A Joy to Share

Don't spit on the floor. Remember the Jamestown Flood - That was one of the slides on the screen as over fifty people gathered for the January 28th meeing of the East Cooper Coffee Club. Our presentation was on the Paramount movie "Pied Piper Malone" which was filmed in Georgetown, SC, in 1923.

It was cold and rainy outside the meeting room at Franke at Seaside. But, inside the atmosphere was warm and comfortable. After the presentation, several people lingered to share their memories of going to the movies in their hometown theaters.
Posted February 1, 2009

Nickelodeon Launches "Moving Up Main"
The Columbia Film Society is moving forward with plans to make Columbia's old Fox Theater, at 1607 Main Street, the new home of the Nickelodeon Theater. Movie fans in Columbia are very familiar with the Nickelodeon Theater, which was founded in 1979. Currently, over 700 members support the state's only non-profit movie theater which regulary screens independent, foreign and documentary films.

The new facility will include a second screen, three times the seating, a larger lobby and expanded offerings in its concession area. It will also enable the Nickelodeon Theater to offer a Media Education Center to provide classes in media production and literacy to students and adults.

The theater building, which opened in 1936 as the State Theater, has been sitting largely unused for over twenty years. The lobby houses the Solid Gold Beauty Shop, which will soon relocate to make way for rennovations.

The capilal campaign, "Moving Up Main" is in its "quiet phase" focusing exclusively on major donors, working on raising a sizable portion of the campaign goal before reaching out to the general public. To read the latest on this revitalization of one of Columbia's grand old movie houses, CLICK HERE to check out the Nickelodeon Theater web site. Also, CLICK HERE to view our page on the Columbia Fox.
Posted February 1, 2009

Movie Theaters of Charleston: The Sequal
Movie Theaters of Charleston: Hollywood Meets the Holy City has been out of print for fifteen years. During that time, people have contacted us with information we didn't have, photographs we didn't know existed, and stories we hadn't heard. Archival holdings on the subject have increased in libraries and universities. Archival materials that were unavailable to us in 1994, are now available on the web. Books and newspapers, once available only through inter-library loan, are now online.

One of the new features in the book is about the African American theaters that flourished in Charleston during the first half of the twentieth century. This feature would not have been possible without the online resources of The Chicago Defender. Even ancestry.com proved to be a valuable resouce tool for movie theater history. Through a posting there we were able to connect with a descendant of one of the major African American movie theater operators of Charleston.

The history of Charleston's theaters has continued too. Some theaters that existed when we published the book are now gone. Those that remain have been dramatically altered. We realize that a complete history of Charleston's movie theaters can never be written. But, we also realize that we have collected enough new and exiciting material over the last fifteen years to justify publishing a revised edition. We will let you know when this new edition becomes available.
Posted February 1, 2009

Movie Theaters of South Carolina
Yes, we do plan on publishing a book on the subject. But, in the meantime, we continue to travel the state and talk to people who still remember their hometown theaters. We love hearing from our readers. Your story is part of the history. Let us hear from you. CLICK HERE to send us an email. Tell us a story, share a photograph, ask us a question.
Posted February 1, 2009