James Riggs' owned Samuell Boulevard Drive-In kicked off on a Tuesday night, December 12, 1950. It was the second to last new drive-in in what turned out to be one of the Dallas' area’s most busy years in drive-in development. Preceding the Samuell Boulevard were ozoners including: the Hines Drive-In, Jefferson D-I, Hampton Road D-I, South Loop D-I,Garland Road D-I, and Denton Road D-I. And the Cinderella D-I would open just four days after the Samuell. The main decoration theme for the Samuell was listed as “wrought iron.” It had a playground, bottle warmers for infants, and opened with the film “Copper Canyon.” It soon added a swimming pool, a wading pool, and a lighted picnic area with outdoor cooking facilities.
On May 21, 1954, the Samuell went big screen equipping the screen for CinemaScope opening with “The Command.” All advertising and bookings end at the end of March 1959 for the Samuell.
The Jack Corgan architected 670-car Jefferson Drive-In opened on June 17, 1950. The theater was operated by Harold Gibbons who ran the Pike Drive-In in Fort Worth. The opening night feature was “Captain China.” The theater had a large patio with seats for walk-ins in addition to its 600 spots. Most distinctive was the neon mural on the tower featuring chorus girls, a piano player, a trumpet player and kettle drum player all set on a porcelain enamel cut out on the tower. It was said to have been the first area drive-in with in-car heaters. It also featured a 250-person seating area for walk-ups or people who didn’t want to sit in their cars.
On May 12, 1953, it had its first 3D film with “Bwana Devil.” Ray Thompson was the manager and he and two employees were tied up after a 1954 armed robbery in which the thieves took $1,398. Both thieves were caught and one received two 50-year prison sentences and the other ten years. Unfortunately, just three years later Thompson suffered a fatal fall from the Jefferson’s tower while doing routine repairs. A.E. McClain was another manager of the Jefferson until his death on November 14, 1966.
The Jefferson became part of Rowley United which became United Artists which ran it much as previous management had. But under its next operator, Texas National Theatres’ Herb Hartstien, the theater made a successful transition to exhibiting Hispanic films. Hartstein said that between the Cine Centro Three and the Jefferson, a hit film might bring in $30,000 a week. Texas National had nine theaters in Texas showing Spanish language films to lead the state in the early 1980s. The Cockrell Hill police department also profited from the Jefferson’s success. The police set up a sting outside of the Jefferson in 1979. That arrested 50 immigrants and charged them $50 for their freedom and $25 for their cars. To fight back, Jefferson manager Ramon Flores instructed patrons to make sure they had IDs or enter from the Grand Prairie side to avoid the Cockrell Hill shakedowns. That didn’t always work as the police continued that practice into the 1980s. The dollars rolled into the police department despite not having any Hispanic officers on staff which didn’t sit well with the Hispanic population which was reported to be over half of the community’s population. The theater closed in 1987 going dark until 1989.
One of the most prestigious events took place under its final operator who tried repertory film. That event happened on Bastille Day, July 14, 1989 when the USA Film Festival sponsored “A Date at the Drive-In” at the Jefferson. “The Girl Can’t Help It” was the film. That operator came back for one more season in 1990 and then the Jefferson sat empty for 14 years. It was said to have had the distinction of being Dallas County’s last standing drive-in before being torn down for a school in 2004.
C.D. Leon of Leon Theaters was back in business with the late 1964 opening of the Town & Country Drive-In and the March 1965 opening of the Belt Line – 67 Drive-In. The former operator of the Garland Road Drive-In, as well as the Hampton Road and Denton Road drive-ins, Leon co-owned the Belt Line – 67 with James McQuad. Leon billed it as the first drive-in in the Southwest equipped to run 70mm film. The theater opened with 1,000 spaces and 1,000 speakers. The theater was included in a $4 million spurt in Dallas area movie theaters. The first two features on March 11, 1965 were “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World” and “Beauty and the Body”. It appears to close for the season at the end of October 1973 and there are no more advertisements for the Belt Line 67.
The 840-car Denton Road Drive-In kicked off on June 23, 1950 with searchlights and featuring its opening film of “Montana” with Errol Flynn.This was the last of three drive-ins to be opened by the Leon Theatres that season preceded by the Garland Road Drive-In on April 7th and Hampton Road Drive-In on May 12th. It featured a picnic patio directly in front of the screen for people who wanted to watch outside their car. The theater was managed at the outset by Cecil Winston Starks but in August, Mr. and Mrs. Herold Goodman managed the drive-in for Leon Theaters. They would stay there 17 years until Mr. Goodman moved on to the Carrollton Chamber of Commerce in 1967.
At the end of the 1958 drive-in season, Leon subleased the Hampton and Denton Road locations to Claude C. Ezell’s newly-reformed Ezell Theater Circuit / Bordertown Theaters Inc. Ezell with his partner had opened Dallas’ first drive-in in 1941. But Ezell sold his portfolio in 1955 to Bordertown circuit. The Ezell/Bordertown acquisition gave Ezell 38 Texas drive-ins. That represented the largest drive-in chain in the state. The clout brought with it a new policy allowing the drive-ins to get films just 31 days after their initial plays in traditional theaters instead of the six-month window. But in 1964, Ezell dropped the Denton Road from the circuit. The theater was now in the hands of the Stanley Warner Circuit.
The theater’s history reads like a police blotter of unfortunate incidents and robberies including one in which the two features were stolen on May 4, 1966 with thieves making off with “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Silencers.” The Denton Road Drive-In became part of the Texas Southwest Drive-In Theatres circuit with the Buckner and Chalk Hill in 1972 but is taken on by McLendon Theaters in May of 1973. The theater becomes an discount drive-in with $1.99 carload and some 99 cent carload nights as McLendon tries to get what it can out of the fading location. When Showtime Inc. Theaters and McLendon circuits melded, the Denton Rd. Drive-In was dropped in February of 1974. It re-opened in early May after a short closure as an independent and appears to have closed for good in December 15, 1974 with a final feature of “Dead of Night.” If so, that’s an appropriate title to exit with for the almost 25-year old o-zoner. It was demolished and replaced by a gas station in the 1978 which, itself, was demolished and replaced by a strip shopping center.
At the corner of Lancaster and Lisbon, a shopping area was developed opposite the new U.S. Veterans Hospital as Dallas expanded to the South. The concept of the theater plus two adjoining retail stores was from Jack W. Jones Agency. Raymond F. Smith architected and Arthur K. Garwick built the 40’ x 115’ Lisbon Theater managed by Irving Lambert under the O.K. Theaters nameplate. The theater’s name was from the Lisbon creek just about a block from the back of the auditorium. On July 11, 1940, the Lisbon launched with “Broadway Melody of 1940” as its first feature.
The Lisbon showed second run features as a traditional suburban. O.B. King replaced Lambert and while remaining fairly consistent did – on March 12-14, 1951 – show the Lisbon’s first foreign language film showing “Devil in the Flesh”. King said that if the public wanted more foreign fare, he would deliver. Apparently they said, “non.” Since art films weren’t what the audience sought, King rebranded the Lisbon as an African American house serving the community until closing in 1958.
After being empty for a period, in 1959, the Isley Theater Circuit took on the Lisbon giving it new carpeting, projection, sound, and reupholstered seating. It opened with “Onionhead” and “White Wilderness.” The neighborhood was indifferent and the new Lisbon floundered within the calendar year. A classified ad on January 14, 1960 offered all of the theater seats in the Lisbon Theater for sale at $1 each. “First come, first served.” Demand must’ve been lackluster because the ad repeated a week later. The theater was converted into usage as a garage by Emery’s Automotive Service which operated into the late 2000s before being bulldozed. And the street containing the theater’s namesake is also no more.
The Avenue continued the suburban tradition of its neighbor, the Rita Theatre. These locations combined for an incredible nine decades of film exhibition in the 4900 block of Columbia. The Rita (originally the Columbia) ran thirty years from 1918-1948. Isley Circuit bought the Rita and constructed the neighboring Avenue in 1947/8 and opening April 1, 1948. It rebranded the Avenue as The Guild arthouse in 1968. It closed prior to one year’s operation. It then became the highly successful Guild Art Adult Theatre which ran through the 1980s. It then became the Cine 2 spanish language theater. That converted to Video Centro which was a spanish language video store. And the location became a retail shop that contained a pawn shop and cash advance location that ran into the 2010s.
Phil Isley Enterprises theater circuit took over the Rita Theater at 4945 Columbia in a lease-purchase arrangement on July 3, 1946 managed by C.V. Caver. Isley began construction at a neighboring lot at 4923 Columbia beginning in April 1947. The 1,000 seat Avenue Theater was architected by Pettigrew & Worley and built by Major Construction. Complete with balcony, indirect neon lighting, large cry room, adjoining parking lot, and new projection and sound, the theater’s original façade was porcelain and tile. The project was delayed but was supposed to be timed with the closing of Isley’s Rita location. The Rita closed on March 8, 1948 with The Avenue Theater delayed opening of April 1, 1948 with Caver as manager. Its first movie was, “Sleep My Love.” And it was Isley’s second grand opening in three nights having just launched The Crest in Oak Cliff two nights earlier. There were some events at the suburban theater. Bill Boyd and his Cowboy Ramblers featuring Jim Boyd appeared in person showing “Tumbleweed Trails.” The event was carried live by local station WRR radio.
After 20 successful years, the theater was acquired by Rowley United which shut down the theater temporarily June 9, 1968 just long enough to rebrand the theater as an art house called Guild Theater. Its facing was completely redone and the interior also redecorated. Because Rowley United had taken the Granada to art and had a ten week success with “The Producers” out of the gate, they thought the Guild would deliver as an art house. It started with, “Carmen Baby” opening June 14, 1968. That concept lasted less than a year as the theater was dropped by the circuit and closed in 1969.
As an art house, the Guild did have at least one hit with the X-Rated “Vixen” late in 1968. With that in mind, new operator Cinne Arts Theatres, Inc. took on the Guild as its second theater in Dallas in February of 1970 adding it to its 1709 S. Ervay theater, The Cinne Art. Cinne Arts hit a home run with The Guild Art Theatre / Guild Adult Theatre, one of Dallas’ most successful and long-running adult houses. And one of the most raided which could be considered a badge of honor. Cinne Arts ran more than 15 years at Columbia and was in the court system challenging the constitutionality of adult zoning laws and obscenity enforcement.
The most famous incident for the Guild occurred on February 7, 1979 when after just two shows into its six scheduled shows daily, “Debbie Does Dallas” was confiscated by Dallas police. Looking back at almost ten years of titles played at the Guild, one can surmise that you just don’t mess with the image of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. It was a front page news story and the lead story for the TV newscasts. The Guild had hit the big time. And it would continue operations right up to the home video revolution that would be the demise of the remaining large adult theaters in Dallas such as the Guild and Fine Arts. The Guild would be replaced with Hispanic film operators who launched Cine 2. The location showed film in five decades before becoming a video store, Video Centro and then a retail store that included a pawn shop.
The Columbia Theater was built at 4945 Columbia Ave. at Collett Ave. It was a 500-seat silent picture house with organ and run by Eddie Foy Jr. beginning at least in August of 1918 when listings begin continuously until 1935. (A grocery store was at the address in 1916.) As part of Foy’s Neighborhood Theaters circuit, Foy tried to bring as many first-run films that weren’t being shown at the downtown theaters as he could. He would give the films multi-screen releases before that was a common practice. The Columbia would begin to attract an African American audience while also showing traditional neighborhood fare. The theater added sound on disc technology on May 19, 1929 with a showing of “My Man.”
On Nov. 14, 1935, the theater was sold to P.G. Cameron and L.E. Harrington and they closed for a week switch to sound on film technology and apply acoustical treatment in the auditorium. The theater switched names to the Rita Theater on Nov. 22, 1935. Cameron had run the Melba and Melrose prior to Interstate’s acquisition of the theaters.
Phil Isley Enterprises theater circuit took over the Rita in a lease-purchase arrangement on July 3, 1946. C.V. Caver was its manager. With the Rita being almost thirty years old, Isley decided to purchase a neighboring lot to build a new theater. Because of its age and possibly because of an expiring lease, the Rita was shut down. The nearby Avenue Theater was the new theater opening April 1, 1948 and Caver moved over the operate it for Isley. The Rita appears to have shut down following the March 8, 1948 showing of “Slave Girl.” No further bookings or listings are shown.
The next active tenant in the space was the unusual Zombie Castle lounge by Michael and Lawrence Burch that was billed as Texas' first 3D Lounge opened in 1953 during the 3-D film era with jungle murals in 3-D Strobolite by Marvin Norton. The nightclub was robbed in 1953 and burglars got $600. One year later, the nightclub was robbed and the burglars got $7. That trajectory follows 3D film exhibition. The building was up for lease a year later and became several businesses including a tile store in the late 1950s and 1960s, a flea market in the 1980s, and dance hall / special events place. As of the 2010s, the building appeared to be modified somewhat with the facade of the theater seemingly now at 4941 Columbia doing business at that time as a Hispanic sports bar.
The Loupot Heights neighborhood in Oak Cliff within Dallas was established by Herman Loupot who also created the million dollar shopping center known as the Westmoreland Village in 1949. The Heights Theater was in the original construction plans for the shopping center and was architected by Pettigrew, Worley & Co. The 800-seat theater was designed to serve the immediate 10,000 residents within the Heights neighborhood.
The Heights Theater opened for Oak Cliff specialists' Robb and Rowley Theatre Circuit on October 28, 1949 with “The Girl from Jones Beach.” It had a crying room for kids and “bodiform” cushioned seats. The theater played suburban fare for 12 years before Rowley United (the partner, Robb, had passed away) decided to concentrate on its other theaters, particularly the Wynnewood.
In 1961, Rowley United subleased it to a new operator, E.W. Savard, who ran the Heights as an independent for two years and closed it. Rowley United decided to refurbish the theater reopening it June 3, 1965 as the “new” Heights playing, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.“ Since Rowley had acquired the Isley Circuit earlier in the year, it eventually divested itself of Isley’s Avenue, Crest, Kiest D-I, and Big D and — later that year — it subleased the "new” Heights to another owner in 1965 who operated it as an independent. That operator survived negative publicity when fumes in the newly reopened theater sickened people and sent them to the hospital.
The Heights closed again under the second independent operator and Rowley United — now called United Artists — resumed operation from 1968 through its last showing which was October 31, 1970 with a double feature of “The Love Bug” and “The Jungle Book.” In 1971, the Heights became a Spanish language theater for a period of time. The theater’s name was changed out becoming multiple houses of worship one of which was still in operation in the 2010s more than 60 years after the theater’s original opening.
The 600-car, Big-D Drive-In began as the Hines Blvd. Drive-In in 1950. In March of 1951, it opened for the season as the Big D Drive-In. The rebranding under manager Neil Gordon was to reach a wider audience. Gordon pulled out all of the stops to attract audiences including a weekly talent show prior to the screen show called Robert Rutland and Herald ‘Cuz’ Goodman’s Hillbilly Circus Amateur Night, he hosted the “Miracle Horses” doing amazing acts, mystic Curtis Hayes would perform prior to shows, and for the exploitation film, “Street Corner,” Gordon promised nurses in attendance for anyone who passed out. But in December 1951, Gordon sold the Big D to the Phil Isley Theater Circuit. And there was no drop-off under Isley for showmanship as Isley installed Joseph Noble as its manager.
On November 22, 1952, Joseph Noble created the first Dallas-Fort Worth indoor heated auditorium for patrons. Plate glass 48' wide and 7' high looked out at the big screen. Unlike the auditorium and the Brazos Drive-In in Granbury, TX which had separate projection and snack bar, the Big D’s adjoined its snack bar and shared the existing restrooms. Noble plastered signs all over the area promising free lemonade and you could stay for Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Noble also had cake on hand to celebrate the theater’s anniversaries or kid’s birthdays. The theater also applied to provide pay movies via coaxial cable when pay TV was experimented with in 1957.
The theater was robbed often but the most exciting was in 1952 when a thief told of a non-existing hold-up at the Big D. Dallas police swarmed the Big D and searched the entire parking lot. While that was occurring, thieves went to the Northwest Drive-In and robbed it of $650. Almost unbelievably, the crooks didn’t stop at that rouse telling of a hold-up at another drive-in; but this time police sent patrol cars to the all area drive-ins and caught the trio of burglars at the Big D.
On March 19, 1965 John Rowley’s Rowley United Theaters purchased the Isley Circuit including the Big D and also the Granada, Kiest D-I, Crest, Major and Avenue theaters. Within a year, Rowley had dropped the Avenue, Crest, Kiest D-I, and Big D from its portfolio. The Big D was operated independently by Big “D” Theatre Company for the remainder of its lifespan. The company was part of a lawsuit with all of the Rowley theaters amongst others against the city of Dallas in 1965 concerning the timely screening of films to Dallas' censor board. The Big D appears to have closed after the 1970 season which would work out to exactly 20 years and likely signifies an end of lease closing. This was common in land speculation deals and bolstered by the Big D’s demolition and the land is now used by the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center.
The Park Plaza shopping center opened without a theater in 1959. In 1965, General Cinema announced its 1,200 seat theater that would be added to the north side of the property and the center would continue with additional properties to the east. The delayed project came to fruition with theatre’s grand opening was May 26, 1966 with a ribbon cutting and its first movie was “Harper” with Paul Newman. It was General Cinema’s 15th Texas theatre and fourth in the area with the Big Town, NorthPark and the Lochwood which had opened just one month earlier. Art gallery and smoking section which wasn’t uncommon for General Cinema locations into the 1970s.
Another common occurrence was to twin the single screen which GCC did with it, Big Town and the Lochwood. The theatre was under intense competition in the multiplex era when General Cinema dropped the theatre. The theater made it into the megaplex era and was operating as a discount house with each twin twinned to make it a four-screen house. It finally closed Feb. 28, 2002 with “Ali”, “Jurassic Park 3” and two other second-run features. I believe its operator then took over the nearby Festival (formerly the AMC Forum) in its final stretch. The theater was oddly excised from the shopping center leaving a hole between the north to south strip and the east to west strip of the Park Plaza as of 2008.
The Isadore B. Adelman Theatre Circuit may have been most known for its indoor Delman theaters in Houston, Tulsa, and Dallas though he had theaters in Abilene, and Fort Worth (Tivoli) by the time the Delman opened on Sept. 26, 1947. Deanna Durbin’s “A Hundred Men and a Girl” launched the Delman. The theater’s address was 3319 Raleigh Street with 1,150 seats. The theater was community minded hosting high school events, allowing a church to hold sermons, and showed the annual Southwest Conference films featuring local college Southern Methodist University.
Almost immediately in 1947, Adelman sued Interstate and nine film studios for what amounted to collusion in obtaining rights to show pictures. Adleman complained that he was only able to gain access to feature films 40-to-52 days after their initial release and often he was allowed to run only third-run films. That suit was a $750,000 protest lost in 1953 when the court said there was no conspiracy and appealed. He also filed suit in 1948 a $2.4 million suit alleging that booking practices caused him to close three theaters in Houston. He won $20,000 in the first phase of that suit in 1955. At Christmas of 1967, the Delman battled General Cinema’s NorthPark with “Valley of the Dolls” v. “The Graduate” for box office supremacy with NorthPark winning that round with “The Graduate” selling more tickets.
When Loew’s entered Dallas with the Downtown theater, it soon purchased the Delman theaters in Houston, Tulsa and Dallas which was approved on Nov. 21, 1969. Loew’s spent $50,000 closing the theater for refurbishing in December re-opening early in 1970. The theater struck a chord with “The Last Picture Show” among other hits before Loews dropping the theater in 1978. After film exhibition was completed thereafter, the Delman became a disco and music nightclub in the 1980s prior to being demolished.
The Walnut Twin’s groundbreaking ceremony was in 1973 and the theater opened on March 1, 1974. Texas Automated Theaters was behind the theater and McBroome-Bennett were the engineers of the project. The automated theater concept was where small theaters would be located adjacent to – or inside of – hotels or other high traffic areas and run with minimal personnel. They were often franchised. The Walnut was one such theater. It was designed to be a four-screen concept with two mini-theaters completed and two more mini-units added later. That expansion never happened. The theater sat behind the newly completed Colonial National Bank shielding it from view from passer-bys on Walnut Street traveling east to west. As a result, a sign was placed on Walnut St. in an attempt to attract customers. Auditorium One had 298 seats and Two had 224 seats for a total of 522 seats. That’s the way it stayed from 1972 to 2012 when the theaters were converted to allow for booked parties and other events.
Texas Automated found its operators in independents Don and Betty Christenson, their first theater. They had actress Charlotte Westmoreland of “Kristi and the Legend of Mt. Shasta” as one of the few personal appearances hosted at the theater. Under their operation, the Walnut Twin would transform from first run to discount, dollar screen in the early 1980s. The couple said that 1996 was one of their better years financially as a discount house but closed the theater on Nov. 19, 1996 due to the owners' health concerns. Because the 9/10 screen United Artists Galaxy, UA Northstar 8, and Cinemark Hollywood 15 were all within five miles of the Walnut, many thought the aged twin-screener would not reopen. That proved false.
Sanjay Chandahas bought the theater six months later in 1997 installing a state-of-the-art sound system with speakers in the ceiling and sides returning the theater to first run status. The original white quartz theater which had attracted graffiti in the down time was painted a lime sherbet green. Chandahas rebranded his business as Walnut Theatres, continuing operations into the 2010s. Under his direction, the Walnut drew crowds with “Rocky Horror Picture Show” but maintenance issues caused by unruly patrons forced the discontinuation of that booking. As noted, Chandahas redesigned the theater in 2012 to accommodate non-theatrical bookings in hopes of extending the viability of the Walnut Theatres.
Dallas movie pioneer and capitalist W.D. Nevills was an innovator with Dallas' nickelodeons with the Candy, Princess, Palace, Empress, Dalton, and Nikelodeon. Nevills decided the time was right to move past the “store-show” concept and project to more people simultaneously. Nevils launched the Washington as the first movie palace built for photoplays in Dallas seating 600 people. It opened Thanksgiving Day 1912 and movie goers must have been impressed by the Hellenic Pantheon design with bronze and marble goddesses overlooking the box office and the large auditorium just past the lobby. The theater was designed by R.A. Bennett of Chicago was said to be finest at the point in the United States. Bennett was well known for designing 10 buildings for the St. Louis World’s Fair.
With 2,000 lights on its exterior, the theater had no marquee probably thinking the lights would be enough to draw a crowd. But with time came competition and a marquee was added to provide current feature information. Inside, Bennett’s mural frieze, “The Spirit of Knowledge, was said to be the first original mural for a photoplay house. Nevills’ idea turned out to be good so he renewed his original 5-year lease for 10 more years. “The Queen of Sheba” played for a full month at top price which had never been done in Dallas. And many thought that record would stand for decades – which obviously turned out to be an incorrect assumption. Other hits were “Connecticut Yankee” and “Over the Hill.”
Design-wise, Bennett and the Washington had style and future competitors took notice quickly. Theaters spouted up and down Elm Street and left the 600-seat Washington in the dust. With competition from the Queen, Old Mill, Crystal, the Palace practically right next door, Capitol and, finally, the Majestic, the Washington seemed small and aging. The Washington was downgraded to second-run features and westerns. Nevills closed the theater at the end of 15 years of leasing on July 3, 1927 as its sole owner. The theater did have a short life with sporadic sermons and speeches after the Washington left. The building was bulldozed thereafter. The Washington’s former spot was home to two long-standing clothing stores but as of the 2010s was even easier to spot as the home of Thanksgiving Tower, the 50-story building at 1601 built in 1982.
The original Rialto Theater was located at 410 N. Bishop in Oak Cliff and it opened as part of the Ed Foy Neighborhood Theatres circuit in 1919. After a second renaming, it became the Astor Theater in 1934. Dallas didn’t go for long without a Rialto though and this entry is for the Old Mill Theater which opened June 24, 1913 for the Southern Enterprise Circuit. The Old Mill had giant fans at the front which was its cooling system and the theater was architected by I.A. Walker with 1,874 seats.
On October 25, 1928 the Old Mill finally installed a sound system choosing Vitaphone and Movietone. It narrowly beat the Capitol by one month as the last regular major downtown movie theater to install sound. The Mill’s first soundie was “Midnight Taxi” using Vitaphone.
In 1933, Interstate took over much of the Southern Enterprise circuit ultimately adding the Old Mill to its portfolio. Interstate decided to spend $42,000 to modernize the Old Mill. It would keep the walls of the theater and rebuild a new theater and front. The final picture to play the Old Mill was on May 4th, 1935 with “The Florentine Dagger.” That was followed by a five-month rebuilding project.
On Sept. 14, 1935, the theater opened as The Rialto with “Annapolis Farewell”. La Roche & Dahl architected the modernistic streamlined look which was a marked departure from the Old Mill predecessor. Live radio coverage by WRR radio and a special appearance by actor James Dunn along with fireworks added to the festivities. RCA Photophone equipment and 1,500 new U-16 floating comfort theater chairs helped give the feel of a brand new theater. The programming was lesser run films and second-run fare.
Louis Novy’s Trans-Texas Theaters took on the Rialto and Capitol as part of the second phase of Interstate divestitures in the Paramount consent decree in 1953. They would also get the Varsity and Melba. Trans-Texas took over operations and closed the theater to install improved projection, sound, and a VistaVision screen. 1,500 new seats, new decor showed Trans-Texas' faith in the Rialto. It was positioned as a first-run theater after the Melba was dedicated to Cinerama for the immediate future. Its first program as the “new” Rialto was June 10, 1954 with “The Mad Magician” in 3-D. But the first run model wouldn’t last even to the end of the decade as Trans-Texas gave up the Rialto. By decade’s end two more new operators tried to revive the five-decade old theater. They tried second-run double-bills to no avail as the theater staggered to its final closure.
The Rialto lasted until March 23, 1959 before closing its doors. The final films played-a double feature of “Unwed Mother” and “Joy Ride.” The closure was rather quiet for a 45-plus year old fixture on theater row. The Rialto was scheduled for demolition along with the Capitol for a parking lot in 1959. But on May 20, 1959, the theater was engulfed in a major fire. The charred remains were removed. The Capitol was bulldozed and the next theater to go was the Strand early in 1960.
The Hampton Road Drive-in launched with “Colorado Territory” on May 12, 1950 with spaces for 750 cars. It was the second of three back-to-back-to-back openings for C.D. Leon’s fledgling Leon Theatres Circuit. The Garland Road Drive-In opened on April 7th and the Denton Road Drive-in opened on June 23d. In addition to and probably because of the business at the Hampton, the theater was robbed often in its first five years. And Leon’s company made news in Garland when it tried to get involved in pay television service.
At the end of the 1958 drive-in season, Leon subleased the Hampton and Denton Road locations to Claude C. Ezell’s newly-reformed Ezell Theater Circuit / Bordertown Theaters Inc. Ezell with his partner had opened Dallas’ first drive-in in 1941. But Ezell sold his portfolio in 1955 to Bordertown circuit. The Ezell/Bordertown acquisition gave Ezell 38 Texas drive-ins. That represented the largest drive-in chain in the state. The clout brought with it a new policy allowing the drive-ins to get films just 31 days after their initial plays in traditional theaters instead of the six-month window. While that helped most of the locations, Oak Cliff was theater-rich which likely gave the Hampton Road a little less bounce than was anticipated.
Ezell held most of his theaters but dropped the Hampton Road at the end of 1963 with Leon back in charge. Leon quickly identified a new operator and would soon sell the drive-in to Rowley United Theater Circuit on Feb. 28, 1964. During the period of operation, Rowley became United Artists which operated the theater. With theaters closing around Oak Cliff, the Hampton enjoyed its best years since the 1950s. But there was some trouble. Don Snyder who managed the Hampton Road when the Uniform Time Act went into being in 1967 lobbied against Texas’ honoring the act. He worried that drive-ins like his would be put out of business due to late summer starts and loss of concession revenue. That complaint went unheeded, however.
UA used McClendon to book the Hampton Road and other drive-ins beginning in 1972 but would divest itself of the Hampton two years later. The Hampton, Town & Country Drive-In and Jefferson Drive-In would form the Southern States Theatres circuit for would be the Hampton’s final consecutive years of operation ending in 1975. It appears as though “Summer School Teacher” and “The Student Teachers” is the double feature that ends Southern States’ run with the Hampton. The Hampton Road Drive-In comes back for one more season in 1978 as an independent wrapping up its lifespan just shy of thirty years. That’s likely its original lease. The drive-in was demolished and was home to both a family practice medical building and the neighboring South Hampton Community Hospital that were operating into the 2010s.
If there was an antithesis of “cinema treasure” it was Peekers Theater. While the porno chic X-rated film revolution was big in Dallas in the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s, pop-up theaters not dissimilar from that in the show-store era invaded storefronts and took over boarded up theaters showing XXX films. Peekers was one such example. The Parisian Club operated from 1967 to 1973 as a strip club which featured films later in the club’s life. But in 1973, the Parisian is raided and that ends the club. But Peekers rose from the Parisian keeping adult entertainment alive on Cedar Springs.
Peekers advertised from April 1, 1974 to July 4, 1975 which is likely close to its operational lifespan. In October of 1974, Peekers had finally earned its stripes as an adult theater when it was raided and, at trial the following March, its office manager was thrown in jail for obscenity and fined $1,000. “Orgy Machine” and “Hooked on Women” were two of the five films confiscated. Peekers is a distant memory due in part to a crackdown on adult theaters in the mid-1970s in Dallas and because the building housing Peekers has been demolished.
Looking at the advertisements, the White Rock Drive In began its advertisements and its listings begin on June 5, 1954 with “The Long, Long Trailer” and “Arena.” The listings are continuous until November 1956. Ads and listings stop. On April 4, 1958 advertisements begin for the Casa View Drive-In continuing year-round all the way until the end of the season in 1970. A guess would be that the White Rock only lasted three seasons. After a year off or of doing alternate programming, it resumed operations as the Casa View.
The Empire Theater opened March 22, 1909 at the corner of Main and Stone streets with seating for 968 patrons. C.B. Harris' Empire Theater Company owned the place and it was built for popular plays and Harris termed it a “moderate priced house”. It opened with the plya, “The Belle of Richmond.” The owners said that the theater would make it safe for one’s wife or daughter to attend at all times.
Conceived in 1967 to be built on a tract of land previously used by the Dallas Cowboys and just across the highway from Southern Methodist University (SMU) was the UA Ciné 150. It was designed as a hard ticket roadshow theater and would be United Artists’ first Southwest theater to use UA in the building’s name. The floor to ceiling screen was 34’ by 85’ designed to play D-150 films such as “The Bible.” Planned for 1,000 seats, wider aisles would drop the final seat count to 840 rocking style chairs. Raquel Welch helped break ground for the theater on July 27, 1967. As noted in other comments, the design was virtually identical to UA 150 theaters by George Raad and Associates in Oak Brook, IL and Santa Clara, CA and markedly dissimilar from the curved-building UA 150 screens in Little Rock, AR or Colorado Springs, CO.
“Far From the Madding Crowd” was the announced opening film for Christmas of 1967. But weather delayed completion and Christmas and January/February and March opening dates came and went with April 30, 1968 being a private opening and May 2d being the official public opening. A ribbon made of 70mm film was cut to open the theater with Dallas' mayor in attendance. The UA Ciné 150 with the delayed “Madding Crowd” sold out its first night.
The roadshow of “Funny Girl” filled the theater again not long after with Columbia Pictures President Leo Jaffe and Director William Wyler in attendance. The film ran 17 weeks before moving to the Granada to continue the roadshow run. “Lion in the Winter” and “Hello, Dolly” completed the roadshow schedule in 1969 with quasi-roadshow return of “South Pacific” between. In 1970, the Ciné had the roadshow of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and in 1971, “Fiddler on the Roof.” But the roadshow era was closing and no D-150 films graced the Ciné. So with competition from Interstate’s Medallion and Wilshire just to the north and south and General Cinema’s NorthPark I & II to the north, the Ciné’s initial business concept no longer made sense. So the theater was closed in September of 1972 for the purpose of twinning and reconfiguring the screens. The reopened Ciné 1 & 2 held 500 and 300 patrons and had “Sounder” and a roadshow of “Man of LaMancha.”
As downtown Dallas’ theatre row decayed the success of the Central Zone theatres led to further expansion in the territory General Cinemas' NorthPark III&IV, Plitt’s Caruth Plaza and more importantly the AMC Glen Lakes. The competition was brutal and Interstate Theatre Circuit sold the Medallion to United Artists in 1986. Not long after UA converted the Medallion into three auditoriums, the Ciné became part-arthouse and hosted the USA Film Festival. When United Artists opened its high tech UA Plaza in May of 1989, the Medallion became a second run bargain theatre and the UA Ciné became a full-time arthouse which it remained until closing Nov. 2, 2000.
The Ciné had great runs with movies including, “Sex, Lies and Videotape” and “Pulp Fiction.” It closed with “Dancer in the Dark” and “I’m the One That I Want.” SMU bought the building using it for storage before demolishing it in 2008 for additional parking for its east campus. Arthouse theater goers' void was not long as the Angelika Film Center opened in 2001 walking distance from the former Ciné.
The Melrose Theater opened May 15, 1931 with “Kiss Me Again.” The theater closed in March of 1947 for refurbishing that would be the Esquire Theater. The Esquire era opened August 1, 1947 with “Sea of Grass.” For Interstate Theater Circuit, a one-year period in which openings of the Wilshire (Oct. 1946), Inwood (May 1947), Esquire (August 1947), and Circle (Oct. 1947), along with the new Forest (1949) represented a major push into new-build, suburban theater exhibition.
The film that changed the trajectory of the Esquire was Disney’s, “The Living Desert” which got a first-run at the Esquire for a three-week booking that was extended to 18 weeks in 1954. It sold around 180,000 tickets and was drawing large audiences through its closing night. Disney’s “The Shaggy Dog” played 13 weeks. But The Esquire was not exclusively a kids' house by any stretch. The theatre’s ability to be a first-run high-end house established, the theater was equipped to run super widescreen 70mm stereo roadshows. And the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s were the theater’s halcyon years.
The Esquire showed Can-Can in Todd-AO on a reserved ticket basis for 15 weeks in 1960. It had Dallas exclusives of “West Side Story" (roadshow 20 week run); “The Longest Day” (roadshow 17 week run); “Lawrence of Arabia (roadshow 20 week run),” “Irma La Douce” (12 weeks); “Tom Jones, (roadshow 17 weeks),” “Mary Poppins (17 weeks),” “The Pink Panther” (10 weeks), “A Shot in the Dark” (9 weeks), “Lolita” (9 weeks) and “Midnight Cowboy (20 weeks).” “Young Frankenstein” was one of the final super-hits for the theater with lines stretching for blocks during Christmas 1974 during a record-breaking 22-week run for the Esquire.
But with twinning and multiplexes in vogue as the 1970s continued, the Esquire stayed a single screen and had trouble filling its 950 seats while property values increased around it. The Esquire would be in trouble. Lincoln Property acquired the theater as a real estate investment. Additionally, the city of Dallas – in a crackdown on sign ordinances – told the theater that its Esquire signage was too close to the street. Plitt Theaters – which acquired the ABC Interstate Theater Circuit – closed the Esquire with the 3-D film, “Comin' At Ya” September 17, 1981.
In April 1982, the theater got a short-lived new lease as both a live theater place and hosted the USA Film Festival showing film one last time. In June of 1983, Lincoln sold off the signage but the theater’s impending demolition got delayed as Lincoln tried to buy more property and ran into historical preservationists. Finally in February of 1985, locals tore out the seats and the theater was demolished. As an empty concrete slab for many years, street vendors hawked knock off merchandise and used clothing into the 1990s before becoming an overflow parking lot.
The Rosewin opened In July of 1922 for C.R. McHenry, manager of the Oak Cliff Amusement Company with “The Little Minister.” The theater had a Wicks Organ, had a room to take crying babies but still see the movie, and would be expanded in seat count twice as it enjoyed large crowds. In 1929, it became the second suburban theater to offer sound adding Royal Amplitone sound-on-disk and its first feature was “The Barker” on May 12, 1929. In a promotional stunt, McHenry released live turkeys at Thanksgiving time with a catchers-keepers rule.
McHenry joined forces with The Robb & Rowley Circuit and in 1931, the Rosewin was in the Howard Hughes and Harold Franklin owned Hughes-Franklin portfolio. In January of 1932, that circuit disbanded it Southwest operation with the theaters going back to Robb & Rowley. The theater had screenings for the poor and when the Tyler St. United Methodist Church was padlocked for non-payment, the Rosewin opened their doors to the church until they could find a new home. In 1934, McHenry sold his interest in the 12-year old Rosewin along with his Midway and Texas theater to the Robb & Rowley Circuit in June of 1934.
The Rosewin was closed for five months in 1939, updated by R&R for $40,000 including a refresh of the exterior, new pitched floor, higher roof, and new decorations. The new count of the seats went from 991 to 825. The first feature was “Sprit of Culver.” The higher roofline likely extended the theater’s life because in 1953, the Rosewin became part of the widescreen movement getting a variable aspect screen to project 1.85:1 and 1.66:1. In 1955, CinemaScope equipment was added to the Rosewin. After 41 years, Rowley United dropped the Rosewin in early November 1963 closing with “That Touch of Mink” and “Young Guns of Texas.”
Under independent operation, the The Rosewin became the Rex Cinema in 1964. This was Dallas’ second Rex Theater with a silent era theater that did business from 1920-1927 in two different locations. The first was at 1510 Elm (owners: 1916-1920 Leon S. Gohlman and 1920-4 R.J. Littlefield). The second address was 1711 Live Oak (owners: 1924-5 Rex Amusement Co. and 1925-7 I. Wyll). The former Rosewin then Rex opened on March 6, 1964 with new sound, seats and decorations opening as an art house with the film, “The Cardinal.” The art concept was tried for two years but the theater mixed in some adult X-rated films and the audiences came. As a result, the art film policy changed to adult films and while extending the life of the theater, trouble soon followed.
The theater began to experience raids arresting the Rex’s projectionist and ticket taker on Feb. 19, 1968. In 1969, the Cathedral of Compassion had a petition and protested the Rex Theater. As the legal problems occurred, the theater added a screening room and became known as and advertised as: the New Studio Arts Cinema, the Studio, the Rex-Studio, then by the end was back simply to The Rex. In 1971, the manager of the Studio Arts theater was arrested for showing pornographic films. The Rex finally closed at the end of 1976 when enforcement of rules with new teeth altered the adult theater industry in Dallas. 12 theaters were essentially zoned out of the adult exhibition business. The Rex closed with the triple feature of “Resurrection of Eve,” “Deep Throat,” and “Devil in Miss Jones.” For an adult theater, that’s going out with style though ending a 54-year exhibition history for the theater which would later be demolished.
The Palace Theatre opened as an African American theater on May 20, 1920 at 2407 Elm with the film, “The Girl from the Outside.” On March 22, 1934, the remodeled and updated theater was renamed the Harlem Theater where it operated for more than 20 years. The theater was bulldozed as part of the Central Expressway project.
The original Park Theatre was located in the Park Theatre Building at 424 N. Central across the street from the Grand Central Theater. Deep Ellum had become home to African Americans and immigrants at the end of the 19th Century and into the 20th Century. Black-owned business activity occurred along Central Avenue beside the railroad tracks. The Park had traveling African American acts, local acts and movies, as well. But when the businesses, railroad tracks, and that portion of Central Avenue were reworked as the city modernized its highways through downtown, the African American businesses were uprooted. The new Park Theatre headed southward locating at 4831 Spring Avenue and became primarily a film exhibition location with live shows in the mix.
The March 16, 2013 post is probably all that one needs. But just filling in some details that may or may not be of interest: In the fifty-plus year history of the Ro-Nile/Knox Theater, it starts with film and ends with film. And it has live stage and concerts in between. A few highlights:
The Ro-Nile Theater Building was instituted by the Ro-Nile Amusement Company on Aug. 1, 1922 in Highland Park with a Minusa Screen with a jinxed J.D. Wheelan organ. Unfortunately, J.D. Wheelan, himself, was severely burned on April 21, 1923 when an explosion occurred while repairing the organ. One week later on April 28, 1923 before repairs were completed, a second fire destroyed the front end of the theater and the balcony. In 1930, the organ struck again taking a customer’s life when he reached in to get some coins but standing water in the organ pit helped to cause the patron’s electrocution. The Ro-Nile fulfilled a ten year lease and shut down.
Robert Z. Glass acquired the Ro-Nile and christened it the Knox Street Theater beginning in July 1932. Within a year, he bought the Parkway and renamed it the Lawn. He then sued Interstate Theaters for what amounted to a price fixing case. In 1936, Glass had labor issue and stink bombs were thrown into both his Knox Street and Lawn theaters. Glass sold the theater along with the Lawn shortly thereafter becoming part of the Interstate Circuit. During the Paramount consent decree, Interstate divested itself of many theaters in the early 1950s. They simply closed the Knox on January 7, 1950 with “The Doctor and the Girl.” Interstate tried to lease it to a live stage theater group but that apparently failed as on May 18, 1951 father/son team Leo and Richard Craiker took on the Knox Theater as an indy for a year calling it the “home of encores.” That works out to a twenty year lease ending the Knox' film exhibition for some time.
The Knox St. became a live stage and school for acting. The next operators were: The Dallas Institute of Performing Arts / Knox Street Theatre (1953-1956); Lumet School of Acting / Knox Street Theater (1957-1960); Pearl Chappell Playhouse (1961-1963); Speakeasy (1965-6); The In Crowd (1966-7) which was sued for its name and thusly changed; Phantasmagoria (1967-1969); Allison Wonderland (1970); and finally back into film exhibition with the adult X-rated house Knox St. Cinema (1971-1973). The Ro-Nile Theater Building was deconstructed/reconstructed for retail space that was still vibrant in the 2010s. And the Knox’s 50-year plus exhibition era along with the H.P. Village Theater and Varsity/Fine Arts/Park Cities Playhouse 50-plus years meant that all three Park Cities suburban theaters had performance lifespans in excess of fifty years.
When the $1,000,000 Park Lane Shopping Center was proposed by Corrigan and Caruth in 1941, they couldn’t have foreseen WW2 which would delay the project until approved by the War Production Board in 1945. The proposed 1,200 seat $200,000 Lane Theater within the Park Lane Shopping Center would start construction as the Lane but be changed during construction from the Lane to the 832-now wider cushioned seat, $200,000 Wilshire Theater within the Wilshire Shopping Center. The decorative floral murals were by Eugene Gilboe (sometimes Gilbeau) who would do the murals in the Circle, Forest, Esquire, Inwood, and Baker Hotel within the next 12 months. The Wilshire was so named for its neighborhood of Wilshire Heights.
Interstate Theater Circuit opened to the public after an invitation screening on Oct. 4, 1946 with fireworks and the South’s first demonstration of television. The Wilshire stayed in the Interstate portfolio as a single-screen auditorium during its entire operation from Oct. 4, 1946 and the feature “Rendezvous with Annie” to April 23, 1978’s final showing of “Casey’s Shadow.”
The Wilshire had the live quiz game, “The Bank of Knowledge” to compete with the radio and soon the television quiz game craze in 1948. In the mid-1960s, when some suburban houses began to falter and turn to pornographic and art films, the Inwood, Village and Wilshire were booming. Following the success of the “Sound of Music” road show at the Inwood, and with the Village positioned as the Disney theater, the Wilshire hosted its first ever road show in 1966 with “The Blue Max.” The success of these theaters inspired General Cinemas to open its NorthPark cinema in Oct. 1967, the UA Ciné which opened early in 1968, and the Medallion in 1968 forming the Central Zone that would supplant downtown as the place to see first-run films in Dallas.
The Wilshire didn’t cower with the new competition within two miles of its doors. It continued with a Dr. Doolittle road show complete with a circus tent, appearance by Chee-Chee the chimp from the film, and a half hour television special aired on TV-11. Doolittle would play four months at the Wilshire followed by a road show reissue of “Ben Hur.” The Wilshire was on a roll with another road show of “Paint Your Wagon” with Ray Walston in attendance, “Song of Norway” did its road show there as road shows were winding down nationally, an appearance by Julie Andrews with “Darling Lili” drew fans, and the theater was getting major test showings of films prior to release. In 1968, the theater got threatening phone calls for showing “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
As the twinning era was in vogue in the mid-1970s, the Wilshire stood firm as a single-screener and had successful runs with films including, “A Clockwork Orange,” “Murder by Death,” “All the President’s Men,” “The Deep” “The Goodbye Girl” and its #1 box office champ, “The Exorcist.” But Pearch-Christian real estate and Interstate both knew that the land at Mockingbird and Skillman was much more valuable than trying to extend the life of a 32-year old theater even though it was profitable during its entire run. In April of 1978, the ABC Interstate theater didn’t extend its lease and the Wilshire closed after the April 23d showing of “Casey’s Shadow.” And on January 23, 1979, the theater was demolished along with the rest of the 54-year old shopping center that had housed the neighboring Wilshire Cleaners, Wilshire Pharmacy, Wilshire Radio & Television, Wilshire Hardware, et al and replaced by a gas station that as of the 2010s was still in operation.
James Riggs' owned Samuell Boulevard Drive-In kicked off on a Tuesday night, December 12, 1950. It was the second to last new drive-in in what turned out to be one of the Dallas' area’s most busy years in drive-in development. Preceding the Samuell Boulevard were ozoners including: the Hines Drive-In, Jefferson D-I, Hampton Road D-I, South Loop D-I,Garland Road D-I, and Denton Road D-I. And the Cinderella D-I would open just four days after the Samuell. The main decoration theme for the Samuell was listed as “wrought iron.” It had a playground, bottle warmers for infants, and opened with the film “Copper Canyon.” It soon added a swimming pool, a wading pool, and a lighted picnic area with outdoor cooking facilities.
On May 21, 1954, the Samuell went big screen equipping the screen for CinemaScope opening with “The Command.” All advertising and bookings end at the end of March 1959 for the Samuell.
The Jack Corgan architected 670-car Jefferson Drive-In opened on June 17, 1950. The theater was operated by Harold Gibbons who ran the Pike Drive-In in Fort Worth. The opening night feature was “Captain China.” The theater had a large patio with seats for walk-ins in addition to its 600 spots. Most distinctive was the neon mural on the tower featuring chorus girls, a piano player, a trumpet player and kettle drum player all set on a porcelain enamel cut out on the tower. It was said to have been the first area drive-in with in-car heaters. It also featured a 250-person seating area for walk-ups or people who didn’t want to sit in their cars.
On May 12, 1953, it had its first 3D film with “Bwana Devil.” Ray Thompson was the manager and he and two employees were tied up after a 1954 armed robbery in which the thieves took $1,398. Both thieves were caught and one received two 50-year prison sentences and the other ten years. Unfortunately, just three years later Thompson suffered a fatal fall from the Jefferson’s tower while doing routine repairs. A.E. McClain was another manager of the Jefferson until his death on November 14, 1966.
The Jefferson became part of Rowley United which became United Artists which ran it much as previous management had. But under its next operator, Texas National Theatres’ Herb Hartstien, the theater made a successful transition to exhibiting Hispanic films. Hartstein said that between the Cine Centro Three and the Jefferson, a hit film might bring in $30,000 a week. Texas National had nine theaters in Texas showing Spanish language films to lead the state in the early 1980s. The Cockrell Hill police department also profited from the Jefferson’s success. The police set up a sting outside of the Jefferson in 1979. That arrested 50 immigrants and charged them $50 for their freedom and $25 for their cars. To fight back, Jefferson manager Ramon Flores instructed patrons to make sure they had IDs or enter from the Grand Prairie side to avoid the Cockrell Hill shakedowns. That didn’t always work as the police continued that practice into the 1980s. The dollars rolled into the police department despite not having any Hispanic officers on staff which didn’t sit well with the Hispanic population which was reported to be over half of the community’s population. The theater closed in 1987 going dark until 1989.
One of the most prestigious events took place under its final operator who tried repertory film. That event happened on Bastille Day, July 14, 1989 when the USA Film Festival sponsored “A Date at the Drive-In” at the Jefferson. “The Girl Can’t Help It” was the film. That operator came back for one more season in 1990 and then the Jefferson sat empty for 14 years. It was said to have had the distinction of being Dallas County’s last standing drive-in before being torn down for a school in 2004.
C.D. Leon of Leon Theaters was back in business with the late 1964 opening of the Town & Country Drive-In and the March 1965 opening of the Belt Line – 67 Drive-In. The former operator of the Garland Road Drive-In, as well as the Hampton Road and Denton Road drive-ins, Leon co-owned the Belt Line – 67 with James McQuad. Leon billed it as the first drive-in in the Southwest equipped to run 70mm film. The theater opened with 1,000 spaces and 1,000 speakers. The theater was included in a $4 million spurt in Dallas area movie theaters. The first two features on March 11, 1965 were “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad World” and “Beauty and the Body”. It appears to close for the season at the end of October 1973 and there are no more advertisements for the Belt Line 67.
The 840-car Denton Road Drive-In kicked off on June 23, 1950 with searchlights and featuring its opening film of “Montana” with Errol Flynn.This was the last of three drive-ins to be opened by the Leon Theatres that season preceded by the Garland Road Drive-In on April 7th and Hampton Road Drive-In on May 12th. It featured a picnic patio directly in front of the screen for people who wanted to watch outside their car. The theater was managed at the outset by Cecil Winston Starks but in August, Mr. and Mrs. Herold Goodman managed the drive-in for Leon Theaters. They would stay there 17 years until Mr. Goodman moved on to the Carrollton Chamber of Commerce in 1967.
At the end of the 1958 drive-in season, Leon subleased the Hampton and Denton Road locations to Claude C. Ezell’s newly-reformed Ezell Theater Circuit / Bordertown Theaters Inc. Ezell with his partner had opened Dallas’ first drive-in in 1941. But Ezell sold his portfolio in 1955 to Bordertown circuit. The Ezell/Bordertown acquisition gave Ezell 38 Texas drive-ins. That represented the largest drive-in chain in the state. The clout brought with it a new policy allowing the drive-ins to get films just 31 days after their initial plays in traditional theaters instead of the six-month window. But in 1964, Ezell dropped the Denton Road from the circuit. The theater was now in the hands of the Stanley Warner Circuit.
The theater’s history reads like a police blotter of unfortunate incidents and robberies including one in which the two features were stolen on May 4, 1966 with thieves making off with “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “The Silencers.” The Denton Road Drive-In became part of the Texas Southwest Drive-In Theatres circuit with the Buckner and Chalk Hill in 1972 but is taken on by McLendon Theaters in May of 1973. The theater becomes an discount drive-in with $1.99 carload and some 99 cent carload nights as McLendon tries to get what it can out of the fading location. When Showtime Inc. Theaters and McLendon circuits melded, the Denton Rd. Drive-In was dropped in February of 1974. It re-opened in early May after a short closure as an independent and appears to have closed for good in December 15, 1974 with a final feature of “Dead of Night.” If so, that’s an appropriate title to exit with for the almost 25-year old o-zoner. It was demolished and replaced by a gas station in the 1978 which, itself, was demolished and replaced by a strip shopping center.
At the corner of Lancaster and Lisbon, a shopping area was developed opposite the new U.S. Veterans Hospital as Dallas expanded to the South. The concept of the theater plus two adjoining retail stores was from Jack W. Jones Agency. Raymond F. Smith architected and Arthur K. Garwick built the 40’ x 115’ Lisbon Theater managed by Irving Lambert under the O.K. Theaters nameplate. The theater’s name was from the Lisbon creek just about a block from the back of the auditorium. On July 11, 1940, the Lisbon launched with “Broadway Melody of 1940” as its first feature.
The Lisbon showed second run features as a traditional suburban. O.B. King replaced Lambert and while remaining fairly consistent did – on March 12-14, 1951 – show the Lisbon’s first foreign language film showing “Devil in the Flesh”. King said that if the public wanted more foreign fare, he would deliver. Apparently they said, “non.” Since art films weren’t what the audience sought, King rebranded the Lisbon as an African American house serving the community until closing in 1958.
After being empty for a period, in 1959, the Isley Theater Circuit took on the Lisbon giving it new carpeting, projection, sound, and reupholstered seating. It opened with “Onionhead” and “White Wilderness.” The neighborhood was indifferent and the new Lisbon floundered within the calendar year. A classified ad on January 14, 1960 offered all of the theater seats in the Lisbon Theater for sale at $1 each. “First come, first served.” Demand must’ve been lackluster because the ad repeated a week later. The theater was converted into usage as a garage by Emery’s Automotive Service which operated into the late 2000s before being bulldozed. And the street containing the theater’s namesake is also no more.
The Avenue continued the suburban tradition of its neighbor, the Rita Theatre. These locations combined for an incredible nine decades of film exhibition in the 4900 block of Columbia. The Rita (originally the Columbia) ran thirty years from 1918-1948. Isley Circuit bought the Rita and constructed the neighboring Avenue in 1947/8 and opening April 1, 1948. It rebranded the Avenue as The Guild arthouse in 1968. It closed prior to one year’s operation. It then became the highly successful Guild Art Adult Theatre which ran through the 1980s. It then became the Cine 2 spanish language theater. That converted to Video Centro which was a spanish language video store. And the location became a retail shop that contained a pawn shop and cash advance location that ran into the 2010s.
Phil Isley Enterprises theater circuit took over the Rita Theater at 4945 Columbia in a lease-purchase arrangement on July 3, 1946 managed by C.V. Caver. Isley began construction at a neighboring lot at 4923 Columbia beginning in April 1947. The 1,000 seat Avenue Theater was architected by Pettigrew & Worley and built by Major Construction. Complete with balcony, indirect neon lighting, large cry room, adjoining parking lot, and new projection and sound, the theater’s original façade was porcelain and tile. The project was delayed but was supposed to be timed with the closing of Isley’s Rita location. The Rita closed on March 8, 1948 with The Avenue Theater delayed opening of April 1, 1948 with Caver as manager. Its first movie was, “Sleep My Love.” And it was Isley’s second grand opening in three nights having just launched The Crest in Oak Cliff two nights earlier. There were some events at the suburban theater. Bill Boyd and his Cowboy Ramblers featuring Jim Boyd appeared in person showing “Tumbleweed Trails.” The event was carried live by local station WRR radio.
After 20 successful years, the theater was acquired by Rowley United which shut down the theater temporarily June 9, 1968 just long enough to rebrand the theater as an art house called Guild Theater. Its facing was completely redone and the interior also redecorated. Because Rowley United had taken the Granada to art and had a ten week success with “The Producers” out of the gate, they thought the Guild would deliver as an art house. It started with, “Carmen Baby” opening June 14, 1968. That concept lasted less than a year as the theater was dropped by the circuit and closed in 1969.
As an art house, the Guild did have at least one hit with the X-Rated “Vixen” late in 1968. With that in mind, new operator Cinne Arts Theatres, Inc. took on the Guild as its second theater in Dallas in February of 1970 adding it to its 1709 S. Ervay theater, The Cinne Art. Cinne Arts hit a home run with The Guild Art Theatre / Guild Adult Theatre, one of Dallas’ most successful and long-running adult houses. And one of the most raided which could be considered a badge of honor. Cinne Arts ran more than 15 years at Columbia and was in the court system challenging the constitutionality of adult zoning laws and obscenity enforcement.
The most famous incident for the Guild occurred on February 7, 1979 when after just two shows into its six scheduled shows daily, “Debbie Does Dallas” was confiscated by Dallas police. Looking back at almost ten years of titles played at the Guild, one can surmise that you just don’t mess with the image of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. It was a front page news story and the lead story for the TV newscasts. The Guild had hit the big time. And it would continue operations right up to the home video revolution that would be the demise of the remaining large adult theaters in Dallas such as the Guild and Fine Arts. The Guild would be replaced with Hispanic film operators who launched Cine 2. The location showed film in five decades before becoming a video store, Video Centro and then a retail store that included a pawn shop.
The Columbia Theater was built at 4945 Columbia Ave. at Collett Ave. It was a 500-seat silent picture house with organ and run by Eddie Foy Jr. beginning at least in August of 1918 when listings begin continuously until 1935. (A grocery store was at the address in 1916.) As part of Foy’s Neighborhood Theaters circuit, Foy tried to bring as many first-run films that weren’t being shown at the downtown theaters as he could. He would give the films multi-screen releases before that was a common practice. The Columbia would begin to attract an African American audience while also showing traditional neighborhood fare. The theater added sound on disc technology on May 19, 1929 with a showing of “My Man.”
On Nov. 14, 1935, the theater was sold to P.G. Cameron and L.E. Harrington and they closed for a week switch to sound on film technology and apply acoustical treatment in the auditorium. The theater switched names to the Rita Theater on Nov. 22, 1935. Cameron had run the Melba and Melrose prior to Interstate’s acquisition of the theaters.
Phil Isley Enterprises theater circuit took over the Rita in a lease-purchase arrangement on July 3, 1946. C.V. Caver was its manager. With the Rita being almost thirty years old, Isley decided to purchase a neighboring lot to build a new theater. Because of its age and possibly because of an expiring lease, the Rita was shut down. The nearby Avenue Theater was the new theater opening April 1, 1948 and Caver moved over the operate it for Isley. The Rita appears to have shut down following the March 8, 1948 showing of “Slave Girl.” No further bookings or listings are shown.
The next active tenant in the space was the unusual Zombie Castle lounge by Michael and Lawrence Burch that was billed as Texas' first 3D Lounge opened in 1953 during the 3-D film era with jungle murals in 3-D Strobolite by Marvin Norton. The nightclub was robbed in 1953 and burglars got $600. One year later, the nightclub was robbed and the burglars got $7. That trajectory follows 3D film exhibition. The building was up for lease a year later and became several businesses including a tile store in the late 1950s and 1960s, a flea market in the 1980s, and dance hall / special events place. As of the 2010s, the building appeared to be modified somewhat with the facade of the theater seemingly now at 4941 Columbia doing business at that time as a Hispanic sports bar.
The Loupot Heights neighborhood in Oak Cliff within Dallas was established by Herman Loupot who also created the million dollar shopping center known as the Westmoreland Village in 1949. The Heights Theater was in the original construction plans for the shopping center and was architected by Pettigrew, Worley & Co. The 800-seat theater was designed to serve the immediate 10,000 residents within the Heights neighborhood.
The Heights Theater opened for Oak Cliff specialists' Robb and Rowley Theatre Circuit on October 28, 1949 with “The Girl from Jones Beach.” It had a crying room for kids and “bodiform” cushioned seats. The theater played suburban fare for 12 years before Rowley United (the partner, Robb, had passed away) decided to concentrate on its other theaters, particularly the Wynnewood.
In 1961, Rowley United subleased it to a new operator, E.W. Savard, who ran the Heights as an independent for two years and closed it. Rowley United decided to refurbish the theater reopening it June 3, 1965 as the “new” Heights playing, It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World.“ Since Rowley had acquired the Isley Circuit earlier in the year, it eventually divested itself of Isley’s Avenue, Crest, Kiest D-I, and Big D and — later that year — it subleased the "new” Heights to another owner in 1965 who operated it as an independent. That operator survived negative publicity when fumes in the newly reopened theater sickened people and sent them to the hospital.
The Heights closed again under the second independent operator and Rowley United — now called United Artists — resumed operation from 1968 through its last showing which was October 31, 1970 with a double feature of “The Love Bug” and “The Jungle Book.” In 1971, the Heights became a Spanish language theater for a period of time. The theater’s name was changed out becoming multiple houses of worship one of which was still in operation in the 2010s more than 60 years after the theater’s original opening.
The 600-car, Big-D Drive-In began as the Hines Blvd. Drive-In in 1950. In March of 1951, it opened for the season as the Big D Drive-In. The rebranding under manager Neil Gordon was to reach a wider audience. Gordon pulled out all of the stops to attract audiences including a weekly talent show prior to the screen show called Robert Rutland and Herald ‘Cuz’ Goodman’s Hillbilly Circus Amateur Night, he hosted the “Miracle Horses” doing amazing acts, mystic Curtis Hayes would perform prior to shows, and for the exploitation film, “Street Corner,” Gordon promised nurses in attendance for anyone who passed out. But in December 1951, Gordon sold the Big D to the Phil Isley Theater Circuit. And there was no drop-off under Isley for showmanship as Isley installed Joseph Noble as its manager.
On November 22, 1952, Joseph Noble created the first Dallas-Fort Worth indoor heated auditorium for patrons. Plate glass 48' wide and 7' high looked out at the big screen. Unlike the auditorium and the Brazos Drive-In in Granbury, TX which had separate projection and snack bar, the Big D’s adjoined its snack bar and shared the existing restrooms. Noble plastered signs all over the area promising free lemonade and you could stay for Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Greatest Show on Earth.” Noble also had cake on hand to celebrate the theater’s anniversaries or kid’s birthdays. The theater also applied to provide pay movies via coaxial cable when pay TV was experimented with in 1957.
The theater was robbed often but the most exciting was in 1952 when a thief told of a non-existing hold-up at the Big D. Dallas police swarmed the Big D and searched the entire parking lot. While that was occurring, thieves went to the Northwest Drive-In and robbed it of $650. Almost unbelievably, the crooks didn’t stop at that rouse telling of a hold-up at another drive-in; but this time police sent patrol cars to the all area drive-ins and caught the trio of burglars at the Big D.
On March 19, 1965 John Rowley’s Rowley United Theaters purchased the Isley Circuit including the Big D and also the Granada, Kiest D-I, Crest, Major and Avenue theaters. Within a year, Rowley had dropped the Avenue, Crest, Kiest D-I, and Big D from its portfolio. The Big D was operated independently by Big “D” Theatre Company for the remainder of its lifespan. The company was part of a lawsuit with all of the Rowley theaters amongst others against the city of Dallas in 1965 concerning the timely screening of films to Dallas' censor board. The Big D appears to have closed after the 1970 season which would work out to exactly 20 years and likely signifies an end of lease closing. This was common in land speculation deals and bolstered by the Big D’s demolition and the land is now used by the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center.
The Park Plaza shopping center opened without a theater in 1959. In 1965, General Cinema announced its 1,200 seat theater that would be added to the north side of the property and the center would continue with additional properties to the east. The delayed project came to fruition with theatre’s grand opening was May 26, 1966 with a ribbon cutting and its first movie was “Harper” with Paul Newman. It was General Cinema’s 15th Texas theatre and fourth in the area with the Big Town, NorthPark and the Lochwood which had opened just one month earlier. Art gallery and smoking section which wasn’t uncommon for General Cinema locations into the 1970s.
Another common occurrence was to twin the single screen which GCC did with it, Big Town and the Lochwood. The theatre was under intense competition in the multiplex era when General Cinema dropped the theatre. The theater made it into the megaplex era and was operating as a discount house with each twin twinned to make it a four-screen house. It finally closed Feb. 28, 2002 with “Ali”, “Jurassic Park 3” and two other second-run features. I believe its operator then took over the nearby Festival (formerly the AMC Forum) in its final stretch. The theater was oddly excised from the shopping center leaving a hole between the north to south strip and the east to west strip of the Park Plaza as of 2008.
The Isadore B. Adelman Theatre Circuit may have been most known for its indoor Delman theaters in Houston, Tulsa, and Dallas though he had theaters in Abilene, and Fort Worth (Tivoli) by the time the Delman opened on Sept. 26, 1947. Deanna Durbin’s “A Hundred Men and a Girl” launched the Delman. The theater’s address was 3319 Raleigh Street with 1,150 seats. The theater was community minded hosting high school events, allowing a church to hold sermons, and showed the annual Southwest Conference films featuring local college Southern Methodist University.
Almost immediately in 1947, Adelman sued Interstate and nine film studios for what amounted to collusion in obtaining rights to show pictures. Adleman complained that he was only able to gain access to feature films 40-to-52 days after their initial release and often he was allowed to run only third-run films. That suit was a $750,000 protest lost in 1953 when the court said there was no conspiracy and appealed. He also filed suit in 1948 a $2.4 million suit alleging that booking practices caused him to close three theaters in Houston. He won $20,000 in the first phase of that suit in 1955. At Christmas of 1967, the Delman battled General Cinema’s NorthPark with “Valley of the Dolls” v. “The Graduate” for box office supremacy with NorthPark winning that round with “The Graduate” selling more tickets.
When Loew’s entered Dallas with the Downtown theater, it soon purchased the Delman theaters in Houston, Tulsa and Dallas which was approved on Nov. 21, 1969. Loew’s spent $50,000 closing the theater for refurbishing in December re-opening early in 1970. The theater struck a chord with “The Last Picture Show” among other hits before Loews dropping the theater in 1978. After film exhibition was completed thereafter, the Delman became a disco and music nightclub in the 1980s prior to being demolished.
The Walnut Twin’s groundbreaking ceremony was in 1973 and the theater opened on March 1, 1974. Texas Automated Theaters was behind the theater and McBroome-Bennett were the engineers of the project. The automated theater concept was where small theaters would be located adjacent to – or inside of – hotels or other high traffic areas and run with minimal personnel. They were often franchised. The Walnut was one such theater. It was designed to be a four-screen concept with two mini-theaters completed and two more mini-units added later. That expansion never happened. The theater sat behind the newly completed Colonial National Bank shielding it from view from passer-bys on Walnut Street traveling east to west. As a result, a sign was placed on Walnut St. in an attempt to attract customers. Auditorium One had 298 seats and Two had 224 seats for a total of 522 seats. That’s the way it stayed from 1972 to 2012 when the theaters were converted to allow for booked parties and other events.
Texas Automated found its operators in independents Don and Betty Christenson, their first theater. They had actress Charlotte Westmoreland of “Kristi and the Legend of Mt. Shasta” as one of the few personal appearances hosted at the theater. Under their operation, the Walnut Twin would transform from first run to discount, dollar screen in the early 1980s. The couple said that 1996 was one of their better years financially as a discount house but closed the theater on Nov. 19, 1996 due to the owners' health concerns. Because the 9/10 screen United Artists Galaxy, UA Northstar 8, and Cinemark Hollywood 15 were all within five miles of the Walnut, many thought the aged twin-screener would not reopen. That proved false.
Sanjay Chandahas bought the theater six months later in 1997 installing a state-of-the-art sound system with speakers in the ceiling and sides returning the theater to first run status. The original white quartz theater which had attracted graffiti in the down time was painted a lime sherbet green. Chandahas rebranded his business as Walnut Theatres, continuing operations into the 2010s. Under his direction, the Walnut drew crowds with “Rocky Horror Picture Show” but maintenance issues caused by unruly patrons forced the discontinuation of that booking. As noted, Chandahas redesigned the theater in 2012 to accommodate non-theatrical bookings in hopes of extending the viability of the Walnut Theatres.
Dallas movie pioneer and capitalist W.D. Nevills was an innovator with Dallas' nickelodeons with the Candy, Princess, Palace, Empress, Dalton, and Nikelodeon. Nevills decided the time was right to move past the “store-show” concept and project to more people simultaneously. Nevils launched the Washington as the first movie palace built for photoplays in Dallas seating 600 people. It opened Thanksgiving Day 1912 and movie goers must have been impressed by the Hellenic Pantheon design with bronze and marble goddesses overlooking the box office and the large auditorium just past the lobby. The theater was designed by R.A. Bennett of Chicago was said to be finest at the point in the United States. Bennett was well known for designing 10 buildings for the St. Louis World’s Fair.
With 2,000 lights on its exterior, the theater had no marquee probably thinking the lights would be enough to draw a crowd. But with time came competition and a marquee was added to provide current feature information. Inside, Bennett’s mural frieze, “The Spirit of Knowledge, was said to be the first original mural for a photoplay house. Nevills’ idea turned out to be good so he renewed his original 5-year lease for 10 more years. “The Queen of Sheba” played for a full month at top price which had never been done in Dallas. And many thought that record would stand for decades – which obviously turned out to be an incorrect assumption. Other hits were “Connecticut Yankee” and “Over the Hill.”
Design-wise, Bennett and the Washington had style and future competitors took notice quickly. Theaters spouted up and down Elm Street and left the 600-seat Washington in the dust. With competition from the Queen, Old Mill, Crystal, the Palace practically right next door, Capitol and, finally, the Majestic, the Washington seemed small and aging. The Washington was downgraded to second-run features and westerns. Nevills closed the theater at the end of 15 years of leasing on July 3, 1927 as its sole owner. The theater did have a short life with sporadic sermons and speeches after the Washington left. The building was bulldozed thereafter. The Washington’s former spot was home to two long-standing clothing stores but as of the 2010s was even easier to spot as the home of Thanksgiving Tower, the 50-story building at 1601 built in 1982.
The original Rialto Theater was located at 410 N. Bishop in Oak Cliff and it opened as part of the Ed Foy Neighborhood Theatres circuit in 1919. After a second renaming, it became the Astor Theater in 1934. Dallas didn’t go for long without a Rialto though and this entry is for the Old Mill Theater which opened June 24, 1913 for the Southern Enterprise Circuit. The Old Mill had giant fans at the front which was its cooling system and the theater was architected by I.A. Walker with 1,874 seats.
On October 25, 1928 the Old Mill finally installed a sound system choosing Vitaphone and Movietone. It narrowly beat the Capitol by one month as the last regular major downtown movie theater to install sound. The Mill’s first soundie was “Midnight Taxi” using Vitaphone.
In 1933, Interstate took over much of the Southern Enterprise circuit ultimately adding the Old Mill to its portfolio. Interstate decided to spend $42,000 to modernize the Old Mill. It would keep the walls of the theater and rebuild a new theater and front. The final picture to play the Old Mill was on May 4th, 1935 with “The Florentine Dagger.” That was followed by a five-month rebuilding project.
On Sept. 14, 1935, the theater opened as The Rialto with “Annapolis Farewell”. La Roche & Dahl architected the modernistic streamlined look which was a marked departure from the Old Mill predecessor. Live radio coverage by WRR radio and a special appearance by actor James Dunn along with fireworks added to the festivities. RCA Photophone equipment and 1,500 new U-16 floating comfort theater chairs helped give the feel of a brand new theater. The programming was lesser run films and second-run fare.
Louis Novy’s Trans-Texas Theaters took on the Rialto and Capitol as part of the second phase of Interstate divestitures in the Paramount consent decree in 1953. They would also get the Varsity and Melba. Trans-Texas took over operations and closed the theater to install improved projection, sound, and a VistaVision screen. 1,500 new seats, new decor showed Trans-Texas' faith in the Rialto. It was positioned as a first-run theater after the Melba was dedicated to Cinerama for the immediate future. Its first program as the “new” Rialto was June 10, 1954 with “The Mad Magician” in 3-D. But the first run model wouldn’t last even to the end of the decade as Trans-Texas gave up the Rialto. By decade’s end two more new operators tried to revive the five-decade old theater. They tried second-run double-bills to no avail as the theater staggered to its final closure.
The Rialto lasted until March 23, 1959 before closing its doors. The final films played-a double feature of “Unwed Mother” and “Joy Ride.” The closure was rather quiet for a 45-plus year old fixture on theater row. The Rialto was scheduled for demolition along with the Capitol for a parking lot in 1959. But on May 20, 1959, the theater was engulfed in a major fire. The charred remains were removed. The Capitol was bulldozed and the next theater to go was the Strand early in 1960.
The Hampton Road Drive-in launched with “Colorado Territory” on May 12, 1950 with spaces for 750 cars. It was the second of three back-to-back-to-back openings for C.D. Leon’s fledgling Leon Theatres Circuit. The Garland Road Drive-In opened on April 7th and the Denton Road Drive-in opened on June 23d. In addition to and probably because of the business at the Hampton, the theater was robbed often in its first five years. And Leon’s company made news in Garland when it tried to get involved in pay television service.
At the end of the 1958 drive-in season, Leon subleased the Hampton and Denton Road locations to Claude C. Ezell’s newly-reformed Ezell Theater Circuit / Bordertown Theaters Inc. Ezell with his partner had opened Dallas’ first drive-in in 1941. But Ezell sold his portfolio in 1955 to Bordertown circuit. The Ezell/Bordertown acquisition gave Ezell 38 Texas drive-ins. That represented the largest drive-in chain in the state. The clout brought with it a new policy allowing the drive-ins to get films just 31 days after their initial plays in traditional theaters instead of the six-month window. While that helped most of the locations, Oak Cliff was theater-rich which likely gave the Hampton Road a little less bounce than was anticipated.
Ezell held most of his theaters but dropped the Hampton Road at the end of 1963 with Leon back in charge. Leon quickly identified a new operator and would soon sell the drive-in to Rowley United Theater Circuit on Feb. 28, 1964. During the period of operation, Rowley became United Artists which operated the theater. With theaters closing around Oak Cliff, the Hampton enjoyed its best years since the 1950s. But there was some trouble. Don Snyder who managed the Hampton Road when the Uniform Time Act went into being in 1967 lobbied against Texas’ honoring the act. He worried that drive-ins like his would be put out of business due to late summer starts and loss of concession revenue. That complaint went unheeded, however.
UA used McClendon to book the Hampton Road and other drive-ins beginning in 1972 but would divest itself of the Hampton two years later. The Hampton, Town & Country Drive-In and Jefferson Drive-In would form the Southern States Theatres circuit for would be the Hampton’s final consecutive years of operation ending in 1975. It appears as though “Summer School Teacher” and “The Student Teachers” is the double feature that ends Southern States’ run with the Hampton. The Hampton Road Drive-In comes back for one more season in 1978 as an independent wrapping up its lifespan just shy of thirty years. That’s likely its original lease. The drive-in was demolished and was home to both a family practice medical building and the neighboring South Hampton Community Hospital that were operating into the 2010s.
If there was an antithesis of “cinema treasure” it was Peekers Theater. While the porno chic X-rated film revolution was big in Dallas in the late 1960s and into the mid-1970s, pop-up theaters not dissimilar from that in the show-store era invaded storefronts and took over boarded up theaters showing XXX films. Peekers was one such example. The Parisian Club operated from 1967 to 1973 as a strip club which featured films later in the club’s life. But in 1973, the Parisian is raided and that ends the club. But Peekers rose from the Parisian keeping adult entertainment alive on Cedar Springs.
Peekers advertised from April 1, 1974 to July 4, 1975 which is likely close to its operational lifespan. In October of 1974, Peekers had finally earned its stripes as an adult theater when it was raided and, at trial the following March, its office manager was thrown in jail for obscenity and fined $1,000. “Orgy Machine” and “Hooked on Women” were two of the five films confiscated. Peekers is a distant memory due in part to a crackdown on adult theaters in the mid-1970s in Dallas and because the building housing Peekers has been demolished.
Looking at the advertisements, the White Rock Drive In began its advertisements and its listings begin on June 5, 1954 with “The Long, Long Trailer” and “Arena.” The listings are continuous until November 1956. Ads and listings stop. On April 4, 1958 advertisements begin for the Casa View Drive-In continuing year-round all the way until the end of the season in 1970. A guess would be that the White Rock only lasted three seasons. After a year off or of doing alternate programming, it resumed operations as the Casa View.
The Empire Theater opened March 22, 1909 at the corner of Main and Stone streets with seating for 968 patrons. C.B. Harris' Empire Theater Company owned the place and it was built for popular plays and Harris termed it a “moderate priced house”. It opened with the plya, “The Belle of Richmond.” The owners said that the theater would make it safe for one’s wife or daughter to attend at all times.
Conceived in 1967 to be built on a tract of land previously used by the Dallas Cowboys and just across the highway from Southern Methodist University (SMU) was the UA Ciné 150. It was designed as a hard ticket roadshow theater and would be United Artists’ first Southwest theater to use UA in the building’s name. The floor to ceiling screen was 34’ by 85’ designed to play D-150 films such as “The Bible.” Planned for 1,000 seats, wider aisles would drop the final seat count to 840 rocking style chairs. Raquel Welch helped break ground for the theater on July 27, 1967. As noted in other comments, the design was virtually identical to UA 150 theaters by George Raad and Associates in Oak Brook, IL and Santa Clara, CA and markedly dissimilar from the curved-building UA 150 screens in Little Rock, AR or Colorado Springs, CO.
“Far From the Madding Crowd” was the announced opening film for Christmas of 1967. But weather delayed completion and Christmas and January/February and March opening dates came and went with April 30, 1968 being a private opening and May 2d being the official public opening. A ribbon made of 70mm film was cut to open the theater with Dallas' mayor in attendance. The UA Ciné 150 with the delayed “Madding Crowd” sold out its first night.
The roadshow of “Funny Girl” filled the theater again not long after with Columbia Pictures President Leo Jaffe and Director William Wyler in attendance. The film ran 17 weeks before moving to the Granada to continue the roadshow run. “Lion in the Winter” and “Hello, Dolly” completed the roadshow schedule in 1969 with quasi-roadshow return of “South Pacific” between. In 1970, the Ciné had the roadshow of “Tora! Tora! Tora!” and in 1971, “Fiddler on the Roof.” But the roadshow era was closing and no D-150 films graced the Ciné. So with competition from Interstate’s Medallion and Wilshire just to the north and south and General Cinema’s NorthPark I & II to the north, the Ciné’s initial business concept no longer made sense. So the theater was closed in September of 1972 for the purpose of twinning and reconfiguring the screens. The reopened Ciné 1 & 2 held 500 and 300 patrons and had “Sounder” and a roadshow of “Man of LaMancha.”
As downtown Dallas’ theatre row decayed the success of the Central Zone theatres led to further expansion in the territory General Cinemas' NorthPark III&IV, Plitt’s Caruth Plaza and more importantly the AMC Glen Lakes. The competition was brutal and Interstate Theatre Circuit sold the Medallion to United Artists in 1986. Not long after UA converted the Medallion into three auditoriums, the Ciné became part-arthouse and hosted the USA Film Festival. When United Artists opened its high tech UA Plaza in May of 1989, the Medallion became a second run bargain theatre and the UA Ciné became a full-time arthouse which it remained until closing Nov. 2, 2000.
The Ciné had great runs with movies including, “Sex, Lies and Videotape” and “Pulp Fiction.” It closed with “Dancer in the Dark” and “I’m the One That I Want.” SMU bought the building using it for storage before demolishing it in 2008 for additional parking for its east campus. Arthouse theater goers' void was not long as the Angelika Film Center opened in 2001 walking distance from the former Ciné.
The Melrose Theater opened May 15, 1931 with “Kiss Me Again.” The theater closed in March of 1947 for refurbishing that would be the Esquire Theater. The Esquire era opened August 1, 1947 with “Sea of Grass.” For Interstate Theater Circuit, a one-year period in which openings of the Wilshire (Oct. 1946), Inwood (May 1947), Esquire (August 1947), and Circle (Oct. 1947), along with the new Forest (1949) represented a major push into new-build, suburban theater exhibition.
The film that changed the trajectory of the Esquire was Disney’s, “The Living Desert” which got a first-run at the Esquire for a three-week booking that was extended to 18 weeks in 1954. It sold around 180,000 tickets and was drawing large audiences through its closing night. Disney’s “The Shaggy Dog” played 13 weeks. But The Esquire was not exclusively a kids' house by any stretch. The theatre’s ability to be a first-run high-end house established, the theater was equipped to run super widescreen 70mm stereo roadshows. And the mid-1950s through the mid-1970s were the theater’s halcyon years.
The Esquire showed Can-Can in Todd-AO on a reserved ticket basis for 15 weeks in 1960. It had Dallas exclusives of “West Side Story" (roadshow 20 week run); “The Longest Day” (roadshow 17 week run); “Lawrence of Arabia (roadshow 20 week run),” “Irma La Douce” (12 weeks); “Tom Jones, (roadshow 17 weeks),” “Mary Poppins (17 weeks),” “The Pink Panther” (10 weeks), “A Shot in the Dark” (9 weeks), “Lolita” (9 weeks) and “Midnight Cowboy (20 weeks).” “Young Frankenstein” was one of the final super-hits for the theater with lines stretching for blocks during Christmas 1974 during a record-breaking 22-week run for the Esquire.
But with twinning and multiplexes in vogue as the 1970s continued, the Esquire stayed a single screen and had trouble filling its 950 seats while property values increased around it. The Esquire would be in trouble. Lincoln Property acquired the theater as a real estate investment. Additionally, the city of Dallas – in a crackdown on sign ordinances – told the theater that its Esquire signage was too close to the street. Plitt Theaters – which acquired the ABC Interstate Theater Circuit – closed the Esquire with the 3-D film, “Comin' At Ya” September 17, 1981.
In April 1982, the theater got a short-lived new lease as both a live theater place and hosted the USA Film Festival showing film one last time. In June of 1983, Lincoln sold off the signage but the theater’s impending demolition got delayed as Lincoln tried to buy more property and ran into historical preservationists. Finally in February of 1985, locals tore out the seats and the theater was demolished. As an empty concrete slab for many years, street vendors hawked knock off merchandise and used clothing into the 1990s before becoming an overflow parking lot.
The Rosewin opened In July of 1922 for C.R. McHenry, manager of the Oak Cliff Amusement Company with “The Little Minister.” The theater had a Wicks Organ, had a room to take crying babies but still see the movie, and would be expanded in seat count twice as it enjoyed large crowds. In 1929, it became the second suburban theater to offer sound adding Royal Amplitone sound-on-disk and its first feature was “The Barker” on May 12, 1929. In a promotional stunt, McHenry released live turkeys at Thanksgiving time with a catchers-keepers rule.
McHenry joined forces with The Robb & Rowley Circuit and in 1931, the Rosewin was in the Howard Hughes and Harold Franklin owned Hughes-Franklin portfolio. In January of 1932, that circuit disbanded it Southwest operation with the theaters going back to Robb & Rowley. The theater had screenings for the poor and when the Tyler St. United Methodist Church was padlocked for non-payment, the Rosewin opened their doors to the church until they could find a new home. In 1934, McHenry sold his interest in the 12-year old Rosewin along with his Midway and Texas theater to the Robb & Rowley Circuit in June of 1934.
The Rosewin was closed for five months in 1939, updated by R&R for $40,000 including a refresh of the exterior, new pitched floor, higher roof, and new decorations. The new count of the seats went from 991 to 825. The first feature was “Sprit of Culver.” The higher roofline likely extended the theater’s life because in 1953, the Rosewin became part of the widescreen movement getting a variable aspect screen to project 1.85:1 and 1.66:1. In 1955, CinemaScope equipment was added to the Rosewin. After 41 years, Rowley United dropped the Rosewin in early November 1963 closing with “That Touch of Mink” and “Young Guns of Texas.”
Under independent operation, the The Rosewin became the Rex Cinema in 1964. This was Dallas’ second Rex Theater with a silent era theater that did business from 1920-1927 in two different locations. The first was at 1510 Elm (owners: 1916-1920 Leon S. Gohlman and 1920-4 R.J. Littlefield). The second address was 1711 Live Oak (owners: 1924-5 Rex Amusement Co. and 1925-7 I. Wyll). The former Rosewin then Rex opened on March 6, 1964 with new sound, seats and decorations opening as an art house with the film, “The Cardinal.” The art concept was tried for two years but the theater mixed in some adult X-rated films and the audiences came. As a result, the art film policy changed to adult films and while extending the life of the theater, trouble soon followed.
The theater began to experience raids arresting the Rex’s projectionist and ticket taker on Feb. 19, 1968. In 1969, the Cathedral of Compassion had a petition and protested the Rex Theater. As the legal problems occurred, the theater added a screening room and became known as and advertised as: the New Studio Arts Cinema, the Studio, the Rex-Studio, then by the end was back simply to The Rex. In 1971, the manager of the Studio Arts theater was arrested for showing pornographic films. The Rex finally closed at the end of 1976 when enforcement of rules with new teeth altered the adult theater industry in Dallas. 12 theaters were essentially zoned out of the adult exhibition business. The Rex closed with the triple feature of “Resurrection of Eve,” “Deep Throat,” and “Devil in Miss Jones.” For an adult theater, that’s going out with style though ending a 54-year exhibition history for the theater which would later be demolished.
The Palace Theatre opened as an African American theater on May 20, 1920 at 2407 Elm with the film, “The Girl from the Outside.” On March 22, 1934, the remodeled and updated theater was renamed the Harlem Theater where it operated for more than 20 years. The theater was bulldozed as part of the Central Expressway project.
The original Park Theatre was located in the Park Theatre Building at 424 N. Central across the street from the Grand Central Theater. Deep Ellum had become home to African Americans and immigrants at the end of the 19th Century and into the 20th Century. Black-owned business activity occurred along Central Avenue beside the railroad tracks. The Park had traveling African American acts, local acts and movies, as well. But when the businesses, railroad tracks, and that portion of Central Avenue were reworked as the city modernized its highways through downtown, the African American businesses were uprooted. The new Park Theatre headed southward locating at 4831 Spring Avenue and became primarily a film exhibition location with live shows in the mix.
The March 16, 2013 post is probably all that one needs. But just filling in some details that may or may not be of interest: In the fifty-plus year history of the Ro-Nile/Knox Theater, it starts with film and ends with film. And it has live stage and concerts in between. A few highlights:
The Ro-Nile Theater Building was instituted by the Ro-Nile Amusement Company on Aug. 1, 1922 in Highland Park with a Minusa Screen with a jinxed J.D. Wheelan organ. Unfortunately, J.D. Wheelan, himself, was severely burned on April 21, 1923 when an explosion occurred while repairing the organ. One week later on April 28, 1923 before repairs were completed, a second fire destroyed the front end of the theater and the balcony. In 1930, the organ struck again taking a customer’s life when he reached in to get some coins but standing water in the organ pit helped to cause the patron’s electrocution. The Ro-Nile fulfilled a ten year lease and shut down.
Robert Z. Glass acquired the Ro-Nile and christened it the Knox Street Theater beginning in July 1932. Within a year, he bought the Parkway and renamed it the Lawn. He then sued Interstate Theaters for what amounted to a price fixing case. In 1936, Glass had labor issue and stink bombs were thrown into both his Knox Street and Lawn theaters. Glass sold the theater along with the Lawn shortly thereafter becoming part of the Interstate Circuit. During the Paramount consent decree, Interstate divested itself of many theaters in the early 1950s. They simply closed the Knox on January 7, 1950 with “The Doctor and the Girl.” Interstate tried to lease it to a live stage theater group but that apparently failed as on May 18, 1951 father/son team Leo and Richard Craiker took on the Knox Theater as an indy for a year calling it the “home of encores.” That works out to a twenty year lease ending the Knox' film exhibition for some time.
The Knox St. became a live stage and school for acting. The next operators were: The Dallas Institute of Performing Arts / Knox Street Theatre (1953-1956); Lumet School of Acting / Knox Street Theater (1957-1960); Pearl Chappell Playhouse (1961-1963); Speakeasy (1965-6); The In Crowd (1966-7) which was sued for its name and thusly changed; Phantasmagoria (1967-1969); Allison Wonderland (1970); and finally back into film exhibition with the adult X-rated house Knox St. Cinema (1971-1973). The Ro-Nile Theater Building was deconstructed/reconstructed for retail space that was still vibrant in the 2010s. And the Knox’s 50-year plus exhibition era along with the H.P. Village Theater and Varsity/Fine Arts/Park Cities Playhouse 50-plus years meant that all three Park Cities suburban theaters had performance lifespans in excess of fifty years.
When the $1,000,000 Park Lane Shopping Center was proposed by Corrigan and Caruth in 1941, they couldn’t have foreseen WW2 which would delay the project until approved by the War Production Board in 1945. The proposed 1,200 seat $200,000 Lane Theater within the Park Lane Shopping Center would start construction as the Lane but be changed during construction from the Lane to the 832-now wider cushioned seat, $200,000 Wilshire Theater within the Wilshire Shopping Center. The decorative floral murals were by Eugene Gilboe (sometimes Gilbeau) who would do the murals in the Circle, Forest, Esquire, Inwood, and Baker Hotel within the next 12 months. The Wilshire was so named for its neighborhood of Wilshire Heights.
Interstate Theater Circuit opened to the public after an invitation screening on Oct. 4, 1946 with fireworks and the South’s first demonstration of television. The Wilshire stayed in the Interstate portfolio as a single-screen auditorium during its entire operation from Oct. 4, 1946 and the feature “Rendezvous with Annie” to April 23, 1978’s final showing of “Casey’s Shadow.”
The Wilshire had the live quiz game, “The Bank of Knowledge” to compete with the radio and soon the television quiz game craze in 1948. In the mid-1960s, when some suburban houses began to falter and turn to pornographic and art films, the Inwood, Village and Wilshire were booming. Following the success of the “Sound of Music” road show at the Inwood, and with the Village positioned as the Disney theater, the Wilshire hosted its first ever road show in 1966 with “The Blue Max.” The success of these theaters inspired General Cinemas to open its NorthPark cinema in Oct. 1967, the UA Ciné which opened early in 1968, and the Medallion in 1968 forming the Central Zone that would supplant downtown as the place to see first-run films in Dallas.
The Wilshire didn’t cower with the new competition within two miles of its doors. It continued with a Dr. Doolittle road show complete with a circus tent, appearance by Chee-Chee the chimp from the film, and a half hour television special aired on TV-11. Doolittle would play four months at the Wilshire followed by a road show reissue of “Ben Hur.” The Wilshire was on a roll with another road show of “Paint Your Wagon” with Ray Walston in attendance, “Song of Norway” did its road show there as road shows were winding down nationally, an appearance by Julie Andrews with “Darling Lili” drew fans, and the theater was getting major test showings of films prior to release. In 1968, the theater got threatening phone calls for showing “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.”
As the twinning era was in vogue in the mid-1970s, the Wilshire stood firm as a single-screener and had successful runs with films including, “A Clockwork Orange,” “Murder by Death,” “All the President’s Men,” “The Deep” “The Goodbye Girl” and its #1 box office champ, “The Exorcist.” But Pearch-Christian real estate and Interstate both knew that the land at Mockingbird and Skillman was much more valuable than trying to extend the life of a 32-year old theater even though it was profitable during its entire run. In April of 1978, the ABC Interstate theater didn’t extend its lease and the Wilshire closed after the April 23d showing of “Casey’s Shadow.” And on January 23, 1979, the theater was demolished along with the rest of the 54-year old shopping center that had housed the neighboring Wilshire Cleaners, Wilshire Pharmacy, Wilshire Radio & Television, Wilshire Hardware, et al and replaced by a gas station that as of the 2010s was still in operation.