Correction: American Automated Theatres opened the theater after Spectro decided against the quad-plex. (and technically, it’s original name was The Movies! and not Movies )
The City of Moore Shopping Center was a retail plaza that opened theatre-less in 1963. Joseph Cooper Burks of American Automated Theatres Inc. (AATI) announced the Moore The Movies! in 1971 as the fledgling circuit’s fourth location. Like the Jerry Lewis Circuit and National General Circuit, AATI would show family films in theaters that were placed in or often behind strip shopping centers. They were also pitched as “one button” operations that had a nickelodeon vibe. It opened on November 19, 1971 with free films, “A Man Called Horse” and “Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion.”
AATI would go out of business not finishing its proposed Reding IV - which would have been the circuit’s first non-twin or single screen venture. Additionally, Burks would end up in other problems soon thereafter. But new operators took on the Moore The Movies! venue in March of 1975. The Movies! turned to discount, sub-run films in 1980 under manager Kerry Rogers. There was no more Moore’s The Movies! which closed on January 31, 1985 with “Pinocchio.”
And, by the way, the name of the theater was The Movies!
The land of George T. Shepherd became home to Oklahoma City’s first enclosed shopping center announced in 1963 as Shepherd’s Plaza. The “L”-shaped mall had 725,000 square feet and attracted downtown stalwart J.C. Penney’s and Kerr’s leading to retailers leaving downtown and moving to suburban plazas. It opened theatre-less in September 1964. Announced on January 9 1966, the theater was operated by Earl Snyder and John Ashley. The Shepherd Twin opened on May 25, 1966 with Jason Robards in “A Thousand Clowns” & James Garner in “A Man Could Get Killed”. The theatres each seated 550 patrons for a total seat count of 1,100.
Marge Snyder owned the theatre after Earl’s death until selling it to Bill Warren’s American Entertainment (AE) in 1979. In 1982 Commonwealth acquired AE from Warren taking over the Shepherd Twin on June 5, 1981. United Artists acquired the theatre in 1989 from Commonwealth Theatres. UA closed the theatre on September 3, 1989 with a double feature of “Indiana Jones” and “Star Trek 5” and “Wired.” It also shuttered its Quail Plazam2, Reding 4, and French Market aging locations as it wanted to concentrate on 6- and 8-screen multiplexes instead of twins and aging quads.
Cooper Burks of American Automated Theatres Inc. (AATI) announced the Reding Movies IV as its first theater that didn’t have a single or twin screen set-up. The circuit had just 20 theaters in 1973 but announced that it would have 100 more in 1974, alone. But none of that really worked out and AATI stumbled failing to launch the four-screener.
Commonwealth Theatres picked up the project as the Reding 4 Theatre launching April 23, 1975 with 45 cent admission for films “Paper Moon,” “Neptune Factor,” “True Grit” and “When Legends Die.” The theatre had 4 identical 400-seat auditoriums for 1,600 total seats. United Artists acquired the theatre in 1989 from Commonwealth. UA closed the theatre on September 3, 1989 along with the Shepherd Twin, Quail Plaza, and French Market aging locations as it wanted to concentrate on 6- and 8-screen multiplexes instead of twins and aging quads.
The venue got one more shot as a sub-run discount house known as Dollar Movies 4 on January 4, 1990. It appears to have closed December 29, 1990 as many of the area’s discount theaters struggled in the video store age.
Heritage Theaters dropped the twin-screen Park Terrace on January 14, 1990 after showings of “Tango & Cash” and “Transylvania Twist” splitting with “All Dogs Go To Heaven.”
The former adult theatre turned to Hispanic films in 1985 known as the Chieftain Twin Theatre. It closed January 3, 1985. When the South Shields Mall was converted to an all outdoor plaza, the South Shields Twin was booted out of the mall. The operators found their new home here at the former at the former Chieftain Twin. The New Airline Twin launched on April 11, 1986, with “Rocky IV” and “Back to the Future (ad in photos) The theater’s last advertisement was on August 16, 1987 - perhaps its closing date. But it’s very likely that it returned to Hispanic screenings that were likely held there up to 1990 unadvertised in the local newspaper.
The theatre was converted for other uses which included a cabinet factory. And in the 2020s, the venue was used as a place of worship for the La Roca Community Church.
Shields South Mall was announced in 1971 and Woolworth’s big box store, Woolco, would join Safeway Grocers in being there at the opening along with Furr’s Cafeteria. Spectro Theaters Circuit signed on in 1972 to add a four-screen theater to open at Christmas of 1972. Spectro was a subsidiary of U.S. Cinema Corporation which had the MacArthur Park and Northpark quads.
When the mall opened, retailers randomly switched between calling the plaza, South Shields Mall and Shields South Mall. Behind schedule, Spectro’s The Movies! turned out to be a twin-screen venue inside the mall. The theatre definitely opened there on October 19, 1973 as The Movies! and it preferred the South Shields variant. So sometimes it was referred to as The Movies! I & II South Shields to distinguish it from Moore’s The Movies!
The Movies! launched with Roger Moore as James Bond in “Live and Let Die” and the Oklahoma City shot feature “30 Dangerous Seconds” starring Robert Lansing. The theatre was not a success but was the Mall would not let it live and then die. Instead, it found a new operator which rebranded as the South Shields Mall Twin launching on November 9, 1979 as a sub-run discount house.
The multiplex, especially 6- and 8-screen venues were in vogue and mini-neighborhood enclosed malls were passé by the mid-1980s with regional and larger malls decimating the aging centers and multiplexes hurting twin-screeners. With 10-year leases coming due in 1982/3, a number of Shields Mall retailers in the inner part of the mall left and the original Woolco began its going out of business sale in November of 1982 closing in 1983 as the Shields Mall reached greyfield status. The inner stores were uprooted when the “Mall” concept finally failed and BSW Architects of Tulsa took on what would be a $1 million renovation that took the retail location formerly known as South Shields Mall to totally outdoor Shields Plaza.
BSW’s designs would uproot the twin-screen theatre and everyone else in the interior section of the plaza. When the movie operator left and found its new home at the New Airline Twin launching on April 11, 1986, certainly the days of movie exhibition were over at the Shields shopping complex. But BSW also didn’t let the theatre live and let die. Instead, it gave a spot to a low-cost $400,000 8-plex replacement that would launch as the Super Saver South Shields 8 which ran from February 6, 1987 to MI cinemas operation in 1999 to closure on May 2, 2000.
South Shields Mall was a minor shopping center that opened in 1972. It contained the South Shields 2 / The Movies in 1979. But the “Mall” concept failed and BSW Architects of Tulsa took on what would be a $1 million renovation that took the retail location from South Sheilds Mall to totally outdoor Shields Plaza. BSW’s designs uprooted the twin screen theatre and gave a spot to a low-cost $400,000 8-plex replacement that would launch as the Super Saver South Shields 8.
The discount sub-run house was operated by Super Saver Cinemas along with the Lakeshore Mall. Super Saver proclaimed them as “Oklahoma’s Most Luxurious Theaters.” Divergent opinions were easy to find but they were certainly the most luxurious theaters located in the Shields Plaza and Lakeshore Mall. In 1999, MI Theatres, which operated the Northpark 7, added the Lakeshore Mall and Shields Plaza. They upped the discount moniker pledging not only $1.50 admission with $1 Tuesdays but also $1 concessions across the board. But by that time, the megaplexes including the AMC Quail Springs 24 and the Cinemark Tinseltown USA were destroying the aging multiplexes.
MI dropped the Lakeshore first on January 6, 2000. The Shields Plaza was unceremoniously shuttered on May 2, 2000.
Announced as the Rand Theaters Rivercenter Mall 9 in 1989, the project was one of the fledgling circuit’s most ambitious projects. The mall had launched with an IMAX theater in 1988. Dillards had purhcased the existing former Joske’s Department Store during the mall’s construction deciding to take just a portion of the future anchor. Tony Rand’s company took an upper portion for the multiplex.
But Rand was making national news for all of the wrong reasons that year and it was the Rand Nakoma 8 elsewhere in San Antonio that brought the circuit to an end with tales of shady business practices that landed him in jail. Fortunately, AMC stepped into the unfinished project and completed what would become a successful theater that continued into the 2020s with the circuit operating both the IMAX and the multi-screen theater.
This ozoner launched August 27, 1959 with “Some Like it Hot” in CinemaScope. Owned by Adrian Mueting, he held a name-the-theater contest won by Mary Kneifl who suggested “Hi-Vue.”
The AMC Elmwood Plaza 8 launched in the multiplex era on April 13th, 1984 on a 20-year lease. It closed at the end of that lease on January 4, 2004. AMC cited megaplexes such as the 18-screen NCG Cinemas at Eastwood Towne Center as the key factor in the non-renewal. It was converted to the Zap Zone, a gaming center that included laser tag later in 2004. It was still operating in the 2020s.
On September 28, 1957 rebooted as the Palms Theatre. On October 12, 1961 rebooted as the Downtown Art Theatre and later the Downtown Arts Theatre. Closed in 1970 as part of an urban renewal project.
Loton Todd announced the construction of the Motor Movie Drive-In Theatre in November of 1951. He, his wife, and daughters launched the Motor Movie on May 1, 1952 with Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell in “New Mexico.”
Just a quick update. The Marblehead Auditorium Theatre discontinued movies after the February 15, 1931 silent film presentation of William Haines in “Way Out West” as it couldn’t afford to convert to sound. The venue was used for a handful of sporadic live events. But on October 10, 1936, ir re-emerged with a sound system playing talkies starting with Barbara Stanwyck in “A Message to Garcia” and Buster Keaton in “Grand Slam Opera.”
New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place closed along with the rest of the circuit on March 16, 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic. The Alamo Drafthouse chain declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place joined the Kansas City and one Austin location on that list.
The Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet closed along with the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alamo Drafthouse then declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. Seven months shy of its 100th Anniversary, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet joined the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and one Austin location on that list.
Alamo Drafthouse declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The flagship Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz was sadly on that list and was joined by the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and Kansas City’s venerable Mainstreet Theatre.
Correction: American Automated Theatres opened the theater after Spectro decided against the quad-plex. (and technically, it’s original name was The Movies! and not Movies )
The City of Moore Shopping Center was a retail plaza that opened theatre-less in 1963. Joseph Cooper Burks of American Automated Theatres Inc. (AATI) announced the Moore The Movies! in 1971 as the fledgling circuit’s fourth location. Like the Jerry Lewis Circuit and National General Circuit, AATI would show family films in theaters that were placed in or often behind strip shopping centers. They were also pitched as “one button” operations that had a nickelodeon vibe. It opened on November 19, 1971 with free films, “A Man Called Horse” and “Tarzan’s Jungle Rebellion.”
AATI would go out of business not finishing its proposed Reding IV - which would have been the circuit’s first non-twin or single screen venture. Additionally, Burks would end up in other problems soon thereafter. But new operators took on the Moore The Movies! venue in March of 1975. The Movies! turned to discount, sub-run films in 1980 under manager Kerry Rogers. There was no more Moore’s The Movies! which closed on January 31, 1985 with “Pinocchio.”
And, by the way, the name of the theater was The Movies!
The land of George T. Shepherd became home to Oklahoma City’s first enclosed shopping center announced in 1963 as Shepherd’s Plaza. The “L”-shaped mall had 725,000 square feet and attracted downtown stalwart J.C. Penney’s and Kerr’s leading to retailers leaving downtown and moving to suburban plazas. It opened theatre-less in September 1964. Announced on January 9 1966, the theater was operated by Earl Snyder and John Ashley. The Shepherd Twin opened on May 25, 1966 with Jason Robards in “A Thousand Clowns” & James Garner in “A Man Could Get Killed”. The theatres each seated 550 patrons for a total seat count of 1,100.
Marge Snyder owned the theatre after Earl’s death until selling it to Bill Warren’s American Entertainment (AE) in 1979. In 1982 Commonwealth acquired AE from Warren taking over the Shepherd Twin on June 5, 1981. United Artists acquired the theatre in 1989 from Commonwealth Theatres. UA closed the theatre on September 3, 1989 with a double feature of “Indiana Jones” and “Star Trek 5” and “Wired.” It also shuttered its Quail Plazam2, Reding 4, and French Market aging locations as it wanted to concentrate on 6- and 8-screen multiplexes instead of twins and aging quads.
Cooper Burks of American Automated Theatres Inc. (AATI) announced the Reding Movies IV as its first theater that didn’t have a single or twin screen set-up. The circuit had just 20 theaters in 1973 but announced that it would have 100 more in 1974, alone. But none of that really worked out and AATI stumbled failing to launch the four-screener.
Commonwealth Theatres picked up the project as the Reding 4 Theatre launching April 23, 1975 with 45 cent admission for films “Paper Moon,” “Neptune Factor,” “True Grit” and “When Legends Die.” The theatre had 4 identical 400-seat auditoriums for 1,600 total seats. United Artists acquired the theatre in 1989 from Commonwealth. UA closed the theatre on September 3, 1989 along with the Shepherd Twin, Quail Plaza, and French Market aging locations as it wanted to concentrate on 6- and 8-screen multiplexes instead of twins and aging quads.
The venue got one more shot as a sub-run discount house known as Dollar Movies 4 on January 4, 1990. It appears to have closed December 29, 1990 as many of the area’s discount theaters struggled in the video store age.
Heritage Theaters dropped the twin-screen Park Terrace on January 14, 1990 after showings of “Tango & Cash” and “Transylvania Twist” splitting with “All Dogs Go To Heaven.”
The former adult theatre turned to Hispanic films in 1985 known as the Chieftain Twin Theatre. It closed January 3, 1985. When the South Shields Mall was converted to an all outdoor plaza, the South Shields Twin was booted out of the mall. The operators found their new home here at the former at the former Chieftain Twin. The New Airline Twin launched on April 11, 1986, with “Rocky IV” and “Back to the Future (ad in photos) The theater’s last advertisement was on August 16, 1987 - perhaps its closing date. But it’s very likely that it returned to Hispanic screenings that were likely held there up to 1990 unadvertised in the local newspaper.
The theatre was converted for other uses which included a cabinet factory. And in the 2020s, the venue was used as a place of worship for the La Roca Community Church.
Shields South Mall was announced in 1971 and Woolworth’s big box store, Woolco, would join Safeway Grocers in being there at the opening along with Furr’s Cafeteria. Spectro Theaters Circuit signed on in 1972 to add a four-screen theater to open at Christmas of 1972. Spectro was a subsidiary of U.S. Cinema Corporation which had the MacArthur Park and Northpark quads.
When the mall opened, retailers randomly switched between calling the plaza, South Shields Mall and Shields South Mall. Behind schedule, Spectro’s The Movies! turned out to be a twin-screen venue inside the mall. The theatre definitely opened there on October 19, 1973 as The Movies! and it preferred the South Shields variant. So sometimes it was referred to as The Movies! I & II South Shields to distinguish it from Moore’s The Movies!
The Movies! launched with Roger Moore as James Bond in “Live and Let Die” and the Oklahoma City shot feature “30 Dangerous Seconds” starring Robert Lansing. The theatre was not a success but was the Mall would not let it live and then die. Instead, it found a new operator which rebranded as the South Shields Mall Twin launching on November 9, 1979 as a sub-run discount house.
The multiplex, especially 6- and 8-screen venues were in vogue and mini-neighborhood enclosed malls were passé by the mid-1980s with regional and larger malls decimating the aging centers and multiplexes hurting twin-screeners. With 10-year leases coming due in 1982/3, a number of Shields Mall retailers in the inner part of the mall left and the original Woolco began its going out of business sale in November of 1982 closing in 1983 as the Shields Mall reached greyfield status. The inner stores were uprooted when the “Mall” concept finally failed and BSW Architects of Tulsa took on what would be a $1 million renovation that took the retail location formerly known as South Shields Mall to totally outdoor Shields Plaza.
BSW’s designs would uproot the twin-screen theatre and everyone else in the interior section of the plaza. When the movie operator left and found its new home at the New Airline Twin launching on April 11, 1986, certainly the days of movie exhibition were over at the Shields shopping complex. But BSW also didn’t let the theatre live and let die. Instead, it gave a spot to a low-cost $400,000 8-plex replacement that would launch as the Super Saver South Shields 8 which ran from February 6, 1987 to MI cinemas operation in 1999 to closure on May 2, 2000.
South Shields Mall was a minor shopping center that opened in 1972. It contained the South Shields 2 / The Movies in 1979. But the “Mall” concept failed and BSW Architects of Tulsa took on what would be a $1 million renovation that took the retail location from South Sheilds Mall to totally outdoor Shields Plaza. BSW’s designs uprooted the twin screen theatre and gave a spot to a low-cost $400,000 8-plex replacement that would launch as the Super Saver South Shields 8.
The discount sub-run house was operated by Super Saver Cinemas along with the Lakeshore Mall. Super Saver proclaimed them as “Oklahoma’s Most Luxurious Theaters.” Divergent opinions were easy to find but they were certainly the most luxurious theaters located in the Shields Plaza and Lakeshore Mall. In 1999, MI Theatres, which operated the Northpark 7, added the Lakeshore Mall and Shields Plaza. They upped the discount moniker pledging not only $1.50 admission with $1 Tuesdays but also $1 concessions across the board. But by that time, the megaplexes including the AMC Quail Springs 24 and the Cinemark Tinseltown USA were destroying the aging multiplexes.
MI dropped the Lakeshore first on January 6, 2000. The Shields Plaza was unceremoniously shuttered on May 2, 2000.
Announced as the Rand Theaters Rivercenter Mall 9 in 1989, the project was one of the fledgling circuit’s most ambitious projects. The mall had launched with an IMAX theater in 1988. Dillards had purhcased the existing former Joske’s Department Store during the mall’s construction deciding to take just a portion of the future anchor. Tony Rand’s company took an upper portion for the multiplex.
But Rand was making national news for all of the wrong reasons that year and it was the Rand Nakoma 8 elsewhere in San Antonio that brought the circuit to an end with tales of shady business practices that landed him in jail. Fortunately, AMC stepped into the unfinished project and completed what would become a successful theater that continued into the 2020s with the circuit operating both the IMAX and the multi-screen theater.
Closed for year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater reopened on March 19, 2021.
This ozoner launched August 27, 1959 with “Some Like it Hot” in CinemaScope. Owned by Adrian Mueting, he held a name-the-theater contest won by Mary Kneifl who suggested “Hi-Vue.”
Closed as a $1 discount, sub-run house on November24, 1988 with “Die Hard,” “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?” “Cocktail” and “Alien Nation.”
The AMC Elmwood Plaza 8 launched in the multiplex era on April 13th, 1984 on a 20-year lease. It closed at the end of that lease on January 4, 2004. AMC cited megaplexes such as the 18-screen NCG Cinemas at Eastwood Towne Center as the key factor in the non-renewal. It was converted to the Zap Zone, a gaming center that included laser tag later in 2004. It was still operating in the 2020s.
On September 28, 1957 rebooted as the Palms Theatre. On October 12, 1961 rebooted as the Downtown Art Theatre and later the Downtown Arts Theatre. Closed in 1970 as part of an urban renewal project.
Update - Also known as the Louisville Picture Theatre in the 1930s
Lembach and Wiese luanched the Majestic Theatre on November 9, 1915 with a live play.
Loton Todd announced the construction of the Motor Movie Drive-In Theatre in November of 1951. He, his wife, and daughters launched the Motor Movie on May 1, 1952 with Lew Ayres and Marilyn Maxwell in “New Mexico.”
In 1958, the former Ashton Theatre was converted to the office for the Bureau of Reclamation.
Just a quick update. The Marblehead Auditorium Theatre discontinued movies after the February 15, 1931 silent film presentation of William Haines in “Way Out West” as it couldn’t afford to convert to sound. The venue was used for a handful of sporadic live events. But on October 10, 1936, ir re-emerged with a sound system playing talkies starting with Barbara Stanwyck in “A Message to Garcia” and Buster Keaton in “Grand Slam Opera.”
Update: Demolished in 2017.
New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place closed along with the rest of the circuit on March 16, 2020 for COVID-19 pandemic. The Alamo Drafthouse chain declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place joined the Kansas City and one Austin location on that list.
The Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet closed along with the circuit’s other locations on March 16, 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Alamo Drafthouse then declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. Seven months shy of its 100th Anniversary, the Alamo Drafthouse Mainstreet joined the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and one Austin location on that list.
Alamo Drafthouse declared bankruptcy and announced permanent closure of three locations on March 3, 2021. The flagship Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz was sadly on that list and was joined by the New Braunfels Alamo Drafthouse Market Place and Kansas City’s venerable Mainstreet Theatre.
The Clinton Theatre launched June 12, 1947 with Gregory Peck in “The Macomber Affair.”
The Panhandle Drive-In launched May 12, 1954 with Gig Young in “Arena” and Janet Leigh in “Fearless Fagan.”