Warwick Theater 3317-19 Washington Avenue, Newport News, VA 23607 |
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WAY BACK THEN: | THEN: | NOW: | ||
The Rialto - 1910 |
Renamed The Warwick - 1932
http://fsweb.wm.edu/AMST370/ |
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This site courtesy of Dave
Spriggs ('64) of VA - 03/11/03 Thanks, Dave! |
Courtesy of Dave Spriggs ('64)
of VA - 11/14/03 Thanks, Dave! |
When I was about ten years old my
friends and I would go to the Warwick Theater every Saturday to a program
called "The Riders Club"...there were two full length movies, usually westerns,
plus lots of cartoons. It only cost a
quarter, bus fare was ten cents each way, and if you were lucky enough to have
fifty cents you could get a snack.
If you were lucky enough to have a dollar bill you could feed all your friends!
A nickel would buy you a big candy
bar or a soft drink. I think popcorn was ten cents. Ice cream bars were a
nickel...and so on! We thought our parents
were great for "letting us go"...It never occurred to me that they want TO GET
RID OF US FOR A FEW HOURS!
- Jean Poole Burton ('64) of RI - 02/25/05
GIGGLES! Thanks, Jean!
Hi, Carol,
I had to write and tell you that my brother, Johnnie ('68 - of VA), and I really
enjoyed reading Jean Poole Burton's ('64 - of RI)
comments about the Warwick Theatre. I doubt that you or many people know that
our father, was the manager of the Warwick
Theatre from the year I was born (1947) up until the late 50s or early 60s. When
I read Jean's recollections, I called Johnnie
to make sure he'd seen the newsletter. We both remember the Riders Club, as our
father used to get us up on the stage
on Saturday mornings. As our parents were divorced, we were only with him every
other weekend. Johnnie actually has a
better memory of it than I do. He said that some of the tickets were pink and
they were for the kids that got on the stage and that
about once a month, our dad would make sure we got one of the pink tickets.
Also, the snacks and drinks were even cheaper
for us! Our dad would allow us each to have a drink and pick out one snack each
after the show. I'm sure there were a lot
of children that later became friends of ours that attended the movies on
Saturday. When our father died last September, one
of the things that Johnnie really was hoping to find at my dad's apartment was a
"gold" statue of Roy Rogers' horse Trigger, but
he didn't find it. I remember our dad had an autographed, framed picture of Roy
Rogers that he used to keep on his desk in his
office. Our dad left the area for a year or two around 1960 and came back to the
theatre when I was in the 10th or 11th grade.
At that time, he also opened a hamburger place (I think the name might have been
Wilder Burger) next to the theatre and had
an ad in THE BEACON, which would feature a male and a female
upperclassman eating hamburgers. For various reasons, we
didn't know our father was back in town, and he called the school and arranged
for me to be in one of the ads so he could see me
(I think Darrell Boland - '64 might have been in the picture with me!). I'm not
sure, but I don't think Johnnie was in high school yet.
I had the picture for a long time, but don't think it's around any more. Our dad
left the area about 1963 or 1964, moving to Ft.
Pierce, FL and living there until his death. He tried his hand at a lot of other
business adventures (or misadventures) but don't
think he was ever as happy as he was at the Warwick Theatre.
Carol, because of you and your website, we're all able to share our past
memories, that are sometimes triggered by someone
else's memories! Keep up the wonderful service you do for us!!! TYPHOONS
FOREVER!!!
Love,
Sandi
- Sandi Bateman Chestnut
('65) of VA - 03/01/05
WOWZERS, Sandi! Thanks so much!
Here's a story on the Warwick
Theatre that might stimulate some old memories. When I was a little tyke, my
dad,
John "Jack" Miller ('28) used to take me to the Warwick Theatre, religiously,
every Saturday morning for a
discount Cowboy movie, plus cartoon, plus one, or two serials. This would have
been in the early to mid 50's.
"Flash Gordon" and "The Rocket Man" (commando Cody?) were two of my favorite
"serials". The serials always
left the hero in some impossible situation, when they ended, so you had to come
back to find how they got out of the
jam they were in, the following week. The cowboy movies were great, except for
the singing cowboys and all that
"lovey-dovey stuff", as I used to call it.
Here's the best part: the movie cost 15 cents, each. Two popcorns and two
cokes were 5 cents each, so my dad and
I both got in for 50 cents, total! (The cost of two McDonalds, a fry and a
coke!) Such a deal!
- Craig Miller ('63) of FL -
03/08/05
COOL! Thanks, Craig!
I hope this will
be of interest. In 1958 I was 15 years old and had my mom sign a permission slip
to get a job
working in the old Warwick Theater. I started work at 14 cents an hour. I worked
12 hours a week - eight hours
on Saturdays and the rest during the week. I worked there one year and went to
the James Theater. I started
there at 65 cents an hour.
Max Pollard ('62)
and I were the best of pals, and worked there for 3 years. They
played the first Brigitte
Bardot movie there. Max and I could not buy a ticket, but we worked the
whole week
it showed. WOW! Those were the days. Some of the tales I could tell. But with
Max gone, they remain my
memories of days long gone, but not forgotten......
- Jerry
Blanchard ('62) of VA - 11/08/05
Thanks, Jerry!
A true story from my mis-spent youth. Some may remember those Saturday double-features at The Warwick. A dog named Bullet ... When
I was nine, living on Galax Street near
Copeland Park,
with my parents help I entered a contest to name Roy Roger's new animal, a
German Shepherd dog. The dog was to be in all future
Roy Rogers
movies. I love dogs! Years, maybe! Well, I'm not one to ever hold a grudge or anything, but to this very day; my favorite cowboy is Lash Larue, I, nor any of my children or grand-children will ever eat that krappy cereal, and I'm hoping that 'Trigger' has moths! There, I feel much better now!
- (Reformed) Little Buckaroo - John London (Warwick HS - '57) of VA - 07/11/06 WOWZERONI-RINI-ROONI!!! What a story!!! Thanks, John! |
As usual I have been enjoying
the newsletters and was
thrilled to see
the story about Roy and Bullet. I have a Roy Rogers story
myself. A few years ago ... late 1994 ... I was out in California at the
National Training Center (Army job) ... On my way back to the airport from
my assignment, I noticed I would go through the little town that was the
home of the "Roy Rogers Museum." Well, having been absolutely crazy about
everything RR when I was a child, I made time to stop. I enjoyed the
morning immensely (Trigger is actually there ... stuffed, along with
Bullet and the famous Nellybelle!) |
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As I was leaving, there stood a familiar man with a cowboy hat and I
completely lost it!! He was SOOOOO gracious, gave me a big hug and had his
assistant take this picture of us. I totally regressed to being six years
old and was DELIGHTED!
Thought you might like to have this picture and say "Happy Trails to all my TYPHOON friends! ... until we meet again!" - Alice Fowler Edwards ('64) of VA - 07/28/06 WOWZERONI-RINI-ROONI!!! |
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Thanks so much for sharing this with us, Alice! |
The following link will bring back a lot of memories to many of your readers; especially those who frequently paid 14 cents to get into the Warwick Theater. I was amazed, when viewing this clip, that so many B movie stars rode the range on the back lots of Hollywood when we were very young. http://oldfortyfives.com/thoseoldwesterns.htm FYI, there is specific permission given at the end of this presentation, allowing reuse, but only by link.
- Bill Lee
(Warwick HS - '54) of NC - 09/09/08 |
- Norris Perry
(Warwick HS - '59) of VA - 09/10/08 |
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Sparkling Theater Lights clip art courtesy of http://gifsnow.com/ - 05/22/05
20th Century Fox
theme song midi courtesy of
http://www.moviethemes.org/midis/midisa-f/20thcenturyfox.mid
at the suggestion of Dave Spriggs ('64) of VA - 07/09/03
Thanks, Dave!