The Queen Theatre was crowned with public favor opening January 24, 1920 with Dorothy Phillips in “Paid in Advance.” She suffered a minor fire following the January 14, 1928 showings of Art Acord in “Hard Fists” and Julia Faye in “Turkish Delight” but appears to have closed thereafter without converting to sound.
But the venue was overhauled and relit as the Ritz Theatre, playing Western Electric talkies beginning on December 18, 1931 with Loretta Young in “I Like Your Nerve.” It last advertised on March 26, 1957 with “Naked Gun” and, though the venue hosted events in its lobby, its cinematic days had passed. In August of 1961, the venue was remodeled for Babcock Brothers Aut
Opening film April 15, 1931 was Reginald Denny in “Stepping Out.” Dropped in 1936, it reopened on March 16, 1939 as the New Metro Theatre with “12 Crowded Hours.” It dropped “new” and the Metro Theatre appears to have closed May 1, 1954 with Mickey Rooney in “My Outlaw Brother.”
The Colonial opened here on August 26, 1915 with “The Goose Girl.” It closed three years later and was replaced by the Severance Hardware retail store in 1919.
The Studio 1 Theatre opened with Peter Ford in “Wilbur & the Baby Factory” and Antoinette Maynard in “Weekend Lovers” on December 15, 1970. The Studio 1 closed December 11, 1980 as a discount, third-run adult cinema at the expiry of a 10-year lease with its last advertised shows of Sue Longhurst in “Keep It Up, Jack” and producer Leonard Kirtman’s “Pay the Babysitter.” All seats were just a dollar. The venue reopened as the Midtown Cinema in a new location the next day.
he Tulsa Theatre opened on February 19, 1941 with William Powell in “I Love You Again” & John Hubbard in “Who Killed Aunt Maggie”. It closed at the expiry of a 25-years lease on September 25, 1966 with “Chamber of Horrors” and “Murietta.”
The Cove Theatre in the Red Fork neighborhood launched for operator Joe Noble on August 18, 1946 with Maureen O'Hara in “Do You Love Me?” Cove Confections next door served as the venue’s de facto concession stand. The theater ended up on the tax roster in 1948 though secured new operators in John and Opal Gray that same year. Its final ad was on March 25, 1956 with “T?he Last Frontier” and “The Finger Man” likely ending the Cove’s run. Demolished.
The Cameo Theate r was announced in November of 1926 in a remodeling of an existing West Tulsa retail building. Julius Jacobson opened the venue on January 1, 1926 with “Mantrap” with Clara Bow. It converted too sound to remain viable. The final operators of the Cameo were Vernon Hoster and E.J. Blais. Blais closed the Gem on March 9, 1953 with “Francis, the Talking Mule” and “The Old Texas Trail.” Mrs. Julius Jacobson offered the building for sale in 1959. Demolished.
The U-See / Usee Theatre launched on August 13, 1910 as a nickelodeon in Tulsa. E.B. Tenney opened the venue with short subject films, Lillia Schreck at the piano, L. Cleveland Davis as singer, Charles Miche as projectionist and Mabelle White in the ticket booth. Targeting female and family audiences, the opening films were Vitagraph’s “Between Love and Honor” and William Shea and John Bunny as “Davy Jones and Captain Bragg” supported by “Glimpses of Bird Life” and an illustrated song.
The U-See closed following the March 7, 1911 showings of “A Broken Symphony,” “The Affair of an Egg” and “The Conspiracy of Pontiac.” Cyclone Furniture purchased the seating selling them for a “bargain” in late March of 1911.
The Gayety Theatre launched on February 5, 1927 with vaudeville and silent films. The theater was bombed at least five times for using non-union workers in the early 1930s. It was sold twice thereafter.
In January of 1935, the venue was renamed as the Roxy with exploitation films. On September 1, 1935 the venue became the Capitol Theatre with “The Eagle and the Hawk.” The Capitol switched to vaudeville with film for its one-year sublease. The venue returned to the Roxy nameplate in September 1936 playing exploitation films and fourth-run double features. A.M. Cauble took over the theater likely on another one-year sublease at the Roxy hiring union workers in September of 1937. Police showed up and stopped what it termed a strip tease show there in one of its first days of operation.The Roxy booked four wall films including “Marihuana” and “Narcotics.”
The venue closed for a period in the late 1930s and Katherine Brink reopened it as a third-tier double feature house.It failed and was sold at a sheriff’s auction for a meager $2,500. New operator E. “Bud” Claybrook took on the venue reopening it as a 310-seat movie theater on February 15, 1942 called the Uptown Theatre with James Cagney in “The Oklahoma Kid” and Ann Sheridan in “Naughty But Nice” supported by the Disney cartoon, “Donald Duck’s Golf Game.” The Uptown discontinued films not long after a 1958 minor fire. It became a house of worship called Life Temple Church until 1964.
The theatre returned to movie exhibition on October 9, 1964 as the Patria Theatre for Mr. and Mrs. Jose Antonio Ramirez who came to Tulsa from Cuba. They decided to show Spanish language films at the venerable theater. Opening films were Enrique Rambu in “Aventuras de Joselito y Pulgarcito” and Tin-Tan and Lon Chaney in “La Casa del Terror.” That lasted a year closing in 1965.
It was renamed as the Paris Art Theater relaunching on May 13, 1965. Mr. Ramirez was arrested at least twice for indecent exhibition of films. The theater’s last day was August 17, 1967 when the theatre was finally bombed for the last time. The blast destroyed the box office and caused extensive interior damage. The building has since been razed.
The Village Theatre was announced for the Wagon Wheel Shopping Center at Garnett Road and Admiral Place in 1966 during the luxury suburban theater era of movie exhibition . Alex Blue and J.B. Robb, Jr. had the venue built to the plans of Murray, Jones, Murray Architects of Tulsa. Blue sold the Admiral Twin Drive-In to General Cinema Corp. that year. The original plan for the Village showed a one-screen, 780-seat theater that could be twinned later if the need arose. Apparently it did. The projection booth was equipped for 35mm and 70mm at opening. Wagon Wheel was anchored by a Safeway grocery store and a TGY variety store.
The Village opened with “To Sir with Love” on October 20, 1967. Blue and Robb would sell the Village to General Cinema on April 15, 1970. GCC would change the name of the venue to the Village Cinema. It would then close the venue on September 11, 1972 to twin the complex. It re-emerged as the Village Cinema I & II. In 1979, GCC downgraded the venue to a sub-run, discount house with all seats $1.25 and ending in the 1980s at $1 a seat. The GCC Village closed on August 2, 1987 at the end of a 20-year leasing period with “Platoon” and “Crocodile Dundee.”
The Village Cinema’s contents were auctioned off on January 4, 1990 including its Creators poppers and all 713 theater seats.
The Lyric Theatre, an early Tulsa nickelodeon-era movie theaters, opened in 1907 and spawned a sequel here at Third and Main called Lyric Theatre No. 2. It appears to have launched in May of 1910 playing triple features of photoplay. The Lyric No. 2 likely caused confusion and became the Majestic Theatre on August 20, 1910 still with motion pictures. The theater was closed for a refresh and relaunched as the Cozy Theatre has a Grand Opening on February 23, 1911. The Cozy had a 50-year run as a movie theater - a great run. Blamed on transients trying to stay warm, the building was destroyed by a December 1978 fire. Demolition occurred in January of 1979 taking the neighboring Terry’s Books and Brady Hotel with it.
The venue became the short-lived Appollo Delman live events center that presented live rock and country concerts beginning in 1979. It closed in debt a year later in 1980. Hank Williams Jr., who played there in 1980, said that the acoustics were so great that he had considered recording an album there. The venue remained vacant until demolition in 1989.
The Riverlanes Twin Cinema appears to have opened in the Riverlanes Shopping Center on March 17, 1975 with “Herbie Rides Again” and “Pardon My Blooper.” The Riverlanes closed on October 17, 1976, a dismal failure for GCE.
Entertainment Management Corporation of Dallas took on the venue and renamed it the Southside Cinema Twin in November of 1977 as a second-run discount house. Oddly, the venue became the first theater in Tulsa to convert a screen to Dolby optical sound at a cost of some $25,000 where patrons could see a remastered “Pete’s Dragon” and “Saturday Night Fever.” Seat count was reduced to two identical 254-seat auditoriums for a total of 508 seats.
The venue eked out ten years of leasing but faded on October 3, 1985 with “Mad Max” and “E.T.” on discount sub-run pricing of just a dollar for show and seat. It resurfaced under a new operator in 1986 as the (two words) South Side Cinema closing on March 27, 1987 with live entertainment.
The shopping plaza was renamed the Southbend Shopping Center and the venue was relit one last time as the Southbend Silver Screens Cinemas operating from December 4, 1987 through final closure on January 12, 1989. In 1990, it became a live nightclub called Guts. In 1991, it became a house of worship under the banner of the Harmony Church.
The RiverWalk Movies opened on Christmas Day in 2005. An offer was made to replace the theater with a family entertainment / sports complex that allowed the theater to end its lease early. The RiverWalk (apparently using two capital letters) closed permanently on February 20, 2019.
The Cinema at Williams Center launched on September 27, 1978 with Farrah Fawcett-Majors in “Somebody Killer Her Husband.” The Cinema struggled early but found its way as an indy art house. Kept alive by a $1 a year leasing agreement, the theatre closed on April 8, 1990 with “Henry V.”
The venue resurfaced a year later as the Tower Theater at Williams Center Forum on March 26, 1991 vacillating between films and live music and events. The venue’s name was changed one final time to The Theater at Williams Center in 1993 closing late in 1994.
United Artists Theatre Corporation took on the Plaza 3 along with the Boman and Park Lane from Wichita-based American Entertainment Inc. on May 29, 1981. UATC would downgrade the venue to a sub-run discount house with all seats one dollar beginning of September 12, 1986. The UA Plaza 3 was closed permanently on March 6, 1988 with “Eddie Murphy’s Raw,” “Overboard” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
National General and Fox Midwest teamed to launch the Fox Country Club Plaza Theatre on November 23, 1966 with “Alfie.” A May 1966 court ruling had allowed the arrangement after antitrust / competitive practices issues had been raised by competitors. The Country Club Plaza also opened in 1966 with a Humpty Dumpty grocer, Skaggs Drug Store, and the Fox Country Club Plaza Theatre. On April 3, 1973, Mann Theatres acquired National General’s 240 locations and, effective on June 29, 1973, Mann operated the cinema under the Mann Fox Plaza Theatre banner. Mann closed the venue temporarily in 1975 to twin the venue. It became the Mann Fox Twins on Christmas Day 1975.
On June 22, 1984, General Cinema Corporation circuit took over the venue as the Fox Cinema I & II in a trade of locations with Mann . On September 12, 1991, GCC renamed the venue as the Fox Dollar Cinema downgrading it to a sub-run one dollar discount house. GCC left the venue behind at the end of a leasing period on April 30, 1992. A year later, the twins were twinned becoming a four-plex that operated as the Fox IV Theatre from August 6, 1993 to its permanent closure on September 30, 1998.
The Century Blackhawk Plaza was closed for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic from March of 2020 to March of 2021. An anchor of the Blackhawk Plaza boutique mall shopping complex, Cinemark closed there permanently at the end of its lease following showtimes on December 4, 2022.
The Niantic Cinema suspended operations after showtimes on September 14, 2022 awaiting more compelling features announced in December. (The theater did feature one short film screening of “Butterfield” on October 15, 2022 as a special event.) On December 7, 2022, the operators rethought that position and decided to make the announced September suspension of regular operations a permanent closure.
Chuck writes, “The Benson Theatre opened in December 1911 with seating listed at 489. The theatre closed on October 30, 1958.” For those who want more specific information on the Benson / Benalto Theatre, my research is below (and, sorry, should not be attributed to Chuck):
The original Benson Theater was located at what was then known as 4835 Main Street in Benson, Nebraska. It operated in the silent film era from 1911 until operator George H. “Mac” McArdle closed it in 1920 at the expiry of a 10-year lease. McArdle opened his new theater in Benson now annexed (as of 1917) by the City of Omaha. This theater’s entry begins in 1920 as the new-build facility is constructed, according to the movie industry trade press of the day.
McArdle’s new Benalto Theater opened at what was then 60th St and Military Avenue in North Omaha’s Benson neighborhood playing silent film. McArdle’s philosophy was, “I’m going to make every patron call me ‘Mac”… so when I say I have a good show, they’ll believe me.“ The Banalto Theater launched September 6, 1920 with Wallace Reid in “The Man from Funeral Range.” The Benalto name was then retired on May 29, 1926. The theater found new operators in World Realty, a Nebraska-based movie theater circuit, which closed the venue for four months and reopened it as the Benson Theatre on September 25, 1926 with Cecil B. DeMille’s “Silence.” The refresh cost $50,000 - more than the cost of the original construction - sporting a new Colonial design, increasing seat capacity to 700, and now with both a stage and an orchestra pit. The architect of the Colonial redesign was by Charles W. Rosenberry. Located next door to the venue was the Bensonette Confectionery which was the Benson Theater’s de facto concession stand in its early days.
On October 27, 1929, the Benson installed sound to remain viable and launching its talkies with “Showboat.” Epsteins Theatre Corp. / Epstein Brothers Circuit took on the venue running it with theaters including the Corby, Circle, Lothrop, Berkley, Roseland and Tivoli. They ran their own concession stand(s) and the Bensonette was replaced by a long-running bakery to its left and a jewelry store to its right. The circuit gave the theater a makeover to modernize it complete with new seats in 1946 and an interior streamline refresh in 1949 operating briefly as the “New” Benson. Seat count dropped down to just under 500.
Competition from television, drive-ins, and unruly teen patrons upended the Benson in the 1950s. The Epstiens closed or sold each of their seven theaters one by one with the Benson closing second to last on January 25, 1953 with Leslie Caron in “Lili” and Glenn Ford in “Terror on a Train.” The closure left the Epstiens with just the Corby Theatre which would last four additional years. The former Benson Theater was remodeled as a retail store for Best Appliance and Television opening later in the year.
The Benson made a comeback as a non-profit organization and predominantly stages live events in the 2020s. It has also played some repertory films and hosted film festival events.
The Queen Theatre was crowned with public favor opening January 24, 1920 with Dorothy Phillips in “Paid in Advance.” She suffered a minor fire following the January 14, 1928 showings of Art Acord in “Hard Fists” and Julia Faye in “Turkish Delight” but appears to have closed thereafter without converting to sound.
But the venue was overhauled and relit as the Ritz Theatre, playing Western Electric talkies beginning on December 18, 1931 with Loretta Young in “I Like Your Nerve.” It last advertised on March 26, 1957 with “Naked Gun” and, though the venue hosted events in its lobby, its cinematic days had passed. In August of 1961, the venue was remodeled for Babcock Brothers Aut
Opening film April 15, 1931 was Reginald Denny in “Stepping Out.” Dropped in 1936, it reopened on March 16, 1939 as the New Metro Theatre with “12 Crowded Hours.” It dropped “new” and the Metro Theatre appears to have closed May 1, 1954 with Mickey Rooney in “My Outlaw Brother.”
The Colonial opened here on August 26, 1915 with “The Goose Girl.” It closed three years later and was replaced by the Severance Hardware retail store in 1919.
Sorry - March 7, 1952 was the launch date
The Studio 1 Theatre opened with Peter Ford in “Wilbur & the Baby Factory” and Antoinette Maynard in “Weekend Lovers” on December 15, 1970. The Studio 1 closed December 11, 1980 as a discount, third-run adult cinema at the expiry of a 10-year lease with its last advertised shows of Sue Longhurst in “Keep It Up, Jack” and producer Leonard Kirtman’s “Pay the Babysitter.” All seats were just a dollar. The venue reopened as the Midtown Cinema in a new location the next day.
he Tulsa Theatre opened on February 19, 1941 with William Powell in “I Love You Again” & John Hubbard in “Who Killed Aunt Maggie”. It closed at the expiry of a 25-years lease on September 25, 1966 with “Chamber of Horrors” and “Murietta.”
The Liberty Theatre was built in 1917 and appears to have launched December 15, 1917 with a benefit screening. The equipment wa sold off in 1924.
The Cove Theatre in the Red Fork neighborhood launched for operator Joe Noble on August 18, 1946 with Maureen O'Hara in “Do You Love Me?” Cove Confections next door served as the venue’s de facto concession stand. The theater ended up on the tax roster in 1948 though secured new operators in John and Opal Gray that same year. Its final ad was on March 25, 1956 with “T?he Last Frontier” and “The Finger Man” likely ending the Cove’s run. Demolished.
The Cameo Theate r was announced in November of 1926 in a remodeling of an existing West Tulsa retail building. Julius Jacobson opened the venue on January 1, 1926 with “Mantrap” with Clara Bow. It converted too sound to remain viable. The final operators of the Cameo were Vernon Hoster and E.J. Blais. Blais closed the Gem on March 9, 1953 with “Francis, the Talking Mule” and “The Old Texas Trail.” Mrs. Julius Jacobson offered the building for sale in 1959. Demolished.
The theater’s last ad appeared February 4, 1911 likely spelling the end of the line for the Idle Hour.
The U-See / Usee Theatre launched on August 13, 1910 as a nickelodeon in Tulsa. E.B. Tenney opened the venue with short subject films, Lillia Schreck at the piano, L. Cleveland Davis as singer, Charles Miche as projectionist and Mabelle White in the ticket booth. Targeting female and family audiences, the opening films were Vitagraph’s “Between Love and Honor” and William Shea and John Bunny as “Davy Jones and Captain Bragg” supported by “Glimpses of Bird Life” and an illustrated song.
The U-See closed following the March 7, 1911 showings of “A Broken Symphony,” “The Affair of an Egg” and “The Conspiracy of Pontiac.” Cyclone Furniture purchased the seating selling them for a “bargain” in late March of 1911.
The Gayety Theatre launched on February 5, 1927 with vaudeville and silent films. The theater was bombed at least five times for using non-union workers in the early 1930s. It was sold twice thereafter.
In January of 1935, the venue was renamed as the Roxy with exploitation films. On September 1, 1935 the venue became the Capitol Theatre with “The Eagle and the Hawk.” The Capitol switched to vaudeville with film for its one-year sublease. The venue returned to the Roxy nameplate in September 1936 playing exploitation films and fourth-run double features. A.M. Cauble took over the theater likely on another one-year sublease at the Roxy hiring union workers in September of 1937. Police showed up and stopped what it termed a strip tease show there in one of its first days of operation.The Roxy booked four wall films including “Marihuana” and “Narcotics.”
The venue closed for a period in the late 1930s and Katherine Brink reopened it as a third-tier double feature house.It failed and was sold at a sheriff’s auction for a meager $2,500. New operator E. “Bud” Claybrook took on the venue reopening it as a 310-seat movie theater on February 15, 1942 called the Uptown Theatre with James Cagney in “The Oklahoma Kid” and Ann Sheridan in “Naughty But Nice” supported by the Disney cartoon, “Donald Duck’s Golf Game.” The Uptown discontinued films not long after a 1958 minor fire. It became a house of worship called Life Temple Church until 1964.
The theatre returned to movie exhibition on October 9, 1964 as the Patria Theatre for Mr. and Mrs. Jose Antonio Ramirez who came to Tulsa from Cuba. They decided to show Spanish language films at the venerable theater. Opening films were Enrique Rambu in “Aventuras de Joselito y Pulgarcito” and Tin-Tan and Lon Chaney in “La Casa del Terror.” That lasted a year closing in 1965.
It was renamed as the Paris Art Theater relaunching on May 13, 1965. Mr. Ramirez was arrested at least twice for indecent exhibition of films. The theater’s last day was August 17, 1967 when the theatre was finally bombed for the last time. The blast destroyed the box office and caused extensive interior damage. The building has since been razed.
The Village Theatre was announced for the Wagon Wheel Shopping Center at Garnett Road and Admiral Place in 1966 during the luxury suburban theater era of movie exhibition . Alex Blue and J.B. Robb, Jr. had the venue built to the plans of Murray, Jones, Murray Architects of Tulsa. Blue sold the Admiral Twin Drive-In to General Cinema Corp. that year. The original plan for the Village showed a one-screen, 780-seat theater that could be twinned later if the need arose. Apparently it did. The projection booth was equipped for 35mm and 70mm at opening. Wagon Wheel was anchored by a Safeway grocery store and a TGY variety store.
The Village opened with “To Sir with Love” on October 20, 1967. Blue and Robb would sell the Village to General Cinema on April 15, 1970. GCC would change the name of the venue to the Village Cinema. It would then close the venue on September 11, 1972 to twin the complex. It re-emerged as the Village Cinema I & II. In 1979, GCC downgraded the venue to a sub-run, discount house with all seats $1.25 and ending in the 1980s at $1 a seat. The GCC Village closed on August 2, 1987 at the end of a 20-year leasing period with “Platoon” and “Crocodile Dundee.”
The Village Cinema’s contents were auctioned off on January 4, 1990 including its Creators poppers and all 713 theater seats.
J.E. Gregg launched the Gregg Theater on July 26, 1916 with movies.
The Lyric Theatre, an early Tulsa nickelodeon-era movie theaters, opened in 1907 and spawned a sequel here at Third and Main called Lyric Theatre No. 2. It appears to have launched in May of 1910 playing triple features of photoplay. The Lyric No. 2 likely caused confusion and became the Majestic Theatre on August 20, 1910 still with motion pictures. The theater was closed for a refresh and relaunched as the Cozy Theatre has a Grand Opening on February 23, 1911. The Cozy had a 50-year run as a movie theater - a great run. Blamed on transients trying to stay warm, the building was destroyed by a December 1978 fire. Demolition occurred in January of 1979 taking the neighboring Terry’s Books and Brady Hotel with it.
The venue became the short-lived Appollo Delman live events center that presented live rock and country concerts beginning in 1979. It closed in debt a year later in 1980. Hank Williams Jr., who played there in 1980, said that the acoustics were so great that he had considered recording an album there. The venue remained vacant until demolition in 1989.
The Riverlanes Twin Cinema appears to have opened in the Riverlanes Shopping Center on March 17, 1975 with “Herbie Rides Again” and “Pardon My Blooper.” The Riverlanes closed on October 17, 1976, a dismal failure for GCE.
Entertainment Management Corporation of Dallas took on the venue and renamed it the Southside Cinema Twin in November of 1977 as a second-run discount house. Oddly, the venue became the first theater in Tulsa to convert a screen to Dolby optical sound at a cost of some $25,000 where patrons could see a remastered “Pete’s Dragon” and “Saturday Night Fever.” Seat count was reduced to two identical 254-seat auditoriums for a total of 508 seats.
The venue eked out ten years of leasing but faded on October 3, 1985 with “Mad Max” and “E.T.” on discount sub-run pricing of just a dollar for show and seat. It resurfaced under a new operator in 1986 as the (two words) South Side Cinema closing on March 27, 1987 with live entertainment.
The shopping plaza was renamed the Southbend Shopping Center and the venue was relit one last time as the Southbend Silver Screens Cinemas operating from December 4, 1987 through final closure on January 12, 1989. In 1990, it became a live nightclub called Guts. In 1991, it became a house of worship under the banner of the Harmony Church.
The RiverWalk Movies opened on Christmas Day in 2005. An offer was made to replace the theater with a family entertainment / sports complex that allowed the theater to end its lease early. The RiverWalk (apparently using two capital letters) closed permanently on February 20, 2019.
The Cinema at Williams Center launched on September 27, 1978 with Farrah Fawcett-Majors in “Somebody Killer Her Husband.” The Cinema struggled early but found its way as an indy art house. Kept alive by a $1 a year leasing agreement, the theatre closed on April 8, 1990 with “Henry V.”
The venue resurfaced a year later as the Tower Theater at Williams Center Forum on March 26, 1991 vacillating between films and live music and events. The venue’s name was changed one final time to The Theater at Williams Center in 1993 closing late in 1994.
United Artists Theatre Corporation took on the Plaza 3 along with the Boman and Park Lane from Wichita-based American Entertainment Inc. on May 29, 1981. UATC would downgrade the venue to a sub-run discount house with all seats one dollar beginning of September 12, 1986. The UA Plaza 3 was closed permanently on March 6, 1988 with “Eddie Murphy’s Raw,” “Overboard” and “Planes, Trains and Automobiles.”
National General and Fox Midwest teamed to launch the Fox Country Club Plaza Theatre on November 23, 1966 with “Alfie.” A May 1966 court ruling had allowed the arrangement after antitrust / competitive practices issues had been raised by competitors. The Country Club Plaza also opened in 1966 with a Humpty Dumpty grocer, Skaggs Drug Store, and the Fox Country Club Plaza Theatre. On April 3, 1973, Mann Theatres acquired National General’s 240 locations and, effective on June 29, 1973, Mann operated the cinema under the Mann Fox Plaza Theatre banner. Mann closed the venue temporarily in 1975 to twin the venue. It became the Mann Fox Twins on Christmas Day 1975.
On June 22, 1984, General Cinema Corporation circuit took over the venue as the Fox Cinema I & II in a trade of locations with Mann . On September 12, 1991, GCC renamed the venue as the Fox Dollar Cinema downgrading it to a sub-run one dollar discount house. GCC left the venue behind at the end of a leasing period on April 30, 1992. A year later, the twins were twinned becoming a four-plex that operated as the Fox IV Theatre from August 6, 1993 to its permanent closure on September 30, 1998.
The Century Blackhawk Plaza was closed for one year during the COVID-19 pandemic from March of 2020 to March of 2021. An anchor of the Blackhawk Plaza boutique mall shopping complex, Cinemark closed there permanently at the end of its lease following showtimes on December 4, 2022.
The Niantic Cinema suspended operations after showtimes on September 14, 2022 awaiting more compelling features announced in December. (The theater did feature one short film screening of “Butterfield” on October 15, 2022 as a special event.) On December 7, 2022, the operators rethought that position and decided to make the announced September suspension of regular operations a permanent closure.
Chuck writes, “The Benson Theatre opened in December 1911 with seating listed at 489. The theatre closed on October 30, 1958.” For those who want more specific information on the Benson / Benalto Theatre, my research is below (and, sorry, should not be attributed to Chuck):
The original Benson Theater was located at what was then known as 4835 Main Street in Benson, Nebraska. It operated in the silent film era from 1911 until operator George H. “Mac” McArdle closed it in 1920 at the expiry of a 10-year lease. McArdle opened his new theater in Benson now annexed (as of 1917) by the City of Omaha. This theater’s entry begins in 1920 as the new-build facility is constructed, according to the movie industry trade press of the day.
McArdle’s new Benalto Theater opened at what was then 60th St and Military Avenue in North Omaha’s Benson neighborhood playing silent film. McArdle’s philosophy was, “I’m going to make every patron call me ‘Mac”… so when I say I have a good show, they’ll believe me.“ The Banalto Theater launched September 6, 1920 with Wallace Reid in “The Man from Funeral Range.” The Benalto name was then retired on May 29, 1926. The theater found new operators in World Realty, a Nebraska-based movie theater circuit, which closed the venue for four months and reopened it as the Benson Theatre on September 25, 1926 with Cecil B. DeMille’s “Silence.” The refresh cost $50,000 - more than the cost of the original construction - sporting a new Colonial design, increasing seat capacity to 700, and now with both a stage and an orchestra pit. The architect of the Colonial redesign was by Charles W. Rosenberry. Located next door to the venue was the Bensonette Confectionery which was the Benson Theater’s de facto concession stand in its early days.
On October 27, 1929, the Benson installed sound to remain viable and launching its talkies with “Showboat.” Epsteins Theatre Corp. / Epstein Brothers Circuit took on the venue running it with theaters including the Corby, Circle, Lothrop, Berkley, Roseland and Tivoli. They ran their own concession stand(s) and the Bensonette was replaced by a long-running bakery to its left and a jewelry store to its right. The circuit gave the theater a makeover to modernize it complete with new seats in 1946 and an interior streamline refresh in 1949 operating briefly as the “New” Benson. Seat count dropped down to just under 500.
Competition from television, drive-ins, and unruly teen patrons upended the Benson in the 1950s. The Epstiens closed or sold each of their seven theaters one by one with the Benson closing second to last on January 25, 1953 with Leslie Caron in “Lili” and Glenn Ford in “Terror on a Train.” The closure left the Epstiens with just the Corby Theatre which would last four additional years. The former Benson Theater was remodeled as a retail store for Best Appliance and Television opening later in the year.
The Benson made a comeback as a non-profit organization and predominantly stages live events in the 2020s. It has also played some repertory films and hosted film festival events.
The Epstein Brothers closed the Besse Theatre on September 1, 1923. The Besse was then converted to a retail store launching in 1924.