The Majestic Theatre’s Centenary
by Paula Bosse
The Majestic Theatre, 1925 Elm Street
by Paula Bosse
The Majestic Theatre opened on Elm Street 100 years ago this week. We’re lucky to still have such a beautiful building, one which we came close to losing in the late ’60s/early ’70s when so many other “old” buildings were being demolished in downtown Dallas.
The Majestic opened at 1925 Elm on April 11, 1921. The promotional blitz was pretty intense: for months the local papers were full of every little tidbit about the building and the grand opening. A pilot was even hired to drop leaflets and float balloons over 25 North Texas towns in order to reach those farther afield who might be outside the Big City theater loop.
There was a lot of bragging that the showplace theater cost over $2 million, a huge amount of money at the time. That would be about $30 million in today’s money, and there is no way that beautiful, beautiful theater and its luxurious decor could be built today for a mere $30 million.
Like I said, we’re lucky to have it. Happy 100th, Majestic!
*
Here it is under construction in 1920:
via Cinema Treasures
*
Just read this (click to see a larger image):
Dallas Morning News, April 3, 1921
*
At night, just down from the Melba (originally the Hope):
via Cinema Treasures
*
And it still looks beautiful in the 21st century:
2014, photo by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress
*
2009, via Wikipedia
*
“Where it’s really cool” (1922)
***
Sources & Notes
More about the history of the Majestic Theatre can be found at Cinema Treasures.
The official theater website is here — check out the upcoming shows!
*
Copyright © 2021 Paula Bosse. All Rights Reserved.
Flashback : Dallas 
Paula,
I went to work for KNUS which was located on the 2nd floor of the Capri Theater in August of 1973. The Majestic had just closed. The Capri had its balcony split into 2 theaters. The main floor was the 3rd screen, and a former drug store on the east side was the 4th screen. Sometime that fall they used the Majestic to shoot a movie. I believe it was called The Phantom of the Rock Opera. They would give you $5 to sit in the audience at lunch.
Can you do a history of the Capri/Melba? I show some blueprints that showed the addition of a “moving picture machine room” in the early 1920’s. Sometime in the Capri days, a new projection room was built on the main floor to allow use of 70mm projectors with anamorphic lenses. They had to shoot straight at the screen to work. The original projection room was on the 4th floor above the balcony. It was an extremely sharp downward angle to the screen. The building and theater were still cooled with ammonia. We had to evacuate the building while I worked there due to an ammonia leak. The 70 mm projectors were moved to the rear of the new booth and an older 35 mm projector with the automated plate magazine replaced them. It used a light bulb rather than arc lamps, so no projectionist was needed. It looked a little dim though. The organ still worked though. I had a friend who was minoring in keyboards at SMU. He came down on Sunday and we got the building engineer to fire up the air compressor. He played Bach for a half hour. After the Capri closed a few months later, someone removed the lead organ pipes and laid them on the stage behind the screen. Maybe they wanted to sell the organ.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thanks for sharing your memories, Ralph.
LikeLike
My mother was the bookkeeper for The Majestic during WWII. She was hired when she was 22 (in 1944) and worked there until my father returned in 1946. They had promised to give the job back to the man who had been serving when he returned. She met many stars on the road to promote their movies and sell Warbonds.
LikeLiked by 1 person