Malco Theatres

The Memphian

Malco Theatres opened The Memphian in 1935 on Cooper Avenue in Memphis. It continued operations for 50 years until being closed in 1985.

In 1940, Malco Theatres purchased the Orpheum Theatre, a former vaudevillian theatre in downtown Memphis, and renamed it The Malco. This opulent movie palace at 89 Beale Street also became the base of operations for Malco Theatres until 1976.

The Malco began operations on April 20, 1940, with its first film It's a Date. The premiere gala was sponsored by the Nineteenth Century Club.

In 1951, Malco Theatres opened The Crosstown located on Watkins in Memphis. The Crosstown cost $400,000 to build and had a seating capacity of 1,400. An overview of The Crosstown published in the 1952 Theatre Catalog describes the theatre:

A towering signature sign, measuring 90 feet (27 m) from marquee to top, and a marquee that is 75 feet (23 m) long and seven and a half feet high, strikingly distinguish the front of this neighborhood shopping district theatre. An under-the-marquee driveway for patrons to use in bad weather is provided, with a circular roadway cutting through the sidewalk under the marquee and back to the street.

The Crosstown is said to have the only contour curtain in the territory. Measuring 70 feet (21 m) across and 32 feet (9.8 m) high, the curtain rises from the floor into eight festoons, and is made of 350 yards (320 m) of 54-inch (1.4 m) plush.

Auditorium walls are in aqua, with rose-tan wainscoting and a trim of silver, gold, and red-tan. On each side wall are 45-by-22-foot murals depicting river scenes.

Malco Theatres continued to operate The Crosstown until the mid-1970s.

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  The Crosstown as it appeared in 1952.
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  The lobby and concession stand.
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  The auditorium with the original murals and drapes.
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  The floor plan of The Crosstown.

The Rialto was built in 1911 by Mr. Guy Vail who operated the theater until it was purchased by Malco Theaters Inc. in 1953. Mr. Vail had been not only the owner, but also the pianist of the Rialto during its silent picture days. Today the Rialto is known as Rialto Community Arts Center which was purchased by the City of Morrilton in 1995.

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  The Rialto as it appeared in 1953
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  The lobby and concession stand
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  The auditorium and balcony
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  The auditorium with the original murals and drapes
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  The floor plan of the Rialto

The Temple Theater was undoubtedly one of the nicest yet different theaters to be operated by Malco Theaters Inc. The Temple Theater was built in 1929 at the intersection of North tenth and North B Streets, but not as a movie theater, rather the building was the local Masonic Temple hence the name Temple Theater. The theater was included in the original building design as an 800-seat auditorium with a balcony, and was originally to be used for Masonic rituals. The theater first opened as a movie theater and closed in 1941. Paramount Pictures reopened the auditorium as a movie theater in 1943 through an agreement with Malco Theaters Inc, and at that time, Malco erected a large freestanding sign at the curb along North B Street. The theater was accessed via a set of three doorways along North B Street, and with the lease agreement, the temple areas of the building were secured from the theater. Also included in the lease was an agreement for the Masons to continue using the facility during specific hours.[3] Malco closed the Temple Theater around 1973 when the new Malco Quartet was opened a few miles away. The Masons sold the building in 2013, and the building is currently being renovated as a community events center by FSM Redevelopment Partners LLC.[4]

The New Theater (Sparks Theater) located at Garrison Ave. and North 11th Streets was constructed in 1911 by George Sparks who was then president of First National Bank of Fort Smith. Sparks was so inspired by the architecture of the New Amsterdam Theater that he hired the same architect to build his theater in Fort Smith. The theater officially opened on September 29, 1911, as a performing arts venue charging $10 US per person for admission. It was in 1942 that the theater was acquired by Malco Theaters Inc. and transformed into a movie theater which was located only two blocks from the Temple Theater (above). When Malco Theaters took over the building, the auditorium had a capacity of 1,200 patrons with two full balconies. Entrances were located along Garrison Ave. as well as North 11th St. The North 11th Street (East) entrance served as the entrance for the balconies while the Garrison Ave Entrance served the main auditorium level.[5] The East entrance had two doorways - one for whites and one for colored persons; however, both used the same stairwells to the balconies, and had shared facilities within the building. In 1970 with business declining in the downtown area, and business moving to the newly completed central mall, Malco received the approval to begin showing pornographic movies in the facility. Malco also closed the New Theater in 1973 with the Temple Theater as the new Malco Quartet had opened a few miles away. The new theater was gutted of all furnishings and fixtures when Malco sold the building, and it has remained vacant since although there have been a few investors attempt to remodel the building to its former glory. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.

After three decades of partnership, M.A. Lightman, Sr. announced on July 17, 1952, that Malco Theatres, Inc. and Malco Realty Corp. had acquired the outstanding 33 percent of the stock that was owned by M.S. McCord and M.J. Pruniski. At the time, Malco Theatres operated 63 theatres in Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Louisiana including the Crescent Drive-In that had just opened in New Orleans. Pruniski and McCord retained the group of theatres in North Little Rock removing them from the Malco chain.

On December 8, 1958, at age 67, M.A. Lightman, Sr. died as a result of a heart attack while in Detroit. Like his father before him, his death garnered an epitaph on the front page of the local newspaper.

During the highly controversial period of integration in the South, Malco Theatres introduced integrated seating in their five Memphis theatres without any major incident. M.A. Lightman, Sr.'s two sons, M.A. Lightman, Jr. and Richard Lightman were running the company during this time. In the segregated South, movie theatres would only permit black patrons in the balcony, providing them with a separate entrance to the building. In 1962, Richard Lightman met with Vasco Smith of the Memphis Bi-Racial Committee and set up a staggered process over a three-week span where the first week they sold tickets to the "whites only" orchestra level at The Malco (the present day Orpheum) to one African-American couple. The second week it was increased to four couples and the third week it was increased even more. By the fourth week, all African-American patrons were permitted to buy tickets anywhere in the theatre. Richard worked with the local media to keep any news of the integration to a minimum as to avoid any conflict with the outspoken pro-segregation leaders of the time.

This initial period of integration of the Memphis theatres saw only one incident of note. During a showing of Cleopatra at The Crosstown, a white patron poured his soda down the neck of an African-American patron. Richard Lightman sought to calm the situation with the patron and keep the incident out of the news. As a result, Malco Theatres purchased the gentleman a new suit.

In the summer of 1969, it was announced that Cinerama, Inc., of New York was purchasing Malco Theatres, Inc., for $10 million. At the time Malco had 50 theatres in five states. The deal was never finalized and Malco Theatres remained in the control of the Lightman family.

On June 4, 1970, M. A. Lightman, Jr., announced Malco Theatres' plans for the first two four-screen cinemas for the company. The first, the Highland Quartet, was in Memphis at the corner of Highland and Poplar in what was then called "Dillard Mall". The second quartet was three and a half miles away in the Clark Tower. At the time, four screen theatres were considered huge and were not yet common. M. A. Lightman, Jr. had this to say concerning these two locations:

With this setup, we can bring back films that a neighborhood house couldn't because of the overhead and small return. With our overhead more or less centralized, we could bring in a film that would attract, say, only a hundred or so, but we could do it because we wanted to and without loss.

Every type of good picture -- with the exception of the nudies, of course -- will be brought in. We haven't figured out all the combinations ourselves.

The Dillard Mall building is already completed and will be turned over to us in several weeks. It will take us only about three months to complete our additions. Plans call for the new Clark Tower to be started this spring. It should be completed in about 18 months.

The Ridgeway - Memphis, Tennessee

The Clark Tower Quartet was never built. The Highland opened later that year and operated until the fall of 2005.

Friday, June 16, 1977, saw the opening of the Ridgeway Four theatre in East Memphis. The opening slate of films was A Bridge Too Far, The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane, The Other Side of Midnight, and Final Chapter - Walking Tall. The Ridgeway Four also became the location of Malco's corporate headquarters and continues to serve in that capacity.

Malco Theatres, Inc. confirmed to the Commercial Appeal, on July 24, 1986, the sale of the company's 38 locations to Commonwealth Amusements Corp. of Kansas City, Missouri, was scheduled to be completed by the end of that summer. The deal fell through when Commonwealth decided not to expand at that time. Commonwealth Amusements ended up selling all of their theatre assets, mostly to United Artists Theaters, by 1990.

It was in December of that same year when company president, Stephen P. Lightman (son of M.A. Lightman, Jr.) announced that Malco Theatres would expand.

Rather than sell our circuit as many small circuits around the country are now doing, we have made a commitment to become more aggressive and find our niche in the new wave of theater exhibition. We will be one of the smaller chains. We used to be a fairly good-sized chain, but it's getting down to six or seven dominant chains. -- Stephen P. Lightman

The Winchester Court - Memphis, Tennessee

July 3, 1987, the Winchester Court cinema opened three of its eight screens as the company's and the area's first multiplex. This opening came only three and a half months after construction began. The estimated price tag for the complex was around half a million dollars. The first film shown was Innerspace.

One of the Winchester Court's two 350 seat auditoriums was THX-certified. All of the auditoriums featured JBL speakers and Dolby processors. The theatre also had 70mm film projection capability in its two 350 seat auditoriums. Four of the auditoriums could seat 210 with the remaining two auditoriums seating 160.

Malco's first and only foray into the megaplex scene began with the Majestic theatre, which opened in 1997 with 11 screens and expanded to 20 in 1998. A technological showcase, the Majestic featured THX-certified auditoriums, Dolby Digital and DTS audio, large format screens and an auditorium with a custom-designed audio system crafted with Klipsch speakers.

Malco Theatres is a fully digital circuit, using Dolby Digital Cinema systems throughout as well as Dolby Digital 3D systems; although, many Malco screens still have film projection capabilities installed.

source:[6]

• Owensboro Cinema Grill & MXT (Owensboro)
• Winchester Cinema (Winchester)

• Sikeston Cinema & Grill (Sikeston)

• Gonzales Cinema (Gonzales)