BigTime Cinema

This theatre goes back to 1935 when it was known as the Roxy. Should have ana AKA Roxy Theatre. According to their website the theatre name is just Big Time Cinema. The have made the conversion to digital projection with Dolby 7.1 surround sound.

This 1935-era movie house is a thrice-named venue that has had a magnificent run. Its original operator, I. Walter Maple had run Bethany’s Elite Theatre in the town’s former Auditorium 1923 to 1929 on a 7-year lease. He then equipped it for sound for the Cozy to remain viable on a new lease. but the Cozy closed permanently when a fire early in the morning of February 2, 1934 destroyed the Auditorium building housing the Cozy.

This led Maple to construct the Roxy, a new-build theatre. Unfortunately for Maple, Lester Robinson and Joe Noll also decided to build a new theatre at the same time seeing an opportunity. Maple took a space in the Knights of Pythian Castle Hall to create the temporary replacement Cozy Theatre to continue his bookings. That theatre became the Cozy-Castle and, finally, Castle Theatre.

In the race to see who could open their theatre first, Maple’s Roxy opened with a political speech on October 3, 1935 by Senator Roscoe C. Patterson. But Robinson/Noll technically won the race when the new Noll Theatre opened with a movie on October 17, 1934. Maple then had the Roxy Theatre’s true theatrical Grand Opening opening with the film, “Wake Up and Dream,” on October 26, 1934. The town had reached its high-water mark of three simultaneous hardtop theatres.

Maple would shutter the Cozy-Castle Theatre turned Castle Theatre permanently on December 15, 1934. Maple cited “bad roads” as the reason for closure instead of too many theaters in the small town. Maple retired in 1938 dying in 1942. But his Roxy Theatre had a long run. It was given a makeover by new operators Mrs. and Mrs. Bill Pollock relaunching as the Royal Theatre. It had a soft launch on July 11, 1969 playing films including “Doctor Dolittle” during this period and an official grand opening on July 27, 1969 with “Finian’s Rainbow.” The Royal Theatre and Restaurant closed in 1977 and was auctioned off. The winning bidder at $19,000 was R.L. Adkins. At some point, it was renamed El Teatro Real and then the BigTime Cinema operating into the 2020s.

Reopened as Big Time Cinema on July 29th, 2005.

Big Time Cinema opening 03 Aug 2005, Wed Bethany Republican-Clipper (Bethany, Missouri) Newspapers.com