Walnut Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on October 20, 2026 at 10:23 am

The Happy Hour’s first ad was September 19, 1913 with “Two Souls with but a Single Thought,” “Buck Richard’s Bride,” and “John Manley’s Awakening.” J.W. Andersen purchased the venue effective May 1, 1925 changing its name to the Lyric Theatre on May 8, 1925 with “The Cyclone Rider” supported by “Scenario School.”

At the end of the silent period, Royal Duke and Roy Pruitt took on the venue installing sound, a new front, a newly decorated interior. They reopened it as the Ritz Theatre on March 1, 1930 with “Peacock Alley.” It appears to have closed on April 4, 1931.

It reopened November 13, 1931 as the Walnut Theatre with"Freighters of Destiny. “ Under new operator Ray Gould, it reopened as the New Dreamland Theatre on July 7, 1935 with "Going to Town” and “Main Street Follies” supported by a Paramount Newsreel. On July 5, 1938, Gould fatally shot himself and the theater looked for new operator.

Henry Thiessen took it on as the Dreamland in late August of 1936. He held a naming contest calling the venue the ????? Theatre from September 20 to October 21, 1936. Entries had to be five letters or fewer. Mayor Fred Fell announced that L.D. Wayne won the prize with “Pep” which it assumed November 1, 1936 with “Walking on Air.”

The Pep was sold to E.E. Griffin on June 2, 1927. He reopened it on June 6, 1937 as the Pep but changing a week later back to the Walnut Theatre. There are too many operators going forward with lots of opening and closings including G.V. Fleming - the second operator in 1953 to open and close - closing with “The Jazz Singer” on July 22, 1953. That appears to be it. however, Fleming tried to reopen it in 1954 with the local retailers in a new operation that didn’t get off the ground.

Joe Vogel on November 24, 2024 at 11:19 am

A history of this house and the rival theater in the old Opera house building is told on this Rootsweb page, though I think it might have at least one inaccuracy (see my longer comment on the page for the other theater, which was longest known as the Lyric.) The house at 303 Central was opened in 1913 as the Happy Hour Theatre, and continued operating off and on under that name until 1929 or 1930. By 1932 it was known as the Walnut Theatre, then became the New Dreamland Theatre in 1935. In 1936 it became the Pep Theatre, and in 1937 The Strand Theatre. During this long period it was listed in the FDY with 300 seats.

The Strand suffered a major fire on July 22, 1940 and was rebuilt, but with only 250 seats, and reopened on January 10, 1941 as the Walnut Theatre, its final name. After struggling a bit in the late 1940s and early 1950s, it closed permanently on May 1, 1954. The building was soon purchased and remodeled by Amvets, who have occupied it since.