Granada Theatre
808-812 Broadway Street,
Plainview,
TX
79072
808-812 Broadway Street,
Plainview,
TX
79072
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From March 2012 an image of the Granada Theatre in Plainview.
The Granada has just been sold and plans to re-open it as a live theater in late 2013. The buyer also bought the Lynn Theater in Gonzales Texas along with the Edna Theater in Edna texas. Both open 2012 after renovations. The Theater will be brought back to life for a late 2013 opening.
As of July 2011
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabegrote/5955916259/in/photostream
Here is a 2009 close-up photo.
This is another photo of the Granada.
Here is a 1984 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/d4c8eu
New story on the Granada: In its heyday, Granada was truly grand 03-23-2008
Link:
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To view 1930 photos of the Granada exterior and sky job auditorium type in word “theatre”,
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Here is a recent photo of the Granada Twin.
Posted on 12/12/04: May 2, 1964 Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews are starring in Walt Disney´s “Mary Poppins†at the Granada Theater.
I believe “Mary Poppins” premiered in the latter half of 1964. The May date seems much too early, especially for a town the size of Plainview. Was this a sneak preview screening? Or is 1964 a typo for 1965?
A new story on the Granada in the Plainview Daily Herald:
“Granada once was grand showplace 01-08-2007”
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Here are some interesting postings from the Plainview Daily Herald newspaper’s “back in time” column:
Nov. 13, 1935: The Lions Club will stage a men´s burlesque show and a bathing beauty show Dec. 3-4 at the Granada.
May 17, 1936: High school commencement for 130 seniors will be Thursday morning at the Granada Theater.
Aug. 29, 1935: The Lions Minstrel Show is scheduled for Oct. 16 at The Granada Theater with Dr. C.M. Clough as manager.
Van Johnson and Esther Williams are starring in “Thrill of a Romance†at the Granada while Gregory Peck is starring in “The Keys of the Kingdom†at the Fair.
Johnny Weissmueller is starring in “Tarzan and the Amazons†at the Granada and Johnny Mack Brown is starring in “Gun Smoke†at the Fair.
Sept. 4, 1955: Bob Hope is starring in the “Seven Little Foys†at the Granada Theater.
The atmospherics were great. Even the rest rooms were fancy. Atmosphere destroyed mostly when it was split into a twin. I saw the original release of Star Wars there. Say Tron as well. It was ugly after the split.
This is from the story referenced in the post above:
The Granada was different. Nowadays I’d call it a movie palace; back then, I just knew it was a vast and wonderful place where yelling was unthinkable. A ceiling studded with dim stars was suspended over walls that simulated a castle, with Spanish shawls draped over fake balconies and dripping fountains set into niches. (We learned to avoid those fountains. If we sat too near them, the sound of the water sent us on frequent trips to the restroom.) At the center of it all was a screen of truly monumental dimensions, thundering with the exploits of pirates, knights, Walt Disney characters, and atomic-mutant monsters on a rampage.
I distinctly remember more than one afternoon when I thought, sitting there in the plushly upholstered splendor of the Granada, “I wish the whole world was like this.†A decade later, Donna Reed brought that sentiment into our living rooms. She created, inhabited and exemplified a world in which parents were strong and loving and relatively affluent, adolescents were polite and well-adjusted, problems were relatively minor and endings were always happy. Watching, we knew it was ludicrously unreal, but we couldn’t help wishing the whole world could be like that.
Story on the Fair & Granada theaters in Plainview:
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I love the Boller Brothers' Atmospherics- Much more subdued than an Eberson & I’d go out on a limb to say a little more realistic. Other Spanish/Moorish style Boller Brother’s Atmospherics from the same era are the Granada in Kansas City, KS. The Crown-Uptown in Wichita, KS & the Poncan in Ponca City, OK. All of these still stand & sound quite similar to the Granada in Plainview, TX.
The Granada most definitely was an atmospheric. There were softly twinkling “stars” in the ceiling, but I don’t recall the drifting “clouds” that some atmospherics displayed. The auditorium was decorated to suggest a Spanish courtyard, with ivy climbing the walls and shawls draped over the balcony railings. What I remember most vividly, however, is that there was a fountain in a niche on each side of the auditorium. We kids learned to avoid sitting near them, because the sound of the dripping water sent us running to the restroom throughout the movie.
Some movie trivia for the Granada Theater:
June 25, 1934: Johnny Weissmuller and Maureen O´Sullivan are starring in “Tarzan and His Mate†at the Granada Theater.
Nov. 26, 1934: Warner Oland is starring in “Charlie Chan in London†at the Granada Theater.
May 2, 1964 Dick Van Dyke and Julie Andrews are starring in Walt Disney´s “Mary Poppins†at the Granada Theater.
Jan. 27, 1974: “The Vanishing Wilderness†narrated by Rex Allen, will run for three days, starting Sunday, at the Granada Theater.
Nov. 21, 1974 The Texas Chainsaw Massacre†is now playing at the Granada Theater.
Nov. 16, 1994 “Lassie†is now showing at the Granada Theater.
“One of the few “picture palaces†built outside major cities in the 1920s and 1930s, the now-abandoned Granada Theatre once boasted some 1,300 seats in a Spanish-castle setting”.
That was from a Plainview newspaper. The address listed for the Granada Theatre is:
812 Broadway St
Plainview, TX 79072