Movie Posters Mural

The mural is a series of movie posters from the early days of Hollywood. The mural pays homage to the beginnings of this building as a movie theatre. The Iris Theatre, built by Leaman Marshall, opened in 1925 and was touted in the newspaper as “Terrell’s Finest Theatre”. (In the 1920’s there were three theatres operating in downtown Terrell – The Iris, The Palace, and the Lyric.)



The posters include “The Lady”, a silent film which was the first movie shown at The Iris. The Iris operated continuously as a movie theatre from 1925 to 2001 when the modern multi-screen theatres in Mesquite drew the crowds away from the historic single screen theatre. The mural also includes the poster for “Wings”, which was the First Academy Award winner of Best Picture.



The lady on the bench is Mrs. Marion Briggs, wife of John Briggs (a former mayor of Terrell) who was instrumental in clearing the way for the current owners to renovate the building into Books and Crannies after the Iris ceased operation. The cat beside her is Maddie, a long-time resident of Books and Crannies. Maddie was a Hurricane Katrina refugee who delighted customers for years as the bookstore greeter.



This mural was painted by Sunny Delipsey and was sponsored by The Terrell Heritage Society.



Also, don’t miss the mural of Charlie Chaplin on the rear door of the building which the current owners of the building had painted – also by Sunny Delipsey and sponsored by Books and Crannies.