What was playing at the Ohio on Sept. 20, 1970?

Wholesome family fare at the Tower Drive-in on Sept. 20, 1970

The year 1970 was certainly a turning point from a cultural standpoint, if you take a look at what was showing on local movie screens on September 20, 1970 – 50 years ago this month.

Biker flicks seemed to be the big thing, at least at the drive-ins.

Courtesy zerostarcinema.blogspot.com

The Tower Drive-in on Lake Avenue was running a devilish double feature: Hell’s Bloody Devils, starring John Gabriel and Anne Randall and Satan's Sadists, starring Russ Tamblin and Scott Brady (no relation). Hell’s Bloody Devils actually sounds pretty entertaining, since it featured a cameo by none other than Colonel Sanders. (See screen grab from the movie.) Now that’s product placement.

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.

Santa Maria Times, Feb. 14, 1969

The Times Tribune, June 13, 1959

Wisconsin State Journal, Jan. 18, 1960

Fort Worth Star Telegram, May 1, 1960

Lorain Journal, September 16, 1960