Town Theatre

dallasmovietheaters on February 26, 2025 at 6:34 am

The Town and Country Shopping Plaza was proposed in 1961 and opened theatre-lessly in 1967. That changed when George Leipold opened the 322-seat, suburban luxury cinema, the Holiday Theatre, there on July 8, 1971. Opening film was “Escape from Planet of the Apes” with an in-person appearance by The Space Ape.

In November of 1971, the policy changed to Spanish language films on weekdays and porno chic x-rated films on weekends. In 1973, the Spanish films were replaced with Blaxploitation films. The theatre then went second-run Hollywood beginning in April of 1973 and closing Aug. 2, 1973. New operators, Venus Cinemas takes the Holiday mostly with Spanish films and art films. It. closes finding new operators in the Summer of 1973 who fail and the Holiday took a holiday for more than a year.

New operator Lou Weisntock then gives the theatre traction taking it on in November of 1974. After a refresh, he reopened it as a second-run, dollar discount venue and taking part of the plaza’s name as the Town Theatre. He opened on January 31, 1975 with “The Longest Yard.” Weinstock decided to add a midnight X-rated double feature on weekends in April of 1980 which riled up locals who protested. The town of Lake Worth banned the films almost immediately with Weinstock reversing course.

Weinstock is present and virtually every show of nearly 15 years - likely his leasing term. He personally screened and went over each new film with projectionist Frank Kelliher before approving it for proper presentation. The $1 price point remains from 1975 to 1988. In 1989, he raised the price to $1.50 and experimented with $3 art titles. The Town operated to closure November 30, 1989 with “Jean De Florette.” Mayor Ronald Exline thanked Weinstock for his service and sent regrets on the closure.

David_Schneider on February 23, 2023 at 12:33 pm

aeterna,

If I remember correctly, for some reason when I posted my October 1st, 2018 comment the heading for this listing was spelled “Towne”, so I went with that despite the ads shown in the photos section. The heading was apparently corrected sometime since.

Thanks for verifying that it became the supermarket. I will think of that if I attend the Street Painting Festival (updated link) that takes place this weekend on the streets around the Lake Worth Playhouse, then visit the shopping center the supermarket is in to eat at the Panda Garden restaurant I mentioned. Maybe the Guatemalan-Mayan immigrants whose presence I enjoyed will be there again.

David_Schneider on October 1, 2018 at 1:23 pm

When I’ve been to Lake Worth for the Street Painting Festival I’ve enjoyed what to me is the mellow vibe of the local Guatemalan-Mayan immigrants I’ve sat amongst while eating at the little Panda Garden Chinese restaurant they seem to enjoy frequenting in the shopping center where the Towne apparently had been, but I can’t tell exactly where the cinema was located.

Perhaps it was where the El Bodegon Hispanic-themed supermarket is now?