Editor’s note:
Every small southern town must have a “picture show,” at least most did and do. Cleveland, Mississippi, did and does. In fact, at one time, our small Delta town had several theaters. But the theater that saw most of us through several decades was the Ellis.
The old Ellis building is presently being readied (that means fund-raising) for renovation to create an arts complex. As a part of the publicity, Ye Editor was asked to write a story about Ellis Theater memories – so she sent out a call for help.
And did the help roll in. So many former Clevelanders had memories to share. Don’t omit a page of these comments. (Links are below.) The remarks are great fun, whether you grew up in Cleveland, Mississippi, or not. Enjoy!
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Of course, I remember all the Saturday matinees – the Westerns, Lassie, Superman, and how excited we were in anticipation of the next chapter in the serials.
My grandfather loved the westerns – Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy and Gene Autry -- to name a few, and I could always count on him to take me on Saturdays.
The popcorn was also a special treat, that small red and white bag, and a Coke – naturally.
When I got older and my folks let me go to the ‘picture show’ alone, I walked to Brock's Cafe' afterwards and waited for them. What a treat to have one of their famous chili hamburgers and a Grapette.
One of my most unusual memories when I was 10 or 11 was a movie sponsored by the patent medicine, Hadacol! Admission was a label from the bottle. There was going to be a 'drawing' at the end of the movie. Each person’s ticket was torn in half and dropped into a barrel or box [can't remember which] and different prizes were duly presented as tickets were drawn. The grand prize was a bicycle. As it happened, I took my cousin (who was only four or five) with me and held his ticket in one hand and mine in the other. You guessed it – my little cousin, too young to ride the bike, won the grand prize! His parents were amazed that I carefully kept our tickets separate and didn't switch them, as I could have done easily. Even though I had a bike, I grieved a long time that I didn't win a new bike. I've never won anything to this day.
ELLIS MEMORIES:
1) There was a sign at the Ellis Theater that said "Colored Only." They had to go up the old stairs to one side of the balcony that was divided from the whites. This bothered me even as a young lad.
2) A guy (usher?) used to shine a flashlight in all of our faces to see if we were behaving – of course, we weren't.
3) Ernest Tubb, Roy Acuff, Kitty Wells and many more used to perform on the stage on Saturday afternoons. I was too young to appreciate their music at the time.4) Preachers’ kids could get in for a dime on Sunday. I think on several occasions I "sinned" and told the ticket lady I was a preacher's kid.
5) I met a girl named Susan at the Ellis for some Pat Boone movie – Pat Boone in his bright white shoes. There in the dark it took me an hour to get up the courage to put my arm around Susan. Just as I got the job accomplished, I felt these long, sharp fingernails stabbing me in the arm. It was Susan's mother sitting behind us. Ten seconds of pleasure were ruined in a moment.
I remember we’d put a whole Tootsie Roll in our mouths, then throw the wad at the screen during a facial close-up to give the star a beauty mark.
I remember getting all of the partially popped kernels from the trap in the bottom of the popcorn machine, free for the asking, but so full of sodium and tooth-breakers they'd probably not pass muster with the FDA today.
I remember having to leave "Gone With the Wind" before it was over so I could go to MYF. Never have seen the ending of that movie, and "hate" MYF to this day because of it.
I remember Sadie Ringold crouching behind the seats in front of us in fear as the wicked witch spelled "Surrender, Dorothy" in the sky over Oz. Sadie was terrified.
I remember the first "Cinemascope" movies – most of them were Biblical epics : "The Robe,” "Quo Vadis," and the like. When Cinemascope was new, the movies always opened with a short performance by a full orchestra, stretched all the way across the screen.
The seat vibrators were not working when I saw "The Tingler" (starring Vincent Price, for what it's worth).
I also remember that when the Regent and Wesco theaters were competition, you were more likely to see the movies guys/boys wanted to see at those movie houses than at the Ellis.I also remember seeing "The Graduate" at the Ellis, and we sat in front of two prominent Cleveland couples – these wives would have been contemporaries of Mrs. Robinson. When Dustin Hoffman put his hand on Anne Bancroft’s breast (while she was undressing), one of the wives said to the other, "She didn't feel a thing!"
Enough?
Ellis Theater memories. You bet. There are plenty and I'm sure you'll hear from a bunch of folks -- probably with teenage memories. I know I have many from that period, but how about one from 1953? My first memory: I had just moved to Cleveland and was finishing the third grade at Pearman. I met a cute black-haired little boy. I don't remember if we were in the same class, but we played together at recess. We made a "date" to meet for a matinee -- two nine-year-olds sitting there holding hands. I don't know if you can use his name, but it was Paul Ware. I didn't return to Pearman the next year and I never really got to know Paul very well after that, but I won't ever forget my first "date" in Cleveland at the Ellis Theater.
In the olden days before kids celebrated their birthdays with Theme Parties, there were Picture Show Parties, and my most notable one was at the Ellis Theater. For this occasion my naive but well-meaning mother selected Bird of Paradise, starring Debra Paget and Jeff Chandler. Because of the hysteria which followed, many of the specifics of the movie are blurry in my mind. Ms. Paget played an island girl who falls in love with a French explorer. For this serious lapse in judgment, she is ordered by the island elders to jump into an active volcano. Barefoot, every hair in place, and wearing a beautiful sarong (I'm not sure what island this was), she walked solemnly on hot coals toward the volcano while the drum beats sounded like thunder, and Mr. Chandler, harshly restrained by island men, screamed at her to deny her love and live. At this point, arms and legs started flying as my birthday party dived into the laps of my mother and her friend who had come along to help with transportation. Each woman held as many girls as she could and then stretched out arms in both directions so everybody had something to hold onto and hide behind. The whole bunch of us missed the ending. Fortunately, the prospect of ice cream and cake took over on the way back to my house and the party ended happily. At least it ended happily for me and my friends. Later my mother laughed about it, but by that time I was in college.
A humorous incident at the Ellis Theater involved the balcony, four junior high school boys, a large rubber spider and a spool of sewing thread. The owner of the spider, instigator and leader of the group had carefully and throughly outlined his devilish plans and invited his troop to the balcony to bear witness to the event.
Once in the balcony, he tied the spider to the spool of thread, carefully checked the spider’s balance to make sure that it hung level to look life like, then began lowering it to the main floor with the full intent of startling some contented movie goer.
As expected, there was a reaction, but it was a chain reaction and much greater and noisier than would normally have been anticipated.
Immediately below the balcony, there was a loud feminine scream accompanied by the noisy rattling of theater seats followed by an similar scream and reaction several rows closer to the screen.
The spider had been lowered directly in front of a female attendee and as she spotted it and screamed, her gallant male companion quickly rose to her defense by swatting the dangling critter so hard that he knocked it into the hair of another female seated several rows closer to the front.
The second victim, having already been startled by the scream of the first victim and the confusion behind her, and thinking herself having been attacked, in turn, let out an equally blood curdling scream. Her male champion proved that chivalry was not dead by standing and combing through her hair with his bare hands in search of the “deadly” creature.
The “gentleman with the flashlight” quickly appeared on the scene and started trying to determine the cause of the screams and the two areas of confusion. With two hysterical women at two locations to contend with, he did not seem to be getting anywhere fast with the investigation.
While the attention of everyone in the theater was directed toward the arenas of activity, the four boys suddenly remembered that they had interest elsewhere and quickly and quietly departed the theater.
Janie writes: "My mother, Rosebud Givens Davis, was telling me a little about the early days of the Ellis Theater. She said that when the Ellis Theater was built the land was part of Jones Bayou and there was water where the Ellis was built and it was either filled in or they might have just put pipes under it and piped the water out underground even today. She says also that the building across the street from the Ellis is for sure sitting on top of water. She said she remembers that Mrs. Howarth told her some people from Cleveland went to England to see something built over water and get information and ideas and that is why the building across the street was built over water. It surprised me to know this; we never knew we were sitting over water watching those movies. That could have made watching a scary sea monster movie even scarier if we had known that little fact!
"Also, my mother said my Aunt Jimmie and our cousin Leon Kamien used to go to the movies and take their supper with them and stay at the movies and eat their supper. I am not sure if she remembers their going to the Ellis or the Wesco theater . . ."
Popping the Cup:
Ten year-old boys love things that make a lot of noise and they love a bit of mischief. This little tale has to do with going to the picture show on Saturday afternoons at the Ellis Theatre in Cleveland, Mississippi, when I was one of the ten year-olds mentioned.
You need to understand the structure of the ticket office and the entance to the theater at that time. The ticket office was a little stand-alone booth type structure in the center of the entrance. The entrance doors are behind the booth and the whole entrance forms a semicircle enclosure behind the booth. The next thing to keep in mind is that after the movie ended, a lot of standing around was done outside the theater, waiting for parents or just visiting before walking home. The last thing to remember is the cardboard cups that were used to serve soda pop before the styrofoam that is used today. If you take an empty cardboard cup and turn it upside down and give it a real good stomp, it is capable of making a wonderful loud noise.
We now need to combine the elements of the boy, the cup and the enclosed entrance to the theatre.
One crowded Saturday afternoon, behind the entrance, I managed to get just the right stomp for a wonderfully loud noise that seemed to echo forever inside the entrance. My great happiness soon turned to fear when the young man on duty as manager came running out the entrance, flushed red in the face and out of breath. He demanded to know who had made the noise. Standing among my friends, I was frozen with fear. Thank goodness, all the young manager received from this group of boys was terrified silence.
It was only as I was about half way through my walk home that my elation returned at having made such a wonderfully loud noise.
The “picture show” memories came pouring in!
Click these links to read all the comments:
ELLIS THEATER MEMORIES – I -- Bettye
ELLIS MEMORIES – II -- Ann, KDD, Jim G., Paula, Don and Jim T.
ELLIS MEMORIES – III -- Gusty, Harvey, Buddy, Noel, Delia and Ken
ELLIS MEMORIES – IV -- Kathy, Lonnye Sue, Mick, Pat, Pam, Nancy, Tom, Eileen and Kent
ELLIS MEMORIES – V -- Clista, Eddie, Linda, Andy, Rosebud, George, Lamar and Marynell
For more movie theater stories at USADS, visit these pages:
Hail to the Chief Drive In Movie by Lonnye Sue Sims Pearson
Moorhead Picture Show by Jim Harrison
The Delta Theater by Tom Givens
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or write Ye Editor at bethjacks@hotmail.com.
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