Dollhouse Cinema

119 W. Commerce Street,
Altus, OK 73521

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Additional Info

Previously operated by: Video Independent Theaters Inc.

Styles: Spanish Gothic

Previous Names: Wigwam Theatre, Paramount Theatre

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Located on W. Commerce Street close to the corner with N. Hudson Street. The Wigwam Theatre was opened by 1914. It had a reopening on January 9, 1921, still operating as the Wigwam Theatre. It was renamed Paramount Theatre on October 29, 1933. It was still open in 1938, but had closed by 1939.

After the upstart The Movies 1 & 2 opened in 1969, Video Independent Theatres (a subsidiary of RKO) remodeled their long shuttered Paramount Theatre downtown, and reopened it under a new name, Dollhouse Cinema.

This was a cute theatre, with a nice size balcony, that was redecorated in typical 1970 styling; new tufted drapes covered auditorium walls, spotlights highlighted heavy stage curtains, fiberglass chairs were more comfortable than original metal seats, and a dropped panel ceiling improved acoustics.

Superior film booking helped the Dollhouse Cinema to be stiff competition for The Movies 1 & 2. When the twin Movies closed, the Dollhouse’s purpose was fulfilled and followed soon after. It was demolished in early-2011. The adjacent NBC bank built a replica of the Wigwam Theatre facade to a new building to house an art gallery.

Contributed by Myrna Louise, Cactus Jack

Recent comments (view all 22 comments)

raybradley on March 14, 2011 at 12:18 am

Go to link below and type in “altus paramount”. Compare the two buildings on either side of the Paramount Theatre photo, then you will see that the vacant lot seen above is the exact location of the Dollhouse (AKA-Wigwam, Paramount) Cinema.
View link

raybradley on March 14, 2011 at 10:36 pm

Oh my God, I made a mistake four years ago … BFD!

raybradley on March 15, 2011 at 6:28 am

All I know is what Joe Vogel wrote last month about the Delta Theatre. He says that the Delta burned down in 1954, and was never rebuilt.

theshadow on June 21, 2011 at 1:39 am

Empty space pictured above was the STATE THEATER, North side of city square. It burned down. The PLAZA is on the West side, The DELTA was on the South side and the RITZ was on the East. The ALTUS DRIVE-IN was just East of the city. i grew up there and worked at the PLAZA and the STATE during the 50s.

rivest266 on March 22, 2014 at 8:42 pm

No ads in the newspaper. Must had shown adult movies and the paper had an adult movie ban.

dallasmovietheaters on August 19, 2021 at 2:02 am

The original Wigwam Theatre was opened by H.K. Smith on the North side of the square on December 13, 1913. Due to ventilation issues, Smith launched the Wigwam Airdome on North Main Street for the warm summer months. On January 9, 1921 the “new” Wigwam launched likely in the same location.