Old Missoula

Motion Pictures Take Over Entertainment in 1920s

A revolution was under way in Missoula following World War I – a revolution in entertainment.

Vaudeville with its traveling entertainers was no longer the leader in style. Orchestras were no longer in the pits of theaters. Soft carpets replaced sawdust. Theaters smelled of popcorn instead of beer. There were candy bars instead of wines, liquors and cigars.

“Movies” became the vogue. A single pianist instead of an orchestra sat in the pit. And in the late ‘20s “talkies” came in and still run.

Of the theaters still running in Missoula, the Wilma was the first. Its opening performance of May 11, 1921 featured the Los Angeles Symphony Orchestra. It seated some 1,470, and in it was installed a Robert-Morton pipe organ costing $20,000.

The Rialto Theater, remodeled from the old Rankin Hotel on East Front street, opened Aug. 1, 1921. Seating capacity was 650 with 23 loge chairs.

Four Change Hands

It was in 1929 that the Wilma, Liberty, Rialto and Strand, which were owned by the Hanson-Simmons Amusement Co., passed to control of Fox West Coast Theaters Inc. The Liberty, Missoula’s first big show house, and the Strand, formerly the Bluebird, were discontinued later.

The depression brought lowering of prices. At the Wilma tickets were 40 cents for adults and 15 cents for children, while at the Rialto they were 30 cents for adults and 10 cents for children.

The Roxy Theater on Missoula’s South Side opened in September 1937. The $30,000 structure seats 630. Films shown at the opening were “Silent Barriers” with Richard Arlen and “Arizona Days” with Tex Ritter. O. C. Paisley was the owner and builder.

Fox Is Dedicated

The $400,000 Fox Theater was dedicated in December 1949. Stars and starlets who appeared at the dedication were Mark Stevens, Betty Lynn and Nancy Guild.

The completely fireproof, 1,200-seat, stadium-type structure, faces north on West Front street. The building is equipped to handle stage attractions such as plays, musicals and specialties.

The Campus at 2023 S. Higgins Ave. opened in August 1949 as the Warren in a $55,000 pumice stone structure with a seating capacity of 512. It featured two sizes of upholstered seats, a larger-than-average size for stout persons. It also had a 19-foot cry room for mothers with babies. This was the sixth motion picture theater in Missoula at the time.

Drive-Ins Arrive

Early in the ‘50s an innovation in the motion picture industry occurred. Drive-in theaters made it possible for movie-goers to watch films without even leaving the car. West of the city is the Mountain Vu Drive-in, among the oldest drive-ins in the state and holding 440 cars. South of the city is the State which holds 520. Both are under the management of the Mountain-Vu Drive-In Theater Enterprises Inc.

In 1950 and 1951 Missoula was selected as the locale for “Red Skies of Montana” filmed by Twentieth Century-Fox Film corporation. Victor Mature headed the original cast in which Jean Peters and John Lund co-starred.

The film depicted aerial fire fighting which originated in the Missoula area. Budget for the film exceeded $3,000,000. Filming was delayed when Victor Mature was injured in a motorcycle accident on location at Nine Mile in September 1950. Rains in the Lolo national forest also threw outdoor production work off schedule.

When filming resumed Richard Widmark had replaced Mature as the star. Others in the cast were Richard Boone and Jeffrey Hunter.

The Forest Service made its facilities, equipment and men available to Twentieth Century-Fox during times that they were not needed for fire control work.

World Premier

Four years later the world premier of “Timberjack” was in Missoula. The premier brought stars Vera Ralston, David Brian, Adolphe Menjou, Adrian Booth, Rex Allen and Chill Wills to Missoula.

The motion picture had been filmed in Trucolor in Glacier National Park and western Montana and depicted early-day lumbering.

 

Thousand lined Higgins avenue to view the premier parade in which the Forest Service, University foresters and others participated.