MIDLAND HISTORY & RESTORATION
Over
five decades, The Midland Theatre played all the great movies from the golden
years of Hollywood. From “Gone With the Wind”, to “Ben Hur”, to
“Dr. Zhivago”, audiences counted on The Midland to provide a steady and
ever-changing supply of films, and The Midland never disappointed. You know how
sometimes you want to see a movie that premiered only a couple weeks ago, and
you check the local theater listings, only to find it’s not even showing
anymore? Well, back in The Midland’s heyday, if it was showing a movie you
wanted to see, it didn’t pay to drag your feet … the program changed every
three days! Of course, back then, in those ancient days before television,
people would go to the movies two or three times a week, so such rapid turnover
was not only welcome, it was expected. But while speed was a necessity,
patience was also a virtue. Unlike today, when the latest big-budget blockbuster
opens in 3,000 multiplexes nationwide on the same day, movies slowly worked
their way around the country, a few cities at a time. That meant that while
“Gone With the Wind” premiered in New York and L.A. in December of 1939,
Newark residents didn’t get to hear Rhett tell Scarlett that frankly, he
didn’t give a darn until December of 1941, when The Midland finally held its
gala premiere! (And you think it’s a long wait for a movie to come on video!)
The
Midland wasn’t just about Technicolor epics and other movies for the grown-up
crowd, however. On Saturday afternoons, the parking spaces outside The
Midland were littered with bicycles, as inside, the theater was packed with
youngsters eager to fill up on candy and soda, catch the latest Tarzan picture
or Superman cartoon, and most importantly, to see just how Flash Gordon would
escape the latest nefarious trap set by Ming the Merciless. Saturday
afternoons at The Midland was a rite of passage for thousands of boys and girls
growing up in Newark.
Besides movies, live acts were also an important part of The Midland’s standard program. Over the decades, the theatre welcomed some of the era’s top performers, such as Bob Hope, Jerry Lewis, and the Russian Ballet. Admittedly, the talent wasn’t always top-flight… for instance, some of the first performers at The Midland included such lesser lights as “Rube Fuzzington and His Rustic Revelers”, “Andre’s Flashes of 1928”, “’Noodles’ Fagan and Mary”, and “The Famous Siamese Twins, Louis and LaVar”. Still, the live acts, whether well-known or obscure, always provided a little something extra for the customer’s entertainment dollar.
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