Ismo Theatre
206 W. Chickasha Street,
Chickasha,
OK
73018
206 W. Chickasha Street,
Chickasha,
OK
73018
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The Chickasha Theatre launched on February 20, 1926 with Monte Blue in “The Limited Mail" at 206 West Chickasha Street, 73018. C.B. Hudson took on the venue in January of 1932 and gave it a major refresh. It reopened on June 1, 1932 as the New Midwest Theatre with William Haines in “Are You Listening?”
Southern Theatres closed here moving a block away to the former Kozy Theatre as the New, New Midwest Theatre. Unfortunately, it suffered a major fire on April 2, 1936. So the former location was opened for a short period as the Ismo Theatre beginning on April 19, 1936. The Ismo Theatre continued, however, even when the New, New, New Midwest relaunched post-fire. Then Southern Theatres acquired the Ritz Theatre from Consolidated Theatres. When Southern took on the Ritz, they closed the Ismo. The Ismo Theatre was shuttered here permanently on December 4, 1937 with a local talent amateur night show. The building has been demolished and replaced.
This brief item from the May 1, 1926, issue of Motion Picture News indicates that the Chickasha Theatre had opened earlier that year:
An earlier item in another trade journal had noted the Isley and Grace had bought a building in Chickasha and were remodeling it into a modern movie theater. The Isley family were significant figures in the theater business in Oklahoma, Texas and California for several decades.Phil and Flora Isley’s daughter, Phylis, enjoyed considerable success as a movie star under her screen name, Jennifer Jones.