Empress Theatre

This was the third (of 3) Empress Theatres in Waurika, OK (the first Empress Theatre and the second Empress Theatre (later becoming the Rex Theatre) have their own pages on Cinema Treasures)

The boldest move came in 1927 when Ed Crew moved the venue to its longest-running locale: a new-build facility at 111 S. Main Street.

The new New Empress Theatre launched August 18, 1927 with Lon Chaney in “Mockery". The 562-seat venue had a Miusa screen, Arctic Nu Air cooling, Wurlitzer pipe organ and a large stage for live performances. Just a year later Crew adopted the Pacent Disc-based sound system on May 28, 1929. He called the Pacent the “worst pain in the neck of my entire career.” So out of synch was the Pacent that some assumed that the horses in the films were speaking the dialogue. That sound system changed four times in ten years from a Western Electric setup in May of 1930 to a Universal to a Film Speaker system in 1937 to, finally, an RCA system in 1939.

Crew, wife Dorothy and, later, son Ernie, ran the Empress Theatre’s from 1919 until 1962 except for a brief period in 1921 when they had sold the venue. They also ran the silent-era Nusho Theatre and the sound-era Royal Theatre on Main Street in Waurika.

The theatre was refreshed in 1947 reducing seat count by about 100 chairs and making the Empress Theatre more comfortable for patrons. In 1962, the Crews sold the Empress Theatre to a contemporary colleague, Claud L. Thorp who had run a theatre in Wilson, Oklahoma, two theatres in Henrietta Texas, and the Gem Theatre in Ryan, Oklahoma since the 1920’s. The Empress Theatre changed hands a number of times continuing operation until at least October 1972. The Empress Theatre has been demolished apart from a fragment of the façade.

In May of 2018, the City of Waurika hosted an outdoor screening of “The Last Jedi” in front of the former and still standing Empress Theatre. So it was still remembered by the town.

Get Movie Tickets & Showtimes

Want to be emailed when a new comment is posted about this theater?
Just login to your account and subscribe to this theater.