER
UPTOWN
WINDSOR
I finally found the architects of the Wynnewood. The June 7, 1952, issue of Boxoffice attributes the design of the house to the firm of Pettigrew & Worley.
One summer while attending Champion Pre-School, we went on a “field trip” to the Wynnewood. We saw Gidget Goes Hawaiian (1961). It will forever be my favorite Gidget film, partly because of the movie going memory. Several years later I went to the Wynnewood with the preacher’s kid. We saw Mary Poppins. I seem to recall they always played a short film of the national anthem along with a film clip which ended something like “and remember to attend church this Sunday at the church of your choice”. Yes, I grew up in Oak Cliff and I remember birthday cakes from Jan’s Bakery and movies at the Wynnewood Theater. Times have changed.
Circa 1999 photo of the Wynnwood Theatre courtesy Randy Carlisle.
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Mark W: Your brother John trained me as a projectionist here in 1971. I fondly remember your Dad Rueben—didn’t he work the Texas Theatre with Bill Phillips?
James B,
Yes. My dad Reuben primarily worked at the Hampton Rd. Drive In, but also worked two days a week at the Texas Theater. He was there when they arrested Oswald.
John passed away in 1992 and my dad died in 1984.
I believe that this is a photo of the Wynnewood Shopping Center with a scaffold sign of the Wynnewood Theatre in the background. Can anyone confirm?
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Lynne, I think you’re right. I grew up in Oak Cliff in the early 70’s and remember going to Wynnewood to shop, eat and see movies a lot. Thanks for posting this pic.