The Malco opened in 1935 in elegant Art Moderne style, including a fantastic large marquee with the Malco name in graceful script lettering and the stylized intertwined letters M and T for Malco Theatres on the front panel of the marquee. The facade features pale brick highlighted by various colored tiles. The main entrance is covered in candy apple red tile in the same color as the marquee.

The Malco was built in the shell of the Princess Theatre, a vaudeville house which dated to the 1880s but was heavily damaged by a fire in 1935. The Malco was remodeled in 1962, and again in 1995 when it was acquired by illusionist Maxwell Blade.

Since 1996, the theater has been the setting for Blade's magic shows. Now the Maxwell Blade Theatre of Magic, the former Malco, which was frequented by former President Bill Clinton as a boy, also plays host to the Hot Springs Documentary Film Institute, as well as to occasional film festivals. For more information, you can visit www.maxwellblade.com.