My family and I would like to take this time to thank everyone out there for the prayers, well wishes and kind messages of concern. All of us highly appreciate it.
All the best,
Chris Hamby
Marquee of The Weinberg Center For The Arts, formerly known as the Tivoli theater, which was the first major building (and cinema venue) in the Frederick area to have air conditioning. |
The new unit will replace the theater's older air conditioning unit, which was installed in 1940, during the "golden age" of Hollywood cinema. To paraphrase Joe Franklin (1926-2015), let's take a trip down "Memory Lane."
1940- Enter "Challedon," Warner Bros.' Jack L. Warner, W.L. Brann and Dr. Thomas: The idea for air-conditioning in the Tivoli theater came one day before the 1940 Hollywood Gold Cup thoroughbred horse race at Santa Anita Park in the town of Arcadia, California.
Jack L. Warner (late 1940's). |
Challedon, champion racehorse that Warner Bros. head Jack L. Warner bet on, decided to return Dr. Edward "Eddie" Thomas' favor on installing air-conditioning at the studio-owned Tivoli theater in Frederick. |
Challedon won the Hollywood Gold Cup race, and Warner won his bet. The prolific studio mogul wanted to throw a party in honor of Dr. Thomas, yet Thomas declined Jack Warner's offer. Warner wanted to ask the Frederick physician what he could do to return the favor. Thomas told Warner about one of his studio's theaters in Frederick- the Tivoli, and how the theater could benefit from having an air-conditioning unit in the theater. Warner agreed, and ordered his associates in New York to install air conditioning at the studio-owned Tivoli theater in Frederick.
One factor of this was because of the Stanley chain's installation of Warners' landmark "Vitaphone" sound-on-disc sound motion picture projection equipment. The studio would own these theaters until the 1948 Paramount anti-trust consent decree, where the major studios were forbidden to own movie theaters (Warners' theater holdings were spun off to Fabian Interests, and were renamed Stanley-Warner Theaters, the organization sold the three theaters to the Weinberg family at the end of the 1950's).
Since then, audiences flocked to the Tivoli to see landmark motion pictures throughout the years in the "cool" on hot summer days, along with the latest newsreels and short subjects.
An interesting tale of how a prominent Hollywood studio mogul, two Frederick residents and a celebrated racehorse brought air-conditioning to Frederick's "crown jewel" theater.
SIDEBAR: Here's something I would like to know (to the current management of the Weinberg)- When is the theater going to show classic films from Hollywood's golden age on the big screen to compliment the "Flying Dog Brewery Movie Series"?
I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with the Flying Dog Movie Series, I think it would be great (along with fellow classic cinema enthusiasts) to showcase vintage and contemporary films the way they were meant to be seen, on the big screen.
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The proprietor of "At The Matinee", Chris Hamby- welcomes your comments and suggestions on any post featured. NOTE: All comments are monitored by the author.