Page:Brunswick 100 Years of Memories.pdf/179

From Brunswick MD History
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has not been proofread

S - Wayne Carter

- Mary Jo Brown

Shaffer had met "Sonny" Cannon, who was employed at the time at Mace's Furniture Store. "Sonny" had always shown interest in theatres and had worked at the Imperial part time. All small town theatres showed westerns with Tom Mix, Buck Jones, and others; they were as important as John Wayne, of a much later time. When sound came to the movies in 1928, the companies sold the theatres to Sidney Lust of Washington, D.C. That terminated Shaffer's tenure locally. Incidentally, the first talking movie shown here was "The Jazz Singer," starring Al Jolson. When Frank Spitzer stopped managing the Imperial, Jake Goldenberg of Braddock Heights bought it around 1930. He tried a novel system of air conditioning - a fan blowing across a 300pound block of ice on stage. "Sonny" Cannon was then working at the Imperial. After one year Jake Goldenberg sold the building to Sam Goldberg, who owned it for twelve years. Under him, "Sonny" managed the Imperial, opening and closing it, seeing to its cleaning, and handling the films that were ordered. During the 1930's Bank Night provided a moment of suspense. One man reported buying a new suit with winnings, while a young lady banked hers until time to go to college. Jules Girden owned the Imperial about a year (1948-50), using the basement dressing room as his bedroom. When the Imperial went into receivership after Jules Girden's death, Jake Goldberg of Frederick Iron and Steel purchased the business to be operated by his son, Herb. In July 1954, Sonny and Louise Cannon bought the Imperial - business, equipment and building - as had all former owners - because the Hovermale family retained the land for ground rents. The Cannons spent $10,000 in remodeling; they installed stereophonic sound and a wide screen. They removed the orchestra pit and built an elevator-type platform. At Christmastime, a tree was placed on the platform and would be cranked up to be displayed until the movie started. One of the first movies shown with the new equipment was "SEVEN BRIDES FOR SEVEN BROTHERS." "Sonny" brought special guests Ernest Tubbs, Tex Ritter, Grandpa Jones (of Grand Ole Opry) and others. He enjoyed directing vaudeville-type shows and minstrels. One scene will always remain with this writer.· A local choral group was singing "In the Still of the Night." The theatre was in darkness except for a window built at second story level, where Mrs. Mary (MacKinley) Barger sat silhouetted by a table lamp as the group sang. Films were selected from a list provided by a·

W-MMM

IMPERIAL THEATRE Frank Shaffer, late of Staunton, Virginia, Louise Cannon, and the late "Sonny" Cannon of Brunswick were the three people - the only people - able to trace the history of the movie theatre in Brunswick for this book. When Mr. Shaffer came to Brunswick in the mid 1920's, the Imperial Theatre had already been built at 226-228 West Potomac Street. It had been constructed before World War I by a contractor named Steele, and leased by Frank Spitzer. A 1912 lease is recorded at the Frederick Court House. The land was owned by Howard Hovermale, a pharmacist. There was a bowling alley on the basement floor when owned by Frank Spates in 1921 and managed by Guy Dinges, but that had been closed by the time Sam Goldberg bought the building. Mr. Shaffer worked for Spates and Frey and the Palace Theatre Co., which operated numerous theatres in western Maryland, and leased the Imperial. A second theatre was the Casino, in part of the J.J.Newberrybuilding,onceowned by Mrs. Minnie Barker. This was in the first block of West Potomac Street. It operated on Saturdays and had a balcony with elevated floor in back. Shaffer considered the Casino to be the better of the two buildings, partly because it had a balcony for black people. Sammy Eddins was projectionist, along with the Strickler brothers, Floyd and George, for the two movie houses. Marie Harrington was cashier at the Imperial and took care of the banking. Young "Sonny" Cannon worked there full time after a while.In 1926, '27, and '28, all movies were silent. The management attempted to put sound to the movies by phonograph. They also had a piano player at the Imperial, managed by Guy Dinges at the time. Mag Dinges (Mrs. Guy Dinges) was the pianist. There was no pianist at the Casino. (The piano from the Imperial, a Baehr, was purchased by Bill Harrington's parents for $70 when he was ten years old and is still in use.) Wilfred "Spike" Shivers and William Beatty sometimes played the saxophone with Mrs. Dinges' accompaniment. In order to add sound to the cowboy movies, imitation sounds of hoofbeats and gunshots were produced, and even some smoke was blown into the theatre to help create the setting.

156