Classic small-town movie theatres

[skyvue]

I thought we could use a thread on classic small-town movie theatres (as opposed to movie palaces).

Here's an excerpt from an interesting NY Times story on small-town bijous and the locals who work hard to preserve their legacy:

Old Movie Houses Find Audience in the Plains
By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

LANGDON, N. D. -- Every Friday through Monday night, from her perch behind the Skittles and the M&M's, Amy Freier awaits the faithful at the historic Roxy Theater. There is Dale Klein, the school bus driver (large Diet Pepsi with a refill). And there is Jeannette Schefter, the social worker (large plain popcorn, medium Diet).

"You know who comes," said Ms. Freier, one of 200 volunteers in this town of roughly 2,000 who are keeping the Roxy’s neon glowing. "They’re part of the theater."

In an age of streaming videos and DVDs, the small town Main Street movie theater is thriving in North Dakota, the result of a grass-roots movement to keep storefront movie houses, with their jewel-like marquees and facades of careworn utility, at the center of community life. ...

The revival is not confined to North Dakota; Main Street movie houses like the Alamo in Bucksport, Me., the Luna in Clayton, N.M., and the Strand in Old Forge, N.Y., are flourishing as well. But in the Great Plains, where stop signs can be 50 miles apart and the nearest multiplex is 200 miles round trip, the town theater--one screen, one show a night, weekends only--is an anchoring force, especially for families.

It is a tradition that comes with a delicate social choreography (kids up front, teenagers in the back--away from prying parental eyes) and in spite of nature's ferocity (subzero temperatures can freeze the coconut oil for the popcorn machine)...​

More here.

 

[Story]

Already over here.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?t=18937

 

[skyvue]

I'll leave it to the bartenders to decide, but a classic small-town movie theatre is a very different thing from a historic movie palace. That's why I made that distinction in my opening post.

If the bartenders want to combine the two threads, fair enough -- the two types of theatre share an era (or two), that's for sure. But if that's the decision, I would suggest changing the title of the other thread to "Historic Movie Theatres."

Because the theatres discussed in the article to which I linked above are not remotely "palaces."

 

[Kahuna]

We've got a wonderful old theater, the Kenworthy, which has managed to survive since 1926. These days it mixes live theater and music with films but at least it hasn't suffered the fate of becoming a church like so many do around here. I've got nothing against churches, I attend weekly myself, but it's always kind of a sad thing to see these old theaters succumb to the competition of big screen TV. I enjoy watching films at home but there's something more social about laughing or crying about a film with a crowd that I hope doesn't get lost.

And yes, I would agree that small town movie theaters is a different topic than the movie palaces which appeared in big cities.

 

[Wally_Hood]

Not quite small town, and certainly not palace, but I used to visit the Balboa on Balboa Island for their frequent classic film screenings. They had a balcony, those long, long drapes along the walls, and, best of all, for a while they played film soundtracks, big band, and swing during the intermission. Ah, I didn't appreciate then...

 

[Benzadmiral]

There used to be a charming neighborhood theatre called the Lensic near the Plaza in downtown Santa Fe, NM. Is it still there? When I visited first in May of 1992, the theatre featured a 50th-anniversary revival of --

-- you guessed it. "Casablanca"! It was neat to hear an appreciative audience roar with applause as Captain Renault snaps, "Round up the usual suspects!"

 

[kpreed]

My Hometown Theatre in Sonoma, California, built in 1933, it is still there and still shows movies, but mostly for Yuppys now.

 

[Effingham]

There's a wonderful old theatre here in Franklin called "The Artcraft" -- my grandfather built it.

They show classic movies two days a week, now. The theatre really is a thing of beauty, and of times gone by. This week they're showing "An Affair to Remember" (I love Cary Grant!) and next month "The Maltese Falcon." YAY!

I remember when I was a kid, in the sixties, going there -- the one clear memory I have is seeing "Valley of Gwangi" there. Hey, when you're a kid, how the heck can you go wrong with a movie about dinosaurs and cowboys?