You Oughta Be in Pictures

Long before there was the Regal Theatres in Concord as well as the now closed “Entertainment Cinemas” on Loudon Road, there were numerous downtown movie theatres in Concord. In addition there were drive-ins and several other theatres located in neighboring towns. Movies provided considerable entertainment for the residents of Concord and environs.

I started working at the Concord Theatre, while still a student at Brady High, in the summer of 1967. I would maintain my association with the theatre until it closed in the summer of 1994.

The year 1967 was notable for another reason.  Cinema 93 opened its doors on Loudon Road in what was then known as the King’s Shopping Center.  It was the city’s first new movie theatre since the Concord Theatre opened in 1934. It signaled the start of a new era in moviegoing.

By the time I came into being in the early 1950s, several venues that had shown films were no longer doing so.

The Star Theatre, which was located on Pleasant Street in the space now occupied by White Mountain Gourmet Coffee, closed its doors in the early 1950s, while the Concord City Auditorium had at one time shown films but by the 1950s was known mostly for stage productions, lectures and other meetings.

Conn’s Theatre was situated on School Street, next door to the Polly Susan Bakery. The bakery later expanded to McKee Square and a corner of Britt’s Department Store in the Capitol Shopping Center.

It’s worth noting that Polly Susan’s was a very popular stop for locals who wanted to taste the amazing strudels, éclairs and Bird’s Nests.  For donuts, Janet’s located in the South End of Concord, had all competitors beat.

By the time I was around, Conn’s Theatre, which was a beautiful building, had become the American Legion and would be torn down and replaced by a parking structure in the 1970s.

In the 1950s and 60s, however, the city boasted of the Capitol Theatre, fondly referred to by locals as “The Cap,” the Concord Theatre, which earned a variety of nicknames, most of them unjustified, as well as the Concord Drive-In Theatre located off of Manchester Street on the banks of the Merrimack.

Just a few miles out of town in Penacook was the Palace Theatre and just beyond that in Boscawen, the Sky-Hi Drive-In. Pittsfield had the Scenic and Franklin had the Regal.

The Capitol and Concord Theatres were first-run houses, competing for the best pictures from the major studios. The Capitol was part of a chain owned by Joseph P. Kennedy, father of the future President. The Concord was independently owned.

Built in the late 1920s, the Capitol Theatre still bore signs of the elegance and lushness that had earned it acclaim when it opened, replete with a pipe organ and stage presentations before the film.

Frank Eldredge was the manager and he ran a very tight ship. Nobody got away with running up and down the aisles and he was known to stop a picture if the audience was talking too much and not paying attention to what was unreeling on the screen.

This was especially true of Disney films when, during the “dull scenes,” half the audience would race to the concession stand located at the back of the 1,400 seat theatre, and loudly make purchases.

The lady who sold tickets had probably been there since the theatre opened and she seemed to instinctively know when you were no longer eligible to pay a child’s admission.

Tickets for children were 25 cents except for Disney films when they were 35 cents. Adult tickets were 65 cents for “regular” movies and 75 cents for a Disney attraction.

It was not unusual for someone, shortly after turning 12, to try to get in for the “under 12” price. I don’t know of anyone who got away with it as the lady in the box-office would peer at you and ask you directly how old you were. You were terrified not to tell the truth.

The first film I saw at the Capitol Theatre was “Old Yeller.”  The sound of 1,400 people weeping at the film’s conclusion effectively overpowered any dialogue going on in the film.

The Capitol Theatre, like most theatres of the time, changed attractions twice a week.

A feature would run Sunday through Tuesday and was usually a film aimed at more mature audiences, while the picture that ran from Wednesday through Saturday was more often than not geared toward a wider audience. The theatre advertised with posters in the windows of barber shops, restaurants and other businesses throughout Concord. We all eagerly awaited the new placement of the posters hoping against hope that the new schedule might include a Disney film or a Ray Harryhausen fantasy epic or best of all, a new horror film from Hammer Films in England.

The Concord Drive-In Theatre played a double feature usually consisting of a family-oriented film as the first feature and a film for the parents as the second offering of the evening. It was customary for the kids to curl up and go to sleep after the intermission which followed the first feature. This, however, was sometimes difficult. The Mosquitoes that bred at the river’s edge seemed the size of some of the monsters from Japanese horror movies and because of the necessity of leaving the car windows opened a crack, to accommodate the speaker, the car was usually occupied by lots of these hungry critters.

The reputation of the Sky-Hi Drive-In was less than illustrious. Many locals referred to it as the “Passion Pit.”

The Palace, Scenic and Regal all played films after they had concluded their engagements in Concord.

I can recall dozens of times that I stood in line outside the Capitol Theatre never certain as to whether or not I’d be admitted before the sign announcing “sold-out” was posted.  With movies only showing for three or four days, it wasn’t unusual to see the “sold-out” sign posted on numerous occasions.

Unlike today, with the exception of Concord's fine Red River Theatre, you enter a theatre, take your seat and either look at the blank film screen staring back at you or face an onslaught of commercials and ads. The Capitol Theatre and the Concord Theatre had elegant curtains that remained closed until the start of the film.

It only increased your anticipation as to what magic images would flicker on the huge screen once the lights dimmed and the curtains parted.

Next week: The Truth about the Concord Theatre.