Vintage shots from days gone by!

Yes, it breaks my heart to see theaters of the real GOLDEN AGE of the '20s and '30s go to pot and/or get torn down! But the 1928 theater in my little hometown has been sitting for years now, and the owners want so much for it that no one in the little town can muster the up-front purchase price, much less do the restoration!

So, in this case, the dollar is a roadblock.

(BTW, I have a really soft spot for drive-in theaters, too!)

 

Image THANKS to InternetMovieDatabase!​

Donald May, Dorothy Provine and Rex Reason anchored
the cast of TV's "The Roaring 20's." Photo THANKS to
Chuck Rothman's GreatButForgotten blog!


Besides I, who remembers "The Roaring 20's" [sic] TV show? The hook each week was a rousing rendition of the Charleston-based theme song, sung by star Dorothy Provine as the camera focused on a nightclub mirror ball (in the '70s these would be regarded as "Disco Balls").

Nobody was kidding anybody, as the show just followed the successful Warner Brothers formula of cloning at least one more show from any smash the studio had -- an example being "Bourbon Street Beat" and "Surfside 6," derived from "77 Sunside Strip." Thus, "The Roaring 20's" was just a stepchild of the grittier Robert Stack smash, "The Untouchables." Though I turned 10 on the very day the show debuted, "20's" struck me pretty much as TV fluff, almost tongue-in-cheek stuff. But directors like Robert Altman got to hone their craft on the show, also starring Rex Reason, Donald May and John Dehner.

Warner Brothers also had on hand plenty of stock cops-robbers-cars-speeding-guns-blazing movie footage from their real '30s and '40s film vault to enliven the TV show! The show title itself capitalized on the well-known 1939 Warner smash hit, "The Roaring Twenties," that paired James Cagney and Humphrey Bogart for the last time, in what is now considered the classic gangster film of the '30s. But the name is where the similarity between TV show and the silver screen stopped. The premise was about two young news reporters who each week solved cases the police couldn't handle (sound familiar?), usually with help from tips garnered by Pinky Pinkham (Provine) from contacts gleaned from the clientele at the Charleston Club where she was, of course, the star singing/dancing attraction.

The TV show was, indeed, lightweight and, unfortunately, had to fight for life when tossed up against Saturday-night competition like "Bonanza" and "Perry Mason"! No WONDER most people don't remember "The Roaring 20's"! The show only lasted 45 episodes (only 14 were shot for the second season), and it seems to be very hard to find nowadays, decently reproduced. But, it's also notable for guest appearances by stars, many on their way up, for example, Roger Moore, Whit Bissell, Andrew Duggan, Keith Larsen and Harry Dean Stanton. Incidentally, Moore and Provine had recently been regulars and chums on the short-lived series, "The Alaskans" (1959-60).



Pinky falls for gentleman bootlegger Moore in a two-
parter, "Right Off the Boat," which first aired May 13
and 20, 1961. Roger gets to die dramatically in Part 2,
the victim of a ruthless competitor's bullet. Photo
THANKS to a contributor of RogerMooreFanForum.


Though singing, dancing and comedy were Dorothy's strong suits, her "20's" exposure won her plenty of film roles all through the '60s, with leading men from Dean Jones to Tony Curtis, Jack Lemmon and Milton Berle. Not bad for a gal from Deadwood, South Dakota, eh?

She then largely retired from entertaining and was married 43 years, until her death in hospice at 75 from emphysema. She and hubby, director Robert Day, had one child. "Bouyant" is a descriptive that resonates for vivacious Dorothy's time in the public eye. Of the private Dorothy, her husband said simply: "She was so beautiful."



Apparently a publicity shot for "The Bonnie Parker
Story," 1958, Photo THANKS to CaptaineTroy!



Photo THANKS to a site called FullIssue!

​

TV Guide cover THANKS
to CTVA.biz!​

 

Any more info and pics on the '64-'65 Comet "Super Cyclone"?

 

I found this
http://cometeastcarclub.org/CustomShowCars.html

 

Great pics and write up but I just gotta ask how you got a police escort to get the pics?

 

Thanks for posting these, what an amazing place and from my favourite time frame! I see places like this and wish I could win a major lottery and buy them to save them...

 

Vintage Trucks

 

This reminds me so much of Shea's Buffalo Theater which was saved by visionaries who would not let it be knocked down for yet another parking lot. The support has been tremendous and it now hosts one of the most successful "Broadway" seasons in the country.
They still have their "Mighty Wurlitzer" organ which is usually played prior to performances.
http://www.theatreorgans.com/ny/buffaloarea/sheas/sheas.htm

http://www.pbase.com/kjosker/sheas

I go there regularly for shows.
Place is amazing.

But so many of these palaces are now long gone.
Such a waste.
Can you imagine the cost of building something like this now?

 

Right on, SWI! And following on Post 28,711, HERE's the type of entertainment not generally deemed
high-brow enough to be featured at the palaces of the Golden Era! Flappers and vamps were generally
for the clubs, speakeasies and vaudeville circuit, though Al Jolson's "The Jazz Singer" made this type
of music and antics more palatable to the main stream, if not high society.



This LP album currently on eBay, if anyone digs the era.

 

I was only in the Fox once when I was 10 or 11 (my uncle Tony ran it), now it seems there aren't any acts worthy of a venue of that sort.



[



QUOTE=farmergal;6819268]We have a very old and very prominant theater here in CT thathas been sitting vacant for years. Its very large and it was absolutely stunning inside. Not quite as extravegant as the photos posted here; but it is as detailed and as beautifully designed as these. Multiple groups have tried to save the poor place but it's so large; no volunteer groups can afford it. the City refuses to step up to the plate and assist and theyre just going to let it fall into disrepair. It's still in pretty decent shape although the roof is starting to leak. The carpets are the original velvet. It's quite the place. If you get the chance; look up the Loews Poli Theater, Bridgeport, CT[/QUOTE]

 

The ford Futura aka the Batmobile, which sure lost it's ground hugging stance over time... (copies?) none the less seems to have presaged the entire Personal Luxury Car parade of the '60s and seventies. I thought I'd dig through my downloads of the past few years.

 

Hey! how'd that AMX get in there?.. Bit of a mix and match but i figure you'll get my drift.

 

Looks like that Cadillac was cross bred with a 65 Marlin!

 

Sorry if any of these are re-posts...

 

Being a huge Charger fan I have a large collection of photos of Mopes, & my particular interest is just how close it became to being turbine powered.

 

Charger early design studies Cont. ("Monte Carlo" was another name considered).

 

Yes it does, over at www.dodgecharger.com we got into an interesting discussion over who was stealing what designs from whom - that whole fast back/tunnel back double diamond '66 GTO Vs. '68 Charger and "Coke Bottle" trend. Plus, everyone always comments on how much the Chrysler Ghia Turbine looked like a T-bird. I'm sure glad they went in an entirely new direction when the Charger was finally introduced.

 

and while we're on the subject..

 

Here is a link to a Feb 1958 edition of Popular Science that has an article on how and why the automakers spy on each other. The article includes the famous story about how both Ford and Pontiac had similar spinner grilles set for '49. The spying prevented Pontiac from looking like they had copied Ford and they did a crash program to come up with a new grille.

http://books.google.com/books?id=3C...&resnum=1&ved=0CBkQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false

The similarity of the Chrysler Turbine car of '63 to the T-Bird was because it was designed by Elwood Engle (famous for the slab-side Lincoln and T-Bird) who Chrysler had lured away from Ford to design the car.