More Movies in York
Lavish 1938 movie ad for the York theater
My post yesterday covered some of the movie theaters in York County and the variety of films they were showing Labor Day weekend in 1938. Now I’ll tell you what else those avid movie goers had to choose from.
Click here to read the first movie post.
I checked city directories at the York County Heritage Trust Library/Archives today, so I can also let you know where the theaters were located.
Feel free to respond below with memories of those days 70 years ago when movies were king.
The theaters I covered yesterday were the Strand at 50 N. George St. next to the Capitol at 52-54 N. George, as well as the Rialto at 121 W. Market and the Hiway at 730 W. Market.
The York Theater, 525 E. Market St. was showing the block-buster Alexander’s Ragtime Band, starring Tyrone Power, Alice Faye, and Don Ameche. It featured 28 Irving Berlin songs–now that’s a musical. It also was a film connected with the $250,000 contest the movie makers were running.
Then there was the Ritz, right downtown at 28 S. George St. You could see cowboy star Charles Starrett in Call of the Rockies, “Whistling Bullets Hum a Love Tune!” for only 15 cents if you got there before 1 p.m. on Saturday. The movie also featured The Sons of the Pioneers, the group founded by Leonard Slye, who had quite a career of his own as Roy Rogers. I heard the joke years ago that the Ritz showed so many westerns, you could see the bullet holes in the walls.
Moving out of town, the Lion Theater, at 7-11 N. Main in Red Lion was showing The Texans with Randolph Scott and Joan Bennett, another film with clues for the $250,000 contest.
Further down the road, you could see big stars Robert Taylor and Maureen O’Sullivan in The Crowd Roars, along with “Cartoon–Comedy–News” extras at the Ramsay in Stewartstown.
The Hanover theaters didn’t advertize in the Gazette and Daily, but a check of the 1938 City Directory showed the Park at 102 W. Chestnut, the State at 41 Frederick, and the Strand at 10-12 Carlisle.
The Dallas theater in Dallastown was located at 106 S. Walnut in 1938. I’m sure some of the other smaller towns had their own theaters too, so let me know about those too.
Click here to see what other amusements Yorkers could enjoy in 1938.
Click the links below to read more what entertained York County people in other eras.
Jolly Giggling Club.
Tom Thumb wows them.
Click here to read about an earlier short person’s appearance in York.
Melodramatic menagerie.
York Fair in the past.
Dancing.
Famous musician likes Weaver pianos.
Fun and fundraising.
Fossils of what?
