Remembering Movie Theaters and Drive-Ins in Texarkana

It's no secret I'm a movie buff. I love watching movies. I guess I got my love of going to the movies from my parents.

As a very small child and into to my adult life I can remember that every Friday night was movie night. And back in those days we had six theaters in Texarkana.

The Paramount, which is now the historic Perot Theatre located downtown, was originally built in 1924 as the Saenger theater. It eventually was bought out by Paramount in 1931 and stayed in the movie business until the doors were closed in 1977.

I remember seeing most of all the John Wayne movies that were released during that time like, The Cowboys, Rio Lobo, and True Grit, just to name a few. And the 70s disaster flick Earthquake in which the seats shook and rumbled as the earthquake was happening on the big screen. It was the theater's first attempt at mixing technology with sound and I believe they called it "sensurround." One of the most memorable things I remember about this theater is that if you were unsure of what the movie was going to be about, you could look at photographic still shots located outside the theaters in window boxes.

Other movie theaters in the area at the time included Joy Cinema City 6 and the Joy Outdoor Twin Drive-In, out in Nash, Texas. The drive-in came first, which eventually closed and the theater opened its doors until the 1990s when it finally closed after turning into a $1 theater. Back in the day this was a hot-spot for dates in Texarkana and the first of its kind to have six theaters under the roof.

I remember the theater was packed when Smokey & The Bandit made its premiere -- the story that starred Burt Reynolds as The Bandit and Jerry Reed as the Snowman trying to get a shipment of beer from Texarkana across state lines. Our very own newsman, John Williams, worked there at a very young age and I remember John taking my tickets several times. Here's what John recalls about the place.

"I worked there for five years back in the late 1970s into the early 1980s. It was a perfect job for a teen. All the free movies and all the free popcorn you could eat. I worked as a ticket taker or usher and also in the concession stand. Back then, there were still several movie theaters in town, but the Joy was the place to be, especially on weekends and when new hit movies came out.

"I guess the biggest movie that we showed while I worked there was E.T. back in 1982," John recalled.

"For years, after I worked at the Joy, I had people come up to me and say, you look familiar. It was from working at the movies," he said, laughing.

Who would have thought years later that our paths would cross again in radio?

Sad to say, but the Joy theater and drive-in were eventually demolished, leaving only one drive-In theater in our area and that was 67 drive-In near Arkansas High School. It closed down as well. I want to say in the 80s and it remains a storage field for lumber.

But if you went to a drive-In you probably remember this.

Oaklawn Cinema  located in Oaklawn Village was more of an upscale movie theater during that time in Texarkana. I remember seeing a lot of Disney movies there including the classic The Jungle Book.  Oaklawn Cinema closed its doors and was empty for until several businesses went in and it now houses a country variety show called Oaklawn Opry.

Eventually, movie theaters in the market became very competitive with the addition of a tri-plex in the Liberty Eylau area named Southwest Cinema. The theater was located inside what was to become a new mall for the area but it really never took off. Instead, it contained a Gibson's Department store and a few other stores. It was kind of a weird set up because you had to line up outside in the mall hallway when it was showing a movie everyone wanted to see. For example, I saw the very first Star Trek movie when it hit the big screen in 1979. This theater, like so many of the others, eventually closed and now is just an abandoned building.

In the late 80s, an eight-screen theater called Movies 8 opened off I-30 and expanded to 12 screens in the 1990s. Movies 12 closed in 2004 and a new state-of-the-art stadium seating theater Cinemark 14 opened in the Richmond Ranch Shopping Center where it remains open today.

People in Texarkana always loved their movies growing up here and not much has changed over the years except the locations.

Be sure and check out Mario's Weekend Movie Roundup, a review of the latest movie releases and movie trailers every Friday here on kkyr.com.

Tell me about your favorite movie moments in the comments section.