Biggers wasted no time in getting
another theatre up and running. The
projectors were rehabbed at Joiner’s
Radio Shop on South Main Street, and
soon The Movie Hut, also on South
Main Street, was opened in a vacant
storefront. Assumptions can be made
that a bed sheet might have been the
screen, and portable chairs could have
been utilized. But, the show went
on, and the locals had a place to see
movies while a new theatre was being
built.
Theatre was greatly successful and
bumped along gloriously for many
years, running a variety of features
during the week, and always a western
on Fridays and Saturdays.
What a Gem!
During World War II, an Army
searchlight battalion was located near
Lake Apopka in Winter Garden. Its
soldiers looked for entertainment
in this small town, and the movies
were toward the top of their list. The
Winter Garden Theatre had a full
A New Winter Garden Theatre
house many nights because of the
And, in record time, a new Winter soldiers’ attendance, so Biggers looked
Garden Theatre was born at 160 to open an additional theatre. Thus,
West Plant Street, right next to the Gem Theatre at 31 S. Main Street
the one that burned. It opened in was created in the former Mills-Mann
December of 1935, with the RKO Department Store space. Conceived
release, She. The crowds turned out; as a low-budget secondary house, the
probably exclaiming, “We’re really Gem had its own unique attributes.
uptown now.” This venue was not a Inspired by the Art Deco influence,
real movie palace, but it had character its box-office was located inside in
with “Romeo and Juliet” balconies what was roughly known as a lobby,
in a Spanish courtyard setting. The and the seating area was furnished
primitive air conditioning consisted with Celotex walls and ceilings in tan,
of a fan blowing over a huge block cream and brown tones. Opening
of ice! African Americans, in this night was September 27, 1941, and
time of Jim Crow laws, were restricted it was reportedly mobbed with both
to the small balcony, with a separate locals and soldiers. The feature was
entrance. A few years later, a “real” The Dark Command from Republic
air conditioning system was installed. Pictures, starring John Wayne. At
The admission prices of 35¢ for adults the beginning of its existence, the
and 9¢ for children were unbelievably Gem was operated on Saturdays only,
affordable. This new Winter Garden then it expanded to weekends, and
eventually nightly.
It is not known
if the kids really
enjoyed sitting in
the first five rows of
seats; they were only
wooden benches
with no backs.
Unfortunately, after
the war ended and
the troops were
gone, the attendance
dropped drastically.
Winter Garden Theatre, 1953
This poor little
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WINTER GARDEN MAGAZINE
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NOVEMBER 2017