History | 1 | 2 | 3

The building “has a steel foundation, built to carry four additional stories when needed.” The first occupants of the commercial space on either side of the Circle Theater were the Circle Barber Shop (8 South Lewis) and the Circle Candy Shop (10 S. Lewis) (W.A. Hahn, confectioner). Though the Circle Theater was built after the age of the silent movie, it was equipped with a two-manual, four-rank Robert-Morton pipe organ.  

The building is located in the historic Whittier Square Shopping Center, Tulsa’s first suburban shopping center. Although compatible in style with the other buildings on the block, the theater is noteworthy for its unusual height, colorful brick and narrow setback. The theater is a two-story Commerical Style building. It was originally constructed with two small storefronts flanking the central theater entrance. In 1957 the south storefront was incorporated into the theater entrance creating a larger theater lobby. The sloped auditorium was created by digging below grade and the theater remains a large open space with a single screen. Centrally located above the second story windows is a stone name plate which reads “19 Chilton 28.” The nameplate has a decorative surround with stone corners.

The Circle Theater is remembered as a theater that was popular with the pre-teen and young teenage crowd. The ten-cent price of a movie ticket included a feature film and serials.  Popular film serials like “The Green Hornet” drew the neighborhood children to the movie theater as often as the feature films. A nickel would buy a funnel-shaped cup of peanuts and a cup of orange juice from the vendor who was set up next to the theater.  The most popular films ever shown at the Circle included the James Bond films “Goldfinger” and a rerun double-bill of “Dr. No” and “From Russia With Love.”

General Theaters, Inc. operated the Circle and Tulsa Theaters in Tulsa, as well as several others in Oklahoma and Kansas. On December 17, 1963, the Circle Theater closed for extensive refurbishing ($5,000-$7,500). It reopened on Christmas Day, with a new “first-run, quality entertainment policy.” Jim McKenna, spokesman for General Theaters, Inc., described the work as, “installation of a new screen, new padding and covers for all seats, complete overhaul of the projectors, improvement on the sound system, installation of new carpeting, and the addition of curtains on each side of the screen to improve the sound quality in the theater.” The first offering under the Circle’s “new policy” was “King of the Suns,” starring Yul Brynner, George Chakiris, and Richard Basehart. It was also booked for “Dr. Strangelove,” starring Peter Sellers. 

The old Circle Theater reopened in 1978 as the ‘New’ Circle, an “adult” film theater. The Tulsa World published a photograph of members of ACORN picketing against the “blue movies” shown at the New Circle Theater on August 20, 1978.

It is Tulsa’s only remaining historical movie theatre and the northern most indoor theater in the City of Tulsa.

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