Alto Theater

Joe Vogel on December 12, 2021 at 1:42 am

An article in the August 11, 1931 issue of Motion Picture Times said that E. F. Stein planned to open a newly remodeled theater at La Feria on September 10. The article said that the house was formerly known as the Dukedun Theatre and had been operated by Brady and Omhart. I thought perhaps the odd name Dukedun was a typo, especially since the magazine used a different spelling of La Feria (LeFeria) in the headline than in the article. But Google did fetch one other instance of the name, in the March 21, 1929 issue of The Brownsville Herald, which said that Mrs. Beulah Lee Nesmith was going to take over management of the Dukedun Theatre at La Feria from Ed Brady.

The Dukedun is listed in the 1929 FDY with 600 seats. La Feria isn’t in the 1930 FDY, but in 1931 the Dukedun is listed as closed. In 1932 it is open again, but in 1933 the house at La Feria is called the Bijou, though still with 600 seats. The 600-seat Bijou then remains listed through 1938. I don’t have the 1939 yearbook, but in 1940 the only house listed at La Feria is the Rialto, with 475 seats.

The Alto Theatre was being advertised in the Brownsville Herald by November, 1940, so the name Rialto didn’t last long, and the FDY was a bit behind the times for still listing the Rialto in 1941.