Home State Theatre
222 NW 6th Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73102
222 NW 6th Street,
Oklahoma City,
OK
73102
1 person
favorited this theater
Showing 17 comments
The Streamline remodeling this house underwent prior to reopening in early 1947 was designed by the local architectural firm Coston & Frankfurt (Truett Harry Coston and William Wallace Frankfurt.) The January 3, 1948 issue of Boxoffice featured an article about the Home State Theatre, revealing that the original lessee, R. Lewis Barton, had recently sold his interest in the house to H. T. Braucht and Robert D. Curran, who had been handling the live events at the house throughout Barton’s tenure.
About $10,000 of the $250,000 renovation budget was expended on improvements for the stage, which was 45 feet deep and featured a 60 foot wide proscenium. Both major road shows and local civic events were presented on the stage. The article also revealed that the 2,200 capacity of the house was actually 2,000 seats and room for 200 standees.
The home theatre did not place any ads until February 24th, 1947.
1947 Ad, Johnny O'Clock added to Photo Section.
Home State Theatre, Oklahoma City, Pic from 1947 added to Photo Section.
Pic of Home State Life Bldg. with view of Home State Theatre on North side of Bldg. added to Photo Section.
Daytime view pic of Home State Theatre, Oklahoma City, added to Photo Section.
1947 photo of Home State Theater added to this site showing “The Vigilantes Return”. Theater was removed from the Home State building sometime in 50’s. Part of the building was used as a Military processing / induction center during the Viet Nam era 60’s – 70’s while also housing other commercial offices as well as a coffee shop. I never experienced the Theater but, did experience the good ole Army processing, induction in the early 60’s at this location along with several hundred other guys.
Interactive map of downtown Oklahoma City
View link
As late as 1947 the Home State Theatre featured an organist during intermissions.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0039958/
It is located in what became the Journal-Record Building, which was heavily damaged in the OKC bombing on 19 April 1995. The building now houses the Oklahoma City Memorial Museum, which has its puvlic entrance on the west side. The north side of the building looks much like it did when the Home State Theatre was located there, minus the marquee. View link
The Home State Theater has a Kimball pipe organ quite similar to this one played by Simon Gledhill, on the 3/38 Kimball pipe organ inside the Oriental Theatre Milwaukee.
View link
Official name of the former fifth floor newsreel cinema was Harding Hall. For a good auditorium image go to above okhistory web site and enter name “harding”.
An important fact should be noted, once Warner Bros took over this house in 1930 the name changed to Warner’s Auditorium and the main entrance moved around the corner to 210 Northwest Sixth Street, and remained there until the theatre closed in 1951. Photos on above posting are of the Sixth Street entrance, showing the official name as Home State Auditorium.
During WWII years the tiny auditorium on the fifth floor began showing Fox News Reels, making this one of the first twin cinemas.
They say seeing is believing, according to these 1940s photos the actual name must have been Home State Theatre. The Kimball pipe organ was so massive it had three separate consoles, and apparently was played up to the end.
Although the site is listed above I will re-enter it here for ease of navigation. To see upper floor auditorium type in word “stage”. To view Home State Theatre images enter word “theatre”-
View link
On this site can be seen two views of the 2200 seat auditorium. These photos would have been taken in the late 1940s after all the lavish Byzantine gingerbread had been stripped away to give the space a more contemporary, streamline look. There was also a 300 seat auditorium on the fifth floor.
Enter word ‘auditorium’ in search field field, then enter,
View link
R. Lewis Barton’s Barton Theatres circuit operated the Home Theatre for an indefinite period that was probably in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In a Dec. 2, 1999, article in the Oklahoma City JOURNAL-RECORD, Mr. Barton is credited with breaking the “downtown stranglehold on first-run movies” by bidding on them for the Home.
It its last years, the Home played art films. When I was a child, my family attended the musical ones, and regretted to see it close. After it closed, we went to the Frontier (Log Cabin), on NW 39th Street, for those movies, and then to the Plaza, on NW 16th Street, which played art film for a short time, and was temporarily re-named the Plaza Art Theatre. Lindy Shanbour, younger brother of possibly Oklahoma City’s best showman, the fabled Farris Shanbour, was a ticket seller at the Plaza Art as a young man. I saw Gene Kelly’s INVITATION TO THE DANCE at the Plaza Art. Lindy currently owns the Winchester Drive-in in Oklahoma City, which he inherited from his brother, George Shanbour, another Oklahoma City theatre icon.
Back to Farris, he resurrected the downtown Criterion, and the neighborhood Plaza and Tower Theatres, put them all on first-run product, and extended their economic lives several years. When he officed on 23rd Street in the later years of his operation, he’d walk his deposit down the street to the bank with one arm sticking out and a big money bag in his hand, and his other arm around his beautiful big-tittied secretary.
This theatre was built to be a legit house. Grand opening attraction starred famed female impersonater Julian Eltinge. Eltinge’s drag act was such a smash success his show was rebooked a few weeks later as a “return engagement”, and played to SRO crowds.
Warner Bros Theatres bought control of this house around 1930 and renamed it Warner’s Auditorium.
Home Insurance bought the massive building during WWII years and renamed the theatre Home, which was leased to RKO.