Malco Theatre

Here is an early notice about the Malco Theatre from the July 19, 1938 issue of Film Daily:

“Malco Plans New House

“Hot Springs, Ark.—It has been announced here that Malco Theaters, Inc., plan to construct a $100,000 film theater on the site of the old Princess Theater which was destroyed by fire in 1935. Malco now operates four theaters in this city. Work on the new building will probably start next April or May. The new house will seat between 1,200 and 1,500, according to the announcement.”

Presently (April 2016) the auditorium has been gutted to its original state but very little decor remains. A group is involved in trying to restore and open it. Much of the lobby and foyer is intact along with the staircase and the “colored” entrance and separated balcony are also intact. It has a very shallow stage and at least two samples of vintage carpeting. Any other photos of the auditorium are being eagerly sought by this group. If they can be posted here, they have the link to this page.

Local paper covers the February 21, 1946 grand opening of the Malco Hot Springs Theatre costing $100,000 with those attending including Malco President M.A. Lightman and Malco Music Hall manager W. Clyde Smith. Some pictures of the Feb. 21, 1946 evening are posted in photos if interested.

Additionally, I find that the national Register of Historic Places uses two different spellings of the first architect’s surname: Brueggeman and Bruggeman. Boxoffice uses Bruegeman consistently, but then Boxoffice is not always the most reliable source for correct spelling.

Cinema Tour attributes a Park Theatre in North Little Rock to “Bruggeman, Swain & Allen” but that looks like two spelling strikes to me. For now I’m inclined to go with Brueggeman, as that’s the way it’s spelled in this PDF of an article published by the Arkansas Historic Preservation Program. This article also attributes the Park Hill Theater (as they call it) to the firm. It also gives the architects' names as Edward F. Brueggeman and Guy W. Swaim. So far I’ve been unable to discover Mr. Allen’s first name.

Boxoffice Magazine of May 25, 1946, has information about the Malco Theatre, but it doesn’t match up with the current intro on this page. An architect’s rendering of the facade shows that it is the same building seen in the various photos linked from comments above, but the text says that the house opened on February 22, 1946, not in 1935.

The theater was originally called the Malco Music Hall, and was designed by the Little Rock firm of Bruegeman, Swaim & Allen. As originally configured, the theater ran through the block and had entrances on both Central Avenue and Broadway, each with its own boxoffice, lobby, and concession stand.

Confusion about the opening year might have arisen from the fact that Malco Theatres entered the Hot Springs market in 1935. However, there is also the fact that it took the company a long time to get this theater built. The earliest mention of the Malco Music Hall I’ve found in Boxoffice appeared in Al Henderson’s “Dixie Doin’s” column in the issue of December 9, 1939. Al said that Malco had begun construction on the new Music Hall, but that they did not expect the house to be completed until late 1940 or early 1941. The estimate proved overly optimistic.

At the end of 1941, Malco was still trying to get the house built, when the December 6 issue of Boxoffice paraphrased local Malco Theatres manager W. Clyde Smith as indicating that the Malco Music Hall would be built on the site of the former Princess Theatre, provided materials could be obtained. We all know what happened the following day: a delay that would live in infamy, as it were. Whatever the cause of the earlier delays, the onset of war kept the project on hold four more years. The 1946 opening given by Boxoffice is undoubtedly correct.

Incidentally, architects Bruegeman, Swaim & Allen designed at least two other theaters (a house at Princeton, Kentucky, for Malco in 1938 and the Ritz at Malvern, Arkansas, the same year) and the successor firm of Swaim & Allen at least one (a house for Malco at Camden, Arkansas, in 1948.) The firm has at least two buildings on the National Register of Historic Places, but neither of those is a theater.

Maxwell Blade has lost his lease on the Malco Theatre. He is a treasure that will not be forgotten…most children who have visited Hot Springs, as well as their parents, have been thrilled spectators of his magic. The Blades have performed as a family troupe, and the
genuine syncrinicity of husband-wife-children has been an inspiration to so many. Maxwell will be performing a one-man-show…more personal, at the “Poet’s Loft”, (also on Central Avenue) at Hot Springs, until the completion of new accomodations. Like the aforementioned Malco Theatre, his home in performance for the past thirteen years, the Poet’s Loft has a mysterious atmosphere that will be very compatible with the new venue, which will be more along the lines of “Street Magic”. Maxwell Blade has been the representation of theatre magic in Hot Springs, Arkansas for over a decade, and has not lost his edge! (NO PUN INTENDED)
Evon Champion, DeQueen, AR

Brief marquee shot in the recently released “Walk the Line”.

Former president Bill Clinton mentions the Malco, as well as the other town theatre, the Paramount, on page 36 of his autobiography “My Life.”

Small color photo on this link (don’t try to expand without a password:
View link