Stan was a great raconteur and had many good friends. Many were Jews who’d survived the camps. He, himself, drove for a German officer during the war. Unfortunately, my grade school French wasn’t up to the task and one of the few languages he didn’t speak was English. I was allowed to wander into the projection booths where nice operators taught me how to load and run the projectors. That technology is no longer used, so it was a wonderful thing for us to have seen it. I was also taken to some screenings, but the most interesting was the sign painting shop where the large publicity flats were painted.
I didn’t quite get it as a kid, but at least one of the screens seemed to be dedicated to sex films. Ilsa, the She Wolf of the SS played one summer. The impressionable teen, who was me, found it intriguing and discussing. I remember trying to understand how my Jewish family could run this crap, but never got a satisfactory answer. Ultimately, my family, survivors of Nazi abuse, pragmatic. They probably figured that sadisdic pervert money was as good as any other.
I did a little electrical work in this theater in the 80s. The top floor contained a kitchen and bedrooms/dorm. Apparently this was an old vaudeville theater and the performers stayed in the apartments when playing the theater. For better or worse, the owners in the mis80s allowed employees to play paintball in the space giving the place a post apocalyptic look. Zombie central.
My family owned and operated this theater for many years. I have fond memories of spending time in the theaters, seeing the expansion from two to three theaters in the 70s and staying in the penthouse apartment. My great aunt and uncle Stan and Lucia Heiber were the owners.
Stan was a great raconteur and had many good friends. Many were Jews who’d survived the camps. He, himself, drove for a German officer during the war. Unfortunately, my grade school French wasn’t up to the task and one of the few languages he didn’t speak was English. I was allowed to wander into the projection booths where nice operators taught me how to load and run the projectors. That technology is no longer used, so it was a wonderful thing for us to have seen it. I was also taken to some screenings, but the most interesting was the sign painting shop where the large publicity flats were painted.
I didn’t quite get it as a kid, but at least one of the screens seemed to be dedicated to sex films. Ilsa, the She Wolf of the SS played one summer. The impressionable teen, who was me, found it intriguing and discussing. I remember trying to understand how my Jewish family could run this crap, but never got a satisfactory answer. Ultimately, my family, survivors of Nazi abuse, pragmatic. They probably figured that sadisdic pervert money was as good as any other.
I did a little electrical work in this theater in the 80s. The top floor contained a kitchen and bedrooms/dorm. Apparently this was an old vaudeville theater and the performers stayed in the apartments when playing the theater. For better or worse, the owners in the mis80s allowed employees to play paintball in the space giving the place a post apocalyptic look. Zombie central.
My family owned and operated this theater for many years. I have fond memories of spending time in the theaters, seeing the expansion from two to three theaters in the 70s and staying in the penthouse apartment. My great aunt and uncle Stan and Lucia Heiber were the owners.