The Ritz was originally a long narrow space, and was segregated like most movie theaters in Texas and other southern states at that time; there was a separate entrance leading to a balcony reserved for people of color.

It showed primarily first-run westerns with a lower ticket price than any other theater in town and frequently brought in stars like Wild Bill Elliott and Dub Taylor, along with country music acts who performed before the movies.

[5] In 1981, Shannon Sedwick and Michael Shelton took out a lease and turned management over to Craig Underwood, who began running the venue as a punk rock club.

The violence inherent to punk rock shows eventually cost the operators their liquor license, forcing another closure in late 1982.

The managers also began reintroducing music, from Texas bands to heavy metal, and very cautiously brought back a little bit of punk rock.

[6] During renovation, a group of filmmakers from Fantastic Fest were given a tour of the construction site, and inaugurated the theater with the first film to play there — Maurice Devereaux's End of the Line.

The official grand opening was held on November 2, 2007, with a triple feature of Matango, No Country for Old Men, and War of the Gargantuas.