Charles Blaine decided to replace his aging Yale Theatre with a new and larger venue. He took an existing building and created the Blaine Theatre. At launch the Blaine had two Motiograph DeLuxe projectors and 20' tall sign with 400 bulbs. The grand opening featured Colleen Moore in “It Must be Love” supported by Our Gang in “Shivering Spooks,” a cartoon, and a newsreel called the Blaineogram on September 1, 1926. The theatre organ accompanied the films.
Under Griffith Amusement Circuit since 1928, the circuit installed Vitaphone on March 3, 1929 beginning with “Alias Jimmy Valentine.” Griffith gave the venue a major overhaul reopening as the New Blaine on March 6, 1941 with Jean Arthur in “Arizona.”
On August 1, 1954, the Blaine switched to widescreen projection to show CinemaScope titles starting with “The River of No Return.” The theatre was later renamed the Ciné in the 1970s and closed as a twin-screen facility. The Ciné was razed in 2008 following asbestos abatement and the Blaine’s organ was still in place at the time of the demolition.
The Empress Theatre was located at 106 South Main in downtown Shattuck. It began in October of 1913, was totally refreshed in 1928 as the New Empress. On October 27, 1929, the theatre relaunched with Vitaphone and sound films with Al Jolson in “The Singing Fool.”
When the Wilsons opened the new $60,000 Shattuck Theatre in 1946, the Empress' days were numbered. Lee and Garland Wilson’s Wilson Theatres Circuit discontinued regular movies screenings on January 2, 1949 at the Empress Theatre with the “Return of the Lash” with Las LaRue. Religious screenings were offered by a local church in 1950 with with the building offered for sale. Lee and Garland Wilson retrofitted the venue for other purposes in March of 1952.
Garland Wilson built the Drive-In in 1952 with a name-the-theater contest prior to launching. The winning name was the fusion of Ellis County Oklahoma or the El-Co. It opened with 182 spaces for cars on May 18, 1952 with Dinah Shore in “Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.”
The Dixie Theatre opened in the building at 120-122 Duke Street. It operated under that name from 1909 to November of 1917. Under new sole operator, A.L. Blunt it became the Liberty Theatre on November 11, 1917 with a benefit screening for the local YMCA showing a patriotic film. (The Liberty was a commonly-used World War I moniker for theaters.) But the biggest splash came just weeks later when the Liberty showed “Birth of a Nation” on December 2-3, 1917 at road show prices.
Blunt then sold the Liberty / former Dixie to L.R. Stout in April of 1921 for $16,000. The Liberty fell under the umbrella of O. Gill and Griffith Amusement Circuit next also in the 1920s. Late in 1927, it was reported that new equipment was added to the Liberty. It was gutted by fire in January of 1928. Interestingly, Gill would be arrested for setting fire to the Erie Theatre five years later. The remaining Liberty Theatre structure would then be incorporated into a bus terminal for two different bus lines, the latter of which was the Northeast Texas Motor Lines Inc.
O.A. Simmons and V. Bronaugh announced a new movie theatre late in 1911 and opening January 25, 1912. In 1913, the broadway added an airdome for the summer months. It looks like it closed in 1915
There were two Dixie Theatres - unrelated except in vicinity so two entries needed - one for the silent era and one for the post-War sound era. This can be the “new” / sound era Dixie Theatre. WWII veterans, Raymond McMillan and Clyde Walker, launched the New Dixie Theatre in the former Northeast Texas Motor Lines Inc. depot on with Jane Wyman in “Make Your Own Bed” on December 31, 1946.
It was the second Dixie Theatre in the general area as there was an unrelated Dixie Theatre in the silent era in the the same area. Just six months later in July of 1947, Griffith Consolidated Theatres Inc. Circuit bought out this location to eliminate the new competition as they operated the Erie in Ritz in downtown Hugo. They downgraded the venue to weekend-only operation.
In December of 1949, Video Independent Theatres Circuit took on the Griffith Amusement portfolio. They dropped the Dixie at the end of 1952 with “Hit the Ice” and “Border Saddlemasters.” The venue was used for agricultural trade screenings and meetings in 1953 before being repurposed.
The first Choctaw County fair was held right here in 1914. Tom Morehead of Video Independent Theatres had a new concept for the land in 1950, the Circus Drive-In Theatre. A 30'x40' screen size greeted customers as it launched on August 23, 1950 with Ann Blyth in “Red Canyon.” (However, if the site maintains that this drive-in opened in the mid-1940s, that’s great too!)
The theatre operated seasonally from April to October/November depending on when it got cold.
The Ritz Theatre was built on the North Side of the Jay, Oklahoma business district’s square. The opening film was on August 18, 1939 with Gene Autry in “In Old Monterey.” Air conditioned with 300-seats, operator J.H. Martin felt he could compete with theaters in Miami (Oklahoma) and Joplin. New owner Owen Wingard donated the old screen to a local school when the theatre converted to widescreen beginning with the February 27, 1955 screening of “The Robe.” Wingard ceased advertising late in 1957 likely ending the venue’s run.
The Ritz opened in September of 1926 and bellyflopped closing in October of 1927. It was “reserved” for sporadic, big movie times when the existing theaters couldn’t handle the load. But when it added sound, the Ritz hit its mark.
Western star Monte Hale graced the Trail on May 28, 1948 performing on his guitar and telling stories. It appears that the last roundup for the Trail was June 16, 1949
The Duncan Drive-In Theatre’s grand opening ad is posted from September 13, 1948. On November 10, 1954 it had relaunched with what it claims was the second largest drive-in screen in the world (not my claim) at 5,000 square feet thanks to the addition of two wings to the existing tower. This allowed for CinemaScope presentations. The first Scope title was “River of No Return” on November 18, 1954.
Jack Pierce launched the Meadow Drive-In in May 7, 1953 with the film, “Sky Full of Moon.” Pierce also operated the Lyric, Place, and the Time. And, yes, there were meadows that inspired the naming of the ozoner.
Cliff L. Lance took the El Rancho widescreen on April 2, 1954 with “The Robe” in CinemaScope. It appears to have closed at the end of lease on August 30, 1964 with “Muscle Beach Party.”
According to the trade press, Mr. and Mrs. Jack “Eddie” Holt of the New Theatre refreshed the New Theatre renaming it as the Holt Theatre. Mr. Holt owned both the Wigwam and the Holt when he testified in 1952 before a committee trying to slap a 20% entertainment tax on the movie theater industry. Holt suggested that the tax could cause 70% of all theatres to close if such a tax were instituted partially due to both the onset of television and the fact that all theaters would lose money if not for concessions. Holt would first close the Holt Theatre that decade and then the Wigwam in 1959.
In 1913, Coalgate was served by its newly-opened O.B.O. Theatre in the O.B.O. building, the existing Majestic Theatre, and in its first of two or three homes, the Wigwam Theatre which opened in August of 1913. The Wigwam would add Western Electric sound in 1931 to remain viable. However, it closed for a period during the Depression. It likely moved to new digs and continued all the way until closing on June 29, 1959 with “The Ten Commandments” at the end of a leasing period. It did not reopen.
The Grand Opera House of Cherokee was designed by prolific Enid architect Roy W. Shaw. It opened as the Cherokee Opera House on November 16, 1908 to commemorate the First Anniversary of Oklahoma’s admittance into the United States. In 1910, it was called the Grand Opera House of Cherokee / Grand Opera House. It had a very brief run as the Grand Theater before Charley B. Titus took on the venue renaming it as the Majestic Theatre on June 14, 1920 with Priscilla Dean in “The Virgin of Stamboul.” The Majestic competed with the Crystal Theatre until both were taken on by the Hawk Brothers.
The trade press suggests that the Majestic was closed under a new operator and that the Crystal was wired for sound becoming the Ritz Theatre. We’ll assume for ease that they had it backwards and the Majestic became the Ritz as written here. The Ritz left at the end of lease on August 28, 1955 with Fred MacMurray in “Pushover.”
The Royal Theatre launched on July 10, 1922 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest.” It replaced the Odeon Theatre elsewhere. Operator Roy Anthony switched the venue to sound films in 1929 with Vutaphone and Movietone films on May 15th with “The Home Towners.” The theatre was still open heading to its 100th Anniversary.
The New Theatre opened namelessly with a naming contest on by June 11, 1921 by J.S. White in the existing Medcalf-Percival building. A confectioner was there at the launch as the de facto concession stand. Six different folks sent in the name Whiteway Theatre and each received passes for a full year of movies with the name going into effect July 8, 1921.
Frank Miller of the competing Pastime Theatre would take over the venue. On November 21, 1929, Miller switched to talkies with the playing of “The Jazz Singer.” When the new-build Alamo was opened in February of 1936, the Whiteway was downgraded to twice a week operation. The Whiteway became the Mar Theatre after the War. It closed in the mid-1950s but was taken on by a local church for some live events and additional religious film screenings through 1959. In 1962, it was converted for use as a Ben Franklin retail store.
The Alamo opened February 9, 1936 by Frank Miller on a 30-year lease. Dual Simplex projectors, four speakers with Western Electric sound, Silver King screen, cry room, smoking room, and an opening film of Ann Harding in “The Lady Consents” were all a part of opening day. Meanwhile, Miller’s existing Whiteway Theatre was demoted to twice-a-week operation.
It was Miller’s latest theater in town. He had started with the Pastime Theatre on August 28, 1913 - its first of three locations. He also bought the Whiteway in 1922 and operated the Rex from 1927 to 1929.
The new Drive-In of Ava launched with widescreen projection and individual, in-car speakers on June 26, 1959 with “I Bury the Living.” It appears to be in roughly the same place / or the exact place as the original drive-in that operated five seasons from 1952-1956. The Avalon hardtop closed for the season while the ozoner was in operation. The name of the venue was changed from the Drive-In of Ava to the Ava Drive-In Theatre in the 1960s and appears to have closed under that name following the June 19, 1978 showing of “The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.” There is a single reference to the drive-in operating in 1982 but no additional coverage or ads so difficult to pin down much after 1978.
Charles Blaine decided to replace his aging Yale Theatre with a new and larger venue. He took an existing building and created the Blaine Theatre. At launch the Blaine had two Motiograph DeLuxe projectors and 20' tall sign with 400 bulbs. The grand opening featured Colleen Moore in “It Must be Love” supported by Our Gang in “Shivering Spooks,” a cartoon, and a newsreel called the Blaineogram on September 1, 1926. The theatre organ accompanied the films.
Under Griffith Amusement Circuit since 1928, the circuit installed Vitaphone on March 3, 1929 beginning with “Alias Jimmy Valentine.” Griffith gave the venue a major overhaul reopening as the New Blaine on March 6, 1941 with Jean Arthur in “Arizona.”
On August 1, 1954, the Blaine switched to widescreen projection to show CinemaScope titles starting with “The River of No Return.” The theatre was later renamed the Ciné in the 1970s and closed as a twin-screen facility. The Ciné was razed in 2008 following asbestos abatement and the Blaine’s organ was still in place at the time of the demolition.
The Empress Theatre was located at 106 South Main in downtown Shattuck. It began in October of 1913, was totally refreshed in 1928 as the New Empress. On October 27, 1929, the theatre relaunched with Vitaphone and sound films with Al Jolson in “The Singing Fool.”
When the Wilsons opened the new $60,000 Shattuck Theatre in 1946, the Empress' days were numbered. Lee and Garland Wilson’s Wilson Theatres Circuit discontinued regular movies screenings on January 2, 1949 at the Empress Theatre with the “Return of the Lash” with Las LaRue. Religious screenings were offered by a local church in 1950 with with the building offered for sale. Lee and Garland Wilson retrofitted the venue for other purposes in March of 1952.
Garland Wilson built the Drive-In in 1952 with a name-the-theater contest prior to launching. The winning name was the fusion of Ellis County Oklahoma or the El-Co. It opened with 182 spaces for cars on May 18, 1952 with Dinah Shore in “Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick.”
The Shattuck Theatre launched on September 15, 1946 with Linda Darnell in “Centennial Summer.”
The Dixie Theatre opened in the building at 120-122 Duke Street. It operated under that name from 1909 to November of 1917. Under new sole operator, A.L. Blunt it became the Liberty Theatre on November 11, 1917 with a benefit screening for the local YMCA showing a patriotic film. (The Liberty was a commonly-used World War I moniker for theaters.) But the biggest splash came just weeks later when the Liberty showed “Birth of a Nation” on December 2-3, 1917 at road show prices.
Blunt then sold the Liberty / former Dixie to L.R. Stout in April of 1921 for $16,000. The Liberty fell under the umbrella of O. Gill and Griffith Amusement Circuit next also in the 1920s. Late in 1927, it was reported that new equipment was added to the Liberty. It was gutted by fire in January of 1928. Interestingly, Gill would be arrested for setting fire to the Erie Theatre five years later. The remaining Liberty Theatre structure would then be incorporated into a bus terminal for two different bus lines, the latter of which was the Northeast Texas Motor Lines Inc.
Ad for the name change November 21, 1934 from the Hugo to the Ritz is posted with Barbara Stanwyck in “The Gambling Lady.”
O.A. Simmons and V. Bronaugh announced a new movie theatre late in 1911 and opening January 25, 1912. In 1913, the broadway added an airdome for the summer months. It looks like it closed in 1915
There were two Dixie Theatres - unrelated except in vicinity so two entries needed - one for the silent era and one for the post-War sound era. This can be the “new” / sound era Dixie Theatre. WWII veterans, Raymond McMillan and Clyde Walker, launched the New Dixie Theatre in the former Northeast Texas Motor Lines Inc. depot on with Jane Wyman in “Make Your Own Bed” on December 31, 1946.
It was the second Dixie Theatre in the general area as there was an unrelated Dixie Theatre in the silent era in the the same area. Just six months later in July of 1947, Griffith Consolidated Theatres Inc. Circuit bought out this location to eliminate the new competition as they operated the Erie in Ritz in downtown Hugo. They downgraded the venue to weekend-only operation.
In December of 1949, Video Independent Theatres Circuit took on the Griffith Amusement portfolio. They dropped the Dixie at the end of 1952 with “Hit the Ice” and “Border Saddlemasters.” The venue was used for agricultural trade screenings and meetings in 1953 before being repurposed.
The first Choctaw County fair was held right here in 1914. Tom Morehead of Video Independent Theatres had a new concept for the land in 1950, the Circus Drive-In Theatre. A 30'x40' screen size greeted customers as it launched on August 23, 1950 with Ann Blyth in “Red Canyon.” (However, if the site maintains that this drive-in opened in the mid-1940s, that’s great too!)
The theatre operated seasonally from April to October/November depending on when it got cold.
The 270 Drive-In is listed as a Robb & Rowley property in 1950
The Ritz Theatre was built on the North Side of the Jay, Oklahoma business district’s square. The opening film was on August 18, 1939 with Gene Autry in “In Old Monterey.” Air conditioned with 300-seats, operator J.H. Martin felt he could compete with theaters in Miami (Oklahoma) and Joplin. New owner Owen Wingard donated the old screen to a local school when the theatre converted to widescreen beginning with the February 27, 1955 screening of “The Robe.” Wingard ceased advertising late in 1957 likely ending the venue’s run.
The Ritz opened in September of 1926 and bellyflopped closing in October of 1927. It was “reserved” for sporadic, big movie times when the existing theaters couldn’t handle the load. But when it added sound, the Ritz hit its mark.
Western star Monte Hale graced the Trail on May 28, 1948 performing on his guitar and telling stories. It appears that the last roundup for the Trail was June 16, 1949
The Duncan Drive-In Theatre’s grand opening ad is posted from September 13, 1948. On November 10, 1954 it had relaunched with what it claims was the second largest drive-in screen in the world (not my claim) at 5,000 square feet thanks to the addition of two wings to the existing tower. This allowed for CinemaScope presentations. The first Scope title was “River of No Return” on November 18, 1954.
Bonus - it’s the precursor to the Thompson in Wilson - the Empress Theatre circa 1924
Jack Pierce launched the Meadow Drive-In in May 7, 1953 with the film, “Sky Full of Moon.” Pierce also operated the Lyric, Place, and the Time. And, yes, there were meadows that inspired the naming of the ozoner.
Cliff L. Lance took the El Rancho widescreen on April 2, 1954 with “The Robe” in CinemaScope. It appears to have closed at the end of lease on August 30, 1964 with “Muscle Beach Party.”
Way to go finding it - and that corresponds with the information about the location of the 1958 fire that decimated the former d-i
According to the trade press, Mr. and Mrs. Jack “Eddie” Holt of the New Theatre refreshed the New Theatre renaming it as the Holt Theatre. Mr. Holt owned both the Wigwam and the Holt when he testified in 1952 before a committee trying to slap a 20% entertainment tax on the movie theater industry. Holt suggested that the tax could cause 70% of all theatres to close if such a tax were instituted partially due to both the onset of television and the fact that all theaters would lose money if not for concessions. Holt would first close the Holt Theatre that decade and then the Wigwam in 1959.
In 1913, Coalgate was served by its newly-opened O.B.O. Theatre in the O.B.O. building, the existing Majestic Theatre, and in its first of two or three homes, the Wigwam Theatre which opened in August of 1913. The Wigwam would add Western Electric sound in 1931 to remain viable. However, it closed for a period during the Depression. It likely moved to new digs and continued all the way until closing on June 29, 1959 with “The Ten Commandments” at the end of a leasing period. It did not reopen.
The Grand Opera House of Cherokee was designed by prolific Enid architect Roy W. Shaw. It opened as the Cherokee Opera House on November 16, 1908 to commemorate the First Anniversary of Oklahoma’s admittance into the United States. In 1910, it was called the Grand Opera House of Cherokee / Grand Opera House. It had a very brief run as the Grand Theater before Charley B. Titus took on the venue renaming it as the Majestic Theatre on June 14, 1920 with Priscilla Dean in “The Virgin of Stamboul.” The Majestic competed with the Crystal Theatre until both were taken on by the Hawk Brothers.
The trade press suggests that the Majestic was closed under a new operator and that the Crystal was wired for sound becoming the Ritz Theatre. We’ll assume for ease that they had it backwards and the Majestic became the Ritz as written here. The Ritz left at the end of lease on August 28, 1955 with Fred MacMurray in “Pushover.”
The Royal Theatre launched on July 10, 1922 with Helene Chadwick in “The Old Nest.” It replaced the Odeon Theatre elsewhere. Operator Roy Anthony switched the venue to sound films in 1929 with Vutaphone and Movietone films on May 15th with “The Home Towners.” The theatre was still open heading to its 100th Anniversary.
The New Theatre opened namelessly with a naming contest on by June 11, 1921 by J.S. White in the existing Medcalf-Percival building. A confectioner was there at the launch as the de facto concession stand. Six different folks sent in the name Whiteway Theatre and each received passes for a full year of movies with the name going into effect July 8, 1921.
Frank Miller of the competing Pastime Theatre would take over the venue. On November 21, 1929, Miller switched to talkies with the playing of “The Jazz Singer.” When the new-build Alamo was opened in February of 1936, the Whiteway was downgraded to twice a week operation. The Whiteway became the Mar Theatre after the War. It closed in the mid-1950s but was taken on by a local church for some live events and additional religious film screenings through 1959. In 1962, it was converted for use as a Ben Franklin retail store.
The Alamo opened February 9, 1936 by Frank Miller on a 30-year lease. Dual Simplex projectors, four speakers with Western Electric sound, Silver King screen, cry room, smoking room, and an opening film of Ann Harding in “The Lady Consents” were all a part of opening day. Meanwhile, Miller’s existing Whiteway Theatre was demoted to twice-a-week operation.
It was Miller’s latest theater in town. He had started with the Pastime Theatre on August 28, 1913 - its first of three locations. He also bought the Whiteway in 1922 and operated the Rex from 1927 to 1929.
The new Drive-In of Ava launched with widescreen projection and individual, in-car speakers on June 26, 1959 with “I Bury the Living.” It appears to be in roughly the same place / or the exact place as the original drive-in that operated five seasons from 1952-1956. The Avalon hardtop closed for the season while the ozoner was in operation. The name of the venue was changed from the Drive-In of Ava to the Ava Drive-In Theatre in the 1960s and appears to have closed under that name following the June 19, 1978 showing of “The Wackiest Wagon Train in the West.” There is a single reference to the drive-in operating in 1982 but no additional coverage or ads so difficult to pin down much after 1978.