We recently got information from a woman named Jimmie Hicks of Los Angeles, California. The last time she was in the theatre was in 1953 for the movie Return to Paradise starring Gary Cooper.

According to The 1932 Film Daily Yearbook of Motion Pictures, The Ritz Theatre was one of the many theatres in Texas owned by a company called Hughes Franklin Theatres. Howard Hughes was the Chairman of the Board. At this time, we don't know exactly how long the company owned The Ritz, but Hughes Franklin Theatres dissolved when Howard Hughes left the movie business temporarily in the early 1930's. Mr. Rowley (later to be known with the Robb and Rowley circut) was connected to the company as the Division Manager of Texas and Oklahoma for Hughes Franklin Theatres. What a history!!!

This is an exert from The 1932 Film Daily Year Book of Motion Pictures.