The Arbuckle Drive-In opened its gates on September 18, 1952 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” and Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers” with no extras. The Arbuckle name came from a theater naming contest led by manager Walter T. Kerr. The second and third place names went with “77” and “Moonlite”.
The Liberty Theater was tripled in 1979 and was renamed Liberty Triplex. Unfortunately I cannot find any information about the theater being a quad. In January 1995, one of the three auditoriums closed and the theater was reverted as a twin until closing for the final time in 1996.
On September 29, 1994, the Liberty became headlines following a shooting that took place inside Screen 1. Nobody was hit with gunfire nor injured.
The Skytrain Theatre was first owned by Lewis Burton with an estimate of $95,000, and opened its doors on November 3, 1944 with Jack Carson in “Make Your Own Bed” along with an unnamed cartoon and a newsreel.
The State Theatre opened its doors on April 14, 1939 with George Brent in “Wings Of The Navy” along with an unnamed cartoon.
The fire on September 9, 1950 not just destroyed the State Theatre but it also destroyed the neighboring Whittaker Grocery Store causing an estimate $50,000 in damages (with $15,000 each for the theater and the store). The fire was caused by the ignition of a barrel filled with roofing tar, in which John Rychlee and his son were painting the roof on the building being occupied by the grocery store. According to John, he replied that a scrap of blazing paper from a trash fire in the rear of the store was to blame for the fire. Fire departments from as far as Shawnee and Oklahoma City were able to fight the blaze.
The State Theatre reopened on January 16, 1951 with James Stewart in “The Jackpot” (unknown if extras added). It was still operating as a movie theater as late as late-1962 but I cannot find any advertisements from 1963 and beyond, meaning that it either closed as a movie house in late-1962 or may’ve continued without advertising.
The actual opening date is August 17, 1937 with Kenny Baker in “Mr. Dodd Takes The Air” along with the Ina Ray Hutton short “Swing, Hutton, Swing”, the Charlie McCarthy and Edger Bergen short “Double Talk”, and the Merrie Melodies cartoon “Sweet Sioux”.
The December 11, 1944 explosion and fire happened exactly 30 minutes after its last show, “Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, have ended at 11:45 PM, with an estimate cost of $75,000 in damages. The entirety of the fire was caused by a gas furnace located in the rear of the building. The manager, Tom Kirkham, also reported that the fire lost all of their furniture from inside his office, as well as damage being reported at the neighboring Howard Hands Auto Parts store. Although the theater was completely burned down, the projection booth was still standing with all of its projection and film being attached. The fire forced the Tower’s movie schedule to move to the Midwest Theatre.
The Tower Theatre reopened on June 14, 1946 with Barbara Stanwyck in “The Bride Wore Boots” along with an unnamed cartoon, a unnamed musical short, and a sportsreel. The Tower Theatre was still open in 1965.
The Liberty Theatre began running movies in April 1923 after an extensive remodel, which also includes original installations of the Gardiner Velvet & Gold Fiber Screen that was also used in many theaters in New York City at the time.
Opened on December 2, 1926 with Richard Dix in “The Quarterback” (unknown if extras added). After its closure in 1961, the theater was converted into a music store which opened the following year.
The Woodward Theatre opened its doors on November 8, 1929 with Buddy Rogers in “Illusion” along with the two-reel comedy “He Did His Best” and the one-reel comedy “Radio Rhythm”.
The Circle Theatre opened its doors on May 1, 1946 with Judy Garland in “The Harvey Girls” (unknown if extras added), and was a replacement of the Majestic Theatre nearby which closed the previous day.
Some of the original installations include two 22,000 blowers placed in penthouse structures behind the main building as well as two 42in exhaust fans being placed on the roof. The building combines a cream and brown varying both light and dark, with the principal color accent in both red and green. The lobby space includes the ticket booth, refreshment stand, restrooms, and office which all have direct access to the seating space. The candy room west of the booth is decorated in red, green, and brown with deep ivory ceiling. The lower part of the auditorium was painted in light oak with the upper walls being decorated in a light shade of cream. The seats feature individual arm rests and 36in between rows to assure comfort. The carpeting used in the building was designed in varying shades of red, blue, green, and gold. The curtains are draped with gold rayon and both exits are built on both sides of the stage. Two aisles lead to the two sections of the balcony where each row of seats are raised above the one on front. And lastly, the main floor of the auditorium slopes to the screen with three different sections of seats.
The Paramount Theatre opened its doors on October 30, 1930 with Buddy Rogers in “Follow Through” along with four unnamed short subjects, featuring an original capacity of 600 seats and sound installations by Western Electric. The theater was constructed by J.B. Terry of Konawa.
The Cherokee Theatre actually opened on November 16, 1938 with Judy Garland in “Listen Darling” along with a sportsreel featuring highlights of a Oklahoma Vs. Missouri football game.
The Pow Wow Drive-In opened its gates on June 19, 1952 with Doris Day in “The Winning Team” along with the Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodie “Hare We Go” and the Tom And Jerry cartoon “Casanova Cat”.
It was managed by Woody Minor of his own local theater chain, and was supervised by Marvin Little. There were also Chinese elm trees being planted all around the theater.
It was gone in the 1980 aerial. A house was built on the site of the concession stand.
The New Theatre opened its doors on April 19, 1940 with a one-day showing of Basil Rathbone in “Rio” along with a few short subjects. Walt Disney’s smash “Pinocchio” was then shown the following day for a four-day run. It was renamed the Luxor Theatre on April 28, 1940.
The Rainbo Theatre (sometimes prefer as Rainbow Theatre) opened its doors on October 8, 1936 with Shirley Temple in “Poor Little Rich Girl” along with two unnamed comedies and a Fox Movietone Newsreel.
The Rainbo Theatre closed on March 31, 1953 with “Beware My Lovely” and “San Antonio Rose”.
The Park-Vu Drive-In opened its gates on September 3, 1952 with Gary Cooper in “You’re In The Navy Now” (unknown if extras added). The Park-Vu closed two years later in 1954.
The Sky-Vue Drive-In opened its gates on August 11, 1952 with Mark Stevens in “Munity” (unknown if extras added), featuring a 36x46ft screen and 265 individual speakers. It was first owned by J.J. Bowden and C.D. Hicks.
The Rex Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1942 with Bing Crosby’s “Birth Of The Blues” (unknown if extras added). The Rex Theater building actually housed something else before its opening.
The husband-and-wife team of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Phillips opened the 600-seat Sequoyah Theatre’s doors on April 24, 1951 with Louis Jourdan in “Birds Of Paradise” with no extras.
Construction of the theater started on October 1, 1950.
The Arbuckle Drive-In opened its gates on September 18, 1952 with Joseph Cotton in “Untamed Frontier” and Tom Ewell in “Finders Keepers” with no extras. The Arbuckle name came from a theater naming contest led by manager Walter T. Kerr. The second and third place names went with “77” and “Moonlite”.
The Sequoyah Theatre had been closed since the early-2010s. It was already closed by 2013.
The 600-seat Valley Theatre opened its doors on November 28, 1950 with June Haver in “I’ll Get By” with no extras, and was first owned by Homer Payne.
Opened with Rod Cameron in “The Plunderers” along with two unnamed cartoons as well as a fireworks display after the show.
Closed as a RKO movie theater on October 31, 1979 with “Halloween” and “Coma”.
The Liberty Theater was tripled in 1979 and was renamed Liberty Triplex. Unfortunately I cannot find any information about the theater being a quad. In January 1995, one of the three auditoriums closed and the theater was reverted as a twin until closing for the final time in 1996.
The Skytrain Theatre was first owned by Lewis Burton with an estimate of $95,000, and opened its doors on November 3, 1944 with Jack Carson in “Make Your Own Bed” along with an unnamed cartoon and a newsreel.
The State Theatre opened its doors on April 14, 1939 with George Brent in “Wings Of The Navy” along with an unnamed cartoon.
The fire on September 9, 1950 not just destroyed the State Theatre but it also destroyed the neighboring Whittaker Grocery Store causing an estimate $50,000 in damages (with $15,000 each for the theater and the store). The fire was caused by the ignition of a barrel filled with roofing tar, in which John Rychlee and his son were painting the roof on the building being occupied by the grocery store. According to John, he replied that a scrap of blazing paper from a trash fire in the rear of the store was to blame for the fire. Fire departments from as far as Shawnee and Oklahoma City were able to fight the blaze.
The State Theatre reopened on January 16, 1951 with James Stewart in “The Jackpot” (unknown if extras added). It was still operating as a movie theater as late as late-1962 but I cannot find any advertisements from 1963 and beyond, meaning that it either closed as a movie house in late-1962 or may’ve continued without advertising.
The actual opening date is August 17, 1937 with Kenny Baker in “Mr. Dodd Takes The Air” along with the Ina Ray Hutton short “Swing, Hutton, Swing”, the Charlie McCarthy and Edger Bergen short “Double Talk”, and the Merrie Melodies cartoon “Sweet Sioux”.
The December 11, 1944 explosion and fire happened exactly 30 minutes after its last show, “Irish Eyes Are Smiling”, have ended at 11:45 PM, with an estimate cost of $75,000 in damages. The entirety of the fire was caused by a gas furnace located in the rear of the building. The manager, Tom Kirkham, also reported that the fire lost all of their furniture from inside his office, as well as damage being reported at the neighboring Howard Hands Auto Parts store. Although the theater was completely burned down, the projection booth was still standing with all of its projection and film being attached. The fire forced the Tower’s movie schedule to move to the Midwest Theatre.
The Tower Theatre reopened on June 14, 1946 with Barbara Stanwyck in “The Bride Wore Boots” along with an unnamed cartoon, a unnamed musical short, and a sportsreel. The Tower Theatre was still open in 1965.
The Liberty Theatre began running movies in April 1923 after an extensive remodel, which also includes original installations of the Gardiner Velvet & Gold Fiber Screen that was also used in many theaters in New York City at the time.
Opened on December 2, 1926 with Richard Dix in “The Quarterback” (unknown if extras added). After its closure in 1961, the theater was converted into a music store which opened the following year.
Opened with Dick Powell in “Mrs. Mike” (unknown if extras added).
The Woodward Theatre opened its doors on November 8, 1929 with Buddy Rogers in “Illusion” along with the two-reel comedy “He Did His Best” and the one-reel comedy “Radio Rhythm”.
The Buffalo Theatre opened as early as 1924.
The Circle Theatre opened its doors on May 1, 1946 with Judy Garland in “The Harvey Girls” (unknown if extras added), and was a replacement of the Majestic Theatre nearby which closed the previous day.
Some of the original installations include two 22,000 blowers placed in penthouse structures behind the main building as well as two 42in exhaust fans being placed on the roof. The building combines a cream and brown varying both light and dark, with the principal color accent in both red and green. The lobby space includes the ticket booth, refreshment stand, restrooms, and office which all have direct access to the seating space. The candy room west of the booth is decorated in red, green, and brown with deep ivory ceiling. The lower part of the auditorium was painted in light oak with the upper walls being decorated in a light shade of cream. The seats feature individual arm rests and 36in between rows to assure comfort. The carpeting used in the building was designed in varying shades of red, blue, green, and gold. The curtains are draped with gold rayon and both exits are built on both sides of the stage. Two aisles lead to the two sections of the balcony where each row of seats are raised above the one on front. And lastly, the main floor of the auditorium slopes to the screen with three different sections of seats.
The Paramount Theatre opened its doors on October 30, 1930 with Buddy Rogers in “Follow Through” along with four unnamed short subjects, featuring an original capacity of 600 seats and sound installations by Western Electric. The theater was constructed by J.B. Terry of Konawa.
The Paramount Theatre closed in 1948.
The Cherokee Theatre actually opened on November 16, 1938 with Judy Garland in “Listen Darling” along with a sportsreel featuring highlights of a Oklahoma Vs. Missouri football game.
The Pow Wow Drive-In opened its gates on June 19, 1952 with Doris Day in “The Winning Team” along with the Bugs Bunny Merrie Melodie “Hare We Go” and the Tom And Jerry cartoon “Casanova Cat”.
It was managed by Woody Minor of his own local theater chain, and was supervised by Marvin Little. There were also Chinese elm trees being planted all around the theater.
It was gone in the 1980 aerial. A house was built on the site of the concession stand.
The New Theatre opened its doors on April 19, 1940 with a one-day showing of Basil Rathbone in “Rio” along with a few short subjects. Walt Disney’s smash “Pinocchio” was then shown the following day for a four-day run. It was renamed the Luxor Theatre on April 28, 1940.
The Luxor Theatre closed in 1960.
The Rainbo Theatre (sometimes prefer as Rainbow Theatre) opened its doors on October 8, 1936 with Shirley Temple in “Poor Little Rich Girl” along with two unnamed comedies and a Fox Movietone Newsreel.
The Rainbo Theatre closed on March 31, 1953 with “Beware My Lovely” and “San Antonio Rose”.
The Park-Vu Drive-In opened its gates on September 3, 1952 with Gary Cooper in “You’re In The Navy Now” (unknown if extras added). The Park-Vu closed two years later in 1954.
The Sky-Vue Drive-In opened its gates on August 11, 1952 with Mark Stevens in “Munity” (unknown if extras added), featuring a 36x46ft screen and 265 individual speakers. It was first owned by J.J. Bowden and C.D. Hicks.
Opened as early as 1912, closed in the 1970s.
The Rex Theatre opened its doors on May 27, 1942 with Bing Crosby’s “Birth Of The Blues” (unknown if extras added). The Rex Theater building actually housed something else before its opening.
The husband-and-wife team of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Phillips opened the 600-seat Sequoyah Theatre’s doors on April 24, 1951 with Louis Jourdan in “Birds Of Paradise” with no extras.