Princess Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on July 25, 2021 at 4:16 am

Early motion pictures were played in town at the Cox Opera House / Majestic Theatre.It would get competition from the Empress Theatre which appears to have opened in August of 1921. Mrs. Charles H. Gilliam operated the theatre until 1925 selling it to T. Miller Davidge and Fred T Gresham who changed the name to the Princess Theatre. The operators would close briefly late in 1930 to convert to sound reopening Thanksgiving Day with “Call of the Flesh” with Roman Navarro.

Glen Thompson built the new Thompson Theatre in 1936 and the town operated with two movie houses. Though the trade press erroneously reported that the Princess burned down in a January 4, 1939 fire, it was the not quite three-year old Thompson Theatre that was lost after a fire originated in a shoe store took out multiple Tishomingo businesses. All bookings played the Princess for seven months until Thompson rebuilt the theater relaunching in August of 1939. The two theaters operated together until October 28, 1950 when the Princess Theatre was closed permanently with Gene Autry in “Grand Canyon.” Seating from the venue was donated to the city’s court room for spectators.