C.N. Jenkins and Penny Swetcoff opened the New Theater in the existing Lester Building on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. They held a naming contest and, in December 1934, it was renamed Melba Theater. Commonwealth Amusements took on the the venue and decided to create a new home for the Melba in 1940.
Commonwealth architect Richard Orear used the existing Brewer Building that housed a business and a hatchery to carve out a 722-seat theatre and a spot for Engles Barber Shop. The New Melba opened on November 27, 1940 with “Tugboat Annie” supported by the Warner Cartoon “Good Night Elmer,” the Warner Vitaphone short “Jan Garber and Orchestra” and Ray Whitley and Six Bar Cowboys in “Barroom Buckaroos.”
Strand Theatre #2 was built after the original burned down December 21, 1920 completely destroying both it and the Edison phonograph dealer, Z.B. Reid Music House. The new theater was located at 119 Walnut Street but was torn down after a lengthy period of vacancy in the 1990s.
The venue opened in 1911 as the Airdrome. After a year off, Will Mack and Geroge Bleck added a roof and solid walls creating the Grand Theatre. In 1927, Mack closed the Grand and took over the Strand Theatre with the neighboring Harwood’s Confectionery, the de facto concessionaire for the Grand, moving to the Strand Building.
Preston Hatcher and G.W. Pitts took on the former Airdrome turned Grand operating it as the Palace Theatre in 1927. It appears that the building was condemned. Malco Theatres, operators of the Liberty and Strand, took on the venue in in 1938 and, transformed it into an art deco venue, the Palace Theatre. The Palace launched on March 3, 1938 with “Topper Takes a Trip.” It ended on April 11, 1957 with Abbott and Costello in “Dance with Me, Henry!” Many of the theater elements were then carried over to the Liberty Theatre while crews converted the Palace Theatre into the Palace Bowling Lanes.
This is definitely the Madeline Theatre at 118 Walnut and whose neighbor was Candy Land, the de facto concession stand in 1915-1917 at 116 Walnut. The Madeline was in existence from under that name from late in 1914 until being sold to Mrs. H. Clay Sanders who owned the neighboring building. The name was reportedly changed to the Sanders Theatre though there are no trade articles or advertisements under that name.
The Gem Opera House launched in 1906 and turned Gem Theatre in 1911. It changed names again at the end of 1930 as the sound era tran anniversarysition was happening. The Gem Theatre became the Landers Theatre named after the Landers family who operated the location. It converted to CinemaScope on March 8, 1954. It received its last major interior update in 1984. The Landers closed its continuous movie operation at its 90th Anniversary with “First Wives Club” on November 21, 1996. The theatre continued with sporadic live events thereafter.
First International Theatres of Prairie Village, Kansas, launched the Oaks 7 Cinema on November 15, 1996. On July 25, 1997, Carmike Cinemas Circuit acquired First International. The venue became the Carmike Oaks Cinema 7 at that point.
In December of 2016, AMC acquired Carmike. It rebranded many of the inherited locations as “AMC Classic” indicating that generally the property would not be extended past their leases or would receive modest to no upgrades. This venue became known as the AMC Classic Batesville 7.
In December of 2018, AMC closed the Batesville 7. VIP Cinema’s parent, The Theater Group, added the former AMC Classic Batesville 7 relaunching it January 3, 2020 with luxury recliner seating. The theatre was then closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 25, 2020 but reopened later in the year.
The Theater Group had five locations in Arkansas: Little Rock’s Riverdale VIP, as well as Searcy, Cabot, Hot Springs, and Batesville VIP Cinemas.
The Cozy Theatre launched August 31, 1946 with “Personality Kid” with Anita Louise. It closed permanently on August 6, 1949 with a double feature of “Buckaroo from Powder River” and “Kazan” before being converted to a VFW Hall.
Grand opening was October 15, 1925 with Norma Maddox in “Queen’s Temple” and a $10,000 organ recital by Ms. Causey playing the Wisconsin Organ Company unit. On June 28, 1929, the venue added Vitaphone for sound exhibition.
The Kerasotes Showplace 6 opened May 27, 1989 with “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” “Pink Cadillac ,” 976-evil, “Lean on Me,” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?“ In December of 1994, the theater expanded becoming the Kerasotes Showplace 11. In May of 2000, Kerasotes was ready to open the Showplace West and rename this venue as the Kerasotes Showtime East 11 to differentiate it from the imminent opening of the new venue.
In 2010, Kerasotes sold its theaters to AMC and the location became the AMC Showplace East 11. AMC then bought Carmike Cinemas and created a classic brand mostly for inherited properties whose leases would undoubtedly not be renewed. Those theaters generally received more modest to no remodeling often with limited menu offerings. This location thusly became the AMC Classic Bloomington 11 until its closure in 2023.
Kerasotes closed the Von Lee on May 28, 2000 with “The Big Kahuna,” “Center Stage” and “High Fidelity” just a month after opening a new 12-screen megaplex.
The former downtown J.C. Penney’s turned movie house opened on July 1, 1981. Renamed as the Bedford Cinemas I & II, it added a popular video arcade. But the venue closed on May 30, 1990 with showings of “Spaced Invaders” and “Cadillac Man.” The operators walked away with those features on the marquee for a very long time. In fact, the theatre was auctioned off in May of 1992 with those very features still on the marquee. In 1994, the venue was converted to an arcade / gaming center and the local newspaper was there to document the removal of “Cadil—c Man” and “Spaced Invaders” that had remained for some four years on the marquee.
General Cinema launched the GCC College Mall Cinema I & II November 21, 1969 with “Oliver” and “Gypsy Moths”. One twins was twinned in 1976 as the venue became the GCC College Mall Cinema I-II-III. In March of 1983, the other twin was twinned with the venue becoming the GCC College Mall Cinema I-II-III-IV.
Kerasotes took on the venue in 1988. It would later downgrade the operation to a discount house. The College Mall Theatre closed as a discount house on January 27, 2002 with “Jimmy Neutron,” “Life as a House,” “Shallow Hal,” and “Behind Enemy Lines.”
The Lawrence launched on December 20, 1920 with Lon Chaney in “The Penalty.” Publix Theatres took on the venue from McCarrell’s Amusements effective January 1, 1930. Publix did not convert the theater to sound or - apparently - have any intentions to operated the venue as a movie house and it becomes a live event theater.
McCarrell established Theatrical Managers Inc. taking back the theater in 1935. It’s equipped with sound and remains a movie house until early 1952. It is used for sporadic live events and church services until being remodeled for other purposes in 1959.
Scherer, Scherer & Powell opened the Palace Theatre on December 22, 1926 with “Sunnyside Up” supported by 5 acts of vaudeville, a Pathé newsreel and an Aesop’s Fable cartoon. The silent films were accompanied by a Starr Baby Grand Piano. The atmospheric design was welcomed but the cramped seating and organ-less presentation did not live up to the wait for the movie palace. Vonderschmitt Amusements took on the venue redesigning the theatre and giving it a $25,000 Barton Orchestral pipe organ. Locals were thrilled by the improvements. It relaunched June 8, 1927 as the renamed Von Ritz Theatre with “Up in Mable’s Room” & “One Hour Married”.
In January of 1929, the venue received an RCA Photophone “C” System to present sound films. On March 27, 1954, the Von Ritz switched to widescreen equipment to play CinemaScope films beginning with “The Command.” The 50-year old Indiana Theatre moved from its home on 15th Street to the Ritz location on November 1, 1963 opening with “For Love or Money” and “Harbor Lights.”
Palace Enterprises bought the venue in 1982 On June 25, 1982, the venue reopening after a major refresh with “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” under its new name of the Palace Theatre getting down to 639 seats. It got two additional screens later in the year becoming the Palace I-II-II Theatre. Its final screenings were held on February 7, 1983 with “Grease,” “48 Hours,” and “They Call Me Bruce?” It was destroyed by fire that destroyed the theater and an adjoining business on Feb. 8th, 1983.
The Elinda Ann Drive-In opened June 15, 1949 with “Black Gold.” The original screen was destroyed by high winds in December of 1953. It was rebuilt as a CinemaScope screen when it relaunched in 1954. It closed for the season in 1965. Billy Wayne Wright converted the main building to a laundromat the following spring in 1966.
The Cavalier Drive-In launched with space for 370 cars on June 25, 1953 with Frances Langford in “The Purple Heart Diary” and Maureen O'Hara in “Kangaroo.”
The Lyric Theatre opened in 1913. It was expanded in 1915 as the Colonial Theatre. It closed in February of 1930 for an extensive retrofit re-opening in the sound era as the New Upland Theatre opening with “Son of the Gods” on June 12, 1930. The venue closed as the Upland Theatre on May 26, 1947 with a double feature of “Misters del Hampa” and “Rainbow Island.”
The original purpose of the building was as a movie house designed by architect Henry B. Snoop for the Bender Brothers Circuit. The William Penn opened on October 13, 1914. James George of the Victoria Theatre took on the venue on April 17. 1915 with a new $25,000 organ. The theater was short-lived and became a full time fraternal hall for the Knights of Malta and others. The fraternal Hall had a major refresh in 1925.
The venue was refreshed as the Roxy Theatre opening as “the new picture show on the Hill” on April 21, 1933 with “Outlaw Justice” and “Me and My Gal.” The Roxy closed permanently on March 21, 1954 with “Easy to Love” without converting to widescreen presentations. It is currently in use as a church.
Launched June 3, 1953 with “California Conquest.”
C.N. Jenkins and Penny Swetcoff opened the New Theater in the existing Lester Building on November 22, 1934 with Eddie Cantor in “Roman Scandals”. They held a naming contest and, in December 1934, it was renamed Melba Theater. Commonwealth Amusements took on the the venue and decided to create a new home for the Melba in 1940.
Commonwealth architect Richard Orear used the existing Brewer Building that housed a business and a hatchery to carve out a 722-seat theatre and a spot for Engles Barber Shop. The New Melba opened on November 27, 1940 with “Tugboat Annie” supported by the Warner Cartoon “Good Night Elmer,” the Warner Vitaphone short “Jan Garber and Orchestra” and Ray Whitley and Six Bar Cowboys in “Barroom Buckaroos.”
Strand Theatre #2 was built after the original burned down December 21, 1920 completely destroying both it and the Edison phonograph dealer, Z.B. Reid Music House. The new theater was located at 119 Walnut Street but was torn down after a lengthy period of vacancy in the 1990s.
Robert Lowery launched the Starlite Drive-In on East Nettleton Avenue on June 1, 1952 with “Gobs and Gals.”
The venue opened in 1911 as the Airdrome. After a year off, Will Mack and Geroge Bleck added a roof and solid walls creating the Grand Theatre. In 1927, Mack closed the Grand and took over the Strand Theatre with the neighboring Harwood’s Confectionery, the de facto concessionaire for the Grand, moving to the Strand Building.
Preston Hatcher and G.W. Pitts took on the former Airdrome turned Grand operating it as the Palace Theatre in 1927. It appears that the building was condemned. Malco Theatres, operators of the Liberty and Strand, took on the venue in in 1938 and, transformed it into an art deco venue, the Palace Theatre. The Palace launched on March 3, 1938 with “Topper Takes a Trip.” It ended on April 11, 1957 with Abbott and Costello in “Dance with Me, Henry!” Many of the theater elements were then carried over to the Liberty Theatre while crews converted the Palace Theatre into the Palace Bowling Lanes.
This is definitely the Madeline Theatre at 118 Walnut and whose neighbor was Candy Land, the de facto concession stand in 1915-1917 at 116 Walnut. The Madeline was in existence from under that name from late in 1914 until being sold to Mrs. H. Clay Sanders who owned the neighboring building. The name was reportedly changed to the Sanders Theatre though there are no trade articles or advertisements under that name.
The Gem Opera House launched in 1906 and turned Gem Theatre in 1911. It changed names again at the end of 1930 as the sound era tran anniversarysition was happening. The Gem Theatre became the Landers Theatre named after the Landers family who operated the location. It converted to CinemaScope on March 8, 1954. It received its last major interior update in 1984. The Landers closed its continuous movie operation at its 90th Anniversary with “First Wives Club” on November 21, 1996. The theatre continued with sporadic live events thereafter.
First International Theatres of Prairie Village, Kansas, launched the Oaks 7 Cinema on November 15, 1996. On July 25, 1997, Carmike Cinemas Circuit acquired First International. The venue became the Carmike Oaks Cinema 7 at that point.
In December of 2016, AMC acquired Carmike. It rebranded many of the inherited locations as “AMC Classic” indicating that generally the property would not be extended past their leases or would receive modest to no upgrades. This venue became known as the AMC Classic Batesville 7.
In December of 2018, AMC closed the Batesville 7. VIP Cinema’s parent, The Theater Group, added the former AMC Classic Batesville 7 relaunching it January 3, 2020 with luxury recliner seating. The theatre was then closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 25, 2020 but reopened later in the year.
The Theater Group had five locations in Arkansas: Little Rock’s Riverdale VIP, as well as Searcy, Cabot, Hot Springs, and Batesville VIP Cinemas.
The Cozy Theatre launched August 31, 1946 with “Personality Kid” with Anita Louise. It closed permanently on August 6, 1949 with a double feature of “Buckaroo from Powder River” and “Kazan” before being converted to a VFW Hall.
The White River Drive-In launched with “El Paso” on July 27, 1950
Grand opening was October 15, 1925 with Norma Maddox in “Queen’s Temple” and a $10,000 organ recital by Ms. Causey playing the Wisconsin Organ Company unit. On June 28, 1929, the venue added Vitaphone for sound exhibition.
The Sunset launched June 28, 1950 with “The Flaming Arrow” on a soft launch with the public opening the next night
The Kerasotes Showplace 6 opened May 27, 1989 with “Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade,” “Pink Cadillac ,” 976-evil, “Lean on Me,” and “Who Framed Roger Rabbit?“ In December of 1994, the theater expanded becoming the Kerasotes Showplace 11. In May of 2000, Kerasotes was ready to open the Showplace West and rename this venue as the Kerasotes Showtime East 11 to differentiate it from the imminent opening of the new venue.
In 2010, Kerasotes sold its theaters to AMC and the location became the AMC Showplace East 11. AMC then bought Carmike Cinemas and created a classic brand mostly for inherited properties whose leases would undoubtedly not be renewed. Those theaters generally received more modest to no remodeling often with limited menu offerings. This location thusly became the AMC Classic Bloomington 11 until its closure in 2023.
Tudor Amusements closed the Princess Theatre following showtimes on August 9, 1981 with “The Four Seasons.”
Kerasotes closed the Von Lee on May 28, 2000 with “The Big Kahuna,” “Center Stage” and “High Fidelity” just a month after opening a new 12-screen megaplex.
The former downtown J.C. Penney’s turned movie house opened on July 1, 1981. Renamed as the Bedford Cinemas I & II, it added a popular video arcade. But the venue closed on May 30, 1990 with showings of “Spaced Invaders” and “Cadillac Man.” The operators walked away with those features on the marquee for a very long time. In fact, the theatre was auctioned off in May of 1992 with those very features still on the marquee. In 1994, the venue was converted to an arcade / gaming center and the local newspaper was there to document the removal of “Cadil—c Man” and “Spaced Invaders” that had remained for some four years on the marquee.
General Cinema launched the GCC College Mall Cinema I & II November 21, 1969 with “Oliver” and “Gypsy Moths”. One twins was twinned in 1976 as the venue became the GCC College Mall Cinema I-II-III. In March of 1983, the other twin was twinned with the venue becoming the GCC College Mall Cinema I-II-III-IV.
Kerasotes took on the venue in 1988. It would later downgrade the operation to a discount house. The College Mall Theatre closed as a discount house on January 27, 2002 with “Jimmy Neutron,” “Life as a House,” “Shallow Hal,” and “Behind Enemy Lines.”
The Lawrence launched on December 20, 1920 with Lon Chaney in “The Penalty.” Publix Theatres took on the venue from McCarrell’s Amusements effective January 1, 1930. Publix did not convert the theater to sound or - apparently - have any intentions to operated the venue as a movie house and it becomes a live event theater.
McCarrell established Theatrical Managers Inc. taking back the theater in 1935. It’s equipped with sound and remains a movie house until early 1952. It is used for sporadic live events and church services until being remodeled for other purposes in 1959.
Scherer, Scherer & Powell opened the Palace Theatre on December 22, 1926 with “Sunnyside Up” supported by 5 acts of vaudeville, a Pathé newsreel and an Aesop’s Fable cartoon. The silent films were accompanied by a Starr Baby Grand Piano. The atmospheric design was welcomed but the cramped seating and organ-less presentation did not live up to the wait for the movie palace. Vonderschmitt Amusements took on the venue redesigning the theatre and giving it a $25,000 Barton Orchestral pipe organ. Locals were thrilled by the improvements. It relaunched June 8, 1927 as the renamed Von Ritz Theatre with “Up in Mable’s Room” & “One Hour Married”.
In January of 1929, the venue received an RCA Photophone “C” System to present sound films. On March 27, 1954, the Von Ritz switched to widescreen equipment to play CinemaScope films beginning with “The Command.” The 50-year old Indiana Theatre moved from its home on 15th Street to the Ritz location on November 1, 1963 opening with “For Love or Money” and “Harbor Lights.”
Palace Enterprises bought the venue in 1982 On June 25, 1982, the venue reopening after a major refresh with “Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid” under its new name of the Palace Theatre getting down to 639 seats. It got two additional screens later in the year becoming the Palace I-II-II Theatre. Its final screenings were held on February 7, 1983 with “Grease,” “48 Hours,” and “They Call Me Bruce?” It was destroyed by fire that destroyed the theater and an adjoining business on Feb. 8th, 1983.
The Elinda Ann Drive-In opened June 15, 1949 with “Black Gold.” The original screen was destroyed by high winds in December of 1953. It was rebuilt as a CinemaScope screen when it relaunched in 1954. It closed for the season in 1965. Billy Wayne Wright converted the main building to a laundromat the following spring in 1966.
The Cavalier Drive-In launched with space for 370 cars on June 25, 1953 with Frances Langford in “The Purple Heart Diary” and Maureen O'Hara in “Kangaroo.”
The Lyric Theatre opened in 1913. It was expanded in 1915 as the Colonial Theatre. It closed in February of 1930 for an extensive retrofit re-opening in the sound era as the New Upland Theatre opening with “Son of the Gods” on June 12, 1930. The venue closed as the Upland Theatre on May 26, 1947 with a double feature of “Misters del Hampa” and “Rainbow Island.”
According to newspaper articles, this venue was opened by Tony Rand of Rand Theatres as the Race Street Cinema 5. It later expanded to 8 screens.
The original purpose of the building was as a movie house designed by architect Henry B. Snoop for the Bender Brothers Circuit. The William Penn opened on October 13, 1914. James George of the Victoria Theatre took on the venue on April 17. 1915 with a new $25,000 organ. The theater was short-lived and became a full time fraternal hall for the Knights of Malta and others. The fraternal Hall had a major refresh in 1925.
The venue was refreshed as the Roxy Theatre opening as “the new picture show on the Hill” on April 21, 1933 with “Outlaw Justice” and “Me and My Gal.” The Roxy closed permanently on March 21, 1954 with “Easy to Love” without converting to widescreen presentations. It is currently in use as a church.
Closed permanently following a double feature of “Summer School” and “Back to the Beach” on September 6, 1987.