Jerry Lewis Cinema

Two malls, the Mesabi Mall in Hibbing, and the Thunderbird Mall in Virginia MN, opened in mid-August 1971. Neither Jerry Lewis Cinema were ready to open however, and lost the momentum behind the malls’ openings. About two months later, the Virginia Lewis theatre opened on Oct. 6 and the Hibbing theatre on Oct. 7. Both opened with “Blue Water, White Death” which was frequently booked at Lewis locations of the time. To take the sting off missing the mall openings, the “See a Grown Man Cry” ad campaign was created by one of the partners of the dual-theatre venture, who was in the advertising business.