1959 Monti, Iowa
Mary Pat (Fangman) Scheckel
Born in 1949
First movie memories from Independence, Iowa (pop. 4800) and Coggon, Iowa (pop. 600)
Interviewed on 1/21/2019
by Blaise Fangman
The first movie I went to, I was too young to answer most questions. I was probably about 6 which would have been in 1955. Dad loved TV shows about WWII. So, it was a war movie shown at the Malek Theater in Independence (a town of about 4800 people at the time). I think I slept through a lot of it, so I don’t have a clue what it was about, other than it being a war movie.
The second movie I saw was several years later. That was one of Disney’s first full length productions that was not a cartoon (like Fantasia or Dumbo). It was The Shaggy Dog at the Comet Theater in Coggon. It was kind of unusual to have a movie theater in that small of a town (about 600 people). The Comet was originally an Opera House and later converted for movies. The seats were all in one big section with no balcony. We went to many shows there over the years as it was the closest to our farm and the cheapest. But, like most theaters in small towns, it eventually closed because they had fewer seats than places in Cedar Rapids and had to charge higher prices to make a profit. Thus they lost their clientele.
The Malek was quite a bit larger. It was built for movies and even had a large balcony. Not the overhang type (which the Paramount and Iowa theaters in CR had). Just steep rising seating in the back. That’s where we always sat when we went as teenagers. It, too, closed, but a couple times was reopened but has been unused for a while now. I think it had its glory days when built. But, to us, it was just another movie place.
The Paramount Theater in Cedar Rapids is one of a kind. It’s worth the price of admission just to see the place. We have visited theaters all over the country and never seen anything comparable. It has shiny chandeliers, big mirrors, a wide staircase in the lobby, fancy scrollwork, gold gilding on the walls, beautiful carpeting and it’s all very tastefully done. The Malek and the Comet were not that grand.
I was excited to go see The Shaggy Dog in Coggon because I had only been to one movie before (the war film). And we loved Disney (think Mickey Mouse Club). I think it was a Saturday afternoon, and it was in 1959 so I was 10.
My mom drove us to get to the theater and I watched the film with my younger sister Jo Anne. It was a movie about a boy who, through something he stumbled on to, periodically turned into a shaggy dog. I know we really liked it. The iconic scene was the dog driving an old, open car down the road. I think a couple of the young actors may have been Mickey Mouse Club members.
The other thing I remember was the role of the dad being played by Fred MacMurray. Jo Anne and I used to watch old movies on TV like from the 40’s. I remembered him in dramatic roles. We did not know it at the time, but it turned out this was a huge breakthrough for him as a comic actor. I remember him playing more Disney movies in starring roles like in Flubber [Interviewer’s correction: actually called The Absent-Minded Professor] and its sequels. But, he is probably best known as the father in the long running TV series My Three Sons. We watched that for years and years. He was a great comedian. I always liked him a lot better than Jerry Lewis who was his big competition.
They didn’t have any ushers, but there may have been a concession stand with a popcorn machine. But I know we didn’t have any popcorn. They didn’t show anything on the screen before the film.
I seldom went to the movies when I was young though we went more as years passed and my parents could afford it more. I don’t know any others who went to theaters often back then because no one had much money and most had larger families than they do now.
