On October 19, 1925, the remodeled theatre relaunched as the Liberty Theatre. On November 7, 1932, the Liberty became the Mayfair Theatre before becoming the Roxy Theatre.
The Brelco Theater was a live venue that opened December 7, 1989 in downtown Paducah. The upstairs venue closed in April 28, 1996. The space was converted for retail use and the theatre portion became apartments.
The Kentucky Theatre launched on September 24, 1901. It transitioned from a live venue to motion pictures. On February 27, 1922, it became the Orpheum Theatre under new operators. It closed in 1940. It got a new facade in 1942 but appears to have been closed through much of World War 2.
On September 27, 1945 it reopened and was changed back to the Kentucky Theatre.The Kentucky Theatre completed its film exhibition on July 30, 1958. It then was a short-lived live venue for plays in 1958 and 1959. Its last performance was the Charity League Follies ending on April 5, 1959. After the Cleveland Wrecking Company offered the theatre seats for sale in April and May of 1959, it was razed along with the historic Palmer House Hotel for a parking lot and J.C. Penney’s department store.
This venue opened as the Crystal Theatre on March 23, 1908. Under new operators, the theatre became the Star Theatre in September of 1908. The theatre was closed March 30, 1916 for a major remodel and expansion. The new Star Theatre launched October 2, 1916 with “Fires of Conscience.” The theatre was dropped at the the end of January of 1923 though had some special screenings later that year. On May 24, 1924, the Star was reopened briefly closing for good in 1924. It was converted for other retail purposes in 1926.
The theatre was showing “Crime in the Streets” on October 7, 1956 when a brawl occurred. The theatre was padlocked and did not reopen. In 1957, it became home to Saint’s Rest Baptist Church which had taken over the Rialto. They used the projection system to screen, “Noah’s Ark.” After being put up for sale,it was home to Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul Baptist from 1960 to at least 1965.
It closed as the Bargain Box Office on June 14, 2007 with “Delta Farce, “Blades of Glory,” “Wild Hogs,” “Disturbia,” and “Are We Done Yet?” On the latter, the theatre operator said, “yes.” After closing it served as a place of worship for the Vineyard Chillicothe Church. In 2015, the floor was leveled and became the Adena Health System.
The Culver Opera House and Theatre opened February 24, 1912 with a live play, “The Heart Breaker.” Though mostly a live venue, the theatre experimented with photoplays and – under new management and a grand re-opening on September 16, 1914 – switched to regular playing of film with live events also in the mix. The theatre does not appear to have transitioned to sound. The venue became a dance hall which burned down on January 17, 1943.
Forest S. Snyder launched the Forest Theatre in downtown Deepwater in 1915. The Snyders ran the venue as a movie theatre into the early 1930s never converting to sound. An exhibitor using portable equipment had a weekly stop in Deepwater for sound films until a new theatre was established in 1938 in an existing auditorium and was called the Tile Theatre. The Forest was used live, community events from 1931. The last mention of the theater was in 1941 for such an event.
John Travis, who owned the Plaza Theatre in Crane, launched the Tile Theatre on December 6, 1938. The theatre was the first to feature sound and was housed in a former high school used auditorium venue. In 1939, J. B. Horosko took over the theatre renaming it. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser took on the venue renaming it the Silver Theatre who sold it to Alvah “Al” Cox on December 27, 1945. It likely closed in 1951. The local paper has no mention or ad as the Silva Theatre.
The 750-seat Go-Sho Theatre opened on November 24, 1947 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue in downtown Clinton, Mo. The theatre architect was Robert Boller and was opened by the J. T. Ghosen circuit who named it after himself. The theatre replaced the Uptown Theatre which had been destroyed in a fire in 1946. The original design for the venue by Boller was under the name “new” Uptown Theatre; but Ghosen renamed the project during the planning stages.
In 1959, a contest was held to rename the theatre which was updated. Jerry Hyde chose the Crest Theatre as the name which was in place when it relaunched on November 11, 1959 with the film, “The Big Circus.” That also was the final day for the Lee Theatre. The theatre was triplexed becoming the Crest Cinema 3 before closing in 2003. It was replaced with a larger six-screen complex elsewhere in town.
ohn N. Bixman opened his Bixman Theatre at 103 West Franklin in downtown Clinton, Missouri on October 20, 1903 with live entertainment. The theatre / opera house initially had 1,100 seats with 700 on the main floor and 400 in the balcony. The theatre switched from live entertainment primarily to films.
In 1925, the Bixman became the Clinton Theatre – a full-time movie theater. On May 29, 1937, the theatre received a $30,000 streamlined makeover. Renamed the New Clinton Theatre with 750 seats and a and a Rainbow Vari-Colored lighting system from Russia, it launched with the film, “Oh Doctor.” Blonde Nu-Wood paneling hid the Bixman’s dated features. On November 11, 1937 a new marquee hailing the new name, the Uptown Theatre was ordered.
On July 11, 1946, the Uptown Theatre was destroyed along with a number of other businesses in a spectacular blaze. Saved was the original 1903 cornerstone which had a time capsule with many great artifacts from the 1903 time period. It was replaced by a new building housing Sears & Roebuck.
Lee L. Jones of Kansas City bought the Crancer Building in 1926 for conversion to what was going to be the Liberty Theatre. Architect W.W. Walther only left the from and side walls of the building in expanding the building’s rear to create an 885 seat theatre at opening with 560 main floor seats and 325 balcony seats. At opening Jones changed the name to the Lee Theatre which launched March 16, 1927. Its first sound film was “On With the Show” in 1927.
Ten years later, the Commonwealth Circuit took on the theatre. It closed November 10, 1959 with “Hound Dog Man.” When the updated Go-Sho Theater elsewhere in downtown was renamed the Crest Theatre, Commonwealth closed the Lee.
When the lease expired on the Lee at the end of August of 1962, its chairs were removed and moved to the Lyric Theatre in Harrison, Arkansas. On April 10, 1965, it was reopened as a live Country Music event venue still using the Lee Theatre nameplate. That lasted just three months with the Lee Theatre closing June 12, 1965.
The Palace Theatre was the African-American move theatre launched at 224 E. Third Street on April, 1, 1946 opening with the 1939 film, “Double Deal.” The Palace landed on the delinquent tax at the end of 1952 likely indicating the end of its run.
The Hope Drive-In Theatre launched on May 15, 1952 with the film, “Tomahawk.“ The Dixie may have closed as ads are discontinued after the September 18, 1977 showing of "Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars”
The Grand Theatre dates back to at least 1920. When it was purchased by Malco in 1930, the New Grand was closed and reopened October 29, 1930 as the Rialto. It was then closed during the Depression.
After a $15,000 makeover, Malco – citing improved business conditions – reopened the theatre Rialto Theatre on February 1, 1937. In 1952, Malco sold the New, Saenger and Rialto to M.S. McCord & Associates operated under the United Theatre Corporation circuit.
The final film at the Rialto was the exploitation film, “Mom and Dad” which played on November 14, 1957. After midnight, the theatre was gutted by a fire. A salvage sale the following February offered the theatre seats just prior to the building being converted for other retail purposes.
The Saenger Theatre opened September 25, 1927 with the film, “Stolen Brides.” That building burned down on Easter Sunday 1944 only the outer walls remaining intact. Due to WW2 shortages, a replacement theater was delayed until well after the War. This new streamlined version of the previous Saenger opened January 7, 1948 with Bob Hope starring in, “Where There’s Life.” The original 34.5' by 15' vertical sign was salvaged from the old theatre and rewired in neon for the new Saenger.
This venue opened as the Exchange Theatre on October 16, 1916 with Lillian Gish in “Sold for Marriage.” The architect was M. E. Worcester of Cape Girardeau, Mo. It was renamed during World War I as the more patriotic Liberty Theatre beginning on March 1, 1918. In 1927, the pipe organ from the Rodgers Circuit’s Carbondale, Illinois location was brought to the Liberty.
On November 1, 1937, the Liberty was renamed as the Rodgers Theatre. Rodgers had shut down the Bijou Theatre the prior day. In October of 1954, the Rodgers converted to widescreen for showing CinemaScope productions.
The last film show at the Rodgers Theatre was on January 29, 1956 with Ray Milland in “A Man Alone.” An ad later in 1956 sold off the 770 theatre chairs from the Rodgers.
For the 1955 to 1958 seasons, the theatre was renamed the Moonlight Drive-In Theatre. The theatre was purchased with the two indoor theaters as a group and does not have appeared to re-opened after the 1958 season.
L.W. Rodgers & Co. Theatre Circuit launched the Gem Theatre on January 15, 1942 with the film, “Tuxedo Junction.” The venue was built in the Pierce Building – formerly a grocery store – which was gutted and expanded for the Gem. The Rodgers Theatre became the second-run house operating primarily on weekends.
The Pierce Building conversion project actually dated back to the Strand Amusement Company of Tennessee acquiring the property in 1937 to build a theater. That project stalled and Rodgers – who was in the process of building a completely new theater – took on the languishing Pierce project.
Henry C. Tuttle launched the Cuba, Missouri’s first movie theater under the name of “Just-A-Mere Theatre” on January 23, 1921. Tuttle created a wrap-a-around ad with an Extra edition headline promoting the theatre and used newsboys to disseminate the information with cries of, “Extra, extra read all about it.” R.H. Finley took on the venue but closed it on May 30, 1925 with the equipment removed.
One year later, the Nicalee Theatre (Deluxe) opened in May of 1926 named in a contest by local resident Susan Everson. The silent theatre dropped “Deluxe” from its ads and converted to sound in April of 1930 rebranding briefly as the Cuba Theatre. In September of 1930, the name reverted to the Nicalee Theatre likely due to comments of loyal patrons. The Nicalee closed during the Depression in 1932. According to the local paper, it reopened under new operators on September 13, 1934 as the long-running Cuba Theatre.
On October 19, 1925, the remodeled theatre relaunched as the Liberty Theatre. On November 7, 1932, the Liberty became the Mayfair Theatre before becoming the Roxy Theatre.
The Brelco Theater was a live venue that opened December 7, 1989 in downtown Paducah. The upstairs venue closed in April 28, 1996. The space was converted for retail use and the theatre portion became apartments.
The Kentucky Theatre launched on September 24, 1901. It transitioned from a live venue to motion pictures. On February 27, 1922, it became the Orpheum Theatre under new operators. It closed in 1940. It got a new facade in 1942 but appears to have been closed through much of World War 2.
On September 27, 1945 it reopened and was changed back to the Kentucky Theatre.The Kentucky Theatre completed its film exhibition on July 30, 1958. It then was a short-lived live venue for plays in 1958 and 1959. Its last performance was the Charity League Follies ending on April 5, 1959. After the Cleveland Wrecking Company offered the theatre seats for sale in April and May of 1959, it was razed along with the historic Palmer House Hotel for a parking lot and J.C. Penney’s department store.
Appears to have opened July 1, 1953. Closed September 20, 1972 with “Skyjacked.” Became the Sunset Auction Lot.
Destroyed by fire that broke out just 15 minutes after what turned out to be its final show of January 9, 1959.
This venue opened as the Crystal Theatre on March 23, 1908. Under new operators, the theatre became the Star Theatre in September of 1908. The theatre was closed March 30, 1916 for a major remodel and expansion. The new Star Theatre launched October 2, 1916 with “Fires of Conscience.” The theatre was dropped at the the end of January of 1923 though had some special screenings later that year. On May 24, 1924, the Star was reopened briefly closing for good in 1924. It was converted for other retail purposes in 1926.
Closes on December 9, 2018 due to declining business and property sold. Final shows of with The Grinch; Ralph Breaks the Internet; Instant Family.
The theatre was showing “Crime in the Streets” on October 7, 1956 when a brawl occurred. The theatre was padlocked and did not reopen. In 1957, it became home to Saint’s Rest Baptist Church which had taken over the Rialto. They used the projection system to screen, “Noah’s Ark.” After being put up for sale,it was home to Immanuel Missionary Baptist Church and St. Paul Baptist from 1960 to at least 1965.
It closed as the Bargain Box Office on June 14, 2007 with “Delta Farce, “Blades of Glory,” “Wild Hogs,” “Disturbia,” and “Are We Done Yet?” On the latter, the theatre operator said, “yes.” After closing it served as a place of worship for the Vineyard Chillicothe Church. In 2015, the floor was leveled and became the Adena Health System.
Closed on July 4, 1985 after a “dusk ‘til dawn” marathon screening.
Closed after a marathon 5-feature “Night of Horrors Dusk ‘til Dawn” spook show on October 29, 1988.
The Culver Opera House and Theatre opened February 24, 1912 with a live play, “The Heart Breaker.” Though mostly a live venue, the theatre experimented with photoplays and – under new management and a grand re-opening on September 16, 1914 – switched to regular playing of film with live events also in the mix. The theatre does not appear to have transitioned to sound. The venue became a dance hall which burned down on January 17, 1943.
Forest S. Snyder launched the Forest Theatre in downtown Deepwater in 1915. The Snyders ran the venue as a movie theatre into the early 1930s never converting to sound. An exhibitor using portable equipment had a weekly stop in Deepwater for sound films until a new theatre was established in 1938 in an existing auditorium and was called the Tile Theatre. The Forest was used live, community events from 1931. The last mention of the theater was in 1941 for such an event.
John Travis, who owned the Plaza Theatre in Crane, launched the Tile Theatre on December 6, 1938. The theatre was the first to feature sound and was housed in a former high school used auditorium venue. In 1939, J. B. Horosko took over the theatre renaming it. Mr. and Mrs. Kaiser took on the venue renaming it the Silver Theatre who sold it to Alvah “Al” Cox on December 27, 1945. It likely closed in 1951. The local paper has no mention or ad as the Silva Theatre.
The 750-seat Go-Sho Theatre opened on November 24, 1947 with “It Happened on Fifth Avenue in downtown Clinton, Mo. The theatre architect was Robert Boller and was opened by the J. T. Ghosen circuit who named it after himself. The theatre replaced the Uptown Theatre which had been destroyed in a fire in 1946. The original design for the venue by Boller was under the name “new” Uptown Theatre; but Ghosen renamed the project during the planning stages.
In 1959, a contest was held to rename the theatre which was updated. Jerry Hyde chose the Crest Theatre as the name which was in place when it relaunched on November 11, 1959 with the film, “The Big Circus.” That also was the final day for the Lee Theatre. The theatre was triplexed becoming the Crest Cinema 3 before closing in 2003. It was replaced with a larger six-screen complex elsewhere in town.
ohn N. Bixman opened his Bixman Theatre at 103 West Franklin in downtown Clinton, Missouri on October 20, 1903 with live entertainment. The theatre / opera house initially had 1,100 seats with 700 on the main floor and 400 in the balcony. The theatre switched from live entertainment primarily to films.
In 1925, the Bixman became the Clinton Theatre – a full-time movie theater. On May 29, 1937, the theatre received a $30,000 streamlined makeover. Renamed the New Clinton Theatre with 750 seats and a and a Rainbow Vari-Colored lighting system from Russia, it launched with the film, “Oh Doctor.” Blonde Nu-Wood paneling hid the Bixman’s dated features. On November 11, 1937 a new marquee hailing the new name, the Uptown Theatre was ordered.
On July 11, 1946, the Uptown Theatre was destroyed along with a number of other businesses in a spectacular blaze. Saved was the original 1903 cornerstone which had a time capsule with many great artifacts from the 1903 time period. It was replaced by a new building housing Sears & Roebuck.
Lee L. Jones of Kansas City bought the Crancer Building in 1926 for conversion to what was going to be the Liberty Theatre. Architect W.W. Walther only left the from and side walls of the building in expanding the building’s rear to create an 885 seat theatre at opening with 560 main floor seats and 325 balcony seats. At opening Jones changed the name to the Lee Theatre which launched March 16, 1927. Its first sound film was “On With the Show” in 1927.
Ten years later, the Commonwealth Circuit took on the theatre. It closed November 10, 1959 with “Hound Dog Man.” When the updated Go-Sho Theater elsewhere in downtown was renamed the Crest Theatre, Commonwealth closed the Lee.
When the lease expired on the Lee at the end of August of 1962, its chairs were removed and moved to the Lyric Theatre in Harrison, Arkansas. On April 10, 1965, it was reopened as a live Country Music event venue still using the Lee Theatre nameplate. That lasted just three months with the Lee Theatre closing June 12, 1965.
The Palace Theatre was the African-American move theatre launched at 224 E. Third Street on April, 1, 1946 opening with the 1939 film, “Double Deal.” The Palace landed on the delinquent tax at the end of 1952 likely indicating the end of its run.
(Picture above is not the Palace Theatre.)
The Hope Drive-In Theatre launched on May 15, 1952 with the film, “Tomahawk.“ The Dixie may have closed as ads are discontinued after the September 18, 1977 showing of "Bingo Long and the Traveling All-Stars”
The Grand Theatre dates back to at least 1920. When it was purchased by Malco in 1930, the New Grand was closed and reopened October 29, 1930 as the Rialto. It was then closed during the Depression.
After a $15,000 makeover, Malco – citing improved business conditions – reopened the theatre Rialto Theatre on February 1, 1937. In 1952, Malco sold the New, Saenger and Rialto to M.S. McCord & Associates operated under the United Theatre Corporation circuit.
The final film at the Rialto was the exploitation film, “Mom and Dad” which played on November 14, 1957. After midnight, the theatre was gutted by a fire. A salvage sale the following February offered the theatre seats just prior to the building being converted for other retail purposes.
The Saenger Theatre opened September 25, 1927 with the film, “Stolen Brides.” That building burned down on Easter Sunday 1944 only the outer walls remaining intact. Due to WW2 shortages, a replacement theater was delayed until well after the War. This new streamlined version of the previous Saenger opened January 7, 1948 with Bob Hope starring in, “Where There’s Life.” The original 34.5' by 15' vertical sign was salvaged from the old theatre and rewired in neon for the new Saenger.
This venue opened as the Exchange Theatre on October 16, 1916 with Lillian Gish in “Sold for Marriage.” The architect was M. E. Worcester of Cape Girardeau, Mo. It was renamed during World War I as the more patriotic Liberty Theatre beginning on March 1, 1918. In 1927, the pipe organ from the Rodgers Circuit’s Carbondale, Illinois location was brought to the Liberty.
On November 1, 1937, the Liberty was renamed as the Rodgers Theatre. Rodgers had shut down the Bijou Theatre the prior day. In October of 1954, the Rodgers converted to widescreen for showing CinemaScope productions.
The last film show at the Rodgers Theatre was on January 29, 1956 with Ray Milland in “A Man Alone.” An ad later in 1956 sold off the 770 theatre chairs from the Rodgers.
For the 1955 to 1958 seasons, the theatre was renamed the Moonlight Drive-In Theatre. The theatre was purchased with the two indoor theaters as a group and does not have appeared to re-opened after the 1958 season.
L.W. Rodgers & Co. Theatre Circuit launched the Gem Theatre on January 15, 1942 with the film, “Tuxedo Junction.” The venue was built in the Pierce Building – formerly a grocery store – which was gutted and expanded for the Gem. The Rodgers Theatre became the second-run house operating primarily on weekends.
The Pierce Building conversion project actually dated back to the Strand Amusement Company of Tennessee acquiring the property in 1937 to build a theater. That project stalled and Rodgers – who was in the process of building a completely new theater – took on the languishing Pierce project.
Henry C. Tuttle launched the Cuba, Missouri’s first movie theater under the name of “Just-A-Mere Theatre” on January 23, 1921. Tuttle created a wrap-a-around ad with an Extra edition headline promoting the theatre and used newsboys to disseminate the information with cries of, “Extra, extra read all about it.” R.H. Finley took on the venue but closed it on May 30, 1925 with the equipment removed.
One year later, the Nicalee Theatre (Deluxe) opened in May of 1926 named in a contest by local resident Susan Everson. The silent theatre dropped “Deluxe” from its ads and converted to sound in April of 1930 rebranding briefly as the Cuba Theatre. In September of 1930, the name reverted to the Nicalee Theatre likely due to comments of loyal patrons. The Nicalee closed during the Depression in 1932. According to the local paper, it reopened under new operators on September 13, 1934 as the long-running Cuba Theatre.