Movie Tavern by Marcus Denton

If you were wondering which movie venue in Denton had the longest tenure as a continuously operated movie theater, you found the right entry. The Denton Center shopping plaza was announced in late 1957 by Skillern’s Drug CEO Rae E. Skillern as a game-changing retail strip center that would be the first major challenge to the Central Business District of Downtown Denton. Skillern’s Drugs and M.E. Moses Five and Dime variety store were the first two names attached to the center; but with Sears and Penney’s signings, the retail battle was “on”. Denton Center opened in 1960 and its free parking drew throngs of shoppers. One element missing would be in the mix for the Center’s 10th year anniversary - a suburban luxury movie theater.

The Interstate Denton Cinema was announced late in 1967 with initial plans appearing in 1968. But parent company American Broadcasting Companies Inc. was beginning to morph operations to streamline its operating org chart. In 1965, its theatrical exhibition arm, American Broadcasting-Paramount Theatres, Inc., had assumed the name, American Broadcasting Companies, Inc. In 1970, it would bring its Interstate Theatres and Trans-Texas together under the ABC Interstate nameplate. Knowing this was in the cards, architect John R. Thompson created a revised plan that changed the venue’s name from the Denton Cinema to the more corporately branded, ABC Cinema.

Located next door to the Sears anchor store, the $300,000 ABC Cinema was originally launched on May 20, 1970 with Lee Van Cleef in “Barquero” by ABC Interstate. Denton’s Mayor Finlay and ABC Interstate head William E. Mitchell were on hand. The theatre was bathed in flamingo red with all 700 seats red, the concession stand featured red vinyl walls with gold trim, and the women’s restroom was predominately red with the men’s getting a gold color palette. The Denton ABC Cinema was the start of something as ABC branded cinemas in Texas were soon to be found in Brownsville, Harlingen, McAllen, Temple, Houston, Waco, Tyler, Wichita Falls, College Station, Bryan, Austin, Amarillo, Bryan, and El Paso.

In November of 1978, Plitt Southern took over the ABC Interstate operations with the Denton venue retaining its ABC Cinema moniker for about one year. On December 21, 1979, the main auditorium was split into two becoming the rebranded Plitt Cinema Twin 1 & 2 with “1941” and “Electric Horseman” playing along with a midnight showing of “Rocky Horror Picture Show.” “Rocky Horror” was a long running, multi-year hit thanks to patronage from the nearby University of North Texas. Single screeners elsewhere in the State were also twinned with twins often triplexed.

As the 20th year leases were coming due for the original Denton Center anchors in 1980 including Penney’s and Sears, clever folks were building a new mall, the Golden Triangle, and would pluck both Penney’s and Sears while creating a brand new four-plex cinema for United Artists in an outparcel spot all coming online in 1980. By 1980, the film exhibition industry had transitioned away from suburban luxury singles and twins to multiplexes containing four to eight screens. The Denton Center was clearly under attack for retail and movie patrons. In 1985, the theatre - likely wanting to leave at its 15-year opt out period - was encouraged to expand - likely with incentives as Plitt was struggling against more aggressive circuits. That expansion occurred rebooting under its new name as the Plitt Cinema V… now with five screens to better compete against the UA Golden Triangle 4. Something had to give in the Denton-area screen expansion and in March of 1985, Plitt shuttered its other Denton location, the Campus Theatre, due to lack of business.

In November of 1985, Cineplex Odeon bought out Plitt Southern with the Denton venue retaining its Plitt branding. Cinemark took on the majority of Plitt Southern locations in 1987 but Carmike became the operator of the, now, Carmike Cinema 5 - assuming under a new leasing agreement. In 1995, UA decided to open a second multiplex - the UA Golden Triangle V - inside of the Mall which further challenged the Carmike operation. In 1997, the Cinema 5 got good news in the presence of a high-tech neighbor that improved foot traffic temporarily. Knightstar Laser Tag opened a prototype venue that resonated short-term with moviegoing age audiences and increased foot traffic to the aging theater.

Carmike appears to have operated through a 15-year leasing commitment leaving the venue behind as aging multiplexes were no longer in favor. 32 years was a good ride for the ABC Cinema turned Plitt turned Carmike Cinema 5. But the ride wasn’t over just yet for the venue. Jeff Benson, the CEO of Texas Movie Company and UNT alum, didn’t want his favorite cinema to go away quietly. So he totally revamped the location as the fourth Movie Tavern location in the fledgling chain of dine-in cinemas featuring expanded in-theater food options and liquor. It opened May 27, 2005 with four screens running. The venue would expand its footprint increasing to 9 screens. In so doing, it survived in the milieu of the megaplex era with the Cinemark Denton 14 which had opened in 2005, the Rave Motion Picture turned Carmike turned AMC Hickory Creek 16 in nearby Hickory Creek which opened in 2000, and a lot of megaplex activity in Lewisville.

Marcus Theatres circuit bought out Movie Tavern on November 2, 2018 and decided to keep the former ABC Cinema location churning despite being challenged by a new Alamo Drafthouse opening in 2019. It operated for a period under the gangling name of the Movie Tavern by Marcus Denton. Not good. The MTBMD closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on March 16, 2020 along with other hardtop theatres worldwide. The venue reopened two weeks after Cinemark 14’s relaunch and three days after the Alamo Drafthouse on August 28, 2000. The venue was still chugging along in 2026 - more than 55 years after it first launched in the Denton Center. And by 2026, thanks to a simplified rebranding by Greg Marcus and team, the venue had somehow returned to its originally proposed name of the Denton Cinema.

Anyone have any pictures of this theatre as a Cineplex Odeon?

This theatre was included in Marcus Theatres purchase of Movie Tavern and as such as of February 1, 2019 is now operated by Marcus Theatres. This theatre is now “Movie Tavern by Marcus Denton” and all relevant information is now on the Marcus Theatres website, www.marcustheatres.com. Given the information on the Marcus website this complex currently appears to have 9 screens, as there are showtimes for 9 different auditoriums.

Thirteen sheets of drawings for the Denton Theatre and a house called the Varsity Theatre are preserved in the Interstate Theatre Collection at the Dallas Public Library. The plans are by Dallas architect John Rowland Thompson, and are dated c1969. I don’t see a Varsity Theatre listed for Denton at Cinema Treasures. It was located on Hinkle Drive.

A 1975 Marx Brothers movie ad for “Animal Crackers” from the ABC Cinema in Denton.