Comments from jackwhittaker

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jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Village Theater on Oct 18, 2007 at 11:31 pm

Wow! Isn’t it amazing how one little theater, in one little town, affected so many people’s lives.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Lakeside Cinema on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:47 pm

I remember when The Jerry Lewis opened in the ‘70’s, in Carmel, California, and being really disappointed. A real “no frills” operation. Just two black box auditoriums with small screens, lousy sound and freezing. I remember thinking, Jeeze, that Jerry Lewis must be a cheap bastard. As far as I know it’s still there today.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Virginian Theatre on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:33 pm

The Virginian was one of the nicer theaters in Charleston. Nice long marquee stretched the entire front of the theater. As a kid, I remember seeing the silent version of “The Greatest Story Ever Told"
every Easter and The original "The Thing.” (Both movies scared the s*#t out of me but for differnt reasons.) Also the premier of DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments” OH. Moses, Moses, Moses!
Good times.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Village Theater on Oct 11, 2007 at 11:18 pm

Sorry, Mikey. I don’t remember the Burke’s but I sure do remember Roger Galloway. Roger!! We went to school together. Horace Mann, Charleston High and we were both into Children’s Theater.
I moved to California after our junior year in 1958. I’m now retired and living in Palm Springs. Where are you?

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Golden State Theatre on Aug 30, 2007 at 12:50 am

I happen to own two ORIGINAL lobby lamps from the old Golden State theater. One is a gilded wrought iron standing lamp with a six sided “lantern” top w/amber glass topped with an ornate crown.
The other is a “candleabra” tall standing lamp with five electic candles on an ornate wrought iron base and top. Much like the one at the base of the balcony stairs in the remodel photo on the website.
They were puchased when I lived in Monterey in the mid to late 60’s for only five bucks each. They have graced my living room for years.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about State Theatre on Aug 28, 2007 at 11:43 pm

The STATE THEATER was a small neighborhood theater. Located in,pretty much,a residential area near the West Virginia Capitol Building in Charleston, WV. I remember it was a brick building and always neat and clean with a small but fairly ornate marquee. It must have been open in the 40’s because my parents talked of going there before I was born. (1942) I just remember it as being a perfect little, well cared for,tastefully designed, neighborhood type 1940ish, faux art-deco theater. The STATE was located on Capitol Blvd. about half way between the big First run theaters in downtown Charleston (Now ALL gone)and the favorite neighborhood theater, in suburban Kanawha City, THE VILLAGE theater.
I went there on a rainy afernoon in 1957 or ‘58. Not even knowing what was playing and saw the funniest movie I had ever seen. Billy Wilders, SOME LIKE IT HOT.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Village Theater on Aug 28, 2007 at 4:17 pm

P.S. The VILLAGE was operational in the 40’s as a working theater. They would stop the film so the audience could listen to AMOS and ANDY radio show. THey also had Bingo and Keno nights in the 40’s. My uncle was a projectionist during WWII. He would often let me visit him there. I remember the huge rolls of film and the bright carbon arc light. He would let me watch him change the carbon rods in the projectior. I loved to here the “whirring” of the film as it passed through the shutter. When I moved to California in 1958 the last photograph I took of Charleston was THE VILLAGE theater. That photo has long since disappeared but if it should show up I will publish it here. It became an “art house” theater in the 60’s and struggled until it’s closing in the 80’s. Sad it’s gone now but WOW! what memories.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about The Keith-Albee Needs Your Help on Aug 28, 2007 at 2:42 am

Wish I could be there to help. I lived in Charleston in the Fifties and my parents would often drive to Huntington to the beautiful Keith-Albee Theater. I remember seeing AN AFFAIR TO REMEMBER (with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr) when it first came out. What a beautiful movie palace. So glad you are still open.

Jack Whittaker
Palm Springs, California

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Village Theater on Aug 28, 2007 at 2:28 am

I LIVED in the Village Theater as a child and teenager. In the pre-TV Fifties on Saturday you could see 25 color cartoons, a double feature and the lastest installment of whatever serial was popular at the time. All for a quarter. For another quarter you could get a box of the best fresh popped pop corn ever!, a Reeses Peanut butter cup and a coke. The entire(Baby Boom) child population of Kanawha City would be there, lined up, every Saturday morning. It was wonderful. I fell in love with the movies at this theater. I will never forget it. It was owned by a Syrian gentleman, whose name I have sadly forgotten. He knew I loved movies and would save movie posters and give them to me. When 3-D movies came out I asked him if the Village would show them. He told me “No,but we have something better coming. CinemaScope!” I believe THE ROBE premiered in Charleston at the Village.
The theater was in a brick building on McCorkle Ave. in Kanawha City.
The interior consisted of a small lobby and refreshment counter, the theater seats were maroon and every other aisle had a “love-seat”(a doulble wide seat for you and your date. It had a balcony and a “crying-room”. (a sound proof room, with a speaker, for parents to take their crying babies.) I’ll never forget the red, green and yellow “Art-Deco” lights lining both sides of the theater. The Marquee was a neon delight. Beneath the theater was a pop corn “factory” that popped corn and bagged it for other theaters in the Charleston area. On a cold, snowy West Virginia day the aroma coming from that “factory” was pure heaven. It was a small neighborhood theater in an “unremarkable” building but it was,to me, The most wonderful theater in the world. It was where I fell in love with the movies.

jackwhittaker
jackwhittaker commented about Capitol Center on Aug 28, 2007 at 1:21 am

In the Fifties the Capitol Theater, and other properties in Charleston, were owned by the Middleberg family. Their nephew, Kelly Reed was my best friend in High School. We would see free movies and explore backstage. The, then new, CinemaScope screen was awesome. What a wonderful old movie palace. I’ll never forget it. Thanks Kelly.
Jack Whittaker
Palm Springs, California