This theater had extremely small screens, however we went sometimes because of convenience. I think my home theater has a bigger screen than these did.
Thanks so much for creating this page and for the info about The Ponderosa’s history. I went to quite a few movies there from 1974 – 1976. For the size of the building, they had a very large screen. Among the films I saw there were: The Sting, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, The Duchess and The Dirtwater Fox, Mame, The Great Gatsby, Earthquake, Airport 75, The Sound of Music, and The Poseidon Adventure. They usually showed double features. Sometimes they were strange. After Mame played with The Great Gatsby, which made sense, Mame played with Airport 75. I heard someone comment after that one: “Helen Reddy in that musical was alright, but Lucy in that disaster pic – sheesh!” The last time I can say I am sure the theater was open was Summer 1976. I remember, because they had a series of “Musical Mondays”. On about 6 successive Mondays that summer, they played a musical on Monday afternoon. I recall seeing Hello, Dolly!, Camelot, Carousel and The King and I. It was a treat to see them in widescreen format, as this was long before widescreen home video. If anyone has a vintage pic, please post it! My Dad is an avid photographer but I have looked through all his pics and there is none to be found of The Ponderosa. I would love a reminder of what it looked like in the day. Thanks again!
The print they had of The Sound of Music was missing the concert version of Edelweiss. It was startling.
By the way, they did not show The Music Man to my great disappointment - South Pacific sold so well they held it over for that week.
4/2/1976
6-26-1974
This theater had extremely small screens, however we went sometimes because of convenience. I think my home theater has a bigger screen than these did.
Thanks so much for creating this page and for the info about The Ponderosa’s history. I went to quite a few movies there from 1974 – 1976. For the size of the building, they had a very large screen. Among the films I saw there were: The Sting, What’s Up, Doc?, Paper Moon, Young Frankenstein, Silent Movie, The Duchess and The Dirtwater Fox, Mame, The Great Gatsby, Earthquake, Airport 75, The Sound of Music, and The Poseidon Adventure. They usually showed double features. Sometimes they were strange. After Mame played with The Great Gatsby, which made sense, Mame played with Airport 75. I heard someone comment after that one: “Helen Reddy in that musical was alright, but Lucy in that disaster pic – sheesh!” The last time I can say I am sure the theater was open was Summer 1976. I remember, because they had a series of “Musical Mondays”. On about 6 successive Mondays that summer, they played a musical on Monday afternoon. I recall seeing Hello, Dolly!, Camelot, Carousel and The King and I. It was a treat to see them in widescreen format, as this was long before widescreen home video. If anyone has a vintage pic, please post it! My Dad is an avid photographer but I have looked through all his pics and there is none to be found of The Ponderosa. I would love a reminder of what it looked like in the day. Thanks again!