Josephine Theatre
339 W. Josephine Street,
San Antonio,
TX
78212
339 W. Josephine Street,
San Antonio,
TX
78212
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It was taken over by Cinema Arts theatres in 1958 and Santikos theatres from 1975-1977 and closed in 1983. Adult movies from 1973 until it closed. It tried a dollar policy for a short time starting on April 3rd, 1981.
The Josephine Theatre opened on February 19th, 1947 with “Rage in Heaven”. Grand opening ad in photo section.
Photos of the Josephine Theatre appeared in the November 15, 1947, issue of Boxoffice. The architects were Noonan & Noonan (the only theater that firm ever designed, as far as I’ve been able to discover.) The style was a rather severe take on Art Moderne, not Art Deco.
From Boxoffice Magazine, January 25, 1947: “Gene Mueller and Bob Dennis will open their new 850-seat Josephine Theatre here January 31. The owners are operating as Muel-Den Enterprises and have other businesses besides the theatre. They were projectionists for the Interstate circuit for many years and both are officers in the local projectionists union.”
The Josephine was one of many neighborhood theatres that sprang up after World War II. It held around 750 seats, and had a green curtain in front of it’s screen. There was no balcony. The auditorium had three back lit glass etchings of nursery rhyme characters on each side wall. The seats had padded armrests. There was a drinking fountain on the back wall of the auditorium. The Josephine went to running X rated movies in the 1970s, and the few times it tried to revert back to regular fare, it didn’t do well. It finally closed, and the theatre was refurbished into a legitimate playhouse. It is doing very well, and the shows put on there are VERY well done! Although the Josephine was probably the least elegant of all the neighborhood theatres of it’s time, it is still shining as an entertainment venue whhile the others are demolished, or being used as other businesses.