Video Three Theater
1022 NW 38th Street,
Lawton,
OK
73505
1022 NW 38th Street,
Lawton,
OK
73505
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This house was triplexed by Video Independent Theatres in 1980, opening as the Video Three Theatre on November 20, according to documents in the Griffith Amusement Company Collection at the Oklahoma Historical Society.
1977 & 1980 photos added courtesy Marian Lynne Kirchner-Rohan.
Per Rob Duncan:
“downstairs was originally one theater, a 70mm screen. The 70mm film format did not last and eventually the downstairs was turned into two theaters. I saw movies downstairs in the mid-70s on the wide screen.
Per Matthew Boeschen: “It had 2 screens downstairs and a third screen upstairs.”
Per Rollin Robinson: “The walkers owned the video vaska showcase and the 82 drive-in
Opened on screen 1 with “The war between men and women” and on screen 2 with “Frenzy”.
This opened on July 14th, 1972 as a twin cinema. Grand opening ad in photo section.
On this site a blurred snapshot of the Video Triple Cinema can be seen
http://www.roadsideoklahoma.com/node/420
the bottom floor was originally a 70 mm or cinemascope screen. When this format went by the wayside, the bottom floor was made into two auditoriums. This is now a plumbing supply store.
It was a twin when in the planning stage, according to an article in Boxoffice Magazine, May 24, 1971. The lower auditorium was to have 800 seats and the upper 300 seats.
The February 21, 1972, Boxoffice said that construction was underway on the Video 1 and Video 2, twin indoor theaters in Lawton, and the new house was expected to be opened by late June.
Another Boxoffice item, from March 11, 1974, doesn’t mention this theater by name, but says that Video Independent had acquired the Showcase Cinema I & II in Lawton, giving them two twin operations in that town.
Here is a June 1975 ad from the same source. It was still a twin then.
http://tinyurl.com/o6ky6f
This is a November 1972 ad from the Lawton Constitution. They only mention two screens.
http://tinyurl.com/rbg495
Looks like it was demolished for a Kmart.
I will post what I know. I am the Grandson to Thomas Griffing. He and his brother owned Video Independent Theatres (VIT) They had built and operated over 100 Theatres. They also owned Vumore that was under VIT’s control. This is all before RKO came into the picture. Vumore was a cable company and attempted to run the first pay per view in Bartlesdale Ok. over cable for first run movies. Henry his wife and 2 grown kids died in a plane crash in 1961 flying from NY to Oklahoma. After this Thomas sold Vumore to RKO as they were getting into the cable industry. The name actually changed from Vumore to Cablecom in the late 60’s early 70’s. My Grandfather died in the early 70’s but my uncle James continued to operate theaters for many years. If you search Vumore or Henry/Tom Griffing alot of information comes up on theaters. Tom also owned Griffing Theaters and Griffing Construction which built theaters. Thanks
This Nov 102, 1980, picture tell its own story. Type in words “video three theatre” to see image -
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After Griffith Theatres were bought out by General Tire & Rubber it was renamed Video Independent Theatres and was a (roundabout) division of RKO Theatres. This corporate structure was set up for tax breaks, and to avoid paying minimum wage. General Tire owned RKO Film Vaults, RKO Film controlled RKO Theatres, RKO Theatres owned Musac Corporation (the elevator music people), and Musac controlled Video Independent.
Architect Larry Blackledge was son of the CEO to Video Independent Theatres.
Mr Jones is correct, this was always a triple screen cinema.
Not true. The theatre opened as a triple by Video Independent Theatres of Oklahoma City. (I was there opening night). There were two auditoriums on the main floor and a third screen upstairs. Larry Blackledge and Associates of Oklahoma City was the architect.