Volume 12 , Issue 44

Cinema Treasures - Rialto Twin Theatre (Alva, OK)

Homer "Pug" Hawkins, Lawton, Oklahoma, sent us the following information concerning the Rialto Twin Theatre, in Alva, Oklahoma, 516 Flynn Street.

Cinema Treasures says, "When it was built in 1929, it had a seating capacity for 600 people. Today, the main auditorium is still huge and features a working gold curtain. The picture and sound quality is excellent in the three auditoriums. This is truly a GRAND theatre!"

Homer says, "My first job at age 15 was running the popcorn machine at the Pix Theatre in Atoka, Oklahoma for Frank Deaton who managed the two theatres in Atoka. I met Frank in latter years on film row in Oklahoma City and he told me he had opened the Pix Theatre in Alva. I was back from the Army at the time and was managing two theatres in Britton, Oklahoma. Roy Kendrick was an employee there also. Lot of fond memories back then in my early twenties. I also remember meeting Homer Jones one evening at The Variety Club in Oklahoma City."

The March 24, 2008, EnidNews.com article, Old-fashioned entertainment: Rialto Theater in Alva has been the venue of cinematic good times since `1929, written by Tony Waggoner, Staff writer.

It mentions that the Rialto theatre had been passed down from one generation to the next. Johnny Jones grandfather, Henry Jones, purchased the Rialto, one screen theatre, in 1929. In 1948, Henry Jones and his son (Homer) tore down the old Rialto and rebuilt it with a stadium type balcony.

It was not until 1981 that the Jones family sectioned off the balcony with two screens. NOW . . . If you would take in a movie at the Rialto you would have a choice of three screens (two screens upstairs (2001) and one downstairs).   |  View or Add Comments (2 Comments)   |   Receive updates ( subscribers)  |   Unsubscribe

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