Windsor Theatre

5078 Richmond Avenue,
Houston, TX 77056

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Additional Info

Architects: Leon C. Kyburz

Functions: Nightclub

Previous Names: Windsor Cinerama Theatre

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News About This Theater

Windsor Plaza sign

The Windsor Cinerama Theatre was opened on December 21, 1962 with Laurence Harvey in “The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grim”. It had velvet rocker seats and a screen that was 33.5 feet tall by 100 feet wide. The sound system had 19 Altec speakers that were all amplified with the first transistor amplifier for theaters. Later known as the Windsor Theatre, it is now a nightclub.

Contributed by Vincent Gourley

Recent comments (view all 48 comments)

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on June 28, 2010 at 3:50 am

This theater is mentioned in Boxoffice dozens of times from early 1963 until 1976, and is almost invariably called the Windsor Cinerama Theatre, even long after it was no longer showing Cinerama films. Windsor Cinerama Theatre should be listed as an aka.

Coate
Coate on June 28, 2010 at 7:25 am

I realize you just updated the theater names, but I think they should be reversed. “Windsor” ought to be the primary name; “Windsor Cinerama” ought to be the AKA.

By the way, Houston’s Cinerama history can be found on this page.

tomjensenmorgan
tomjensenmorgan on August 26, 2011 at 2:59 pm

This is where I saw 2001 A Space Odyssey with my father in 1968. It is one of my favorite childhood memories. – tom morgan

mondojustin
mondojustin on November 23, 2011 at 6:30 pm

Hello I’m currently working on a book about the film 2001: A Space Odyssey and am looking for photos and programs/newspaper clippings etc from each city in which the film premiered in originally in 1968. If you saw the film in it’s initial run in the theater have a good memory of your experience, I’d love to interview you about seeing it. To date I have interviewed over 20 people that have worked on the film, and several close members in the Kubrick camp as well. If you can help please email me at

JMoreland
JMoreland on July 28, 2012 at 1:22 pm

Great memories of seeing large format screenings here: “That’s Entertainment!” “My Fair Lady” and “Raiders of the Lost Ark.”

RSM3853
RSM3853 on December 27, 2012 at 10:54 am

Movies that played at the Windsor Theater in Houston Texas from 12/19/62 to 12/31/75. Research is from old microfilms of The Houston Post and The Houston Chronicle. The dates are the Wednesday of the opening week. 12/19/62 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm 03/13/63 How the West Was Won 11/06/63 Under the Yum Yum Tree 12/18/63 It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World 04/29/64 Becket 07/22/64 Circus World 10/14/64 Three Penny Opera 10/21/64 Giant 10/28/64 The World of Henry Orient 11/04/64 Oklahoma 11/11/64 Pajama Party 11/18/64 Julius Caesar 12/02/64 Topkapi 12/23/64 Cheyenne Autumn 03/17/65 The Greatest Story Ever Told 06/30/65 The Hallelujah Trail 09/22/65 Bambole 10/06/65 The Pawnbroker 11/03/65 Repulsion 11/17/65 The Redeemer 12/01/65 Red Line 7000 12/08/65 Backfire 12/15/65 Battle of the Bulge 03/30/66 Doctor Zhivago 02/01/67 Grand Prix 09/20/67 The Sound of Music 11/08/67 Far from the Madding Crowd 02/14/68 Billion Dollar Brain 03/06/68 Doctor Zhivago 04/10/68 2001: A Space Odyssey 11/13/68 Ice Station Zebra 03/26/69 Oliver! 11/12/69 The Gypsy Moths 12/17/69 Marooned 03/18/70 Anne of the Thousand Days 06/24/70 Too Late the Hero 08/05/70 On a Clear Day You Can See Forever 11/11/70 Julius Caesar (AIP) 12/23/70 Song of Norway 03/17/71 My Fair Lady 04/28/71 THX 1138 05/26/71 Blue Water, White Death 06/16/71 The Abominable Dr. Phibes 06/30/71 The Grissom Gang 07/14/71 The Light at the Edge of the World 08/04/71 The Panic in Needle Park 08/18/71 Windjammer 09/01/71 Unman, Wittering, and Zigo 09/22/71 Doctor Zhivago 10/13/71 Kotch 12/22/71 The Go-Between 02/02/72 Sacco and Vanzetti 02/16/72 Cabaret 06/28/72 Portnoy’s Complaint 10/04/72 Deliverance 12/20/72 Jeremiah Johnson 02/21/73 Steelyard Blues 03/28/73 Slither 04/18/73 Scorpio 05/09/73 Lady Caroline Lamb 05/30/73 Fiddler on the Roof (pop prices) 06/06/73 This is Cinerama 09/05/73 Ludwig 09/19/73 Slither 09/26/73 A Warm December 10/03/73 Hit! 10/17/73 The Outside Man 10/31/73 Massacre in Rome 11/21/73 Jimi Hendrix 12/19/73 The Paper Chase 02/20/74 Alfredo, Alfredo 03/13/74 Man of La Mancha (pop prices) 03/20/74 Where the Lilies Bloom 05/08/74 Kazablan 05/22/74 Huckleberry Finn 06/12/74 Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex/Bananas 06/19/74 Macon County Line 07/03/74 Big Bad Mama 07/10/74 The Terminal Man 07/17/74 That’s Entertainment 12/25/74 The Little Prince 01/22/75 The Nickel Ride 01/29/75 Pardon My Blooper 02/12/75 Mr. Ricco 02/19/75 Child Under a Leaf 02/26/75 Claudine/Harry and Tonto 03/05/75 Report to the Commissioner 03/12/75 Gone With the Wind 03/19/75 The Great Waldo Pepper 06/25/75 Rollerball 10/01/75 The Master Gunfighter 10/15/75 The Giant Spider Invasion 10/22/75 Whiffs 10/29/75 The Ark of Noah 11/19/75 Weed 11/26/75 2001: A Space Odyssey 12/17/75 The Killer Elite. My research stops here, since I have done 34+ big cities and had to pick a cutoff date…if anyone with access to Houston microfilms (closest to me are in State College, PA) and time wants to post further years, I’m sure we all would enjoy and appreciate it. Check other Houston theaters for movie openings from 1960-75 as I am able to post the data.

Joe Vogel
Joe Vogel on February 22, 2016 at 6:38 pm

A history of Marek Brothers, one of the construction companies that worked on the Windsor Theatre, notes that the house was designed by Beaumont, Texas architect L. C. Kyburz. Kyburz had been designing theaters for the Jefferson Amusement Company since at least the late 1930s.

Coate
Coate on June 3, 2016 at 8:56 pm

Anyone remember which movie replaced the long run of “Raiders of the Lost Ark” here?

MSC77
MSC77 on April 10, 2018 at 9:56 am

Fifty years ago today, Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” premiered here.

To celebrate the occasion, I’m sharing the link to a new retrospective article on “2001.” This and many other cinemas get a mention in the piece.

rivest266
rivest266 on July 4, 2023 at 12:27 pm

Opened on December 21st, 1962. Grand opening ad posted.

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