BY JAMES PECK
BRANDON—The townspeople of Brandon have had a love affair with motion pictures for over 120 years, back to early days of silent films.
It was Thomas Edison who invented the Kinetoscope, a machine that could project the moving images onto a screen. In 1894, Edison initiated public film screenings in “Kinetograph Parlors.”
Not long after, in October of 1899, Brandon Town Hall hosted the Alonzo Hatch Electro-Photo Musical Company, giving the town its first taste of the new technology. Featured were scenes from the Spanish-American War, including the great naval battle and the Dewey parade celebrating the victory.
From then on, various motion-picture companies brought their films to Town Hall and showed these “animated photographs,” which were of actual events and common activities at first. The “Silent Film Era’ would last until 1927, and Brandon was an eager participant at Town Hall. The films were a welcome addition to the usual plays, band concerts, music recitals, and other staged events.
By the beginning of World War I, many cities had opened motion-picture theaters and soon they spread to smaller towns like Brandon. The movies now told stories and featured silent-film stars like Mary Pickford and Tom Mix.
In January of 1917, the first movie theater in Brandon opened in the D. W. Prime block on Park Street. The New Park Theatre opened on St. Patrick’s Day in 1917 to big fanfare. Adults paid 10 cents for matinees and 15 cents for evening showings, while children paid only 5 cents and 10 cents.
MAY 1959 ad for live shows at the Brandon Theatre.
On May 9, 1919, there was a big fire and the theater building burned down, along with the adjoining four buildings. Fortunately, the Prime Block was covered by insurance and received $3,000 to rebuild. They temporarily leased the Town Hall until they could rebuild.
Silent films featuring actors like Douglas Fairbanks, Fatty Arbuckle, and the great Charlie Chaplin continued to be shown at Town Hall.
The new Prime Theatre was built into the back of the new Prime Block and the theater was expanded to 540 seats (340 in orchestra and 200 in the balcony) and two exits were built into the back, “thus reducing the panic to a minimum” and “emptying the theatre in two minutes.”
The theatre reopened on April 12, 1921 and was a huge success. The Prime Theatre operated successfully up until the next fire which came almost exactly three years later, on April 13, 1924. Lucious Avery bought the theatre in September following the fire.
He ran it for the next six years under the names Prime Theatre and Brandon Theatre. In 1929, he brought the “talkies” to Brandon using the new RCA Photophone technology. Now Brandonites could watch and hear new “talking” movies starring Al Jolson, Buster Keaton, and Rin Tin Tin.
In October 1930, the theater was bought by a movie syndicate. The new owners were able to bring more popular pictures to Brandon, starring Gary Cooper, Bing Crosby, the Marx Brothers, etc. They also presented community events, minstrel shows, concerts, plays, and Brandon High School graduations. Strange events were put on as well, such as the cow-milking contest held in 1933.
In 1932, David Shapiro bought the theater block. The Shapiros moved their department store from the foot of Union Street to the building on the right of the theater. The syndicate continued to operate the theater.
On September 24, 1936, another late-night fire damaged the theater. A firewall stopped the flames from getting into Shapiro’s Department Store, but the theater had to be rebuilt yet again. The lobby and balcony were enlarged, new leather seats were installed, and new RCA high-fidelity sound equipment was installed.
Despite the three fires, Brandonites kept packing the theater until World War II, when attendance dropped off. It continues to decline even more because of competition from theaters in Rutland and Middlebury and from drive-ins and television. 20-cent bargain nights were held along with raffles and kids’ free nights.
Live performances were added. A scantily clad Lady Godiva once rode across the stage while the theater promised: “If you embarrass easily, BLINDFOLDS WILL BE FURNISHED FREE!”
Finally, in October of 1960, the syndicate advertised the sale of the theater’s contents, including the upholstered seats, the screen, projection and sound equipment, the piano, popcorn machine, and the candy counter.
Today the old Theater building is occupied by the Ripton Mountain Distillery and apartments on the second floor.
Recently, Dave Howells, the current owner, took this writer for a tour of what’s left of the old theater. We went upstairs and into the old apartment where Dave stores merchandise and records left over from Shapiro’s .
We went through the closet wall along the catwalk on top of the drop ceiling installed after the theater closed. We could see forward to where the screen was and the top of the proscenium arch. The sconces were still along the walls.
Despite DVDs, the internet, and the iPhone, Brandon’s love affair with in-person movies continues today with features shown in Town Hall as they were back in the day. They’re not shown on the old Edison Kinetoscope or the RCA Photophone, but some are talkies and they are free!
Most of the films shown in Town Hall this year will be silent movies with the accompaniment of a piano player just like in the 20s!
