The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
AR406-6 1935 396-0-0-1-2
Amon G. Carter (at left) in front of Worth Theater during a showing of Will Rogers in the movie "In Old Kentucky," 1935
The July demolition of the Berry Theater, one of the last shells of the once-popular neighborhood movie houses that sported a single screen and flashy, contemporary signage, was a stark reminder of a bygone era.
Every neighborhood had a movie theater — the Bowie, the Ridglea, the Poly, each proudly displaying its neighborhood’s moniker on brightly lit marquees. They were places, inexpensive places at 15 cents a screening, where one could take their families or a date or hang out with friends. And, since the neighborhood theater’s heyday was before air conditioning became commonplace, the theaters also served as reprieves from the heat — all cinemas had air conditioning by the late 1920s, yet most households didn’t upgrade till the 1950s.
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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Majestic Theater "All Vaudeville" building and block in downtown Fort Worth, Commerce St.; next door sign reads "Dan Doyle for Sheriff," 1920's
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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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Jack White Photography Collectio
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The New Liberty Theater, downtown Fort Worth, ca. 1930s
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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New Isis Theater, Front Entrance
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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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New Isis theater front -view of ticket booth and marquee
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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Fort Worth, Commerce St. with Majestic Theater, in new August building in foreground, ca. 1910 [see scan 10001143 made from AR406-6 H214]
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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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Ridglea Theater, Camp Bowie Blvd., Fort Worth, shortly after its construction; "will open soon," ca. late 1940s to 1950
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W.D. Smith Commercial Photograph
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Newly opened, The Pike Drive In Theater, 7500 E. Lancaster Dr., Fort Worth, near Sandy Lane, 10/21/1947
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The Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collection, University of Texas at Arlington Libraries
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Fort Worth Star-Telegram Collect
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Interior of the Worth Theater; view of stage from the balcony, 1972 (just before the building was demolished)
In addition to the neighborhood theaters, there were also the three downtown theaters: the Hollywood, the Worth, and the Palace — all built between 1919 and 1927. These were bigger, fancier theaters that had ornate interior designs (the Worth’s was Egyptian-inspired) and even held world premieres. In 1940, “The Westerner,” a Gary Cooper-starring Western held its world premiere at the Worth. At first, the three did both vaudeville and movies — this was during the silent era. Yet, once “The Jazz Singer” introduced moviegoers to the world of sound in 1927, the theaters had to do little tweaking since they already contained good sound systems in large auditoriums.
A fourth downtown theater, the Majestic, was far less popular but gained notoriety for being the place where Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke in October of 1959. Two years later, it would be torn down.
In the 1960s, multiplexes, with larger screens and more theaters (sometimes even 16 of them), started popping up. These were big operations headed by national corporations — not locally owned — so they had the resources to plow their smaller-screened competition. Ultimately, this was the death knell for nearly all neighborhood theaters. Most would get demolished, while the Bowie would turn into a Frost Bank and the Ridglea, which is one of the few theaters that kept its signage, turned into a live music venue.
Meanwhile, the Worth would implode along with the Worth Hotel in 1972, the Hollywood would survive off blaxploitation films through the 1970s but eventually succumb at the end of the decade, and the Palace shuttered in 1970.
Forty years later, and one neighborhood theater would return.
Showing a desire for the nostalgic movie-going experience, Jeffrey and Debbie Smith, both former educators, bought, refurbished, and reopened the historic Isis Theatre in the Stockyards. Rebranded the Downtown Cowtown at the Isis, the theater screens classic films four times a day and holds a special Monday-night screening curated by local film buff, actor, and director, Ryan Bijan.
With multiplexes and air-conditioned homes with large-screen TVs as its biggest competition, here’s hoping Fort Worth will start going back to the movies. And, specifically, this old movie house.
*Special thanks to Richard Selcer for providing research and information.
