On Area Movie Screens – Dec. 22, 1953

Seventy years ago this month on December 22, 1953, there weren't any particularly interesting movies showing on area movie screens – but there's other things of interest on the page shown above.

As for the movies, the one that pops out is movie cowboy Randolph Scott in Thunder Over the Plains (1953), showing at the Palace. I'm not sure if this one airs on GRIT TV, but if it hasn't, it probably will sooner or later. GRIT had held several all day Randolph Scott marathons, as his body of work is huge. 

Here's a better look at the image on the movie ad.

Randolph Scott and Joel McCrea
in Ride the High Country

Randolph Scott is always great. Like John Wayne, he chose his movies carefully and maintained an image of a rugged, upstanding individual throughout his career. It was only in his last movie, Ride the High Country (1962) with fellow cowboy star Joel McCrea that he played a somewhat unscrupulous character. But he redeemed himself at the end of the movie, and wrapped up his cinematic career on a high note.

Speaking of Joel McCrea, an article on the page shown above notes that McCrea was a real cowboy with a ranch to tend. That's why he was reluctant to star in a TV series at that time. He eventually did give in, starring in a series called Wichita Town, but by that time there were dozens of Westerns on TV and the show got lost in the sagebrush shuffle. Plus, Wichita Town aired too late at night for kids to stay up and watch, and it ended up getting cancelled.

I have no idea what Lady Godiva Rides Again was about, but the ad says it was 'Spicy' and 'Saucy.' Sounds like they're talking about a spaghetti sauce.

It's a British film, so no wonder it's a little bawdy.

At the bottom right of the movie page, there's a little box advertising a 'Vacation Special' at the Palace on Christmas Eve, for the kiddies who were on break from school. It featured twelve cartoons (at least one with Bugs Bunny, I hope) as well as the Our Gang classic comedy Birthday Blues (1932). That's the one where Spanky, Stymie, and Dickie Moore bake that huge cake full of 'valuable prizes' (like a hairbrush, a mousetrap, etc.) that makes the strange "weeeemmm wommmm" sound.

As for the rest of the page, there's other things that stand out.

There's an ad for Lorain Telephone with Santa using what might be the first mobile phone; a blurb about a Lorain man who fell and cut himself on a piece of glass; an announcement that the Salvation Army was prepared to help families with food and toys for the holidays; and a promotion for one of those annual holiday newspaper serial stories, with a character (Sammy Claus) who looks like the model for the killer-puppet Chuckie from the Child's Play horror flicks

What's odd is that the story with Sammy Claus didn't run in the Lorain Journal. But here's a screen grab of part of one chapter of the story so you can get an idea of what it was about.

Lastly, there's an ad for Stone's Grills, a previous topic on this blog. Note the listing of Mogen David as one of the wines, which was always a popular wine in the area. 

Recently my youthful co-worker was telling me about some wine she had enjoyed recently, and I asked (tongue in cheek – as usual), "What kind was it? Mogen David?" She looked at me strange, since she'd never heard of it.

Oh well.