Today’s article is taken for the Pride Section of the Light/Champion newspaper from August 2016 written by Susan Watkins.
 
The Champion, August 1926
New Theatre to open in Center Next Week

            The new motion picture theatre on the west side of the square has practically been completed, and will be opened to the public next week. Failure to receive the projecting machine and curtain on time has delayed the opening by the middle of next week.

            The theatre is one of the most beautiful and complete in East Texas, and no doubt is the best theatre to be found in the state on a town the size of Center. It is completely equipped in every respect, and is finished with a view to comfort and beauty.3

(Note: Like many inventions, the origin of motion pictures on film is murky. Several people probably invented what we think of today as movies around the same time.

These significant figures in film history include George Eastman, of Eastman Kodak fame, one of the creators of the film, the Lumière brothers in 1895 who developed a practical movie camera, Thomas Edison who projected film and built an early studio, Eadweard Muybridge who in 1877 used a series of still cameras to take photos fractions of a second apart and Louis Le Prince who created Roundhay Garden Scene, a two-second movie from 1888 that survives to this day.

When it comes to film history, cinema started with a bang. It developed rapidly and because of its expense, stayed largely in the hands of a few entities for years. Films evolved into the following categories the silent era 1880s – 1920s, the talkies – 1927, the rise of the horror movie – 1931, the studio system 1927-1948.Golden Age was in the 1970s when truly spectacular films like “The Godfather,” “The Exorcist,” “Jaws,” “Apocalypse Now,” and even 1977s “Star Wars” came out. These are just a few of the changes in movies and their eras.)

            The new mechanical pipe organ, a musical instrument that only recently has been perfected, has been installed. The house will be cooled in the summer by powerful fans, and heated in winter by natural gas. The seats are comfortable and there are no pillars inside the building to obstruct the view.

To put how long ago the Rio opened into context, Calvin Coolidge was president and it was the roaring 20s. Sound systems in movie theatres had just started being installed around 1926. Popcorn was not sold in theatres yet. Plus – a small shocker is the Rio Theatre was called the Shelby Theatre.

The Great Depression started in the fall of 1929 only three years after the Rio opened its doors. Of the 22,000 theatres in operation in 1930, reportedly only 14,000 were still up and running by 1934.

In 1926, John Wayne made his debut feature film appearance as a football player in a college comedy-drama, Brown of Harvard. “The Black”, although a silent film, was the first full-length blockbuster color film. John Barrymore’s movie, “Don Juan” was the first mainstream film that replaced the use of live music or organ.

In 1927 in the movies Warner Brothers produced “The Jazz Singer,” a feature-length movie with dialogue. In 1927, the average cost of a movie ticket was 25 cents. All-American halfbackJohnny Mack Brown signed a contract with MGM to become the first sports star to sustain a career in motion movies. Reportedly the earliest known use of a zoom lens in a US feature film was in the opening shot of “It” starring Gary Cooper and Clara Bow.

In the movies in 1928 Hollywood’s major film studios signed a agreement with ATT&T/Western Electric’s licensing division to use their audio technologies to produce films with sound. The first Mickey Mouse short animated film debuted. The first full-length film with dialogue to be shot outdoors and not in a studio was well as the first sound western film was release – “In Old Arizona”. Paramount became the first studio to announce that it would only produce movies with talkies/movies with dialogue.

Ten years before the Rio opened its doors Charles Polk Smith opened the Crystal Theatre at 127 San Augustine (located about where the Light/Champion office is located).  Reportedly he purchased the theatre from a Mr. Pittman who previously ran it under the name of the Dixie Theatre. The operation by Smith would be cut short by his death in April 1917. His wife, Nina Elizabeth Smith, assumed operation of the Crystal Theatre until her death in May 1948. After Nina death, two of her sons operated the two theatres in Center. Bryan Smith owned the Crystal Theatre and George Smith owned the Rio. Bryan and George built the Apache drive-in on Hwy 7 East.

In 1924 she installed a new Blizzard fan; in 1925 a new Wurlitzer electric orchestra was installed. Then in 1926 Smith expanded the movie business across the square at what was then to be named, by movie fans, the Shelby Theatre. “Don Q. The Son of Zorro” was the first movie shown.

Equipment upgrades were done to the Rio in July of 1941 and the balcony was added. The Rio Theatre prices effective May 16, 1948 were adults 30 cents, Children 10 cents – Saturday midnight – adults 25 cents, children 10 cents.

In 1975 Mike Adkison purchased the Rio from George and Ruby Smith. In 1992 Adkison married Nita and together they still own and operate the Rio.

Generations have grown up attending the movie there and all one needs to engage in a pleasant conversation is to bring up memories at the Rio. Fond memories such as “Bank Night” – as excited movie goers put their movie ticket stub in the hopper and waited for the big moment. The phone lines were connected between the Crystal Theatre and the Rio as patrons waited for radio announcer Jack Bell to announce the spinning of the hopper followed by the drawing for cash. Those not lucky enough to win cash still got a chance to come back on the next “Bank Night’ to try again.

It was a family friendly environment and inexpensive too. First dates, theatre parties, senior parties, and family nights. You see the Rio is all about the patrons. The spotlight is really about you. The wonderful people of Shelby, San Augustine, Panola, Logansport and surrounding areas are what make the Rio. Without you there would be no history to tell.

Note: Today is the 80th anniversary of D-Day. Remember all the ones who gave their lives to give us the freedoms we have today. One of the ways you can honor this great generation of men and women is to visit the exhibit – “Men and Women of World War II” currently showing at the museum.  The museum hours are Mon-Fri from 1-4pm.