Lariat Theatre

Joe Vogel on August 4, 2023 at 9:46 pm

Earl Moseley’s column about Central and West Texas theater doings in Boxoffice for December 15, 1956 devoted a few paragraphs to Ulys G. Gregg, who had been a projectionist in Ropesville theaters starting in 1937. He worked for the Wallace Blankenship Theatres there for five years, and when Estes Burgamy rebuilt the storm-damaged theater in 1950 Gregg was the projectionist there from opening night, November 17, 1950, when the feature film was the Technicolor western “Saddle Tramp” with Joel McCrae.

CinemaScope was installed in the Ropes in 1955. At the time the article was written, Ulys Gregg had been at the Ropes for six years, and said that the house had been closed only twice during that period, once when there was a power outage and once when there was a heavy snowfall. The Ropes Theatre is mentioned in the May 1, 1958 issue of The Ropes Plainsman, so was still in operation at that time.

The name Lariat is problematic. It is used in the FDY only in 1938, 1940 and 1941, and is misspelled as Lariot each time. No seating capacity is ever given, and the remainder of the years from 1926 through 1951 in which Ropesville appears (it isn’t listed at all in several editions), the only theater listed is the 150-seat Wallace, except in 1941 when both the Lariot and Wallace are listed, but the Lariot is closed and no seating capacity is given for either house, and in 1945 and 1946, when only the Wallace is listed but with a seating capacity of 275.

Mentions of Ropesville’s theater in trade journals when it was being rebuilt after storm damage in 1950 call it only the Ropes. The construction of the theater, which is still standing, is clearly modern concrete block, and it is large enough to accommodate far more than 150 seats– probably at least twice that number.

Were it not for the fact that I no longer trust the Ropesville-datelined 1936 Film Daily item about the Palace and Princess being transferred to Griffith theaters, I’d think there had actually been two theaters in Ropesville, and the Wallace operated in the larger of the two for a couple of years and the smaller one for the rest of its history. But the fact that the FDY never lists a Palace or Princess at Ropesville, but only the Wallace and the misspelled Lariot, is pretty strong evidence that the 1936 item was mistaken, and so were the 1941, 1944 and 1945 listings in the FDY. Most likely Ropesville only ever had the 150-seat Wallace from 1923, briefly renamed the Lariat in the late 1930s and early 1940s, and that house was so badly damaged by a storm in 1950 that it was replaced by the new Ropes Theatre that year.

One more thing to mention: The theater description says the building is boarded up, which it clearly was in a 2004 photo by Scott Neff at CinemaTour, but this is no longer the case. The theater and two neighboring buildings appear in pretty good repair, all painted the same shade of gray with darker gray trim. An overhead door has been installed in part of the theater’s former entrance, not big enough for a truck to get through, and pretty tight even for a car, but about the right size for a forklift carrying a pallet. There is no signage on any of the three buildings, but they appear to be in use for something, probably related to agriculture or animal husbandry. The Ropes Theatre building is now most likely some sort of storage facility, but the Internet isn’t telling.

beau2328 on August 4, 2023 at 9:35 am

yeah,Estes burgamy, my grandfather booked Spanish language films a couple days a week. some of his most valued patrons were seasonal laborers who often came up from the valley. ropes and lariat are and we’re the same. in addition, when , as my grandfather would say, “the tv killed the picture show”, the theater became a pool hall. one snooker table and two pool tables, and later, a jukebox, , then pinball, and finally video arcade games.tjere were legendary snooker tournaments with local rivalries. cigarettes, coke, Dr oepper, and sprite,, from the old school sugar syrup, chili buns, chili dogs, and candy. always had hot coffee on during the day. a woman named Minnie ran the day shift and my grandfather came in about 6,, and closing time was when there was no one left ,sometimes 11, sometimes 2 to 3 in the morning. we were members of the wolfforth Methodist church, when it was still on the south side of town., so the pool hall was not my grandmother’s favorite. I can remember her at the theater, but not the pool hall! Estes died in 2004 at the age of 90. his wife Nona died in 2001, at the age of 100. I’m the only one of our family still here in Lubbock. so, there’s a little of what became of it, we closed in the mid to late 80’s.