John Gilbert > Save The Bradley 2

Chapter 2

HOLLYWOOD & VINE by John Gilbert, Columbus, Ga.


When I was 14 years old I bought a Kodak 8mm projector from a pawn shop for $15.00.  Into our dirt basement I dragged the family picnic table to use as a projector stand.  At the opposite end of the basement I hung one of my mother's bed sheets from the floor joist to serve as a screen.  I used my sisters' record player (from which I removed the speaker and placed it behind the screen) for sound.  I even had a small flashlight bulb that could be dimmed with my model train transformer.  With a few concrete blocks for seats, I had a theater.  It even had a name, The Bijou.  For the low, low price of  five cents, the neighborhood kids could watch my collection of black & white cartoons and short subjects.  I was proud of my little cinema.  Even at this writing, some 28 years later, remnants of the Bijou are still to be seen at my father's house. Even the bed sheet still hangs in its proper place.


My dream was that someday I might have a real theater.  That dream stayed with me even into my married life.  I know my wife Angie grew weary of my constant daydreaming about my future movie palace.

In 1980 I was working at WRBL-TV as a news reporter.  As a consequence I had many friends in the media.  A newspaper columnist friend mentioned me in one of his articles.  He told of my desire to have a theater in which I could show old films.  I loved old movies but I had only seen them on tv.  How wonderful it would be to see them on a large screen.

After the article ran in paper in January of 1980 I got a phone call from a John Smallshaf.  He said that he, too, had been interested in showing old films and would like to talk with me.  Since he lived only a few minutes away I invited him  over.  After he arrived he told me that he had looked at several old buildings for the purpose of converting into a theater but none were suitable.   I told him that I had also been looking at buildings and had actually put in a bid on the old Beverly Theater location at Columbus Square Mall.  Unfortunately, I had no money to follow through with my plans.  I did have one advantage though.  I had been showing films at church on our monthly movie night and I had a pretty good idea which films would draw a crowd.

John and I became friends.  It was nice to have someone who understood my passion.  Over the next several months we looked at several buildings and tried unsuccessful to get a bank loan.  John bought several pieces of theater equipment including a set of Simplex projectors from the old Martin home.  The home had once belonged to the Martin family and they had a projection booth in their home.   Even though we had some equipment, we couldn't find a place to use it. During one of our building searches we drove past the old Bradley Theater on Broadway which had closed several years earlier.  I asked John what he thought about contacting the owners of the Bradley and seeing what they were going to do with the building.  He said that it was such a huge building that we could never afford to operate it.  It was beginning to look like we were at a dead end.

On Friday June 20th, 1980, John called from work.  He had an idea on a place to show films.  The Turner Center at Columbus College.  He worked in the Audio Visual department at the college and they would rent him the center for seventy five dollars a night.  He asked me if I would be interested in trying a film there.  I was very interested but I told him that I had no money for such a venture.  He said that he would put up all the money if I would agree to pay my half out of the profits.  I agreed.

On Monday June 23d we booked "Key Largo" starring Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.  The film arrived on Tuesday.  On Wednesday we bought our concession supplies.  Thursday we wrote a 30 second radio spot and bought a newspaper ad.  On Friday we popped corn and set up our projection equipment.  

At 7:25 I stepped onto the small stage and welcomed about fifteen people to Hollywood & Vine Classic Cinema at the Turner Center.  I explained that John Smallshaf and I were attempting to open a vintage film theater in Columbus and that we would operate at the college until we found a location.  I thanked them for coming and asked them to tell their friends about us.  With that the lights dimmed and the show started.

For a brief moment I felt as though my dream had been realized.  I knew that this was what I wanted to do.  I was brought back to reality when I realized that it took more than fifteen customers to start a business.  By the 9:30 show on Saturday night we had sold 93 tickets.  We had lost money but it was a start.  We were in show business!

We didn't show our next film until July 18th & 19th.  The film was "Captain Blood" starring Errol Flynn.  In two days we sold 160 tickets and actually made a small profit.  We were very encouraged.  "The audience was great", I wrote in my journal.  

After several more films, all of which lost money, we decided to go for the gold: "Casablanca"!  My journal doesn't record the date of the showing but what a crowd.  It was a record turnout for us.  

John had since bought a popcorn machine and it was kept going both nights.  During the Saturday night shows we had accumulated enough cash that John was bleeding off the registers and hiding the excess somewhere in the booth.  After the last show we were extremely proud of our nights work as we cleaned up.  John went to the booth to get the money he had hidden.  In a moment he returned and asked if I had already gotten the money from the booth and counted it.  I replied that I hadn't been in the booth all night because I had been helping with the crowds.  He then told me that the money was gone.  Angie and I went with John to the booth and he showed us where he had hidden the cash.  We proceeded to tear the place apart but we found nothing.  As we searched John began to ask us about our whereabouts during the evening.  I was starting to wonder if he was thinking that we might have taken the money but I had to be mistaken.  After all, John was my friend.

The next Wednesday we were out getting supplies when he started his line of questioning again.  

"John, are you thinking that I took the money?"  I finally asked.

"Well, look at it from my point of view," he answered.  "I know you're in bad financial condition and there was the money and no one was around.  So what else am I supposed to think."

I was crushed.  I knew what he was supposed to think.  He was supposed to remember that I had always been honest and up front with him.  

"John how can you say that?  You know that I never went into the booth that night."

"Well then, maybe it was Angie."

Talk about adding insult to injury.  Angie had waited on nearly a hundred people, popped corn, poured soft drinks, and watched our two children at the same time.  Now I was becoming angry, but then I remembered something.

"Your sister and her friend with their two boy friends came in during the last show. They went to the booth and were up there for most of the show.  Have you asked her about the money?" I asked.

"My sister would never do something like that!" John bellowed.  "Her friends either.  She doesn't hang out with people like that."

"Oh, and I suppose Angie and I are people like that," I growled.

John didn't answer the question and changed the subject.  I now knew what he thought of me.  I knew that he was not a friend but a business partner, someone to whom I owed my share of the profits.

During the month of November, John was informed that after December 31st, the Turner Center would no longer be available for our use.  According to the college president, Martin Theaters gave the school an endowment each year.  Martin Theaters felt that they could not give the endowment as long as we were showing our films at the center.  We were their competition.  Competition indeed!  I wondered if they could stay in business with our twenty or thirty regular costumers but, money talks.  After the last showing of "The Wizard of Oz", Hollywood & Vine Classic Cinema ceased to exist.

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