Ritz Theater
3149 S. Grand Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63118
3149 S. Grand Boulevard,
St. Louis,
MO
63118
5 people
favorited this theater
Additional Info
Architects: William Lucas
Styles: Streamline Moderne
Previous Names: Juniata Theater
Nearby Theaters
Built in 1910, the Juniata Theater was part of a small independent chain of theaters operated by O.T. Crawford in St. Louis. The theater was was located on South Grand Boulevard next to the Hessleberg Drug Company in the South Grand Business District.
The Ritz Theater, as it was renamed in 1924 when it was taken over by Ansell Brothers, was a fairly narrow theater with a small balcony. The Ritz Theater showed second-run movies. Rather non-descript interior and a very small lobby. The theater was twinned in 1981.
Contributed by
Charles Van Bibber, Norman Plant, JAlex
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Recent comments (view all 14 comments)
Yeesh. I saw a number of films there on my cheap date nights, including “Blue Thunder” with the recently deceased Roy Schieder. The place wasn’t kept very clean, but maybe it was just the sloppy neighborhood kids. I swear a rat ran across my foot there once in 1980. Wasn’t that the southernmost theater on Grand Ave?
Became a two-screen house December 1981.
And, for Kerry M: No, the Melba was the farthest south theatre on Grand.
Final day of operation was March 30, 1986.
Didn’t Mid-America Theaters run this place for a while in the 70s?
Yes, Mid-America operated this theatre from 1962 to 1979.
I remember when my Grandma died in 86'. She lived on Juniata St for 40 years. We drove up from Nashville and stayed at her house during the funeral. I remember being depressed and walking the few blocks from her house to the RITZ. I never went in, it may have been closed by then. My mom and aunt told me that they used to walk there all the time to see movies as kids.
The weekend that President Kennedy was assassinated, I went to the Ritz and saw “Lawrence of Arabia”. I was 12 years old. There were about 5 other people there that Sunday afternoon. I also saw the first run of the Beatles first movie “A Hard Day’s Night” there. I stayed all day in fact and still have my original ticket that I had to purchase ahead of time. The Ritz was the closest movie house to me as I lived on Juniata Street. I alternated between it, the Shenadoah, Columbia. Avalon and Granada theaters on Sundays.
The former site of the Ritz is now a St. Louis city pocket park.
Would any of you who have posted here happen to have old photos of the houses on 3600 Juniata near the old Ritz Theatre? If so, please contact me at . Thanks!
The Ritz Park (at the theater site) held community events such as Tower Grove Pride Fest in the past