Before Fulton Theatre was saved, he went there for movies in 1950s [I Know a Story column]

In the 1950s, the Fulton Theatre was on its last legs. Some people were ready to tear it down. I went there as a boy to see old B-movie reissues.

For a quarter, I watched Westerns with second-stringer heroes who didn’t sing. I saw 10-cent Saturday matinees with single episodes from old serials, and I occasionally watched imported “art cinema,” with subtitled dialog and titillating flashes of female flesh.

There was a no-name soda machine in the lobby, which might have sold you a drink if you had the skill to hold the cup upright.

Liv IKS Fulton 6 m19 NE 1957.jpg — When the former Fulton Opera House was operating as the Fulton Art Theatre for films in the 1950s, this ad for "Scandal in Sorrento," starring Sophia Loren, ran in the Lancaster New Era in 1957.
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There was also a loud machine that dispensed the oldest popcorn in Lancaster, and a concession stand that sold petrified candy, if you could find the attendant.

Even as run-down as the place was, I thought it was a cool place that just needed a good cleaning and touch-up. Boy, was I naive about how much that would take.

After graduating from McCaskey High School, I volunteered as a stagehand with several local theater groups, and we tried to keep the theater going by doing live shows.

Liv IKS fulton 8 m19 NE 1959.jpg — When the former Fulton Opera House was operating as the Fulton Art Theatre for films in the 1950s, this ad for Jean-Paul Sartre's French-language adaptation of the Arthur Miller play, "The Crucible," ran in the Lancaster New Era in 1959. The film starred Simone Signoret and Yves Montand.
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Thank heaven the right people with enough money and influence were able to save this great, historic gem.

It came very close to becoming just another patch of black asphalt on the landscape, another victim of “urban renewal,” which wouldn’t have stopped downtown’s slide anyway. Its unique history would have been lost forever.

The author lives in Willow Street.

If you know an interesting story, please write it in 600 words or less and send it to Mary Ellen Wright, LNP editorial department, P.O. Box 1328, Lancaster, PA 17608-1328, or email it to features@lnpnews.com. Please include your phone number and the name of the town you live in.