seymour cox
would love to see the olds ads as i have no recollection of the pix, reno or midwest in okc or circle cinema in tulsa being owened by video. i worked in shipping part -time or was one of the delivery drivers from roughly 1968 to 1974 don’t recall either the names or deliviering to more than 4 theaters in okc-will rogers, may, twilight gardens and rialto.with regard to the boomer as a college town it was a little more racy but i think the only time anything slightly hard-core was shown ws when my cohorts and i rented it for midnight movies when i was in school there from 1970 to 1978. then again that was long time ago and my memory might be real foggy. would love to know more if you have the time
the bookers usually 4-6 in number bid for every picture to be shown in the video chain. accordingly they would watch two movies a day. the first at 11:30( preceded by coffee at the film coffee shop) then lunch( at the film coffee shop) then a second movie about 2pm then more coffee ( at the film coffee shop) no wonder they wanted to go to o'mealley’s for a change!
roger rice and his wife fern were the head of marketing. i assume that’s the roger e. rice referred to in this string as writing a history of griffith> is that in primt and/or has anyone sought access to the historic society archives? is so how do i go about doing either one?
johnny jones was a powerhouse and a great operator. he would have been excellent. one of my more fun/lucrative duties was to prevent a dark house at all costs. if for some reason the print did not make it to the theater in time or was damaged you had to get a replacement there on time.somehow it was always for the 1pm sunday matinee ( new first runs started on sunday afternoon and wednesday evening which is why the trucks rolled on tuesday thursday and satuyrday). i’d get the call, grab a back up print and begin to drive as fast as my souped-up 1968 camaro would go. headed for okmulgee at the orpheum when the highway patrol stopped me on i-40 near shawnee doing “speeds in excess of 117 miles per hour” both the print and i were on the way to jail until a call went from earl to johnny to his friend the judge explaining that “ roger’s a good boy who’s helped me out from time to time and his father’s a personal friend” i was on my way ( now at 70mph) and okmulgee got it film on time.
the shipping dept/truck drivers were a great rogue’s gallery-tommy tuttle who later worked for 20th century fox, james arness' brother ( james was marshall matt dillon) peewee shipman, j.p.morgan, barry ? later of mistletoe and countless others including leroy with whom i worked for many a summer, christmas break etc. he had about 7 kids, about a 4th grade education a ramsackle house in the floodplain known as “muligan flats” and enough basic smarts and decency to put us all to shame.
video would also sell the popcorn cheap but extra salty. the drinks were then of course extra expensive. they would run also run the smell of the cooking popcorn through the a/c vents to increase demand.
symco, earl albright was indeed my father.remember frank love and horace clark as those towns were on my truck runs. hobart and mangum were served by bus or mistletoe express as they were off the beaten path
i worked for “johnny” johnson in concessions. earl was head of shipping, dusty rhodes ran the poster dept. and petey worked for him.the older guy in poster had worked with oliver hardy in vaudeville before hardy hooked up with stanley laurel. george snow of course was the displaced russian soldier who survived the nazi pow camp and was brought to oklahoma by video. he first lived in the apt. underneath the screen tower at the twilight gardens. wee gee was indeed a trip and she and her husband frank who also was a video executive were good friends of my family.
what’s your connection with video?
the ritz was one of only two x-rated movie houses owned by video independant theaters. the other was the rialto in downtown oklahoma city (which didnt always just show x., also showed the blackplotation films of the 60s/70s. the ritz catered to the soldiers of fort sill. the films were shipped from oklahoma city after being reviewed by video’s film bookers to make certain they were not beyond the limits set by Lawton’s chief of police. if the films were too racy they were shipped back to dallas rather than being forwarded to lawton but only after every guy who worked on the film row got together that evening for a private screening.
my father worked for video theaters in oklahoma city from early 1940’s until the early 1970’s. i worked my way through high school and college with every low-level job there was —filing orders in the concession department, picking up and shipping every film, truck driver to every town in Oklahoma with a Video theater etc.. amazed at the knowledge of symco, oklahoma cowboy and cosmic ray. how do you know and any more details on projectionist ( george Snow or Petey from the Print shop?) louise wesson or others
seymour cox
would love to see the olds ads as i have no recollection of the pix, reno or midwest in okc or circle cinema in tulsa being owened by video. i worked in shipping part -time or was one of the delivery drivers from roughly 1968 to 1974 don’t recall either the names or deliviering to more than 4 theaters in okc-will rogers, may, twilight gardens and rialto.with regard to the boomer as a college town it was a little more racy but i think the only time anything slightly hard-core was shown ws when my cohorts and i rented it for midnight movies when i was in school there from 1970 to 1978. then again that was long time ago and my memory might be real foggy. would love to know more if you have the time
the bookers usually 4-6 in number bid for every picture to be shown in the video chain. accordingly they would watch two movies a day. the first at 11:30( preceded by coffee at the film coffee shop) then lunch( at the film coffee shop) then a second movie about 2pm then more coffee ( at the film coffee shop) no wonder they wanted to go to o'mealley’s for a change!
roger rice and his wife fern were the head of marketing. i assume that’s the roger e. rice referred to in this string as writing a history of griffith> is that in primt and/or has anyone sought access to the historic society archives? is so how do i go about doing either one?
johnny jones was a powerhouse and a great operator. he would have been excellent. one of my more fun/lucrative duties was to prevent a dark house at all costs. if for some reason the print did not make it to the theater in time or was damaged you had to get a replacement there on time.somehow it was always for the 1pm sunday matinee ( new first runs started on sunday afternoon and wednesday evening which is why the trucks rolled on tuesday thursday and satuyrday). i’d get the call, grab a back up print and begin to drive as fast as my souped-up 1968 camaro would go. headed for okmulgee at the orpheum when the highway patrol stopped me on i-40 near shawnee doing “speeds in excess of 117 miles per hour” both the print and i were on the way to jail until a call went from earl to johnny to his friend the judge explaining that “ roger’s a good boy who’s helped me out from time to time and his father’s a personal friend” i was on my way ( now at 70mph) and okmulgee got it film on time.
the shipping dept/truck drivers were a great rogue’s gallery-tommy tuttle who later worked for 20th century fox, james arness' brother ( james was marshall matt dillon) peewee shipman, j.p.morgan, barry ? later of mistletoe and countless others including leroy with whom i worked for many a summer, christmas break etc. he had about 7 kids, about a 4th grade education a ramsackle house in the floodplain known as “muligan flats” and enough basic smarts and decency to put us all to shame.
video would also sell the popcorn cheap but extra salty. the drinks were then of course extra expensive. they would run also run the smell of the cooking popcorn through the a/c vents to increase demand.
symco, earl albright was indeed my father.remember frank love and horace clark as those towns were on my truck runs. hobart and mangum were served by bus or mistletoe express as they were off the beaten path
i worked for “johnny” johnson in concessions. earl was head of shipping, dusty rhodes ran the poster dept. and petey worked for him.the older guy in poster had worked with oliver hardy in vaudeville before hardy hooked up with stanley laurel. george snow of course was the displaced russian soldier who survived the nazi pow camp and was brought to oklahoma by video. he first lived in the apt. underneath the screen tower at the twilight gardens. wee gee was indeed a trip and she and her husband frank who also was a video executive were good friends of my family.
what’s your connection with video?
the ritz was one of only two x-rated movie houses owned by video independant theaters. the other was the rialto in downtown oklahoma city (which didnt always just show x., also showed the blackplotation films of the 60s/70s. the ritz catered to the soldiers of fort sill. the films were shipped from oklahoma city after being reviewed by video’s film bookers to make certain they were not beyond the limits set by Lawton’s chief of police. if the films were too racy they were shipped back to dallas rather than being forwarded to lawton but only after every guy who worked on the film row got together that evening for a private screening.
site of “midnight movies” in early 70’s and then rock shows promoted by z-ray, a-ray and others
it was closed when i visited in 2006. had been a funiture/junk store most recently had been part of the griffith/video chain
my father worked for video theaters in oklahoma city from early 1940’s until the early 1970’s. i worked my way through high school and college with every low-level job there was —filing orders in the concession department, picking up and shipping every film, truck driver to every town in Oklahoma with a Video theater etc.. amazed at the knowledge of symco, oklahoma cowboy and cosmic ray. how do you know and any more details on projectionist ( george Snow or Petey from the Print shop?) louise wesson or others