Main Street Cinema, July 1960

Even though this slide is strangely washed-out, I still love the early view of Main Street and the Cinema. Back in those days you might see any number of silent classics, from the Keystone Cops to Rudolph Valentino's "The Sheik" to Harold Lloyd's "Safety Last", to name but a few. Check out the cloth banner advertising Lon Chaney's "Phantom of the Opera"! Not to mention the sign on the sidewalk. The Marquee has the name "Charlie Murray" on it...from what I can gather, he was one of the original Keystone Cops, and was a friend of Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle. I'll bet you think he only made 130 films, but in fact he made 132 movies from 1912 to 1938.


Note the signs on the lamp posts (the ones I can see are advertising the new Nature's Wonderland)...some of these recently sold at auction for big bucks.

Apparently at around the time this photo was taken, there was a person dressed as the Phantom of the Opera who would loiter outside the theater. You know the routine...he'd stand still for a while until people assumed he was a dummy. When he suddenly moved....HEART ATTACK TIME!