Tyler Theatre

rivest266 on October 16, 2019 at 4:58 pm

Closed in 1982 by Plitt Southern Theatres.

Joe Vogel on June 18, 2011 at 1:51 am

Don: It’s pretty easy to embed links now, using markdown code. Put the text that will become the link between square brackets [thus], then copy and paste the url between parentheses (thus). You can leave spaces between words in the text as usual, but leave no other spaces. Below, I’ve put Tyler Theatre between square brackets and put the photo’s url at Flickr between parentheses. That’s all there is to it:

A view of the Tyler Theatre

Don Lewis on June 17, 2011 at 12:27 pm

Good job City of Tyler. That’s some real forward thinking you’ve done with three classic theater buildings that are/were within sight of each on the city square. I don’t know of any other city that can match that.

EnnisCAdkins on April 15, 2010 at 9:48 pm

I worked at the Alabama Theatre in Houston when it was managed by Howard Skelton. In the mid 1960’s Mr. Skelton was transferred to Tyler, Texas as the city manager. He was a terrific guy. Can anyone who lives in Tyler update me on what happened to Howard Skelton? I will always remember him as the first manager I ever worked for.

scooterjmatthews on February 22, 2009 at 10:06 pm

I’m not sure when this photo/rendering was taken, but judging by the film listed on the marquee this image is from the early sixties.

Tyler Theater, circa 1962

Don Lewis on February 3, 2008 at 10:15 pm

Sad and very well stated Movieman!! Is the Tyler completely demolished and gone now? I have not been back in a couple of years.

Don Lewis on December 27, 2007 at 3:36 pm

Hello Cinema Treasures. The sentence, “The theater "was has” been gutted and converted into retail use", in the theater description is not my sentence or my words.

Would you please at least correct the grammar?

Thanks…….

philbertgray on August 19, 2007 at 10:22 am

This article has a picture of the Tyler Theatre in December 1962. The film showing was “It’s Only Money” with Jerry Lewis. The auditorium to the left of the entrance can be clearly seen along with some of its streamline facade. The portion to the left was the back of the auditorium. the bathrooms were above the lobby.

View link

The Tyler was the biggest theatre in the city, one of three on the downtown square, the Arcadia and Liberty were the other two.

The Tyler had a small lobby for its size. The snack bar faced you as you went in. To the right and curving around to the left and behind the snack bar was the stairway to the balcony with a “reststop” about midway up. There was enough room for a couple of chairs or you could look down over the rail into the lobby.When I saw “The Fly” there there was a chair and table with a mannequin sitting in it at the “rest stop”. The mannequin’s hand was covered with a cloth and a sign asked if you “dared to see the horror of the Fly”. When the cloth was lifted the mannequin’s hand was wrapped with a cheap piece of fur.

The bathrooms were above the lobby. Past the bathrooms was the entrance to the balcony. On the main floor, to the left of the snack bar was an entrance to a “walkway” than ran the width of the auditorium with two aisle entrances on the right into the auditorium. Between the doors into the auditorium were “Windows” covered with velvet drapes. You could part the drapes and look into the auditorium. There was seating in the walkway.

In the mid 1950s my Saturdays were spent in downtown Tyler going from one theatre to another with the dollar I was given. I usually went to the Tyler first. They had a “kiddie Matinee” for 10 cents – sometimes free if your brought in 10 coke bottle caps. My favorite was the “Old Yeller” kiddie matinee. You were admitted free if you brought your dog. Sounded good on paper I guess, but with a theatre of dogs and kids it was pandemonium. My dog Skippy managed to wiggle out of his collar and I spent most of the movie trying to catch him.

One of the films I most remember at the Tyler was a “special presentation” of a film called “Thrillarama” in 1956. It was a poor man’s version of Cinerama with a specially installed curved widescreen. It utilized both 35 mm cameras that already existed at all theatres instead of the three required to be installed for Cinerama. There was a join line down the middle of the presentation where the dual projection of both cameras running at once met. After a scant few presentations the film disappeared. It probably would have never played in Tyler except one of the sequences was a performance of the “Apache Belles”, an all girl sports support precision group that performed at sports functions representing Tyler, Tx. More info can be found about Thrillarama at the below webwsite

View link

I also remember going to see “Love me Tender” with Elvis Presley in 1956 with my mother and aunt who used me as their “beard” so they wouldn’t be seen as two silly middle aged women going to see Elvis Presley unescorted.

I also remember getting a “free glass slipper” with the purchase of a Coke when I went to Cinderella. It was actually plastic and I kept it for years.

I stopped in Tyler in 1983 on a trip back to Texas. The Arcadia and Tyler were closed. The Liberty was still open, showing Latino films. the Tyler was still intact and for sale at the time. I have pictures, including one of the lobby, I will be posting to flickr as soon if I can fever igure out how to do it.

It is incredibly sad to see the current photos with the auditorium gone and a shabby remnant of the entrance and marquee only remaining. I wonder what idiot thought that was a good idea. It is no more than an eyesore and might as well be demolished lest it remind people of what once existed there and is now lost forever.

Phil Gray

Don Lewis on July 25, 2006 at 6:25 pm

My photograph of the TYLER View link

Michael Furlinger on April 27, 2005 at 2:37 pm

marquee is still up as of april 1st 2005-

Michael Furlinger on April 4, 2005 at 11:16 pm

theater building still stands but has been gutted . The marquee and box office are still there as part of deal with the city. building now has a bar and shops.