The 1950 movie scene in Alma from the top: “The Long, Long Trailer” has its movie debut in Alma in February 1954; Davy Crockett and milk bottle caps, September 8, 1955; movie wizard Keith Musser was one of Alma’s greatest movie promoters at the Strand in the 1950s and 1960s; an Alma icon closed in July 1951 when the Alma Theatre closed after over thirty years of showing movies.

With the arrival of the 1950s, Gratiot County moviegoers moved away from life during wartime and went to the movies. To go with changes in society, in October 1951, the owner, W. A. Cassidy Theaters, invested $6000 in improvements by installing a new automatic switch-over projector, a new sound system, and a new screen. These changes allowed film reels to switch over more smoothly and stopped sound jumping.

The Strand Theatre also made a significant move by hiring Keith Musser as a manager in October 1951. With experience in other theaters, Musser had what the Alma Record described as “the tradition of the old-time theatrical showman.” In other words, he knew how to get people into the Strand Theatre to watch a movie. Musser oversaw both of Alma’s theatres and was Cassidy’s operations supervisor. Over time, Musser played a vital role in the growth and success of the business, and he became well-known in Alma.

Not long after Musser’s hiring, the Cassidy Theatres decided to close the Alma Theatre, which went back to World War I when it was known as the Idlehour. In the early 1940s, the Alma Theatre started offering cheaper tickets, allowing many young people in Gratiot County to afford to see their first movies. Western serials were especially popular. Unfortunately, by the late 1940s, showings only took place a few days a week, and business dwindled. As a result, in early March 1952, one of Gratiot County’s oldest theatres closed for good. Today, the original white facing of the old Idlehour still appears at the top and sides of the building, which many in Alma later knew as the location of Bob Moore Flowers.

There was now only one movie theater in Alma, and the Strand developed new strategies to draw viewers. In August 1951, Doctor Silkini’s Asylum of Horrors featured an onstage show involving a live Frankenstein monster, a wild man, and a gorilla that escaped its cage. Silkini reappeared in 1956, although this time, he brought King Kong. On September 20, 1952, the Strand advertised an onstage wedding of Betty Brecht and George Wonsey that took place before the feature movie. After a farmer discovered prehistoric remains in Emerson Township, Keith Musser arranged to display these mastodon bones in the  Strand’s lobby in 1954. At that time, the Ruskovic mastodon discovery in Emerson Township was big news and captivated the public. The Strand also joined the Alma Record with a “Mystery Farms” contest in Gratiot County. The first people to correctly identify the photograph of a featured Gratiot County farm received two free movie tickets. The biggest contest of the decade occurred in 1957 when the Strand gave away a brand-new Isetta automobile.

The most attention that the Strand Theatre received in the 1950s involved a trailer and two famous television personalities at the time: Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz. The two stars appeared in the comedy film “The Long, Long Trailer,” and the featured trailer in the movie came from Alma’s Redman Trailer Company. In early May 1953, MGM Studios purchased the forty-foot New Moon mobile home after looking at over 200 trailers nationwide. In February 1954, the Strand and the city of Alma held the movie’s debut. Actresses who appeared in the film, Perry Sheehan and Kathryn Reed, came to Alma for a parade and received keys to the city. Even Governor Soapy Williams was on hand in Alma for the ceremonies. Following the parade, the girls visited the Masonic Home and had tea at Rademacher Sales. The movie premiered on Friday, February 26, 1954, although Redman Trailer employees and their families saw a sneak preview. At that time, anyone entering the Strand ticket office found it modeled into a miniature trailer front, with lobby furnishings similar to those used in the actual trailer. Blair Trailer Sales in St. Louis also advertised that it had a replica of the trailer for anyone who wanted to view it.

However, big movies starting with “High Noon” and ending with “The Ten Commandments” would mark the 1950s at the Strand. In between, science fiction films, like “The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms,” debuted as a part of the “sci-fi” craze at the movies. The Davy Crockett craze hit Gratiot County in September 1955, and any child with an Alma Dairy milk bottle cap got a free ticket to watch Walt Disney’s “Davy Crockett.” At about the same time, the Strand installed Cinemascope. Movies had a more extensive picture covering the entire screen using this widescreen lens. As the decade closed, no one could foresee how the oncoming social changes of the 1960s would affect the Strand Theatre and movies – and people turned out to see movies.

Copyright 2024 James M Goodspeed