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The Majestic Theater was an entertainment venue on Patrick Street. It was a well run business for decades. -
Students would buy a ticket outside so they could see the current film. -
“Sunny” was a “Talking picture” that was shown in February, 1931. It’s flier was found in the ceiling where the theater was located at that time.
The headlines in the Dublin Progress read “New Playhouse in Dublin has Big Opening Week. The new Majestic Theater in the K of P building opened last Monday night by Thomas Bros. Two immense houses packed the venue. The playhouse was comfortably seated, well lighted and ventilated.” The best of the movie reels were to be shown. (Dublin Progress, Oct. 3, 1913) It was located in the almost new K of P building that was built only four years before on Blackjack Street. More recently that building would be known as the Rotary building and today is a new office complex.
The Majestic later moved to the bottom floor of the Oldham building. That location was later known as the Franks Rexall Drug building. The Blevins family bought the business and started improving it. In 1925 they installed a Mercury Arc Rectifier that changed the electricity from AC to DC. That made the light source for the projector brighter, clearer with a steady brightness. (Dublin Progress, Jan. 23, 1925) During the silent era of motion pictures, a piano or organ was often used to play music during the movie. In June of 1924 a new reproducing pipe organ was added to the theater. It was capable of producing all the effects of a pipe organ. It could be played by hand or with paper rolls that would play the music. (Dublin Progress June 27, 1924) The Majestic Theater manager, John Blevins installed a new Blizzard cooling system. It was capable of cooling the entire building twenty degrees below the outside temperature. (Dublin Progress Aug. 21, 1925) When movies were not playing, the theater was used as a meeting place for the city and other functions. Sometimes student productions or other live entertainment was there. It was an important part of the community at that time.
In 1931 new ceiling boards must have been added to the building. One of the carpenters must have had a sense of humor as he worked. He would grab paper and other things, stick them on top of the ceiling boards and hammer it in place leaving the paper trapped inside. In the early 1950s a book with advertising was found in one part of the building. Recently, a board was being cut to make room for a metal brace. Down from the ceiling pieces of paper came fluttering down. They were movie advertising fliers from February 1931 for the movie “Sunny”. That early “talking movie” was one of the last that played in this location.
In 1931, the Blevins family purchased a building one block up on North Patrick to be updated as a new movie location. That is the building that most of us remember as the Majestic Theater. It opened on May 15, 1931 with the comedy of airplane antics called “Going Wild” with Joe E. Brown. The Blevins family made the Majestic Theater a nice place for entertainment in Dublin for the “Talkies”. Later Technicolor movies such as “Gone With The Wind” were shown there. “The Robe” was one of the early Technicolor Cinemascope movies projected in wide screen. A number of stereo 3D movies were also shown. Special glasses had to be worn to see the 3D effect.
Students sometimes went to see educational movies at the Majestic and the Crest Theater around the corner. There were a number of films that were shown for school students including “The Alamo” and “Exodus.” “The Ten Commandments” was shown with the First Baptist Church paying admission so school kids could see it. At that time, admission was 25 cents for an adult and 10 cents for a student.
One student won an award for a class paper he wrote after seeing the film. The school board considered “Quo Vadis” and other films to be educational so they allowed it. “Gone With The Wind” a movie based on the great American novel was shown to students. Something that would be considered unheard of today was for students to be let out of school and allowed to walk to the theater. Most of them made the trip. A few got “lost” along the way, but most made the trip. Most students had to take a test on the movie after seeing it the day before. Sometimes students were bused to the theater.
Saturday Matinees were shown at reduced prices so kids could see them. The admission price in the late 1940s was 9 cents. Kids could take their penny in change and put it in the gum ball machine inside the door. They were set for the afternoon!
I remember seeing my first movie there. It was “Francis The Talking Mule.” I must have been about four years old at the time. The movie theater was clean and nice. It was a great place for the family. “Francis The Talking Mule” has long been forgotten. But the theater still holds the hearts of many who grew up here and have fond memories of that era.