McALLEN — It all started three-quarters of a century ago, when on May 1, a local institution was born in the Rio Grande Valley and bridged a gap between local and international cinema.
Sunday marks the 75th anniversary of the opening of McAllen’s historic Cine El Rey. Throughout its history, the old theater has seen its fair share of famous names illuminated on its iconic marquee; names like Carlos Guzman, Laura Canales, Freddy Fender, Ernesto Guerra, Wally Gonzalez and many, many others.
“To me, Cine El Rey means a whole lot more than just a building,” Luis Muñoz, who owned the theater in the early 2000s, said. “It’s about a community. It’s about a culture. It was about a way of living that has kind of grown into the way of living now.”
Throughout its history, it has fostered a number of different communities, he said.
“The fact that that sucker is still kicking is an incredible testimony to the people — the people who attended, who have attended and will attend events,” Muñoz continued.
Cine El Rey, dubbed the “Mexican Apollo,” opened its doors May 1, 1947, as a cinema showing Spanish-language films — showcasing films from the era known as “Mexico’s Golden Age of Cinema.”
With its growing popularity, the theater would become a hub for Hispanic culture in the Rio Grande Valley. The venue attracted big names in Mexican cinema, including German Valdes, El Trio Los Panchos, Pedro Infante, Pedro Armendariz, Sara Garcia, Mario Moreno “Cantinflas,” Luis Aguilar, The Soler Brothers, Emilio “El Indio” Fernández, Antonio Aguilar, Tito Guizar and Lucha Villa.
Muñoz, who oversaw the theater’s renovation in 2001, recalled the stories shared with him by many in the community who were impacted in one way or another by the old theater.
“When we were doing the renovations, people would just stop by and share stories, constantly,” Muñoz said. “Everything from, ‘I proposed to my wife here,’ to ‘I worked here.’ … It was special, and I think that’s the testimony to it. I’ll use Spanish; era de la gente. It belongs to the people.”
Bert Guerra, who currently owns the theater, has helped continue the venue’s evolution into a place for musical acts of all different genres, a hub for local independent films, and a place for social justice causes.
“I think it’s interesting to see how parallel the Hispanic experience has changed to where this theater represents not just Hispanics in the sense of film, but how diverse and how much we have become a part of the American story,” Guerra said. “It’s kind of told through this theater. I think that’s a very unique perspective that I’ve gotten being here for the last 15 years of its 75-year existence.”
Guerra said he anticipates the old venue continuing to be a beacon for culture in South Texas for the next 75 years.
“Even though there’s bigger venues and bigger places to go see entertainment and multiplex theaters, I think the story of these 75 years is to go back and remember the heyday and the excitement in all the people that eventually became community leaders and regional stars,” Guerra said.
