Gem Theatre
125 W. Main Street,
Blytheville,
AR
72315
125 W. Main Street,
Blytheville,
AR
72315
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Gem Theatre #2 opened in November of 1925 and closed February 18, 1951 with the new Ritz Theatre replacing it.
The September 12, 1942, issue of the Blytheville Courier News said that the Gem Theatre had been reopened that day, after having been dark for several years:
This theater’s site is now part of a parking lot.
This web page with a history of the Ritz Theatre also has a bit about the Gem. The house that became the Ritz was apparently called the Gem from about 1914 until 1924, when it suffered a fire. When it was rebuilt it was called the Ritz, and in the meantime this new Gem Theatre had been built at 125 West Main Street.
The 1930 opening date currently cited in the description must have been a re-opening. The Gem apparently closed and reopened more than once during the depressed early 1930s.
I remember it was operated as a Spanish language theater in the 1960s by Warren Moxley.