The Star Theater

There was an old fashioned movie house about a mile from our home in El Dorado, called the "Star". The admission was only a nickel to attend, and always showed black and white cowboy movies on Saturdays. Usually there was a double feature and sometimes a serial action movie that continued for weeks at a time. Also there many comedy movies with Mickey Mouse, Laurel and Hardy, and the Three Stooges. Then there were the Movietone News and sometimes Travelogues that showed movies of many foreign places that I found most interesting.

Some of my favorite cowboys were: "Buck" Jones, Tim McCoy, Hopalong Cassidy and "Hoot" Gibson. Tarzan was also one of my favorite serials. Tarzan would usually be almost eaten by a crocodile while swimming to rescue someone, and then be continued next week when he would miraculously survive. Then he would go on another life-saving adventure atop a huge elephant, along with his monkey friend, Cheetah.

Many Saturday afternoons our mother would send Wren and me to the Star. She would give each of us a nickel for the show and a nickel for candy. I preferred the 5 cent grab-bag which always contained a yellow banana sucker along with a little surprise such as a little toy beetle, which went "click-click" when pressed together.

After the first movie and comedy were completed I would be ready to go home. My brother Wren would not allow me to go by myself so he would hold me down in my seat until I cried myself to sleep. He wanted to see the whole show over and over again. I remember several times waking up after the theater would close. All the lights would be on and I would wonder where we were. Then Wren would "drag" me all the way home.

Since the admission price was only a nickel, the show was well attended, mostly by young people. Later the admission price was an old used automobile tire. We would always find one somewhere and roll it all the way to the show. You could hear us "slap-slapping" our tires while rolling them all the way from home to the Star Theater.