November 25, 2014 at 1:57 p.m.
Looking back at the days of the drive-in and $1 movie tickets
Looking back at the days of the drive-in and $1 movie tickets
By By Kyle Rogers-
On a Saturday night more than a century ago, Rhinelander residents did the same - headed out for a show. This was Sept. 23, 1911, and about 900 people turned out for opening night of the new Majestic Theatre downtown, which that night featured a series of vocal and instrumental music performances. During the summer preceding the Majestic's debut, newspapers ran stories about the new theater calling it "the most beautiful motion picture house in the state." And like the Rouman Cinema does for audiences today, the Majestic provided the latest in movie-viewing technology. In 1911, that simply meant a clear picture with no "flicker."
"Mr. Zander is entitled to much credit for his enterprise in giving the people of Rhinelander such an up-to-date show house," the newspaper the New North reported about the theater's owner Herman Zander a week after the Majestic's opening.
The days of the Majestic have long since passed. It closed up shop in 1980, but it provides an appropriate starting point for Rhinelander's movie-going history since for a significant chunk of its life it was operated by the Rouman family, who first got into the movie business in 1921 with the construction of the State Theater on Brown Street.
The State Theater stands to this day alongside the Rouman Cinema, but its intended use as a movie house has gradually grown more sporadic and it's currently in the midst of one its longer hiatuses. The availability of product for smaller markets like Rhinelander - and the ever-evolving digital technology that is changing the formats required to project that content - puts the continued viability of small historic theaters like the State into question.
Though it's been a while since the marquee at the State Theater has lit up downtown Rhinelander, it still serves as a symbol of a simpler time for entertainment, before people could stream high-definition video content through cellphones. During the movie-going heyday of the mid 20th century there were three places to go in Rhinelander: downtown to the State or the Majestic, or east of town to the Rouman Drive-In, near where Marshfield Clinic's Rhinelander Dental Center is located. Take the weekend of July 2-4, 1954 as an example of the Rhinelander movie scene. "Demetrius and the Gladiators" was about to begin a seven-day run at the Majestic. "All the glory, grandeur, spectacle and passion that was Rome!" an elaborate spread in the Daily News advertised. And of course there were the admission prices that bring on a strong sense of nostalgia: $1 for adults and 50 cents for children. At the State, a double feature of "Wings of the Hawk" and "Killers from Space" was playing. That same weekend was also the much-anticipated opening of the new Rouman Drive-In, the first theater of its kind in the area. When it opened it was hailed as state-of-the-art. The screen was 40 by 74 feet and the Daily News at the time reported that the 6-inch speakers, mounted in pairs on steel posts, were much larger than those of most drive-ins. It was also the only drive-in in the state with water-cooled projection heads to take the heat out of the carbons in the powerful Ashcraft lamps in the fireproof projection room. The Rouman Drive-In opened by showing double features every night of the week.
"Popularity of drive-in theaters throughout the nation is expected to be reflected in attendance at the Rouman installation here," a Daily News article reported. "Patrons say they like the idea of not having to get 'dressed up' to go to a movie, the convenience of being able to take small children and not bother about hiring babysitters and the privilege of smoking while watching the shows."
On opening night, the Rouman Drive-In featured "Rodeo" starring Jane Nigh and John Archer, followed by "Flight to Mars" starring Marguerite Chapman and Cameron Mitchell.
The peak popularity of the drive-in occurred in the 1950s and early 1960s with some 4,000 such theaters located across the country, mostly in rural communities such as Rhinelander. At one point, 25 percent of all screens in the country were at drive-in theaters.
Following the opening of the Rouman Drive-In, the next major change in the Rhinelander theater landscape didn't occur until 1980 when the Majestic closed. At that same time, the State Theater, after more than a half-century operating with a single screen, expanded to two screens. The final expansion that brought it to its current four screens occurred in 1993. Just a few years before that, in the late 1980s, the run of the Rouman Drive-In came to an end. The State Theater continued throughout the decade of the '90s as Rhinelander's sole theater until the more modern Rouman Cinema opened in February 2000.
And now that more modern theater is coming up on its 15th anniversary. Just as the older generations fondly remember going to the movies at the Majestic, or the State, or the Rouman Drive-In, today's younger generations may one day remember catching a flick at Rouman Cinema like "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1" with a bit of nostalgia.
Comments:
You must login to comment.