Editor, Journal-Times:
It is seldom that I feel constrained to express my opinions in the public press, but it seems to me that I must give voice to my feelings in regard to the very objectionable “movie” shown at the Main Street theater over the weekend of Sept. 8. A big sign emblazoned the picture in a very emphatic manner “The ‘shock’ crime picture of the notorious Dillinger gang” by an All Star cast. It was indeed startling enough to make the citizens of Racine stop and think of the tremendous impetus to criminal tendencies this picture could give.
With crime rampant all over the nation, and plenty of it right in Racine, one could picture the damage done to the immature minds of children, and weak adult minds.
Surely thoughtful parents would not want their children to see this kind of picture, but evidently no sort of investigation, whatsoever, is being made as to what is being shown in Racine. As far as I can discover there is no censoring done by any group at present. Evidently the city clerk’s office issues permits to all who apply.
I call the attention of Mayor Wendt and those who handle the permits to an article in the Milwaukee Journal of Sept. 9 which said in part: “The censoring of the movies in Milwaukee, including all other shows, is done by a group of unpaid citizens called a commission. They are without legal authority but with the actual power to bar such films as are objectionable. The Commission operates as an extra legal arm of the mayor and if the Commission lacks statuary authority to control objectionable pictures, the mayor has the legal power.
The mayor grants licenses which promote good in the city and he can refuse any manager who wishes to put on what is not right. It would be interesting to know how far such a picture as "Dillinger and his Shock Crimes” would get in Milwaukee. Racine might well take note of what is being shown here.
â€"ROSE E. MALSCH.
LETTERS to the Journal Times, Sunday, Aug. 25, 1974 – 11 A
Racine. Wis.
Urges rebirth of Venetian
To the Editor: Suggestions for helping the Racine Symphony from Mrs. Leo Draves in her letter a few weeks ago were excellent.
One additional requirement for a good attendance and performance is the necessity of a good home, one which is permanent, and can be shared with the many other fine musical and stage groups of our community. Excellent acoustics are an absolute must, as are good sight lines. All this awaits us in the elegant auditorium of the Venetian Theatre now waiting for rebirth as a
performing arts center. Excellent acoutstics are elusive and difficult to engineer into an auditorium as demonstrated by terrible acoustics in some recent multimillion dollar centers.
In the past few months many letters to the editor have appeared with the constructive suggestion, “Use the Venetian as a civic auditorium.” Many communities have already done this with good
sound theatres in downtown areas.
The city most recent to ‘see the light’ is Madison (I had hoped Racine could be the first in Wisconsin). Their mayor has just completed negotiations for the Madison Capitol Theatre as their performing arts at a price of $600,000.
It is reported Racine could have the Venetian for about $100,000. This is many millions of dollars less than new construction which doesn’t even guarantee good acoustics. The Madison Capitol
Theatre had about the same seating capacity of the Venetian but is not nearly as elegant.
If our city is ever to have a fine civic auditorium for its symphony, large stage productions, community concert series, and many other uses in a convention center setting, now is the time to
act. Think of the Main Street Theatre fiasco a few years ago. We should contact the most obvious purchasers of the Venetian.. .our good mayor, council members, Central City Commission, also
chairman and members of the Racine County Board.
The Venetian Theatre was built as a tribute to Racine’s citizens (see special 10-page edition of the Racine Journal Times on Venetian’s opening April 11, 1928.) Quoting from a large ad by
Edward Zahn, then owner of .Zahns, “Congratulations to Mr. Carl Laemmle in giving to Racine this beautiful new playhouse, comparable with the best in cities many times our size. The Venetian marks another milestone of greater progress for this splendid city.
Civic loving citizens extend their acclaim to those who have shown their faith in the future of our city — another monument for a better greater Racine.“
Let us use this beautiful theatre as a civic auditorium for all to enjoy. If we ever lose it, it will be gone forever.
FREDERICK P. HERMES
1710 Heather Lane
LETTERS to the Journal Times, Sunday, Aug. 25, 1974- 11 A
Racine. Wi.
Urges rebirth of Venetian
To the Editor: Suggestions for helping the Racine Symphony from Mrs. Leo Draves in her letter a few weeks ago were excellent.
One additional requirement for a good attendance and performance is the necessity of a good home, one which is permanent, and can be shared with the many other fine musical and stage groups of our community. Excellent acoustics are an absolute must, as are good sight lines. All this awaits us in the elegant auditorium of the Venetian Theatre now waiting for rebirth as a
performing arts center. Excellent acoutstics are elusive and difficult to engineer into an auditorium as demonstrated by terrible acoustics in some recent multimillion dollar centers.
In the past few months many letters to the editor have appeared with the constructive suggestion, “Use the Venetian as a civic auditorium.” Many communities have already done this with good
sound theatres in downtown areas.
The city most recent to ‘see the light’ is Madison (I had hoped Racine could be the first in Wisconsin). Their mayor has just completed negotiations for the Madison Capitol Theatre as their performing arts at a price of $600,000.
It is reported Racine could have the Venetian for about $100,000. This is many millions of dollars less than new construction which doesn’t even guarantee good acoustics. The Madison Capitol
Theatre had about the same seating capacity of the Venetian but is not nearly as elegant.
If our city is ever to have a fine civic auditorium for its symphony, large stage productions, community concert series, and many other uses in a convention center setting, now is the time to
act. Think of the Main Street Theatre fiasco a few years ago. We should contact the most obvious purchasers of the Venetian.. .our good mayor, council members, Central City Commission, also
chairman and members of the Racine County Board.
The Venetian Theatre was built as a tribute to Racine’s citizens (see special 10-page edition of the Racine Journal Times on Venetian’s opening April 11, 1928.) Quoting from a large ad by
Edward Zahn, then owner of .Zahns, “Congratulations to Mr. Carl Laemmle in giving to Racine this beautiful new playhouse, comparable with the best in cities many times our size. The Venetian marks another milestone of greater progress for this splendid city.
Civic loving citizens extend their acclaim to those who have shown their faith in the future of our city — another monument for a better greater Racine.“
Let us use this beautiful theatre as a civic auditorium for all to enjoy. If we ever lose it, it will be gone forever.
FREDERICK P. HERMES
1710 Heather Lane
(VOP, August 15, 1956, Racine Journal Times)
Wants Elvis In Racine
We were discussing Racine’s entertainment and we came up with a question. We would like to see famous artists give personal appearances in Racine. Why can’t some one open the old Main Street Theater and have some noted entertainers, like they did when my mother was young?
The old theater doesn’t make a good appearance on our Main Street as it is. Our city is prosperous in every other way, why can’t they bring Elvis Presley our way? It sure would be grand to have him, Bill Haley and others like them in our city.
â€"AN “ELVIS PRESLEY FAN”
(June 30, 1931, Madison Capital Times)
The Main Street theater, Racine, has been turned over to Fox by RKO, according to H. J. Fitzgerald, of the Milwaukee Fox organization. The RKO Palace theater in Milwaukee may also be taken over by Fox in the near future.
Officials of both groups point out theater consolidation is now in progress throughout the country, and that the situation in Madison is representative of conditions which the theater men are attempting to effect in other cities. When the Strand is taken over by RKO all theaters here will be operated by one chain. If business conditions are poor, one or more theaters may then be closed.
(January 23, 1958, Racine Journal-Times)
“OWNER of the Main Street Theater building, on the northwest corner of State and Main streets, has offered the building for sale to the city for $25,000. Arnold Goodman, with whom the owner, Louis Bass of Milwaukee, listed the property, outlined the offer in a letter to the City Council, indicating that the building "might have use in connection with enlarging the police station facilities; for re-location of the 6th Street Fire Station, offstreet parking purposes or perhaps relocation of city offices, such as the Board of Education.”
Dear Tex: Just a line to keep you and the readers up to date on
the question of theater facilities for Racine people.
As you know, Paul Lange of the Junior Chamber of Commerce called a meeting two weeks ago at Hotel Racine to discuss the possibilities of obtaining the Main Street Theater for Racine. Paul Lange was elected chairman of the “Mainstreet Theater Association” at the meeting. The group decided to appoint three committees to gather facts for later evaluation.
Investigating Casts
At the present time Hans Geyer is heading a committee investigating the cost of putting the Main Street Theater in safe, sound and efficient operating condition. Another committee, headed by Bill Boy, is obtaining information on yearly maintenance and operating costs for the theater.
The third committee, headed by yours truly, has been asked to survey organizations in Racine concerning their needs for a theater like the Mainstreet. Members of this committee will contact presidents of organizations by phone this coming week to sound out their needs for theater facilities.
Not the “Only Pebble”
Members of the growing “association” realize that the Mainstreet Theater isn’t the only pebble on the beach. In order to get a complete picture it will be necessary to bring past surveys conducted on existing theatrical facilities up to date. It will also be important to get information about the city’s plans for community buildings.
People interested in the theater question are cordially invited to
meet with the “association” Wednesday, March 17, at 6 p.m. at the
Theatre Guild Playhouse on Erie and High Streets.
â€"JAMES L. PAGE.
The city is exploring whether there is any historic preservation money to aid in the redevelopment of the Paradise Theater, 6229 W. Greenfield Ave.
Officials are in the early stages of seeing whether state funds are available to help the city purchase the property, with the ultimate goal of getting it into the hands of a private developer, city Planner Shaun Mueller said.
“We’re just seeing what’s out there to see if we could assist moving those properties along,” Mueller said.
The building is vacant and now owned by the State Bank of Chilton after a foreclosure forced out the Paradise Family Life Center, which held religious services there for about four years.
The Paradise Theater, which opened in 1929, has struggled to attract a permanent tenant since it stopped showing movies in 1996.
Nostalgia lives- Pretty Prairie’s Civic Theatre shows classic movies
BY KAREN MARTINEZ
The Hutchinson News
PRETTY PRAIRIE – When Darrell Albright graduated from Pretty Prairie High at the age of 17, there were three things he was never going to do.
He was never going to move back to his hometown, he was never going to work with the public, and he was never going to live in the
country.
Never say never.
Albright, 57, has done all three. Not only did Albright return and purchase a grocery store on Pretty Prairie’s Main Street in 1980, but he reopened the long-vacant Civic Theatre a few doors down in April 1981. The Civic is a city-owned building and a project of the Pretty Prairie Heritage Society.
He and his wife, Joyce, and three children moved from Topeka to their rural home just south of Pretty Prairie to “get out of the big city.”
Because of his family’s efforts, patrons can recapture the golden age of movies on Friday and Saturday nights in February and March during the Civic Theatre’s 1999 classic film series. More than 1,000 people come to the two-month series each year.
“I have a love affair with movies. I have a love affair with old theaters,” said Albright, who works as facility manager at Pretty Prairie Sunset Retirement Community.
The Civic Theatre, housed in a narrow building that is 25 feet wide by 75 feet long, with a 20-foot deep stage, and is more than 100 years old, could well be the only one of its kind in Kansas showing old movies.
“It’s a rare bird,” Albright said. The Albrights have operated the theater with the help of their children, Mike, Amy and Stephanie.
“It was neat in the beginning when my dad opened it up,” said Mike Albright, now 27. “It was something we helped Mom and Dad with each year. There were a lot of drawbacks to it. Once I moved away and
grew up a little bit, I realized what a neat thing he was doing and what an impact it has on Pretty Prairie.”
The 211-seat theater features a stage adorned with a 1940s-vlntage canvas drop curtain with hand-painted advertisements, “It’s one of the best faces Pretty Prairie can put on for the rest of state,” said Roger McClure, president of the Pretty Prairie Heritage Society and a former mayor and council member. “We bring in a couple hundred
people every weekend from every part of the state. Those people come to town to have a good time and spend their money. The Civic Theatre features a hand-painted canvas curtain created In the 1940s. Some of them eat dinner at the only cafe left. I wish there were other things for people to do that come to town.”
In the days before television, touring troupes gave stage plays at various theaters. Someone noted on the back of the curtain: “Good play – good audience, 1939,” which gives a clue to the curtain’s age.
Another entertainer scrawled: “Poor town. Give it back to the Indians!”
Every aspect of the historic theater delights Albright. “This is my lifelong rebellion,” said an enthusiastic Albright, “I grew up in the
Mennonlte church. We didn’t go to movies. Movies were wrong. Now I’m doing it."
”
(April, 1994)
Big films on a small-town screen.
Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang big hits at Pretty Prairie theater
By Alan Montgomery
The Hutchinson News
PRETTY PRAIRIE – Some of the greatest motion pictures ever made are being shown in the Civic Theatre in downtown Pretty Prairie, thanks to the efforts of a local grocer with a dream.
Darrell Albright â€" who with his wife, Joyce, runs the D&J Grocery Store a few doors down from the beautifully restored theater â€" has been showing movies in Pretty Prairie for the past 18 years. Aided by local volunteers, the city council and local business sponsors, Albright saw that the theater’s restoration began 18 years ago and they’ve been showing a “spring series” of movies there ever since.
Movie fare includes Laurel and Hardy comedy films and classics such as the 1959 epic “Ben Hur,” starring Charlton Heston, or the 1948 comedy “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein."
Each movie is preceded by a showing of an Our Gang segment, such as "Hide and Shriek” or “Three Men in a Tub."
"It’s just a nostalgia trip, the whole thing,” said Albright, in a recent interview at the theater.
This year’s spring series began March 18 with the Abbott and Costello Frankenstein movie. Upcoming attractions are: April 22, “Some Like It Hot,” with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; April 29, “Ma and Pa Kettle at Home,” with Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride; and May 6, “Gone With the Wind,” the three-hour, 40-minute epic many say is the greatest film ever made.
The May 6 showing will end this year’s spring series; the theater will show its next films in March 1995. In 1981, when the theater was reopened, its volunteer operators tried to have two series per year, but the town couldn’t support it, said Patti Brace, Pretty Prairie’s city clerk.
“They found out that in a small town there was just too much football and sports and other things, and there were just so many people to go around,” she said. “And it’s not air-conditioned. So that is why we have it in the spring. It’s more comfortable."
Albright loves talking about the theater and its history. It opened in 1935, with the same 211 hardwood seats that remain in it today.
Darrell Albright sits in one of the hardwood seats in the Civic Theatre in downtown Pretty Prairie. With the help of volunteers, Pretty Prairie businesses and the town’s city council, Albright has been showing classic films at the theater for the past 18 years.
“It closed in March 1955,” he said. “Television got it, like it got most smalltown theaters.”
Albright saw plenty of movies at the theater as a youth in Pretty Prairie, before moving away. After 20 years of work as a research technician for the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, he and his wife
moved back to Pretty Prairie to run the grocery store. Soon after that, Albright set about restoring the theater.
With fund-raisings, he gathered enough money to buy two 16mm movie projectors and mounted them up in the fireproofed, galvanized tin projection booth in the theater. He is able to rent major motion pictures that have been recorded on “special 16mm film that is comparable to high intensity 35mm film,” he said. The theater even boasts of a 1940s-vintage canvas drop curtain that has advertisements from local sponsors of the era. Several of the companies sold coal, kerosene and oil â€" and could be reached by calling a two-digit phone number.
The theater also has a collection of antique glass slides, which were used in a special projector to show advertisements on the screen. The slides have been transferred to 35mm color slides and a few are shown to each audience, just for fun.
Since its reopening in 1981, the theater has always booked a generous amount of Our Gang films because one of the film series' stars was Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, the lad with the little twist of black hair that stuck up from his head. Alfalfa, you see, once lived in the Pretty Prairie community. Appearing in 61 of the 221 Our Gang
comedies filmed between the years of 1922 and 1944, Switzer later in life met a Hutchinson girl, Dian Collingwood, who had moved to California with her mother after the death of her father. Three months after meeting on a blind date, they were married. Switzer continued his acting career for a few years, with marginal success,
then the couple moved to a farm north of Pretty Prairie. But Switzer
had even less aptitude for farming, so he returned alone to
Hollywood to try his hand again. He died in California in 1958, after being shot in an argument over a hunting dog, according to
local historians.
Needless to say, Albright said, the Our Gang comedies have a strong local following, along with the other major films. “We had 156 here last Friday night,” he said. The theater is a non-profit corporation and people give donations, instead of admission, to attend the movies. Ethel Wingate, a 1934 graduate of Pretty Prairie High School, said she loves the theater and its movies. “We were there Friday and we saw the Little Rascals,” she said.
Showtime is at 8 p.m. on Fridays. Albright said if he has overwhelming crowds at future films, he’ll simply announce that the
movies will be shown twice that night to accommodate the fans.
Of course, that might be a tall order, if the feature film is “Gone
with the Wind,” he said.
(Salina Journal, April 2, 2000)
Historic theater star of own show
By The Associated Press
PRETTY PRAIRIE â€" A 1930s vintage movie house will star in its own picture show.
The Civic Theater will be showcased in a segment of “Restore America,” a TV production endorsed by famed home repairman Bob Vila. The theater recently has reopened and now features an annual spring schedule of old-time classic films.
The Civic Theater was selected for the show for its historic beginnings, the small-town locale and the restoration efforts of Darrell and Joyce Albright.
‘Restore America’ is a program about people with a passion for restoration,“ producer-director John Litschke said. "For some reason the series has developed a niche for small towns."
The weekly segment is broadcast at 9 p.m. Sundays on the Home and Garden network.
September 29, 1940; Hutchinson News-Herald front page)
Civic Club May Close Pretty Prairie Theatre
Pretty Prairie â€" Unless there is better business the next four weeks, the Civic club will close the community theater.
J. R. Hosey, manager of the theater for the local club said one more trial is being made. “If this fails,” he said, “we’ll call it off and the Civic theater will close its doors.”
The theater was started by a group of 15 Pretty Prairie citizens who put up the money as stockholders to start it. They didn’t expect to make any profit. But they don’t intend to take any more of a loss, Hosey said. “There are some business men in this town who have never been inside the theater.” he declared. “We’re getting fed up with that kind of cooperation.”
Pretty Prairie Movie House Being Improved
(Page 14, The Hutchinson News-Herald, Monday, November 24, 1947)
Volunteer workers from the ranks of the Pretty Prairie Booster club have been giving the Civic Theater in Pretty Prairie a sloping floor and other improvements.
The old entrance to the theatre is being closed and a double door entrance is being constructed.
From the stage to the rear door the floors are being raised about two feet to give spectators in the rear a better view.
City Gets Sunday Movies After Vote
ZION, Ill., April 11 1949 â€" (AP)â€" For the first time in 48 years, Zion’s citizens tomorrow will be able to see a Sunday movie in their home town.
Sabbath Blue Laws, in effect since the city was founded as a headquarters for the Christian Catholic Church 48 years ago, were wiped out in a Zion election last Tuesday.
The laws had prohibited operation of business establishments on Sunday.
Last year Onnie Bridges, operator of the community’s lone theater, staged a test of the laws by announcing he would open on Sunday â€" but before any tickets were sold, he was arrested and a Zion Court later upheld the city ordinance.
Campus Theatre, 103 Watson Street, Downtown Ripon.
Built by A.W. Pettibone in 1872 for his dry goods business, later in the nineteenth century the block was split into two stores, a dry goods house and a drug store. During the turn of the century years, the dry goods store was operated by the Mattice family and the drug store by Ottmar Schallern. By 1909 the building was again combined to house the Mattice-Foster Company Department Store, one of Ripon’s larger department stores. The business was in operation until 1935 when Ben Marcus established the Campus Theatre, the first of many in his movie empire that stretched across the Midwest.
Around Town With John Bailey: Campus Cinema: first Marcus Theatre entertaining the community of Ripon for over 74 years
By: Jonathan Bailey
Posted: 11/3/09
Nearly three-quarters of a century ago, a 23 year-old entrepreneur named Ben Marcus was searching the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin for an area to open a movie theatre. His journey led him to Ripon, Wis. where he noticed a building that was being vacated on historic Watson St. He invested $15,000 to purchase the building and the rest has become history.
Fifty-four theatres and almost 700 screens later, Marcus Theatres has turned into one of the leading entertainment industries in the country.
The original, Campus Theatre, opened its doors Nov. 1, 1935 for a showing of “It’s in the Air”. The movie, starring Jack Benny, cost 25 cents, and the opening of the theatre was quite a sight.
“Ripon was the most exciting opening I have ever seen,” says Ben Marcus' wife Celia Marcus. “The workmen were on their way out the back door and the people were all lined up in front. They could hardly wait to get in, and that’s the way it kept up for weeks and weeks. They were really hungry for a theatre.”
The lack of theatres in the area of Ripon was one of the prime reasons that Ben Marcus decided to open up the one in Ripon. “It was a town that really didn’t have a movie theatre back in 1935 and he thought the student body population and the people living in the area could use [one],” says Marcus' son Steve Marcus, current Chairman of Marcus Corporation.
The only other theatre in the town was a small auditorium that also served as a drill site for the National Guard.
The Campus Theatre was highly successful as Ben Marcus managed to pay off his debts within a year. Six years later, six more locations were opened up as the chain quickly began taking over the state of Wisconsin. Currently, Marcus Theatres spans throughout the Midwest. Besides Wisconsin, there are locations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio.
In 1985, the Marcus Corporation remembered their roots as they celebrated their 50th anniversary by returning to Ripon. The anniversary saw a replaying of the original film, “It’s in the Air”, and featured Ben Marcus as the parade marshal for the annual Riponfest Parade. Ben Marcus was also honored with a plaque in the main lobby of the theatre.
Ben Marcus never took any success for granted and was always looking for ways to diversify. It is lesser known that Marcus played a large role in the founding and the operation of Marc’s Big Boy Restaurant’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and a number of hotels.
The Present:
Now known as Campus Cinema, the one-screen movie theatre is a rarity. In fact, the Ripon theatre is the only Marcus Theatre to have one screen, with the next closest having six screens. With only one screen, current General Manager Tim Burns is faced with many challenges and restrictions.
“Unfortunately just being our size, we tend to be the last one in line for some of those independent releases.”
Other challenges that Burns is faced with includes the fact that once they get a new movie in the theatre, it must remain for a set period of time, regardless of the success.
“In our particular case, we have been in the theatre for so long that it is all paid off and it allows it to operate and make a small profit, even though it has only the one screen,” says Steve Marcus. “Then we’re challenged because we always have to try to pick the movie that will be appealing to our customers in Ripon. On the other hand, Ripon is as diverse as every other place.”
While small in size, Campus Cinema will be one of the many to have a midnight showing of the “Twilight Saga New Moon”, Nov. 20.
This will mark only the second midnight showing in Burns' time at the Ripon theate, with the previous being a Harry Potter movie.
The “Twilight Saga New Moon” will be the second consecutive opening of an anticipated movie, as “A Christmas Carol”, starring Jim Carrey opens this weekend.
The marquee sign which draped over the Watson St. sidewalk for over 50 years has been replaced with a flat sign reading ‘Campus Cinema.’ This may once again change under Burns, as the theatre is in the preliminary stages of finding out the feasibility of returning it to its original form.
“Steve Marcus actually visited here in the spring and he looked at the sign and he just really loved the old-style marquee sign,” says Burns. “If it does happen, it would probably be in the spring. They really want to make it look like it did 75 years ago, at least the best that they can.”
When asked about plans to return to Ripon in November of 2010 to celebrate 75 years of Marcus Theatres, Steve Marcus replied, “I am not sure. We have a committee working on putting together all of the things for the 75th and I am not exactly certain what their plans are.”
While the plans for the 75th may still be in the works, the love that the entire family has for Ripon is evident. “The Ripon theatre is our company and family shrine,” says Steve Marcus. “The theatre is a constant reminder of our roots…we have always had a keen sense of our history and Ripon’s been a wonderful place to do business.
Blue Laws of Zion Will Be Tested in Courts of Illinois -
Legality of Bans on Sunday Movies and Bowling Will Be Issue
Zion, Ill., April 12, 1948â€" (AP) â€" The manager of Zion’s only motion picture theater appears before the local justice of the peace today accused of attempting to show a movie on Sunday. Onnie Bridges, the manager, was arrested amicably yesterday in a test of the community’s ordinance banning Sunday movies. He had advertised that he would run the motion picture. “I Walk Alone”, yesterday afternoon to test the law. Bridges was arrested as the doors opened on a warrant issued on the complaint of Mayor Richard Hire.
Justice of the Peace Lester Koetz continued hearing of the charge until today and Bridges was released on $100 bond. Al Eric Carey, Zion city attorney, said he believed the case would eventually reach the state Supreme court. Carey said he believed both parties would only be satisfied with an interpretation by the high courts.
Motion pictures have been shown only weekdays in Zion since New Year’s day this year. At that time, the Zion theater opened. The theater, the first in the town, was opened after more than 2,000 of the community’s residents signed a petition asking the city council to permit the showing of movies.
The ordinance then passed by the council specificially banned Sunday movies and provided that all pictures shown should be subject to “proper censorship”.
Milwaukee Film Center, Inc., Milwaukee; 500 shares without par value; to inspect, store and transport motion picture films, prints and accessories: etc. C. W. Trampe, Oliver Trampe, Ray Trampe.
(BOXOFFICE, December 13, 1951:)
Theater Owners Elect Plymouth Man An Officer
MILWAUKEE â€"Lack of a program providing an outlet for children’s enthusiasm to live is the basic cause of juvenile delinquency, Judge Camile Kelly of Memphis, Tenn., said Wednesday.
Judge Kelly, who presides over the juvenile court of Memphis, addressed about 700 delegates attending the Allied Theatre Owners of Wisconsin convention. “Children don’t want to do wrong, but they do want to do something,” she said.
New officers elected at the convention Wednesday included Sigmund Goldberg, Wausau, president; Eric Brown, manager of Majestic and Plymouth Theatres, Plymouth, vice president; Jerome Goderski, town of Lake, secretary; Oliver Trampe, Milwaukee, treasurer, and Ben Marcus, Oshkosh, national director.
The 81-year-old former Majestic Theater building, located at 3620 E. Layton Ave. in Cudahy, is getting a makeover. It is the first building to get a facelift with assistance from the city’s new façade improvement program.
Work crews have removed the stucco from the exterior of the building. The project’s goal is to return the structure to its original appearance, including restoration of the cream city brick, new siding, awnings and tile and a brand new marquee. Construction will continue over the next several weeks and then be completed in spring.
The building is owned by the Ademi and O'Reilly Law Firm, which is the building’s anchor tenant. Other tenants in the building include Anderson Smith Advertising Consultants, Scherrer Insurance and Mr. Paul’s Hairstyling for Men.
The Façade Improvement Program provides design and construction grants to help commercial business and property owners reinvest in existing downtown properties.
“It is fitting that the city’s first façade improvement project be done to such a significant building in Cudahy’s history,” said Mayor Ryan McCue. “The revitalization of this structure is just the beginning of the rebirth of our entire downtown area.”
The Wisconsin State Building Commission today freed up money for the Grand Opera House. The Commission also directed money toward such other nonstate projects as a library remodel in Eau Claire, the Madison Children’s Museum, and the Myrick Hixon EcoPark in La Crosse.
In 1940 the VOGUE’s original marquee was replaced with a streamlined art-moderne marquee (which remained until 1960), the vertical sign was removed, the interior was redecorated and “freshened”, and Nick Coston was appointed manager by lessee Standard Theatres of Milwaukee.
The Granada Theatre provided the 700-pound switchboard for the Racine Playhouse at 601 High Street in 1961. It was installed
under the stage.
(July 17, 1945)
AGAINST CRIME MOVIES
Editor, Journal-Times:
It is seldom that I feel constrained to express my opinions in the public press, but it seems to me that I must give voice to my feelings in regard to the very objectionable “movie” shown at the Main Street theater over the weekend of Sept. 8. A big sign emblazoned the picture in a very emphatic manner “The ‘shock’ crime picture of the notorious Dillinger gang” by an All Star cast. It was indeed startling enough to make the citizens of Racine stop and think of the tremendous impetus to criminal tendencies this picture could give.
With crime rampant all over the nation, and plenty of it right in Racine, one could picture the damage done to the immature minds of children, and weak adult minds.
Surely thoughtful parents would not want their children to see this kind of picture, but evidently no sort of investigation, whatsoever, is being made as to what is being shown in Racine. As far as I can discover there is no censoring done by any group at present. Evidently the city clerk’s office issues permits to all who apply.
I call the attention of Mayor Wendt and those who handle the permits to an article in the Milwaukee Journal of Sept. 9 which said in part: “The censoring of the movies in Milwaukee, including all other shows, is done by a group of unpaid citizens called a commission. They are without legal authority but with the actual power to bar such films as are objectionable. The Commission operates as an extra legal arm of the mayor and if the Commission lacks statuary authority to control objectionable pictures, the mayor has the legal power.
The mayor grants licenses which promote good in the city and he can refuse any manager who wishes to put on what is not right. It would be interesting to know how far such a picture as "Dillinger and his Shock Crimes” would get in Milwaukee. Racine might well take note of what is being shown here.
â€"ROSE E. MALSCH.
LETTERS to the Journal Times, Sunday, Aug. 25, 1974 – 11 A
Racine. Wis.
Urges rebirth of Venetian
To the Editor: Suggestions for helping the Racine Symphony from Mrs. Leo Draves in her letter a few weeks ago were excellent.
One additional requirement for a good attendance and performance is the necessity of a good home, one which is permanent, and can be shared with the many other fine musical and stage groups of our community. Excellent acoustics are an absolute must, as are good sight lines. All this awaits us in the elegant auditorium of the Venetian Theatre now waiting for rebirth as a
performing arts center. Excellent acoutstics are elusive and difficult to engineer into an auditorium as demonstrated by terrible acoustics in some recent multimillion dollar centers.
In the past few months many letters to the editor have appeared with the constructive suggestion, “Use the Venetian as a civic auditorium.” Many communities have already done this with good
sound theatres in downtown areas.
The city most recent to ‘see the light’ is Madison (I had hoped Racine could be the first in Wisconsin). Their mayor has just completed negotiations for the Madison Capitol Theatre as their performing arts at a price of $600,000.
It is reported Racine could have the Venetian for about $100,000. This is many millions of dollars less than new construction which doesn’t even guarantee good acoustics. The Madison Capitol
Theatre had about the same seating capacity of the Venetian but is not nearly as elegant.
If our city is ever to have a fine civic auditorium for its symphony, large stage productions, community concert series, and many other uses in a convention center setting, now is the time to
act. Think of the Main Street Theatre fiasco a few years ago. We should contact the most obvious purchasers of the Venetian.. .our good mayor, council members, Central City Commission, also
chairman and members of the Racine County Board.
The Venetian Theatre was built as a tribute to Racine’s citizens (see special 10-page edition of the Racine Journal Times on Venetian’s opening April 11, 1928.) Quoting from a large ad by
Edward Zahn, then owner of .Zahns, “Congratulations to Mr. Carl Laemmle in giving to Racine this beautiful new playhouse, comparable with the best in cities many times our size. The Venetian marks another milestone of greater progress for this splendid city.
Civic loving citizens extend their acclaim to those who have shown their faith in the future of our city — another monument for a better greater Racine.“
Let us use this beautiful theatre as a civic auditorium for all to enjoy. If we ever lose it, it will be gone forever.
FREDERICK P. HERMES
1710 Heather Lane
LETTERS to the Journal Times, Sunday, Aug. 25, 1974- 11 A
Racine. Wi.
Urges rebirth of Venetian
To the Editor: Suggestions for helping the Racine Symphony from Mrs. Leo Draves in her letter a few weeks ago were excellent.
One additional requirement for a good attendance and performance is the necessity of a good home, one which is permanent, and can be shared with the many other fine musical and stage groups of our community. Excellent acoustics are an absolute must, as are good sight lines. All this awaits us in the elegant auditorium of the Venetian Theatre now waiting for rebirth as a
performing arts center. Excellent acoutstics are elusive and difficult to engineer into an auditorium as demonstrated by terrible acoustics in some recent multimillion dollar centers.
In the past few months many letters to the editor have appeared with the constructive suggestion, “Use the Venetian as a civic auditorium.” Many communities have already done this with good
sound theatres in downtown areas.
The city most recent to ‘see the light’ is Madison (I had hoped Racine could be the first in Wisconsin). Their mayor has just completed negotiations for the Madison Capitol Theatre as their performing arts at a price of $600,000.
It is reported Racine could have the Venetian for about $100,000. This is many millions of dollars less than new construction which doesn’t even guarantee good acoustics. The Madison Capitol
Theatre had about the same seating capacity of the Venetian but is not nearly as elegant.
If our city is ever to have a fine civic auditorium for its symphony, large stage productions, community concert series, and many other uses in a convention center setting, now is the time to
act. Think of the Main Street Theatre fiasco a few years ago. We should contact the most obvious purchasers of the Venetian.. .our good mayor, council members, Central City Commission, also
chairman and members of the Racine County Board.
The Venetian Theatre was built as a tribute to Racine’s citizens (see special 10-page edition of the Racine Journal Times on Venetian’s opening April 11, 1928.) Quoting from a large ad by
Edward Zahn, then owner of .Zahns, “Congratulations to Mr. Carl Laemmle in giving to Racine this beautiful new playhouse, comparable with the best in cities many times our size. The Venetian marks another milestone of greater progress for this splendid city.
Civic loving citizens extend their acclaim to those who have shown their faith in the future of our city — another monument for a better greater Racine.“
Let us use this beautiful theatre as a civic auditorium for all to enjoy. If we ever lose it, it will be gone forever.
FREDERICK P. HERMES
1710 Heather Lane
(VOP, August 15, 1956, Racine Journal Times)
Wants Elvis In Racine
We were discussing Racine’s entertainment and we came up with a question. We would like to see famous artists give personal appearances in Racine. Why can’t some one open the old Main Street Theater and have some noted entertainers, like they did when my mother was young?
The old theater doesn’t make a good appearance on our Main Street as it is. Our city is prosperous in every other way, why can’t they bring Elvis Presley our way? It sure would be grand to have him, Bill Haley and others like them in our city.
â€"AN “ELVIS PRESLEY FAN”
(June 30, 1931, Madison Capital Times)
The Main Street theater, Racine, has been turned over to Fox by RKO, according to H. J. Fitzgerald, of the Milwaukee Fox organization. The RKO Palace theater in Milwaukee may also be taken over by Fox in the near future.
Officials of both groups point out theater consolidation is now in progress throughout the country, and that the situation in Madison is representative of conditions which the theater men are attempting to effect in other cities. When the Strand is taken over by RKO all theaters here will be operated by one chain. If business conditions are poor, one or more theaters may then be closed.
(January 23, 1958, Racine Journal-Times)
“OWNER of the Main Street Theater building, on the northwest corner of State and Main streets, has offered the building for sale to the city for $25,000. Arnold Goodman, with whom the owner, Louis Bass of Milwaukee, listed the property, outlined the offer in a letter to the City Council, indicating that the building "might have use in connection with enlarging the police station facilities; for re-location of the 6th Street Fire Station, offstreet parking purposes or perhaps relocation of city offices, such as the Board of Education.”
(March 12, 1954; Racine Journal Times)
Progress of Move Involving Theater
Dear Tex: Just a line to keep you and the readers up to date on
the question of theater facilities for Racine people.
As you know, Paul Lange of the Junior Chamber of Commerce called a meeting two weeks ago at Hotel Racine to discuss the possibilities of obtaining the Main Street Theater for Racine. Paul Lange was elected chairman of the “Mainstreet Theater Association” at the meeting. The group decided to appoint three committees to gather facts for later evaluation.
Investigating Casts
At the present time Hans Geyer is heading a committee investigating the cost of putting the Main Street Theater in safe, sound and efficient operating condition. Another committee, headed by Bill Boy, is obtaining information on yearly maintenance and operating costs for the theater.
The third committee, headed by yours truly, has been asked to survey organizations in Racine concerning their needs for a theater like the Mainstreet. Members of this committee will contact presidents of organizations by phone this coming week to sound out their needs for theater facilities.
Not the “Only Pebble”
Members of the growing “association” realize that the Mainstreet Theater isn’t the only pebble on the beach. In order to get a complete picture it will be necessary to bring past surveys conducted on existing theatrical facilities up to date. It will also be important to get information about the city’s plans for community buildings.
People interested in the theater question are cordially invited to
meet with the “association” Wednesday, March 17, at 6 p.m. at the
Theatre Guild Playhouse on Erie and High Streets.
â€"JAMES L. PAGE.
City has interest in buying Paradise Theater
By MARK SCHAAF
Dec. 4, 2009
The city is exploring whether there is any historic preservation money to aid in the redevelopment of the Paradise Theater, 6229 W. Greenfield Ave.
Officials are in the early stages of seeing whether state funds are available to help the city purchase the property, with the ultimate goal of getting it into the hands of a private developer, city Planner Shaun Mueller said.
“We’re just seeing what’s out there to see if we could assist moving those properties along,” Mueller said.
The building is vacant and now owned by the State Bank of Chilton after a foreclosure forced out the Paradise Family Life Center, which held religious services there for about four years.
The Paradise Theater, which opened in 1929, has struggled to attract a permanent tenant since it stopped showing movies in 1996.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/WisconsinTheatres
Nostalgia lives- Pretty Prairie’s Civic Theatre shows classic movies
BY KAREN MARTINEZ
The Hutchinson News
PRETTY PRAIRIE – When Darrell Albright graduated from Pretty Prairie High at the age of 17, there were three things he was never going to do.
He was never going to move back to his hometown, he was never going to work with the public, and he was never going to live in the
country.
Never say never.
Albright, 57, has done all three. Not only did Albright return and purchase a grocery store on Pretty Prairie’s Main Street in 1980, but he reopened the long-vacant Civic Theatre a few doors down in April 1981. The Civic is a city-owned building and a project of the Pretty Prairie Heritage Society.
He and his wife, Joyce, and three children moved from Topeka to their rural home just south of Pretty Prairie to “get out of the big city.”
Because of his family’s efforts, patrons can recapture the golden age of movies on Friday and Saturday nights in February and March during the Civic Theatre’s 1999 classic film series. More than 1,000 people come to the two-month series each year.
“I have a love affair with movies. I have a love affair with old theaters,” said Albright, who works as facility manager at Pretty Prairie Sunset Retirement Community.
The Civic Theatre, housed in a narrow building that is 25 feet wide by 75 feet long, with a 20-foot deep stage, and is more than 100 years old, could well be the only one of its kind in Kansas showing old movies.
“It’s a rare bird,” Albright said. The Albrights have operated the theater with the help of their children, Mike, Amy and Stephanie.
“It was neat in the beginning when my dad opened it up,” said Mike Albright, now 27. “It was something we helped Mom and Dad with each year. There were a lot of drawbacks to it. Once I moved away and
grew up a little bit, I realized what a neat thing he was doing and what an impact it has on Pretty Prairie.”
The 211-seat theater features a stage adorned with a 1940s-vlntage canvas drop curtain with hand-painted advertisements, “It’s one of the best faces Pretty Prairie can put on for the rest of state,” said Roger McClure, president of the Pretty Prairie Heritage Society and a former mayor and council member. “We bring in a couple hundred
people every weekend from every part of the state. Those people come to town to have a good time and spend their money. The Civic Theatre features a hand-painted canvas curtain created In the 1940s. Some of them eat dinner at the only cafe left. I wish there were other things for people to do that come to town.”
In the days before television, touring troupes gave stage plays at various theaters. Someone noted on the back of the curtain: “Good play – good audience, 1939,” which gives a clue to the curtain’s age.
Another entertainer scrawled: “Poor town. Give it back to the Indians!”
Every aspect of the historic theater delights Albright. “This is my lifelong rebellion,” said an enthusiastic Albright, “I grew up in the
Mennonlte church. We didn’t go to movies. Movies were wrong. Now I’m doing it."
”
(April, 1994)
Big films on a small-town screen.
Laurel and Hardy, Our Gang big hits at Pretty Prairie theater
By Alan Montgomery
The Hutchinson News
PRETTY PRAIRIE – Some of the greatest motion pictures ever made are being shown in the Civic Theatre in downtown Pretty Prairie, thanks to the efforts of a local grocer with a dream.
Darrell Albright â€" who with his wife, Joyce, runs the D&J Grocery Store a few doors down from the beautifully restored theater â€" has been showing movies in Pretty Prairie for the past 18 years. Aided by local volunteers, the city council and local business sponsors, Albright saw that the theater’s restoration began 18 years ago and they’ve been showing a “spring series” of movies there ever since.
Movie fare includes Laurel and Hardy comedy films and classics such as the 1959 epic “Ben Hur,” starring Charlton Heston, or the 1948 comedy “Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein."
Each movie is preceded by a showing of an Our Gang segment, such as "Hide and Shriek” or “Three Men in a Tub."
"It’s just a nostalgia trip, the whole thing,” said Albright, in a recent interview at the theater.
This year’s spring series began March 18 with the Abbott and Costello Frankenstein movie. Upcoming attractions are: April 22, “Some Like It Hot,” with Marilyn Monroe and Jack Lemmon; April 29, “Ma and Pa Kettle at Home,” with Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride; and May 6, “Gone With the Wind,” the three-hour, 40-minute epic many say is the greatest film ever made.
The May 6 showing will end this year’s spring series; the theater will show its next films in March 1995. In 1981, when the theater was reopened, its volunteer operators tried to have two series per year, but the town couldn’t support it, said Patti Brace, Pretty Prairie’s city clerk.
“They found out that in a small town there was just too much football and sports and other things, and there were just so many people to go around,” she said. “And it’s not air-conditioned. So that is why we have it in the spring. It’s more comfortable."
Albright loves talking about the theater and its history. It opened in 1935, with the same 211 hardwood seats that remain in it today.
Darrell Albright sits in one of the hardwood seats in the Civic Theatre in downtown Pretty Prairie. With the help of volunteers, Pretty Prairie businesses and the town’s city council, Albright has been showing classic films at the theater for the past 18 years.
“It closed in March 1955,” he said. “Television got it, like it got most smalltown theaters.”
Albright saw plenty of movies at the theater as a youth in Pretty Prairie, before moving away. After 20 years of work as a research technician for the Menninger Foundation in Topeka, he and his wife
moved back to Pretty Prairie to run the grocery store. Soon after that, Albright set about restoring the theater.
With fund-raisings, he gathered enough money to buy two 16mm movie projectors and mounted them up in the fireproofed, galvanized tin projection booth in the theater. He is able to rent major motion pictures that have been recorded on “special 16mm film that is comparable to high intensity 35mm film,” he said. The theater even boasts of a 1940s-vintage canvas drop curtain that has advertisements from local sponsors of the era. Several of the companies sold coal, kerosene and oil â€" and could be reached by calling a two-digit phone number.
The theater also has a collection of antique glass slides, which were used in a special projector to show advertisements on the screen. The slides have been transferred to 35mm color slides and a few are shown to each audience, just for fun.
Since its reopening in 1981, the theater has always booked a generous amount of Our Gang films because one of the film series' stars was Carl “Alfalfa” Switzer, the lad with the little twist of black hair that stuck up from his head. Alfalfa, you see, once lived in the Pretty Prairie community. Appearing in 61 of the 221 Our Gang
comedies filmed between the years of 1922 and 1944, Switzer later in life met a Hutchinson girl, Dian Collingwood, who had moved to California with her mother after the death of her father. Three months after meeting on a blind date, they were married. Switzer continued his acting career for a few years, with marginal success,
then the couple moved to a farm north of Pretty Prairie. But Switzer
had even less aptitude for farming, so he returned alone to
Hollywood to try his hand again. He died in California in 1958, after being shot in an argument over a hunting dog, according to
local historians.
Needless to say, Albright said, the Our Gang comedies have a strong local following, along with the other major films. “We had 156 here last Friday night,” he said. The theater is a non-profit corporation and people give donations, instead of admission, to attend the movies. Ethel Wingate, a 1934 graduate of Pretty Prairie High School, said she loves the theater and its movies. “We were there Friday and we saw the Little Rascals,” she said.
Showtime is at 8 p.m. on Fridays. Albright said if he has overwhelming crowds at future films, he’ll simply announce that the
movies will be shown twice that night to accommodate the fans.
Of course, that might be a tall order, if the feature film is “Gone
with the Wind,” he said.
(Salina Journal, April 2, 2000)
Historic theater star of own show
By The Associated Press
PRETTY PRAIRIE â€" A 1930s vintage movie house will star in its own picture show.
The Civic Theater will be showcased in a segment of “Restore America,” a TV production endorsed by famed home repairman Bob Vila. The theater recently has reopened and now features an annual spring schedule of old-time classic films.
The Civic Theater was selected for the show for its historic beginnings, the small-town locale and the restoration efforts of Darrell and Joyce Albright.
‘Restore America’ is a program about people with a passion for restoration,“ producer-director John Litschke said. "For some reason the series has developed a niche for small towns."
The weekly segment is broadcast at 9 p.m. Sundays on the Home and Garden network.
September 29, 1940; Hutchinson News-Herald front page)
Civic Club May Close Pretty Prairie Theatre
Pretty Prairie â€" Unless there is better business the next four weeks, the Civic club will close the community theater.
J. R. Hosey, manager of the theater for the local club said one more trial is being made. “If this fails,” he said, “we’ll call it off and the Civic theater will close its doors.”
The theater was started by a group of 15 Pretty Prairie citizens who put up the money as stockholders to start it. They didn’t expect to make any profit. But they don’t intend to take any more of a loss, Hosey said. “There are some business men in this town who have never been inside the theater.” he declared. “We’re getting fed up with that kind of cooperation.”
Pretty Prairie Movie House Being Improved
(Page 14, The Hutchinson News-Herald, Monday, November 24, 1947)
Volunteer workers from the ranks of the Pretty Prairie Booster club have been giving the Civic Theater in Pretty Prairie a sloping floor and other improvements.
The old entrance to the theatre is being closed and a double door entrance is being constructed.
From the stage to the rear door the floors are being raised about two feet to give spectators in the rear a better view.
City Gets Sunday Movies After Vote
ZION, Ill., April 11 1949 â€" (AP)â€" For the first time in 48 years, Zion’s citizens tomorrow will be able to see a Sunday movie in their home town.
Sabbath Blue Laws, in effect since the city was founded as a headquarters for the Christian Catholic Church 48 years ago, were wiped out in a Zion election last Tuesday.
The laws had prohibited operation of business establishments on Sunday.
Last year Onnie Bridges, operator of the community’s lone theater, staged a test of the laws by announcing he would open on Sunday â€" but before any tickets were sold, he was arrested and a Zion Court later upheld the city ordinance.
Tomorrow’s film will be “You Gotta Stay Happy.”
I drove past this theatre in the late spring of 1980. The lighted marquee was spectacular. The facade was dated 1921.
Campus Theatre, 103 Watson Street, Downtown Ripon.
Built by A.W. Pettibone in 1872 for his dry goods business, later in the nineteenth century the block was split into two stores, a dry goods house and a drug store. During the turn of the century years, the dry goods store was operated by the Mattice family and the drug store by Ottmar Schallern. By 1909 the building was again combined to house the Mattice-Foster Company Department Store, one of Ripon’s larger department stores. The business was in operation until 1935 when Ben Marcus established the Campus Theatre, the first of many in his movie empire that stretched across the Midwest.
Around Town With John Bailey: Campus Cinema: first Marcus Theatre entertaining the community of Ripon for over 74 years
By: Jonathan Bailey
Posted: 11/3/09
Nearly three-quarters of a century ago, a 23 year-old entrepreneur named Ben Marcus was searching the states of Minnesota and Wisconsin for an area to open a movie theatre. His journey led him to Ripon, Wis. where he noticed a building that was being vacated on historic Watson St. He invested $15,000 to purchase the building and the rest has become history.
Fifty-four theatres and almost 700 screens later, Marcus Theatres has turned into one of the leading entertainment industries in the country.
The original, Campus Theatre, opened its doors Nov. 1, 1935 for a showing of “It’s in the Air”. The movie, starring Jack Benny, cost 25 cents, and the opening of the theatre was quite a sight.
“Ripon was the most exciting opening I have ever seen,” says Ben Marcus' wife Celia Marcus. “The workmen were on their way out the back door and the people were all lined up in front. They could hardly wait to get in, and that’s the way it kept up for weeks and weeks. They were really hungry for a theatre.”
The lack of theatres in the area of Ripon was one of the prime reasons that Ben Marcus decided to open up the one in Ripon. “It was a town that really didn’t have a movie theatre back in 1935 and he thought the student body population and the people living in the area could use [one],” says Marcus' son Steve Marcus, current Chairman of Marcus Corporation.
The only other theatre in the town was a small auditorium that also served as a drill site for the National Guard.
The Campus Theatre was highly successful as Ben Marcus managed to pay off his debts within a year. Six years later, six more locations were opened up as the chain quickly began taking over the state of Wisconsin. Currently, Marcus Theatres spans throughout the Midwest. Besides Wisconsin, there are locations in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, North Dakota, Nebraska and Ohio.
In 1985, the Marcus Corporation remembered their roots as they celebrated their 50th anniversary by returning to Ripon. The anniversary saw a replaying of the original film, “It’s in the Air”, and featured Ben Marcus as the parade marshal for the annual Riponfest Parade. Ben Marcus was also honored with a plaque in the main lobby of the theatre.
Ben Marcus never took any success for granted and was always looking for ways to diversify. It is lesser known that Marcus played a large role in the founding and the operation of Marc’s Big Boy Restaurant’s, Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), and a number of hotels.
The Present:
Now known as Campus Cinema, the one-screen movie theatre is a rarity. In fact, the Ripon theatre is the only Marcus Theatre to have one screen, with the next closest having six screens. With only one screen, current General Manager Tim Burns is faced with many challenges and restrictions.
“Unfortunately just being our size, we tend to be the last one in line for some of those independent releases.”
Other challenges that Burns is faced with includes the fact that once they get a new movie in the theatre, it must remain for a set period of time, regardless of the success.
“In our particular case, we have been in the theatre for so long that it is all paid off and it allows it to operate and make a small profit, even though it has only the one screen,” says Steve Marcus. “Then we’re challenged because we always have to try to pick the movie that will be appealing to our customers in Ripon. On the other hand, Ripon is as diverse as every other place.”
While small in size, Campus Cinema will be one of the many to have a midnight showing of the “Twilight Saga New Moon”, Nov. 20.
This will mark only the second midnight showing in Burns' time at the Ripon theate, with the previous being a Harry Potter movie.
The “Twilight Saga New Moon” will be the second consecutive opening of an anticipated movie, as “A Christmas Carol”, starring Jim Carrey opens this weekend.
To get the showtimes visit http://www.MarcusTheatres.com
The marquee sign which draped over the Watson St. sidewalk for over 50 years has been replaced with a flat sign reading ‘Campus Cinema.’ This may once again change under Burns, as the theatre is in the preliminary stages of finding out the feasibility of returning it to its original form.
“Steve Marcus actually visited here in the spring and he looked at the sign and he just really loved the old-style marquee sign,” says Burns. “If it does happen, it would probably be in the spring. They really want to make it look like it did 75 years ago, at least the best that they can.”
When asked about plans to return to Ripon in November of 2010 to celebrate 75 years of Marcus Theatres, Steve Marcus replied, “I am not sure. We have a committee working on putting together all of the things for the 75th and I am not exactly certain what their plans are.”
While the plans for the 75th may still be in the works, the love that the entire family has for Ripon is evident. “The Ripon theatre is our company and family shrine,” says Steve Marcus. “The theatre is a constant reminder of our roots…we have always had a keen sense of our history and Ripon’s been a wonderful place to do business.
Blue Laws of Zion Will Be Tested in Courts of Illinois -
Legality of Bans on Sunday Movies and Bowling Will Be Issue
Zion, Ill., April 12, 1948â€" (AP) â€" The manager of Zion’s only motion picture theater appears before the local justice of the peace today accused of attempting to show a movie on Sunday. Onnie Bridges, the manager, was arrested amicably yesterday in a test of the community’s ordinance banning Sunday movies. He had advertised that he would run the motion picture. “I Walk Alone”, yesterday afternoon to test the law. Bridges was arrested as the doors opened on a warrant issued on the complaint of Mayor Richard Hire.
Justice of the Peace Lester Koetz continued hearing of the charge until today and Bridges was released on $100 bond. Al Eric Carey, Zion city attorney, said he believed the case would eventually reach the state Supreme court. Carey said he believed both parties would only be satisfied with an interpretation by the high courts.
Motion pictures have been shown only weekdays in Zion since New Year’s day this year. At that time, the Zion theater opened. The theater, the first in the town, was opened after more than 2,000 of the community’s residents signed a petition asking the city council to permit the showing of movies.
The ordinance then passed by the council specificially banned Sunday movies and provided that all pictures shown should be subject to “proper censorship”.
(October 23, 1948)
New Wisconsin corporations:
Milwaukee Film Center, Inc., Milwaukee; 500 shares without par value; to inspect, store and transport motion picture films, prints and accessories: etc. C. W. Trampe, Oliver Trampe, Ray Trampe.
(BOXOFFICE, December 13, 1951:)
Theater Owners Elect Plymouth Man An Officer
MILWAUKEE â€"Lack of a program providing an outlet for children’s enthusiasm to live is the basic cause of juvenile delinquency, Judge Camile Kelly of Memphis, Tenn., said Wednesday.
Judge Kelly, who presides over the juvenile court of Memphis, addressed about 700 delegates attending the Allied Theatre Owners of Wisconsin convention. “Children don’t want to do wrong, but they do want to do something,” she said.
New officers elected at the convention Wednesday included Sigmund Goldberg, Wausau, president; Eric Brown, manager of Majestic and Plymouth Theatres, Plymouth, vice president; Jerome Goderski, town of Lake, secretary; Oliver Trampe, Milwaukee, treasurer, and Ben Marcus, Oshkosh, national director.
The 81-year-old former Majestic Theater building, located at 3620 E. Layton Ave. in Cudahy, is getting a makeover. It is the first building to get a facelift with assistance from the city’s new façade improvement program.
Work crews have removed the stucco from the exterior of the building. The project’s goal is to return the structure to its original appearance, including restoration of the cream city brick, new siding, awnings and tile and a brand new marquee. Construction will continue over the next several weeks and then be completed in spring.
The building is owned by the Ademi and O'Reilly Law Firm, which is the building’s anchor tenant. Other tenants in the building include Anderson Smith Advertising Consultants, Scherrer Insurance and Mr. Paul’s Hairstyling for Men.
The Façade Improvement Program provides design and construction grants to help commercial business and property owners reinvest in existing downtown properties.
“It is fitting that the city’s first façade improvement project be done to such a significant building in Cudahy’s history,” said Mayor Ryan McCue. “The revitalization of this structure is just the beginning of the rebirth of our entire downtown area.”
The Wisconsin State Building Commission today freed up money for the Grand Opera House. The Commission also directed money toward such other nonstate projects as a library remodel in Eau Claire, the Madison Children’s Museum, and the Myrick Hixon EcoPark in La Crosse.
In 1940 the VOGUE’s original marquee was replaced with a streamlined art-moderne marquee (which remained until 1960), the vertical sign was removed, the interior was redecorated and “freshened”, and Nick Coston was appointed manager by lessee Standard Theatres of Milwaukee.
The above from the Lowell Sun, Thursday, October 15, 1925.