Howell Theatre

141 S. Third Street,
Smithfield, NC 27577

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Howell Theatre (Official)

Additional Info

Previously operated by: Howell Circuit, Multi-Cinemas

Styles: Art Deco

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The Howell Theatre was built in 1935 by Rudolph Howell and opened on February 4, 1935 with Ramon Navarro in “The Night is Young”. Seating was provided for 900, with 650-seats on the main floor and 250-seats in the balcony. A section of the balcony was reserved for African-American patrons. In August 1949 the Howell Theatre hosted a World Premiere of “The Great Sinner” starring Ava Gardner, who was a Smithfield native. On July 12, 1960 the theatre was gutted by a fire, which left only the four walls standing. It was immediately rebuilt.

In May 1974 renovations were carried out and the seating capacity was reduced due to larger seats being installed. A second screen was added in the 1970’s. In 1986, two more screens were added. It was closed in April 2025.

Contributed by Lost Memory

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Recent comments (view all 8 comments)

kencmcintyre on September 27, 2008 at 6:48 pm

The theater site is being redesigned. Still showing first run movies, however.
http://www.howellmovies.com/

LFOP on October 30, 2008 at 8:24 pm

Here’s a 2007 view of the HOWELL Theater: http://www.boxsetgallery.com/stein/index2.html

raysson on March 12, 2009 at 12:16 pm

The theatre site has been redesigned and it is now a discount theatre after the opening of the Smithfield Outlet Mall Cinemas 10 in 2004.

The Howell is showing second-run features these days.
And is the ONLY theatre that is in business in Downtown Smithfield.

CSWalczak on January 21, 2010 at 1:34 pm

A recent article about an ownership change at the Howell: View link

kencmcintyre on March 19, 2010 at 8:37 pm

Here is a photo of the Howell:
http://tinyurl.com/ygzxgh7

BillatHowellMovies on November 29, 2018 at 6:57 pm

Actually HP HOWELL built the theater, Rudy’s father. Rudy took over and owned it until 1999. Mickey Buffalo owned it until 2009. The Kirkman’s owned it until 2017, which is when I bought it.