PHOTO 1: ALVA'S FIRST SOUND THEATER - The Liberty Theater, previously the Grand Opera House, offers talking pictures to Woods County residents for the first time in 1929. Photo courtesy Johnny Jones.
In its past, Alva boasted as many as five movie houses and two drive-in theaters. Over the years, the number of theaters dwindled to one.
The Jones family operated nearly all of the movie theaters in Alva. Originally, Homer C. Jones, father of Johnny C. Jones, worked at the earliest theater in town -- the Liberty Theater -- located in the 600 block of Flynn. Fire destroyed the Liberty Theater on April 27, 1933.
At one time, four theaters ran at the same time in Alva. Homer Jones owned three of Alva's movie houses -- the Ranger (416 Flynn), the Rialto and the Ritz (527 Barnes) - and at one time owned both of the drive-in theaters -- the Alva Drive-in (present day Keltner Trailer park) and the Stadium Theatre (south of town on Lane).
The Ritz opened its doors in lat
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e Nov. 1933. Homer Jones opened the Ranger Theater in 1939.
The only theater in town that Homer C. Jones had no business in was the Pix Theater, originally located at 411 College. The people who owned the Pix also owned the Alva Drive-in. Homer Jones eventually bought the Pix Theater in the late 1950s but did not show any movies there. He did, however, keep the Alva Drive-in open until its final season in 1970. Homer Jones opened the Stadium Theatre for business in 1971.
The Rialto was originally a one story building before Homer Jones decided to turn it into its current four-story incarnation. The Rialto reopened on August 21, 1949 with 800 seats available to the viewing public.
Homer Jones closed the Ranger and the R
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itz theaters in the early 1950's to focus on one theater, the Rialto. Television brought the theater business to a virtual standstill in the 1950s in Alva and across the country, making it difficult to keep three theaters running at the same time.
In 1981 Jones decided to expand the Rialto to the Rialto Cinema Twin. The balcony level of the original theater was split off into a separate theater.
Eventually, Johnny Jones took over business of theater operation in Alva. Johnny Jones closed the Stadium Theatre sometime between 1985-86 due to increased pressure from the video cassette business. Johnny Jones incorporated video rentals into the theater in this period.
Today Alva has one theater, the Rialto Cinema Twin, with a video rental in its west side and no drive-in. Current possible plans by Johnny Jones for the future of the theater business in Alva are to build a new video rental store on the 400 block of Oklahoma Blvd. next to Whittet's and possibly convert the current video store into a third movie screen.
PHOTO 2: OLD RIALTO - Alva's original Rialto Theater building. The same building once housed a garage and a grocery store. Photo courtesy Johnny Jones.
PHOTO 3: RITZ THEATER - First run pictures at the Ritz. Playing in late August of 1949 were such films as "One Last Fling and "Home in San Antone." Photo courtesy of Johnny Jones.
