Capri Theater
107 S. El Paso Street,
El Paso,
TX
79901
107 S. El Paso Street,
El Paso,
TX
79901
1 person
favorited this theater
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Ads and articles added for the Capri theatre here - https://incinerama.com/caprielpaso.htm
The Capri also installed Cinerama later that year in 1961, reopening on November 8 of that year with their test film “This Is Cinerama” as the “Capri Cinerama”.
This was one of the only movie theatres that showed the god awful movie “Manos The Hands of Fate”
As near as I can puzzle out from the sources on the Internet, Huss M. Beutell must have been the half-brother of Russell L. Beutell of the Atlanta firm Daniell & Beutell, architects of at least three theaters in Georgia.
J.M. Lewis and Vincent Adreas launched the Ellanay on November 9, 1918 as a fusion of their last initials, L&A. The opening film was propaganda title, “Stolen Orders.” The Ellanay was probably best known for its striking Terra Cotta exterior known for its bas-relief visualization entitled, “The Dance” by architect Huss M. Beutell.The Ellanay’s Hope-Jones Organ did not arrive at the opening but would get its own “grand opening” styled promotion and is featured in photos. Dent Theatres Circuit took on the venue and It became only the second theater in Texas to get a “permanent” Vitaphone system for sound films. Dallas' Arcadia Theatre had been the first. The Ellanay installed its new $20,000 system for talkies beginning with in February of 1928 leading to its successful multi-week run of “The Jazz Singer.” The next year Paramount-Famous-Lasky took over the Dent Theatres in El Paso.
Paramount sold/transferred the theatre to Texas Consolidated in 1936. The circuit closed the Ellanay for a major refresh relaunching on Valentine’s Day 1941. Soon Texas Consolidated consolidated under the name Interstate Theatres. During the Paramount Decree, the Ellanay was one of many locations divested by Interstate which Trans-Texas took on. This was effective September 3, 1954. Trans-Texas upgraded the facility to widescreen for CinemaScope presentations. It then did the shocking transformation in 1961 to the Capri Theatre covering the theater’s detailed interior work with a drop ceiling and lots of paneling. Likely at end of a 20-year leasing agreement, Trans-Texas dropped the Capri in January of 1975.
Movie One Theatres took on the venue changing the venue policy to a sub-run dollar house in 1975. It vacillated between low-price first run and suborn in the 1970s before its final era as a sub-run grind house showing double and sometimes triple features. The theater’s final booking was a four-wall weekend screening of “Pink Flamingos” on March 25 and 26, 1983, arranged by sculptor Ho Baron, then a student at UTEP. The removal of the 1961 refresh during the August 1983 demolition uncovered the largely untouched architectural splendor of the original Ellany Theatre and architect H.M. Betell’s detailed work.
2011 article with re-use of the frieze from the theatre.
http://www.elpasoinc.com/lifestyle/local_features/room-with-a-view/article_729bc800-1f6d-11e1-89cd-001a4bcf6878.html?fbclid=IwAR0FG4L4Zvjb4DJXyks6Tt0_HkdOCNCMf9-E4IyE1eFnfPjZYS85KBo_1bI
February 21st, 1961 grand opening ad as Capri
This opened as Ellaney on November 9th, 1918. grand opening ad in the photo section.
Candy, soda and popcorn was sold to the right as you entered the theatre. There was also another entrance on El Paso Street with a small area and counter where one could buy without going into the theatre. Guys would go in that entrance to talk to the girls who worked there. To keep the guys out, the manager finally put up a sign which said “If you have nothing to do, please don’t do it here”. (It did not keep the guys out).
Great pictures and ads guys.
A book called Spirits Of The Border: The History And Mystery Of El Paso Del Norte says that the Ellanay Theatre opened November 8, 1918, with a seating capcity of 940. The original owners were J.M. Lewis and Victor Andreas.
The following quote comes from a 1918 issue of the trade journal “Architect and Engineer” under the headline “Unique Terra Cotta Work”
I believe that the remains of this terra cotta panel can be seen in this photo from the time of the theater’s demolition (this is one of the 14 photos Lost Memory linked to in the sixth comment on this page.)The fact that a Los Angeles tile company was chosen for this project suggests that the architect of the building might have been a Californian familiar with their work. The Los Angeles Pressed Brick Company was the leading producer of face brick in Southern California during the early 20th century, but the product itself was produced by many companies throughout the nation, including Texas. A Texas architect would probably have been more likely to use a closer source. So far I’ve had no luck tracking down the name of the Ellanay’s architect, though.
Here is a June 1974 ad from the El Paso Herald-Post:
http://tinyurl.com/ygt5doe
It’s a newspaper ad.
Cool flyer. Nice one, Mike.
Capri Grand opening in February 24th, 1961 at View link
That’s an amazing story, Clyde.
That’s way before my time. I was going to The Capri towards the end of its life. late 70’s – Early 80’s. I remember seeing a lot of horror and grindhouse films there. Lots of double features. I always used to sit in the balcony. Loved it up there. I wish they’d never knocked it down…
I was watching a Tarzan move at the Capri (then Ellanay), with Johnny Weismuller as Tarzan. The movie was stopped and there was an “on-screen” announcement that World War II had ended. This had to be August,1945.
Very cool, ken.
Cheers, m8.
Here is a December 1963 ad from the El Paso Herald-Post:
http://tinyurl.com/r3dn3r
Thanks for the pics, Lost. Once again you’ve come through.
Cheers, m8.
Thanks for the pic, Ken! Brings back many memories. I grew up in El Paso and saw MANY movies at The Capri. The sad thing is there’s not many pics of this movie house around. I’ve searched everywhere and yours is the first decent one I come across. I only wish there were pics of the interior which I remember being quite nice. What I remember happening was that it was shut down due to the construction of The Plaza hotel which still stands in downtown El Paso. It’s a shame because the Capri was a treasure. It even had a balcony which is where I used to sit all the time. Awesome pic. Thanks, man.
Here is a 1980 photo:
http://tinyurl.com/dfaroa
In the mid 1990s, the Capri house a clothing store.
The Capri was El Paso’s Cinerama theater. A complete list of Cinerama presentations in El Paso has been posted on this page.
Moderators/Contributors: I’d like to suggest Capri be added to the top of this page as an alternate name for this theater. Actually, now that I think about it, Capri ought to be the primary name and Ellanay should be the alternate name.
If I’m not mistaken, the theater was also once known as the Capri. I believe it was in the area that is now the parking lot for the Chase bank building downtown. This was the theater that held the locally publicized premiere to the ill-fated movie “Manos: The Hands of Fate”. The movie was a total turkey and everyone hated it. Around 25 years later it would be featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Comedy Central and would go on to become a cult favorite. Go figure.