TechDirector: Did the original “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope” play at the Manos for its August 1979 rerelease?
No. At that time I believe that the Manos was then inhabited by the Bible Baptist Church congregation. I was invited to tour the Manos in July 1978 to look at the renovations that the Bible Baptist members were doing inside. Almost all of the “first run” movies went to the Twin 40 after the State Theater closed in the mid-1970’s.
For more information could could try to track down Ed Wolinski. He worked at both theaters for many years.
I worked at the Manos for many, many years. Lots of great memories…Except changing the marquee Tuesday evenings at 10 PM in the rain and snow…Regarding the post about the room with the movie posters, no. I do not believe that they were posters. The items in that vault (the Manos was a bank before a movie theater) were movie ads, press releases and other things for placement in the newspapers. The center door (between the restrooms) in the basement lounge was the manager’s office. The movie posters From the glass cases at the front of the building) were always rolled up and returned with the film cans when the movie changed (or we got yelled at). With regard to the “Bomb shelter', yes, the Manos was designated a bomb shelter (at the height of the cold war; a lot of buildings in the downtown, and all of the schools received this designation). All of the shelters stored many barrels of "Civil Defense water” (a 25 gallon barrel of distilled water), food (mostly soda crackers as I remember) and medicine barrels with basic home medicine chest first aid supplies. I would assume this was to assist with basic human existence in the event of a nuclear attack…Getting back to the Manos, we referred to the walkway between the basement lounge and the rear of the building as the “tunnel”. Also at the rear of the tunnel, across from the generator, was a fenced in “cage” where tickets and other items could be secured via a padlocked door. The “glowing blue clock” STILL EXISTS…in fact, there were 2; the one from the Manos and its twin from the State…They are currently in someone’s home in Uniontown…Back in the mid-90’s, I was told that one of the stuffed shirts on the board of the directors of the State Theater Center for the “arts” decided one day that they “OWNED” the clocks (which is not true, they did not pay for them, Manos Enterprises did). They took them from the State Theater without permission, as I understand it. Sad. Very sad. The clocks need to be returned to their rightful place. Feel free to post any questions about the Manos, I will be glad to reply.
TechDirector: Did the original “Star Wars, Episode IV: A New Hope” play at the Manos for its August 1979 rerelease?
No. At that time I believe that the Manos was then inhabited by the Bible Baptist Church congregation. I was invited to tour the Manos in July 1978 to look at the renovations that the Bible Baptist members were doing inside. Almost all of the “first run” movies went to the Twin 40 after the State Theater closed in the mid-1970’s.
For more information could could try to track down Ed Wolinski. He worked at both theaters for many years.
I worked at the Manos for many, many years. Lots of great memories…Except changing the marquee Tuesday evenings at 10 PM in the rain and snow…Regarding the post about the room with the movie posters, no. I do not believe that they were posters. The items in that vault (the Manos was a bank before a movie theater) were movie ads, press releases and other things for placement in the newspapers. The center door (between the restrooms) in the basement lounge was the manager’s office. The movie posters From the glass cases at the front of the building) were always rolled up and returned with the film cans when the movie changed (or we got yelled at). With regard to the “Bomb shelter', yes, the Manos was designated a bomb shelter (at the height of the cold war; a lot of buildings in the downtown, and all of the schools received this designation). All of the shelters stored many barrels of "Civil Defense water” (a 25 gallon barrel of distilled water), food (mostly soda crackers as I remember) and medicine barrels with basic home medicine chest first aid supplies. I would assume this was to assist with basic human existence in the event of a nuclear attack…Getting back to the Manos, we referred to the walkway between the basement lounge and the rear of the building as the “tunnel”. Also at the rear of the tunnel, across from the generator, was a fenced in “cage” where tickets and other items could be secured via a padlocked door. The “glowing blue clock” STILL EXISTS…in fact, there were 2; the one from the Manos and its twin from the State…They are currently in someone’s home in Uniontown…Back in the mid-90’s, I was told that one of the stuffed shirts on the board of the directors of the State Theater Center for the “arts” decided one day that they “OWNED” the clocks (which is not true, they did not pay for them, Manos Enterprises did). They took them from the State Theater without permission, as I understand it. Sad. Very sad. The clocks need to be returned to their rightful place. Feel free to post any questions about the Manos, I will be glad to reply.