Happy Hour Theatre
503 E. Commercial Avenue,
Springfield,
MO
65806
503 E. Commercial Avenue,
Springfield,
MO
65806
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The 300-seat Happy Hour Theatre opened with motion pictures on April 11, 1912 by the aforementioned Robert Franklin Barrett with the films, “The Fugitive,” “A Life for Sale” and “Symphony in Black.” The Unhappy Hour occurred on October 15, 1916 when the theatre closed with a triple feature of Lon Chaney in “The Desert Bat,” the Alva Brothers' “Mexican Insurrection” and Elsie Alberts in “Pie.”
A history of Springfield published in 1915 had a brief biography of Robert Franklin Barrett. He entered the theater business at Hugo, Oklahoma, in 1907, and three years later moved to Springfield where he opened the Happy Hour Theatre. The Happy Hour was a storefront operation and ran Universal pictures, presenting four reels with daily changes.