Majestic Theatre
230 E. Houston St., San Antonio, TXThe Majestic Theatre was a movie theater in San Antonio, Texas. It was built in 1929 and closed in 1974. It was designed by John Eberson, who also designed the San Antonio River Walk.
The Majestic theatre is the most magnificent show palace in Texas, and one of the most luxurious in the United States. The construction of the Majestic theatre during 1927-1929 climaxed the long interrelated theatre building careers of architect John Eberson and promoter Karl Hoblitzelle. Hoblitzelle moved to Texas in 1905 and began to develop the Interstate circuit of theatres. John Eberson soon became the principal architect for the design and construction for the chain of theatres in the Interstate circuit. The Majestic theatre opened on April 11, 1929, for the premiere of the picture "All Quiet on the Western Front". Although Hoblitzelle and Eberson were to have long continued careers, the later designs of Eberson and buildings of Hoblitzelle were to be of the suburban, plastic style dictated by the talkies, the depression and changing entertainment tastes.
The Majestic theatre opened too late for the typical organ-silent film of the twenties. However, for several years traveling vaudeville acts were pop-ular at the theatre. Ted Lewis, Ed Wynn and other stars soon were replaced by the celebrities of the Big Band Era. The last days of regular stage performances were its brightest as patriotism led the most glamorous stars to perform in San Antonio which had five major military installations operating at full strength during World War II. With the end of the war, Kay Keyser, Phil Harris, and other stars gave their final performance at the Majestic, and the callboards were stored permanently in the vacant dressing rooms.
Beginning in the summer of 1974, the films showed at the Majestic were restricted to black action movies. During the last few weeks the theatre remained open, the films shown were limited to Spanish language movies. During the last days of December, 1974, the magnificent Majestic Theatre was closed, and its future remains uncertain. The office spaces in the building continue to be occupied.
Bibliography
"Majestic Theatre's Birthday", San Antonio Express-News, June 14, 1939, Theatre Section.
Listed in National Register of Historic Places in 1975.
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation’s historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service’s National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America’s historic and archeological resources.