Here’s a nice, small-run typographical poster for Bride
of Frankenstein — Adults! 15 cents! —
playing in October 1935 at Bird’s Rivoli, a movie house in East Tawas on
Saginaw Bay at Lake Huron. The week’s worth of films advertised were all new,
all from 1935.
Independent, out of the way and catering to a small-town
crowd, films never ran long — Bride played
only four times over two days — and it made no sense to spend money and send
away for lithographed posters and lobby cards. Simple cards like this one,
printed locally, did the job. Only a handful would be produced, jazzed up with
yellow, green or orange colors, for front-of-house display and, perhaps,
distribution to nearby stores and pasting on fences within the community.
Details are scarce but promoter Herman Bird was active in
Michigan, operating several theaters from the silent era and into the Fifties,
including the Family Theater, and another Rivoli in Grand Rapids. Bird’s Rivoli
on US23 in East Tawas was also known as the Bay Theater for a while. It closed
some fifty years ago, its building surviving as a meeting hall. Ultimately, it
was leveled and turned into a parking lot.
1 comment:
Such a great poster.
I find it really sad that
perfectly gorgeous buildings
are torn down without a second
thought. My local theatre, with
it's art deco structure has
recently closed and a new, very
basic building has opened in it's
stead. Very sad.
Thank you for sharing.
Yvonne : My Haunted Attic
Post a Comment