THE MOVIE THEATER BUSINESS...
AND WHEN I MET JOHN WAYNE
The movie theater business has changed a great deal since I was a kid. I believe I have told you that my family opened our first theater in 1941 and as I told you before, my Dad built our theaters and my Mom operated them.. Being new to the business, Mom had problems renting movies. Now the actors pretty much control the movies, but in 1941 the
Hollywood movie companies like MGM, Paramount, 20th Century Fox and other companies controlled both the actors and what theaters received
their product. The actors were under contract to a particular company and we're not allowed to work for another company unless they were 'loaned out'. On the theater end, they contracted with particular theater companies in each city and would not rent their product to other theaters. Consequently, Mom could not show the 'new' movies. My mother was one smart cookie though and she came up with a very successful way to solve this problem. She would select older films and book them as a double feature. She would rent a movie that a man would like and a second feature that today would now be called a 'chick flick' or a lighter comedy. If it was a western or detective film she would pair it with a musical or a comedy. The moviegoer would receive two films for the price of one. This was during World War II and our downtown theater was near the housing for soldiers and sailors, and they loved this less expensive format. Every week there would be different films, and the boys came to the theater so frequently that my parents got to know some of them personally. In fact they actually called my folks 'Mom and Pop'.
My Dad had bought my Mom a beautiful pale blue Cadillac sedan that she parked in a lot behind the theater. One day after work, she went to get her car to go home and it wasn't there. They reported the theft to the police and it was found a few day's later at the airport. Inside was a note that read, "I'm sorry I took your car, but thank you so much. I had a wonderful leave." Another time, I remember Mom telling our family about another funny incident. Two young sailors came up to her in the theater and asked, "Lady, where's the head?" Not knowing the Navy lingo, she said, "I'm the head. I'm the owner. How can I help you?" Of course , they were actually looking for the Men's Room!
When I wasn't in school, I frequently went downtown to the theater with my parents. If there was a movie on that I liked, I sometimes would watch it over a few times and even learn the lyrics from some of the musicals. If it was morning, before the theater opened, I would climb up on the stage and perform for my imaginary audience, dancing and singing the songs I had learned and taking many bows. It made for fun times for an 8 year old little girl.
By the time I was a teenager, the movie business had changed.We could now get the new movies and the theaters competed in bidding for them. The bids were based on what percentage of ticket sales you would offer and how long you would play the film. Occasionally, we would meet an actor who would come into town to promote a film. As their 'customer,' the Hollywood companies went out of their way to please us as theater owners. This was especially true when our family went to California when I was 16. We toured the lots where they were filming movies and ate in the commissaries, (which were like cafeterias) where the stars ate. Many of them were in costume so the commissary was a convenience for them rather than changing to go out to lunch. Among the many stars I saw were Debbie Reynolds, Jane Powell, Fred Astaire, Humphrey Bogart, and Janet Leigh, who was flirting with my handsome brother Ed. My favorite was meeting John Wayne on a set where he was filming. I have a picture that was taken of me with him, my parents, and my brother, who at 6'4" matched Wayne in height when he didn't have his cowboy boots on. In fact, my brother was offered 3 screen-tests while we were there. One offer was from the man who had discovered the famous cowboy star Gene Autry. (He told us Autry had been a truck driver in Chicago and they had to teach him how to ride a horse. Anyway, Ed wasn't interested and turned them all down, while I was trying so hard to be adorable in hopes of being 'discovered,' but it didn't happen.
John Wayne was charming though. During his break, he came over and chatted with us for awhile. He was filming She Wore A Yellow Ribbon, a cavalry film directed by John Ford that later won an Oscar for cinematography. He asked what we had been doing since we had been in Hollywood. Dad told him we had gone to the Mocambo the previous night. The Mocambo was a famous nightclub in the 40s and 50s. Wayne laughed and said he was glad that we hadn't gone the night before. He said, "I really tore that place up!" He didn't explain, but I don't think it could have been too bad or he wouldn't be laughing,...would he?
Later, in a biography about Wayne, I learned that Director Ford hadn't wanted John Wayne for the lead role in Yellow Ribbon because Wayne would be playing a character over twenty years older than he was at the time. However, when he saw Wayne's performance in the 1948 movie Red River, it changed Ford's mind, causing him to exclaim, "I didn't know the big son of a bitch could act!" When shooting was completed, Ford presented John Wayne with a cake with the message written in icing, "You're an actor now."
