Plainview Theatre

The Jewell Theatre opened in downtown Plainview as a silent movie house on Main Street in October of 1914. The theatre had nearly a 60-year run under three different names. The Jewell was a circuit of small-town theatres in Nebraska generally seating around 300 people. Many Jewell Theatres went out of business unable to convert to sound to remain viable. The Plainview location changed ownership earlier than most in 1922. At the theatre’s 8th Anniversary, it was under new ownership of Mr. and Mrs. John J. Hoffman who rebranded it as the Plainview Theatre.

On January 11, 1929, the Hoffmans experimented with talkies. They knew they had a winner and closed down to remodel the Plainview in March of 1929. The theatre relaunched with sound films in April of 1929. After Mr. Hoffman died in the early-1930’s, the theatre had several new owners and a brief run as the Plains Theatre.

New owners Mr. and Mrs. Walter Austin converted the theatre including a curved, wide screen and new sound system to present CinemaScope films beginning on June 20, 1954 with “The Command” starring Guy Madison. The Austin’s ran the theatre until fire destroyed it on March 7, 1972. The fire destroyed two businesses and had started in the film projection booth.

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