Eastland County Texas Archives History .....History Of King Theatre In Gorman, Texas 1957 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/tx/txfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Dorman Holub searchersofourpast@gmail.com November 13, 2022, 5:19 pm History of King Theatre By Hubert Craddock The King Theatre in Gorman was first known as the MARO, this name was a combination of the names of the first owners, M.E. Maddox, and a Mr. Rowsey. The MA for Maddox and the RO for Rowsey. It was located on the lot across from Smith Brothers Chevrolet where the Gulf Station stood in 1957 [115 N. Kent Street]. This theatre was opened during the big Gorman oil boom in 1918 or 1919. My first experience with the Maro was in 1922 when as a small child lad I helped to carry the films and ran the hand rewind machine to rewind the films after showing, getting them ready for the next show. The operator at that time was Herschel Reynolds, my cousin. Herschel taught me to operate the machines and from that time on we divided time until he quit to quit to work at the Corner Drug then operated by Mr. Richardson who later operated a drug store in Eastland. In 1925, Fort Keith of Granbury bought the Maro Theatre, later remodeled it to some extent, and renamed it The Strand. The films in those days were silent with a piano that furnished the music. This was a wonderful instrument complete with pipes, drums, and by pressing buttons located along the front of the piano you could produce many wonderful sounds to fit the action on the screen. You could use just the piano, or the drums, or the pipes, or all together. Press another button and you could hear the pound of horses feet during the big chase. Movies in those days were an exciting event. If you couldn’t read, there was always someone in the audience who was reading aloud, so there was no trouble following the story, of course, being silent, all dialog was conveyed to the audience by way of sub-titles printed and shown on the screen. The action was very highly exaggerated to convey the meaning more easily to the patron, then the picture would go off and the sub-title would come on the screen to tell the audience what the actor was saying. In 1926 or 1927, J.W. Cockrell, owner, and publisher of The Gorman Progress, leased the show from Mr. Keith and operated it for a couple of years. In those days, the Progress looked somewhat like a movie magazine. Mr. Keith took the show back and on December 24, 1928, the building caught fire and was partially destroyed. It was just a big tin barnlike structure and caught from a grass fire. Gorman was then without a theatre for a while. Mr. Keith contracted with Tip Ross to build the present building [118 S Kent Street], and it was opened on July 2, 1929, with a capacity crowd. This was a proud moment in my life. Then one of the darkest, for when the show was almost ready to open, I discovered we had lost the last reel of the picture. After some delay, the reel was located and the show completed. Later in 1929 sound was added and talking pictures came to Gorman. The first talkies were on large records and it was quite a task keeping the talking matched to the picture. Many amusing incidents resulted from this arrangement. Sometimes you might have the horse talking and the hero neighing. Then came the big depression. The theatre struggled along fo a time and closed in 1931 or thereabouts. Several people tried at different times to operate it with varying results. But it was pretty much a hit or miss arrangement, with some questionable characters operating it some of the time. Most of them to trying to promote a few bucks so they could move on to greener pastures. In 1934, H.L. Capers leased the show. Mr. and Mrs. Capers, Frank Gray, and Hubert Craddock ran the show. The theatre had been renamed the RITZ when it opened at the present stand and a film salesman suggested to Mr. Capers that he find a new name for the theatre. The salesman thought many people would associate the old name with some of the odd characters who had tried to run the theatre. At that time Roosevelt had just been elected and everyone was talking about the New Deal. So, we all together came up with the name NEW DEAL for the theatre. Hubert Craddock left in 1937 and moved to the Plains. During this time, the theatre was again remodeled and Mr. Capers again renewed his lease. He had decided that Roosevelt was going to stay in office and said he was following the trend of the time when he named the theatre the KING. When Frank Gray went into the service, Hubert Craddock moved back to Gorman to work for Mr. Capers. In 1945, the theatre was again remodeled, tearing out the old balcony, excavating and running a new concrete floor, making the building as it is today. In August of 1945, Mr. Capers sold the theatre to George Hollifield and Hubert Craddock. In 1946, the King Theatre added Cinemascope equipment and a large screen so we could always bring patrons of the King the best pictures. Looking back and checking dates I find that my association with show business has covered some 35 years, certainly the most of my life. There have been good years and bad years, but most of them have been happy ones, for where else will you meet so many people, and bring entertainment to so many as in a movie theatre. Written in 1957. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/tx/eastland/history/other/historyo116nms.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.net/txfiles/ File size: 5.7 Kb