I believe I have a photo of the Arcadia Theater taken circ 1943 when Roy Rogers and Trigger made a personal appearance. My photo shows Roy rearing Trigger up on his hind legs in front of the theater. Your description of the very narrow marquee and the green letter spelling out “Arcadia” on the sign above matches what I see in the photo. The building shown on the left was “ Ira Prewitt’s Hardware Store.” The box office can barely seen to the right of the entrance just over the heads of the kids gathered outside. My guess is that this was in 1943 when Roy became King of the Cowboys at Republic. His billing with Trigger and the Sons of the Pioneers can be seen on the sign over the front entrance. The looks of the kids' faces at seeing their hero in person on a rearing Trigger shows why Roy was so popular. I don’t have the hardware for posting this photo on line but if any of you former Front Row Kids of Tyler, Texas are still around, you may recall this very special day. I would guess that the photo was taken by either Roy’s publicity agent or a local photographer. My father was a local newspaper reporter for many years. In 1956, he took me to the Ohio State Fair where we met Roy and I had my photographer with him. Dad also took some photos of the crowd and of Roy and Dale. A publicity agent with Al Rankin Agency tried to get some free photos from Dad by promising him payment and then when the photos were sent, he tried to claim that the photos were not suitable. Dad contacted Art Rush, Roy’s personal manager, and Rush fired the guy. He also sent Dad and I color photos of Roy, Dale and Trigger autograped. I also still have the black and white photos that Dad took at the fair.
Is it interesting how many theaters back then were called “the Star” or “Bijou.” That’s where the PBS program, “Matinee at the Bijou” took its name. I lived in Concord NH in the late Forties and early Fifties. There was a Star Theater there and you can still see the word “Star” on the threshold. It is now a video store. How appropriate. It was built in the early 1900’s and lasted through the vaudeville and silent period. It finally closed in Dec, 1951 right before Christmas. The last movie was ironically titled “Trail’s End,” a 1949 Johnny Mack Brown Monogram western. The theater had shown its share of B westerns and serials for Saturday afternoon kids.
The Paramount Theater always showed the Walt Disney and the Martin-Lewis films during their first run. You could always tell when one of these films were in town, because the line extended down to the corner of Second St (where the theater was located) and High St. Radcliffe’s Drug Store sat on that corner. Admission was about $.50-$.75 but my mother told me about how she had to save up money to see Gone With The Wind when it played there in 1939. Admission was like $l.50 to $2. The theater had little boxes on the side walls which looked like opera boxes. They also had a very fashionable lobby in the basement and a fancy powder room for the ladies (This of course I have no first hand knowledge except what Mom told me.
As a old movie buff and someone who attended the old Linden Theater,I did some research using the back issues of the Hamilton Journal News. My father, who was a reporter there for 23 years, acquired the bound volumes after they were discanded when the newspaper went to micofilming their archives. I looked through the bound volumes of 1946-1944 when I found that the first ads for the Linden were printed in 1944.They didn’t run as many as the Palace or the Rialto, usually small block ads. I went there in 1953-54, while I was living in Lindenwald. Admission was about $.11. While they did not run the B westerns and serialsw, which had pretty much gone to television re-runs, they did run Ma and Paw Kettle, sci-movies, Francis the Mule. In 1968, the theater was taken over by new management, new seats were put in and the floors were given a good cleaning since they were sticky over years of spilled pop and Ju-Ju Drops. The new name was Cinema Malibu and the first film I saw there was the R rated version ofr “Candy.” It was later changed to the Village Cinema with the backrow widened to allow tables so that the patrons could enjoy a glass of beer or wine. It became like a art movie house. The house shown in part in the photo you post was originally the home of my great uncle James Newton, for whom my father was named. He operated a fruit and vegatable market there in the late Forties. After he died, the Cearly family bought it and kept it as a fruit market until they opened a new business selling soft dough pretzels. These were sold uptown on Saturday’s market day, the Butler County Fair and at the racetrack. That business is now closed but the owner’s wife still resides in the house at age 95. Hope this answers all your questions.
y
I believe I have a photo of the Arcadia Theater taken circ 1943 when Roy Rogers and Trigger made a personal appearance. My photo shows Roy rearing Trigger up on his hind legs in front of the theater. Your description of the very narrow marquee and the green letter spelling out “Arcadia” on the sign above matches what I see in the photo. The building shown on the left was “ Ira Prewitt’s Hardware Store.” The box office can barely seen to the right of the entrance just over the heads of the kids gathered outside. My guess is that this was in 1943 when Roy became King of the Cowboys at Republic. His billing with Trigger and the Sons of the Pioneers can be seen on the sign over the front entrance. The looks of the kids' faces at seeing their hero in person on a rearing Trigger shows why Roy was so popular. I don’t have the hardware for posting this photo on line but if any of you former Front Row Kids of Tyler, Texas are still around, you may recall this very special day. I would guess that the photo was taken by either Roy’s publicity agent or a local photographer. My father was a local newspaper reporter for many years. In 1956, he took me to the Ohio State Fair where we met Roy and I had my photographer with him. Dad also took some photos of the crowd and of Roy and Dale. A publicity agent with Al Rankin Agency tried to get some free photos from Dad by promising him payment and then when the photos were sent, he tried to claim that the photos were not suitable. Dad contacted Art Rush, Roy’s personal manager, and Rush fired the guy. He also sent Dad and I color photos of Roy, Dale and Trigger autograped. I also still have the black and white photos that Dad took at the fair.
Is it interesting how many theaters back then were called “the Star” or “Bijou.” That’s where the PBS program, “Matinee at the Bijou” took its name. I lived in Concord NH in the late Forties and early Fifties. There was a Star Theater there and you can still see the word “Star” on the threshold. It is now a video store. How appropriate. It was built in the early 1900’s and lasted through the vaudeville and silent period. It finally closed in Dec, 1951 right before Christmas. The last movie was ironically titled “Trail’s End,” a 1949 Johnny Mack Brown Monogram western. The theater had shown its share of B westerns and serials for Saturday afternoon kids.
The Paramount Theater always showed the Walt Disney and the Martin-Lewis films during their first run. You could always tell when one of these films were in town, because the line extended down to the corner of Second St (where the theater was located) and High St. Radcliffe’s Drug Store sat on that corner. Admission was about $.50-$.75 but my mother told me about how she had to save up money to see Gone With The Wind when it played there in 1939. Admission was like $l.50 to $2. The theater had little boxes on the side walls which looked like opera boxes. They also had a very fashionable lobby in the basement and a fancy powder room for the ladies (This of course I have no first hand knowledge except what Mom told me.
As a old movie buff and someone who attended the old Linden Theater,I did some research using the back issues of the Hamilton Journal News. My father, who was a reporter there for 23 years, acquired the bound volumes after they were discanded when the newspaper went to micofilming their archives. I looked through the bound volumes of 1946-1944 when I found that the first ads for the Linden were printed in 1944.They didn’t run as many as the Palace or the Rialto, usually small block ads. I went there in 1953-54, while I was living in Lindenwald. Admission was about $.11. While they did not run the B westerns and serialsw, which had pretty much gone to television re-runs, they did run Ma and Paw Kettle, sci-movies, Francis the Mule. In 1968, the theater was taken over by new management, new seats were put in and the floors were given a good cleaning since they were sticky over years of spilled pop and Ju-Ju Drops. The new name was Cinema Malibu and the first film I saw there was the R rated version ofr “Candy.” It was later changed to the Village Cinema with the backrow widened to allow tables so that the patrons could enjoy a glass of beer or wine. It became like a art movie house. The house shown in part in the photo you post was originally the home of my great uncle James Newton, for whom my father was named. He operated a fruit and vegatable market there in the late Forties. After he died, the Cearly family bought it and kept it as a fruit market until they opened a new business selling soft dough pretzels. These were sold uptown on Saturday’s market day, the Butler County Fair and at the racetrack. That business is now closed but the owner’s wife still resides in the house at age 95. Hope this answers all your questions.
y