I used to be a Doorman for this theater in high school, 1979-81. Mr. Griffith was the manager and he came from the Fox Theater in downtown Phoenix. He was a Doorman and Usher back in the 30-40’s and he was close to being in his 70’s or 80’s back then. I’ve seen a photo of him as a kid and he looked the same. We had a man named Larry that made popcorn all day and I think he was either a genius or a moron, he was in his 60’s. Many of my friends worked there, Robert Rosell, Tim the Karate dude and David Butterworth, a couple of hot girls including the best of all time and I should have snagged, Christine Holland. Love’s Restaurant was next door, a great BBQ place. We were robbed several times, including twice by the same gang. They claimed to have a sniper across the street, they worked over Larry and ran out the back door. There was a special hatch on the roof and the police would watch for car thieves, I’d go up there to hide and kiss the girls. The Elephant Bar was across the street and we would get drunk and eat at Peter Piper Pizza. Back then you could drink at 18 years, so that meant you could drink at 16. I could tell you several good stories but I would get in trouble. We often would allow other theater employees to watch movies for free back then. There were days of glory and I had a blast. There were many celebrities and stories behind the scenes back then. The main theater had lots of props and novelties from former movie events, like from Wallace and Ladmo. Thank you Lila, Mr. Griffith, Russ and everyone that was kind to me. Thank you to all the pretty ladies that worked there too. I had it made and didn’t know better. Jeff Durbin, Paris France
I used to be a Doorman for this theater in high school, 1979-81. Mr. Griffith was the manager and he came from the Fox Theater in downtown Phoenix. He was a Doorman and Usher back in the 30-40’s and he was close to being in his 70’s or 80’s back then. I’ve seen a photo of him as a kid and he looked the same. We had a man named Larry that made popcorn all day and I think he was either a genius or a moron, he was in his 60’s. Many of my friends worked there, Robert Rosell, Tim the Karate dude and David Butterworth, a couple of hot girls including the best of all time and I should have snagged, Christine Holland. Love’s Restaurant was next door, a great BBQ place. We were robbed several times, including twice by the same gang. They claimed to have a sniper across the street, they worked over Larry and ran out the back door. There was a special hatch on the roof and the police would watch for car thieves, I’d go up there to hide and kiss the girls. The Elephant Bar was across the street and we would get drunk and eat at Peter Piper Pizza. Back then you could drink at 18 years, so that meant you could drink at 16. I could tell you several good stories but I would get in trouble. We often would allow other theater employees to watch movies for free back then. There were days of glory and I had a blast. There were many celebrities and stories behind the scenes back then. The main theater had lots of props and novelties from former movie events, like from Wallace and Ladmo. Thank you Lila, Mr. Griffith, Russ and everyone that was kind to me. Thank you to all the pretty ladies that worked there too. I had it made and didn’t know better. Jeff Durbin, Paris France