Reminisce

The following article, written by classmate Jeanne Looper Smith, ran in The Joplin Globe on April 5, 2009:

 

Theaters bail us out of our misery

 

“If my film makes one more person miserable, I’ve done my job.”--Woody Allen

 

Woody’s goal notwithstanding, many moviegoers these days are unhappy even before they sit down with their popcorn. Their depression over today’s economy isn’t keeping them from the movies, it’s driving them to theaters in droves, just as conditions did during the Great Depression — when attendance was at an all time high.

 

Back then, people lined up to escape the realities of their everyday lives -- a bargain at 25 cents a ticket. For a couple of hours, they were able to forget about their worries and keep their spirits alive. In 1930 an astounding number of people were attending movies weekly: 100 million out of a population of 120 million. (I‘m not sure what the remaining 20 million people were doing to relieve their despair.)

 

The Fox Theatre in Joplin opened in November 1930 -- just in time for the doom and gloom of the Depression years. Just entering the Fox was an escape of sorts with its Spanish Revival interior and painted scenes from Spanish palaces of the 16th and 17th centuries.

 

It was elaborately adorned with columns, statuary and alcoves. The extensive wood and plaster ornamentation added to the mystery. With a stage 65 feet wide and seating for 2,000, the theater offered plenty of room for patrons to see live productions, in the early years, as well as movies.

 

By the time I came of age in the relatively prosperous 1950s, the Depression was a distant memory. So heading to the Fox wasn’t to escape anything but was the meeting place on Saturdays for those of us too young to cruise Main Street and later head for the privacy of the Tri-State Drive-In. (In the winter with the drive-in closed, older teens moved their amorous activity to the back rows of the Fox.)

 

The weekend routine for me and my best grade-school buddies, Donna Powers and Jeanne Lewis, was a pre-movie trip to Sherman’s orange juice stand adjacent to the Fox -- easily identifiable from the outside by the oranges stacked up in the window. Inside, I opted for a paper cup nestled in a metal holder (called a zarf in case you ever need a “z” word for scrabble) filled with the best orange juice I’ve ever had.

 

Then we were faced with the difficult choice of hot dogs, egg salad or ham salad sandwiches. I always passed on the hard-boiled eggs, which sat in baskets on the counter. We perched on high stools at a ledge that lined the wall.  It was necessary to eat pretty fast -- my first fast food experience -- to queue up for perhaps an Elvis Presley movie that had kids lined up all the way around the corner past the Keystone Hotel.

 

It took all afternoon to get the full Fox treatment -- two movies interspersed with a cartoon and a newsreel.  It was a magical place and a safer time when a grade-schooler could spend the day there unsupervised and be picked up by parents nearly at dusk.

 

Fortunately, the Fox didn’t suffer the fate of many of Main Street’s landmarks. The Central Christian Center has lovingly restored it to its original splendor, with almost no alterations. I attended services there on a trip back to Joplin and was instantly transported to my childhood and those Saturday afternoons.

 

Apparently, as during the Great Depression, we’re doing it again:  escaping from the stresses of disappearing jobs, declining home values, foreclosures and fear, by sitting in the darkened interiors of our neighborhood movie-plexes.

 

These modern movie meccas will never rival the Fox Theatre for grandeur, but if you’re trying to escape from your misery, relief is coming to a theater near you.

 

Jeanne Looper Smith grew up in Joplin and now lives in Kansas City. Share your memories of Joplin with her at mainlyjoplin@yahoo.com

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