River Oaks Theatre

November 28, 1939 was opening day for the River Oaks. Hugh Potter, mentioned above, was the master of ceremonies for the grand opening. The River Oaks’ color scheme was maroon and cream, according to that day’s news reports.

I worked here back in my early twenties. there were all sorts of stories about a guy who died behind the screen in this theater…and some of the folks around there said he still haunted the theater. funny thing is that to turn off the lights in the main theater auditorium, you had to go behind the stage…which then meant that, to exit the auditorium, you had to walk the entire length of the auditorium, from front to the entry doors in the back…and you had to do this in pitch black darkness. I cannot count the amount of people i terrified during this evening ritual. It was delicious…
I still remember one of the assistant managers named Joel…a really good guy. He ordered some films for a staff party…and he actually ordered THE THIRD MAN for me, because he’d heard me weeks before talking about how i wished i could see that film on the big screen in THAT theater. Good memories…

Sweet. We’re already on the marquee for this weekend ;)

Hello! Even though I’m in North Carolina now, I have many fond memories of the River Oaks from back in the 70’s when it showed the very best foreign, art-house & classic movies – sometimes double features! I first saw “The Seven Samurai” there, complete with intermission. I saw “Don’t Look Now!”, “Grand Hotel”, “The Twentieth Century”, “It Happened One Night”,and “China Seas” there just to name a few. The River Oaks was kind of my Cinema Paradiso, if you know what I mean. Thanks to those who posted pictures!

KHOU article abut Preservation Texas adding the theatre (along with The Alabama) to their 2007 list of endangered historic places. While they have no legal control over things, they have a well-established presence in Austin.

Mina, on 9/10, you said a pic explained about the ticket box being in the Rocky ‘storage room’. What pic, what link & where is the ‘Rocky storage room’?

Sorry about those repeat posts. My computer jammed up. You’ll note they’re several minutes apart.

William, the links you provided on 8/31 & 9/10, to Chronicle articles, are null & void. Expired, apparently. What victory are you referring to? Which Houston landmark was saved w/23,000 signatures?

Thanx, William. Not very representative of the theatre, but it wasn’t an architectural marvel outside or anything. It WAS a very nice theatre inside—w/a smoking loge, in which the seats had ashtrays on the backs, so viewers could ash their cigs in them. The original intention of making it a twin screen has a little trivial interest, too. Funny, that, in the ad, it gives the phone # as ‘HO8-7948’. The ‘HO’ stood for ‘homestead’. Not too long after that, phone #s here, started using the numeric equivalents, on the phone dials. ‘HO*-7948’ became ‘468-7948’. Now it’s ‘713-468-7948’, due to the fact that we have 3 area codes in town now—or WOULD be, had the theatre not become a furniture store. it’s nteresting to see oshops in town, w/their phone #s long painted in their windows, which have never added their area codes.

Incidentally, the link you posted on 8/31, concerning

I found a great article on the river oaks theater go to View link

Apparently, tho—tenants have gotten this info from THEIR leasing agents. Seems like THEY would know the inside scoop.
About 12 ppl went to the City Council meeting yesterday. Some of the 12 were from a property owners' rights lobbying group, though.
US Representative Sheila Jackson Lee was there—speaking up for the center, too. Good to have her aboard.

I find it interesting that Weingarten Realty brags about the historic nature of River Oaks, and its significant architecture, on the shopping center’s Web site, and then proposes tearing part of it, and the theaters, down. After all, they openly state that it’s a historic landmark.

“Aside from being one of Houston’s premiere shopping, dining and entertainment experiences, River Oaks Shopping Center is also a historical landmark!

River Oaks Shopping Center is the oldest shopping center in Texas and the second oldest shopping center in the nation (Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri is the nation’s oldest).

Hugh Potter, the center’s designer, began building River Oaks Shopping Center in 1937.

River Oaks Shopping Center is one of Houston’s premier examples of Modern architectural design. When you visit, take notice of its pair of curved sections facing Shepherd Drive, followed by the long horizontal units on either side of West Gray. These features are representative of typical Modern design. In addition, many classic ‘30’s and '40’s motifs and materials- rounded corners, “porthole” windows and light fixtures, black glass and stucco- can also be seen among the center’s Modern design details."

View link

I mean, jeez, talk about wanting to have it both ways.