Cyclone Theatre

I operated the Cyclone Theatre for a couple of years in the mid-to-late 70s. The building was owned by Glen Millirons, who also owned another closed theater in Snyder that was used as a warehouse. Of the two, the “Cyclone” was closer to being operable, so my partner and I leased it and renovated it thoroughly. We decorated the Cyclone with furnishings purchased in an auction of an old Video theatre in Lawton, Ok. Unfortunately, I cannot recall the name of the Video property in Lawton that was being auctioned, nor do I remember the name of the Cyclone before I leased it. There was a remnant of a vertical neon name board above the marquee with the original name on it.

The struggle to gain acceptance for the Cyclone was substantial because a previous operator had been known to exhibit private films in the balcony. However, with the Chamber of Commerce on our side, we eventually saw the towm embrace the theatre, and business was good for a short while. When playing “Jaws” as a second-run, we had cars from all over Oklahoma lining the streets. We received tremendous support from UA who would work us into an occasional first-run campaign once they felt we were not going to compete with Video. The Chamber of Commerce sponsored free kids movies on Saturday mornings for us as well. Life was good for the Cyclone.

When the ticket sales eventually dried up, as many in the business predicted they would, we passed the business on to an exhibitor that wanted to run Spanish-speaking films. This operator felt there was much demand in that genre. That was the last I heard of the Cyclone Theatre.

What’s left of the old Cyclone Theatre can be seen in this recent street view.
Snyder had another theatre named Fanroy.
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When I was a preteen, living in Indiahoma, about 12 miles east of Snyder, we used to hitchhike to Snyder every Saturday in time for the 1:00 PM matinee and then hang around for the main movie. It was called the Alamo then and showed a lot of double features. I am now 76.