Vernon Plaza Theatre
1717 Cumberland Street,
Vernon,
TX
76384
1717 Cumberland Street,
Vernon,
TX
76384
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The actual opening date is June 30, 1953 with the world premiere of Guy Madison in “The Charge At Feather River” (unknown if extras added).
The website link is dead. Information is available on their Facebook page.
Here is the new page for the Vernon Theater. They need to update about the 1952 fire.
http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/55332
I submitted a CT page for the Vernon Theater based on VernonTexasHistory’s above description. I have located 2 photo’s from 1944 & 1945, which I will add after the page is accepted by the CT Admins. I will post the link to that page here as well.
The Pictorium Theatre in Vernon, Wilbarger County, Texas is not the same as the theater pictured above.
The Pictorium Theatre was located on Pease Street between F. W. Woolworth and the Herring National Bank. One of my 3rd Great Grand-Uncles was the doorman for the Pictorium in 1933.
The Vernon Theater was located on Main Street and was formerly known at the More Theater. It was located between the Municipal Building and the Pendleton Music Store in 1917.
Photographs of both of these theatres as they existed in their time can be seen in the book Vernon, by Preston Cary.
From 1986 a photograph of the Plaza Theater in Vernon.
The theatre is shown in a national pharmaceutical commercial set in Vernon, TX along with other parts of town.
Nice marquee shots.
Taken late March 2010
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gabegrote/4542090475/
There is a HealthMart Pharmacy commercial currently running (3\3\2010) that has a nice view of the front of this theater. Saw the ad on General Hospital.
The February 28, 1977, issue of Boxoffice reported that Mr. and Mrs. James G. Barton had bought the Plaza Theatre and had “…plans to split the 1,100-seat theatre from front to back into two 30-foot auditoriums within the next several months.”
The Plaza Theatre was built in 1953. A photo of the auditorium appeared in Boxoffice Magazine’s issue of July 7, 1956, as part of a feature about wide screens. The caption included the line: “The Plaza, erected in 1953, is said to be the first new theatre especially designed for widescreen and stereosound.”
A March 12, 1949, Boxoffice item about the opening of the El Rancho Drive-In had information about other theaters in Vernon. There were four indoor houses in operation then, these being the 350-seat Majestic and the 400-seat Mecca, both operated by Cortez Hamm, and the 1000-seat Vernon and 500-seat Pic, operated by Interstate Theatres. A second drive-in was already under construction as well.
A 1941 Boxoffice item mentions a Pictorium Theatre at Vernon. That was probably the Pic’s earlier name.
The Vernon Theatre was destroyed by fire in September, 1952, and a January 31, 1953, Boxoffice item said that a new theater was being built to replace it. The item called the new house the Vernon Theatre, but I’ve found no later mentions of a Vernon Theatre in Vernon, so I’m wondering if perhaps the new theater was named the Plaza instead. The new house was described in Boxoffice as having a front of tan face brick, which the Plaza has, and the opening year is certainly right.
The Plaza Twin is now The Vernon Plaza Theater. I don’t know when Seth Gaines added The Plaza Twin to Cinema Treasures but it was closed for about 15 months before being reopened in March of 2007. I am going to add The Vernon Plaza Theater to the Cinema Treasures site with updated information.
How is it going guys!
Okay, folks, lots of changes here. First off, it’s been renamed The Vernon Plaza Theater. The new phone number is 940-553-3999 (that’s the movieline). The website is still being worked on, but otherwise, we’re up and running.
As for this “Blue Menace” person above, I can only say that I taught him everything he knows.
Mark Finn
Owner/Manager
The Vernon Plaza Theater
The Vernon Plaza is having their grand re-opening this weekend, showing “Raiders of the Lost Ark.” The Finns really do have big plans for the theater (full disclosure, Mark is a good friend of mine).
any news on this …………
its been sold as of 12-1-06
still in contract!
The longest in contract,,,,,,,,,,,
been in contract a long time……..
Nice to hear ,looks like a nice twin
Just heard the Plaza is being purchased and will re-open.
Mark Finn and his wife are relocating to Vernon from Austin TX and have vast plans which include showing films once again. I hope to be there for the Grand Opening! Let’s all wish them well and hope others will follow their lead in bringing back older theaters.
Ken
under contract……
any updates on this theater