Welcome to Main Street! I am going to skip the Emporium for now, and wait to do my shopping until I am leaving the park.
Instead, I want to go to the Main Street Cinema. On the way, I will pay my respects to the Wood Indian, who actually had some relevant context back in the day when the Tobacconist Shop was located behind him.
The set of photos I have with this young couple is one of my favorites; they look young, they look in love, and they definitely look like they are having a blast.
How about this sign at the Tobacco shop?
When you look at these vintage photos, you can see that the Main Street Cinema actually showed silent films and changed out the selection fairly often. You could catch William S. Hart in 1955:
Latin Lover Rudolph Valentino in 1956:
In this detailed view, you can see the A-Frame advertising Valentino, as well as the small banners hanging from the marquee and the lobby card photos enticing guests to enter the darkened theater:
You could also have the Bejesus scared out of you by Lon Chaney in "Phantom of the Opera":
Nighttime would be best for Lon though:
And John Barrymore in "Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde":
I would want to use my Time Tunnel to be at the Main Street Cinema when Silent Screen Star Mary Pickford and husband Charles Buddy Rogers stopped by in August 1957:
From the publicity blurb:
REMEMBERING WHEN
ANAHEIM, CALIF.: Turning back the clock more than a quarter century to the days when she was "America's Sweetheart," Mary Pickford and her husband, Buddy Rogers, stand outside the Main Street Cinema, which shows old-time movies at "Disneyland," Calif. They watched "The New York Hat," in which Miss Pickford starred more than 30 years ago. 8/15/57
Oh, to be able to enjoy the old Main Street again...more to come!
See more vintage & current Disneyland Main Street Cinema photos on my Main Street web page.
3 comments:
I love that the Grand Canyon is "Now Open," since it's been WIDE open for millions of years.
That tobacco ad makes it sound like cigarettes would be a good diet aid. "They make you thin." Of course, it leaves out that the thiness is the wasting that accompanies dying of cancer, the way cigarettes took Walt Disney himself from us.
Doug - I also wonder if it really was the world's largest diorama, as the Cyclorama in Atlanta was larger. Either way, it's still a highlight for me when riding the train. Obviously, I love kitsch.
I wasn't knocking the GG Diorama. It's nice, if a bit of a let down to anyone who has actually been to the Grand Canyon. I was just amused by the way the banner declared the Grand Canyon "Now Open."
It's like when I saw the musical of SUNSET BOULEVARD when I was in London. In the program bio for the actor playing "Max" it said: "He created the role of Cecil B. DeMille in the original production." All I could think was: "That will be a big shock to the DeMille Family."
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