Arizonans have loved the movie theater before there was even sound or color. To this day, people gather in some of the same theaters built in the 1900s to enjoy a movie.
Movies have changed a lot since then, with Dolby sound and color that make you feel like you’re part of the scene. Arizona is even one of 25 theaters in the US to have a 70 mm IMAX theatre at the Arizona Mills malls, making movie watching an elevated experience in the Grand Canyon State.
Even in the days when movies were black and white, and there was no audio, leaving viewers with a grainy concept of the film on the big screen, Arizonans showed up with butts in seats ready for a cinematic experience.
Arizona’s oldest movie theater
The oldest Arizona movie theater still in operation is the El Rio Theatre in Springerville. Construction started on the theater in 1913, just a year after Arizona’s statehood; it opened in 1915.
Originally the theater was named the Apache Theatre but it went through a name change in 1937 and became the El Rio Theatre.
When it opened, the theater, which was built of adobe and plank, showed 35 mm black and white silent films on a hand-crank projector, according to the El Rio Theatre.
The theater is still in operation with updated Dolby surround sound systems, but it still has the same popcorn machine as it did in 1915, when the theater opened.
Most popular movies in 1915
Although there are no records of what was playing in theaters at El Rio Theatre during its opening year, there were a few films that were blockbuster hits across the nation that year.
- “The Champion”: This silent black-and-white comedy featured Charlie Chaplin at the height of his career as a comedy legend. During the 31-minute movie, Chaplin finds a “lucky” horseshoe and puts it in a boxing glove for good luck during a boxing competition.
- “The Regeneration”: This film was the start of America’s fascination with gangster movies. In the movie, a young boy becomes consumed with a life of crime after a bad childhood but then slowly gets his life back on the right path.
- “The Birth of a Nation”: Originally named “Clansmans,” this movie is regarded as the first feature-length film as well as the highest-grossing movie during the early 1900s era of silent film. This highly propagandized movie depicts two families during the Civil War, using hateful, stereotypical depictions of African Americans that caused riots to break out across the country. Although it was a box office success in the 1900s, the movie is publicly condemned for glorifying the Ku Klux Klan.
- “A Fool There Was”: A vampire and femme fatale classic, the female vampire seduces men, robbing them of their riches, then drains them of life. Although “Nosferatu” is widely considered the first vampire movie in 1922, Theda Bara’s vampire character was there first.
Other historic movie theaters in Arizona
Although El Rio Theatre is the oldest in the state, there are many other historic theaters across the Valley.
- Orpheum Theater opened in 1929
- Valley Art opened in 1940 but it hasn’t reopened since 2020
- Pollack Tempe Cinemas opened in 1987
Reporting by Paige Moore, Arizona Republic
