Gayety Theatre
1502 Commerce Street,
Fort Worth,
TX
76102
1502 Commerce Street,
Fort Worth,
TX
76102
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On May 9, 2019, historian Carol Roark, writing in the Star-Telegram, took a look back at the Gayety Theatre, which stood on the fringe of downtown.
Louis Richker and L. B. Lewis opened the Gayety Theatre in August 1918 and by 1926 it was listed in Film Daily Year Book with 300 seats.
The second-run theatre distinguished itself among 24 other Fort Worth theatres in 1945 with such sensational fare as “Devil’s Harvest", about the dangers of smoking marijuana. “Youth Aflame” and “Child Bride” followed this at the Gayety Theatre, then listed with 250 seats. It was closed in August 1948.
In 1965 it was among blocks of buildings that were leveled for the new convention center, which opened in 1968. The historical location was on a corner at 1501 Main Street, an address that no longer exists and today would be near the center of the Fort Worth Water Gardens, built in 1974.
Contributed by
Ron Pierce
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Recent comments (view all 2 comments)
Opened or reopened on December 14th, 1945. Ad posted.
The Gayety Theatre dates back to at least 1919 and possibly earlier. It was located just across the street from the Denver Theater and opened by Leon B. Lewis & Louis Richker. The Denver and Gayety were independent venues with distinctive fare. The Gayety opted for independent features and exploitation films. As the local paper’s policy frowned upon such films, the Gayety is not regularly listed in its formative years. The Gayety had a neighboring cigar and confectionery serving as its de facto concession stand for a period of time.
In the 1930s, the theater has multiple fires, arrests for unsavory activity, and debt collection activity. It also showed Spanish language films in the Fall of 1936 hoping to find its audience other than exploitation and four-wallers. Lewis would go on to create the more popular New Liberty Theatre and the similar Ideal Theatre while continuing the Gayety. Lewis closed the movie house in August of 1948 and he died just days later. The venue’s likely operational lifecycle was likely on a 30-year leasing agreement from August of 1918 to August 1948.