Ritz Theatre
103 E. Virginia Street,
McKinney,
TX
75069
103 E. Virginia Street,
McKinney,
TX
75069
1 person
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Previously operated by: Robb & Rowley-United Inc., Rowley United Theatres Inc., Texas Cinema Corporation
Functions: Office Space, Retail
Nearby Theaters
The Ritz Theatre is a two-story brick commercial block building. The Ritz Theatre opened October 8, 1928 and premiered the film “Our Dancing Daughters” starring Joan Crawford, Johnny Mack Brown, Nils Asther, Dorothy Sebastian and Anita Page, and was directed by Harry Beaumont. The film was considered to be an extremely important film for many reasons. For the first time, Joan Crawford revealed her real acting abilities in a meaty role. Its place in the transition between silent films and talkies is also important, as it was one of the last great silent films in the late-1920’s that preserved forever how sound was gradually incorporated into MGM’s major productions. The theatre installed air conditioned in 1929 and stayed in operation as a movie theatre until closing in 1975. It reopened on April 10, 1980 screening a mix of regular movies and Spanish language movies, but this was a short-lived venture and it had closed later in 1980.
Eventually the building was purchased and rehabilitated into a multi-purpose facility providing retail and service space on the bottom floors and office space on the upper floors.
Contributed by
Kevin Taylor
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Recent comments (view all 9 comments)
Photo in April 2017: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:McKinney_April_2017_002_(The_Ritz_Theatre).jpg
The Ritz Theatre Didn’t Open That Late In October 1928. According To Newspapers.com, It Opened On October 8th, 1928 With Our Dancing Daughters.
And According To The McKinney’s Courtier-Gazette, The Ritz And McKinney Drive-In Both Closed Separately In 1971. The Ritz Ended Up Shutting Its Doors On December 29th, 1971 With “Man In The Wilderness” Being Its Last Film.
PLEASE UPDATE: The Ritz And The McKinney Drive-In Didn’t Closed On December 29th, 1971. It Continued Until Early 1972 With An Unknown Film Being Its Last Film.
PLEASE UPDATE: The McKinney Drive-In And The Ritz Both Continued Their Operations Since November Of 1972 With The Ritz And McKinney Drive-Ins Both Switching Themes Of Films. The Ritz Were Showing A Double Horror Flick While The McKinney Drive-In Ran First-Run. It Is Operated By Showcase International At The Time. The McKinney Drive-In Did Not Appear In 1973, But The Ritz Only Did As Early As March 1973. So I Will Say It Closed In The Spring Of 1973 Because It Did Not Appear In The Summer 1973 Gazette.
In Late February 1954 Or Early March 1954, The Ritz Installed CinemaScope.
UPDATE: I Just Found An Update To The Ritz Theatre According To The Bonham Daily Favorite That The Ritz In McKinney Didn’t Close In 1973, Although The Ritz Which Originally Appeared As Show Listings In The Courtier Gazette Of McKinney Only Showed The Attractions For The Ritz Until April 1973. But One Attraction From A Year Later I Just Found Reads That The Ritz Theatre Of McKinney Still Continued To Run First-Run Attractions As Of 1974.
So It Appears To Be That The Ritz Has Been Closed As A Movie House In The Late 1970’s, But Remains As A Special Events Theater Afterwards Into The Mid-1980’s.
The Ritz While Still Running A Mix Of First-Run Closed For Only 1 Day Due To Repairs And A Larger Wide Screen Was Added By Owner Roy E. Brockman Of McKinney Theatres Incorporated On June 16, 1960. A Year Later, Things Will Change And The Format Race Began.
From Early 1961 Until Late 1962, The Ritz While Continuing Its First-Run Success Rarely Began Screening Approximately A Little Bit Of Mature And Restricted Films, But It Only Happens Once In A While During 1961 And 1962. The Ritz Theatre However Continued Its Primary First-Run And A-Attractions Success Such As “The Music Man”, “Safe At Home”, “Rose Marie”, And The 1960’s Three Stooges Features. When 1963 Rolled Along, The McKinney Drive-In Gave A Big Slap In The Face And Switched Back To Its Primary Second-Run And B-Attractions.
On November 16, 1962, Mrs. Charles Nitcholas, employee and ticket counter of the Ritz, was presented with the monthly Chamber of Commerce’s “Most Courteous Employee” award at the Directors' meeting and was named “City Accountant”.
Grand opening ad:
The Ritz Theatre was built on the site of a blacksmith shop and later a department store that was burned down in early 1928.
When the Westgate Cinema opened on July 5, 1972, both the Ritz and the McKinney Drive-In were trying to keep both theaters alive. At the time, the Ritz was operated by the Texas Cinema Corporation alongside the McKinney Drive-In.
The McKinney Drive-In closed in 1974 and the Ritz was still operating when first-run features gain more popularity at the Westgate. That same exact year, ads for the Ritz Theatre no longer appear in the Courtier Gazette meaning that it is very hard to tell on when the Ritz ended its life as a full-time movie house. It appears that the Ritz closed in 1975 and sat abandoned for a time.
The Ritz briefly made a surprise comeback on April 10, 1980 by independent operators Mr. and Mrs. Manuel Rosales. They managed to show English movies by any genre on Thursdays and Fridays, and a Spanish feature on Saturdays as well as live entertainment during the weekends. Unfortunately this did not last pretty long at all. Lasting for several months, the Ritz closed again that same year.