M. Scot's Movie Talk
The Fox a classy place to see classic films
Opinion by M. Scot Skinner
skinner@azstarnet.com
Tucson, Arizona | Published: 07.02.2009
Until last Saturday night, I had never seen "The African Queen," but I was pretty sure it didn't feature four-horse chariots tearing through what looked like the Chiricahuas east of Tucson. And I was positive that John Huston's 1951 classic didn't feature bad actors in silvery costumes and spiky headgear.
And so what was this ridiculous thing showing as we took our seats at the Fox Tucson Theatre? It was a 15-minute chapter from "The Undersea Kingdom," a 1936 serial that will be shown on Saturdays at 1 p.m. this month (four chapters each week, starting July 11).
"The Wolf Dog," a 1933 serial starring Rin Tin Tin Jr., was shown in June, and "The Green Archer" (1940) is on tap for August.
It's a return engagement for the serials. All three screened at the Fox many decades ago for Mickey Mouse Club kids on Saturdays.
Today's children, freshly blown away by "Up" in 3-D, might be less than thrilled by these old-timey adventures. "The Wolf Dog" played to an audience of fewer than 75 people each week.
The man behind the series is none other than Herb Stratford, who is at the Fox in a return engagement of his own — this time as a volunteer.
It's been about 20 years since he first stood in front of the Art Deco theater, which had closed in 1974. Stratford, 44, spearheaded the restoration and oversaw the grand reopening on Dec. 31, 2005.
Stratford, feeling burned out, stepped down as executive director in April 2008, his place in the theater's history secure.
About a year later, Stratford sold the theater's board on the idea of bringing serials back.
"The Fox is in kind of a funny place right now," Stratford said on Tuesday night. "They've had some problems, and I'm trying to help them work through them. One of the things I'm real passionate about is the film programming."
He figured since he'd be around on Saturday afternoons anyway, he might as well also put together a classic-movie series for Saturday nights.
"The Best Years of Our Lives" opened the series last month, followed by "The Searchers," which found an audience of about 130, Stratford said. Attendance at "Best Years" was worse.
But "The African Queen," with Katharine Hepburn in full-on spinster mode and Humphrey Bogart at his rascally best, proved to be the most popular. About 350 people turned out.
During Stratford's tenure as executive director, average attendance for films was between 250 and 300, he said. The Fox has a capacity of just under 1,200.
"The Fox was and is a big part of my life," said Stratford. "It's hard for me to see it struggle."
It's not hard to see the appeal of renewing your love affair with a really good movie in such a gorgeous theater, with or without a plastic cup of wine in hand. Even better, perhaps, is giving the DVD player a rest and discovering a classic you've managed to miss all these years.
"If people get a chance to come in and experience seeing a movie at the Fox, they get it," Stratford said. "It's magical."
The serials and the classic films will take a break for the Fourth of July and return July 11 with "The Undersea Kingdom" in the afternoon and "The Great Escape" at 7:30. Tickets are $8.
"It Happened One Night" will screen on July 18, "The Misfits" on July 25, "Sunset Boulevard" on Aug. 1 and "The Bridge on the River Kwai" on Aug. 8. The series ends with "Dr. Strangelove, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb" on Aug 15.
Contact M. Scot Skinner at 573-4119 or skinner@azstarnet.com.
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