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| Wholesome family fare at the Tower Drive-in on Sept. 20, 1970 |
Biker flicks seemed to be the big thing, at least at the drive-ins.
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| Courtesy zerostarcinema.blogspot.com |
The Carlisle Drive-in wasn’t much better from a socially redeeming standpoint, but at least it went with angels instead of devils. Angel Unchained and Scream & Scream Again were the “2 Big Hits” featured in its ad.
At the Lorain Drive-in, Bonnie and Clyde was the starring attraction, with its well-remembered shoot’em up finale.
In the regular movie houses, the fare wasn’t too uplifting either. At the Ohio Theater was the student protest comedy-drama Getting Straight. The political thriller Z was on the Midway Cinema screen. The Palace was showing the British horror-comedy film Girly. Amherst Theater was running A Walk in the Spring Rain, a downer romantic drama about a middle-aged couple’s affair and the unhappy consequences of it (including accidental murder). The theater should have scrounged up something with the Duke (John Wayne) instead.
So with all these depressing movies clogging up the screens, what was left for the kiddies?
It was up to iconic TV cowboy Dale Robertson (Tales of Wells Fargo) to provide something they could see, as well as a positive image they could emulate.
Robertson's animated feature The Man From Button Willow provides the answer to the question posed as the title of this post. The full-length cartoon featuring a cartoon version of the cowboy actor was showing at the Ohio, as well as the Liberty in Downtown Vermilion. It had been released a few years earlier, but had apparently missed the Lorain area (I couldn’t find any indication it had played here).
The animated film was a pet project for the Oklahoma-born actor (who really was a cowboy, with his own ranch). He introduces the movie in a nice live-action introduction.
His character in the movie (below) is fairly realistic, unlike the cartoony villains.
The movie boasts a topnotch voice cast (including Edgar Buchanan, who guest starred on Tales of Wells Fargo many times). You can find The Man From Button Willow easily on YouTube.
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I’ve mentioned before that I watch a lot of Grit TV, including daily viewings of Tales of Wells Fargo. I’ve become quite a Dale Robertson fan. Here are a few clippings about him and the show, in case you’re a fan too.
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| Santa Maria Times, Feb. 14, 1969 |
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| The Times Tribune, June 13, 1959 |
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| Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 18, 1960 |
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| Fort Worth Star Telegram, May 1, 1960 |
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| Lorain Journal, September 16, 1960 |
8 comments:
We were like Bugtussle theater at the Ohio theater. Movie was 5 years old Rae:)
Hi Rae! Funny observation about the movie’s age! Good thing I remember the Bug Tussle reference from “The Beverly Hillbillies!"
I thought that the Lorain Theater closed in the Sixties.
The Ohio was one of my favorite theaters back in the day; I was eight hundred miles away when this Al Adamson double feature showed there, but I had the pleasure of working there during the Ohio's brief and final run, May to July of '73.
You’re right, Alan... it was the Lorain Drive-in, not the Lorain Theater.
BONNIE AND CLYDE showed in the Lorain area at the Tower Drive-In, part of a triple bill with THE TRIP and THE FLIM-FLAM MAN; I sneaked into the drive-in on a bicycle to see them.
Did you hang the speaker on your handlebar?
Actually, I did, until I got thrown out during the third feature, THE FLIM-FLAM MAN.
Alan....Severin Films recently released all of Al Adamsons movies in one big multi-bluray set...It's pretty pricey though...About $170.00 or so online.But you get all of Al's masterpieces in one big set...If you can call Al's movies masterpieces����������.
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