In 1915, the Alcazar Theater’s basement was used to store weapons for the Huertista counterrevolutionaries. The owners of this theater were the brothers Ike and Frank Alderete, both Mexican American politicians. They helped El Paso Mayor Tom Lea Sr. to purchase arms and ammunition to overthrown Victoriano Huerta. Huerta was arrested in 1915 near El Paso for trying to defeat the revolutionary government of Mexico. The Alderete brothers, Victoriano Huerta and Pascual Orozco were tried in the Federal Courthouse of El Paso because of violating the law of the United States.
The Alcázar Theater opened in 1915. Its size was approximately the half of the Colon Theater. It was considered for Mexicans of the lower class and was nicknamed “El Calcetín” (the sock) because of the supposed smell that was perceived in there. The movies shown in the Alcazar were not of the same quality of the movies offered at the Colon. It was one of the first movie theaters in El Paso that admitted African Americans.
Alfonso Orellana became the manager of the Alcazar Theater in 1922. He was brother of José María Orellana, the president of Guatemala. This theater stopped operating in the early 1960’s. It was never considered a prestigious theater.
