r

the
Reopenings, Closings
In St.
Louis Area
SV liOUlS Ihrnlrr m>i>»'i>i'>K». closinex
•nd policy chuiiKi'5 luivp iiutrkrd thr Jimu-
•ry calrndnr in this iirrn On (he rropenlnx
tide o( (hr Irdgrr
The 4I0-»ea« Lyndcl Tljcntrr. Barlow. Ky .
formfrly operated by Lyndel Fondoff. reopened
Pnday 's
The KlUamey Dnve-In at Arcadia. Mo.
wUI open for the season March 29. Thi.s
di1»e-ln was opened for the first time In
July 1950 by William Basden of Pilot Knob.
Mo., and Irwin Degonla. Ironton. Mo It Is
opening a week earlier than It did In 1957.
On the other side of the ledger are the
(oUovlng closings:
The Scott. Golconda. 111., which had reopened
November 8 under the management
of Jim Davis. Paducah. Ky . and former
film salesman out of St Louis, was closed
December 7. with its future somewhat uncertain.
Formerly this house was known as
the Ohio, but Its name was changed to the
Scott by Sir Walter Scott, who operated it
for some months
The TlvoU. Norrts City. Ill . operated by
J A Goewett. hasnt found the formula for
continued successful oj)eratlon It closed
again on Deceml>er 30 after being reopened
by Ooosett on November 1. It will be dark
Indefinitely
The Uptown Theatre. Fairfield. Ill .
owned
by the Barnes te Pltner Interests and under
the management of Bob Johason. was closed
Indefinitely Deceml)er 27 The same owners
have the 600-seat Strand Theatre
The Rex. Waverly. 111. owned by William
E Jackson, closed Indefinitely December 28
The Lyric Theatre in St. Louis, which
ceased operation as a motion picture hou.se
on December 22. has been reopened as a
burlesque house, with a new show scheduled
to start each Sunday
The Repertory Playhouse. Clayton. Mo . a
fleah and blood theatre-ln-the-round project,
opened January 31 with "Wltnes.* for the
Proaecutior. Tuesday. ' Wednesday. Thursday
and Sunday evening the admission price
vUl be 13 00: Friday and Saturday. UAO
and Sunday matinees. 1125
At Bonne Terre. Mo . Odeon Theatre.
which has t)««n operating Friday through
Tuesday, has gone to a policy of txwklng
spot pictures It Is hoped that selected films
wlU produce profitably for
the theatre, which
U owned by the Edwaxtls tt Plumlee Theatres
of Farmlngton. Mo
Sam Koplar Recalls How Coal Gifts
Saved Day in Early Tent Operation
ST LOUIS Governor Blulr of Ml.vsuurl.
U S Senators Hennlnto and SymliiKtoii and
Mayor Tucker of St. Louis head u list of
notables named as hon:irary chairmen for
u February 1 testlmuiilal dinner tn Sam
Koplar. owner of the Cha.>c and Park Plaza
hotels here and one of St Louis' pioneer
motion picture theatre owners The dinner
will be staited In the Khoras.san room of the
Chase, Koplar will be feted for his years of
service to the economic, civic and charitable
life of the city.
HAl'LED WASTK A! U.t IB
Born in St, Louis about 70 years ago. he
attended the local elementary schools and
the old Manual TrnlnlnK School, He plunged
into bu,sliic,ss when about 16. by haulliiK away
waste tin for free from firms which had
been paying to have the Job done. His anijle
was to separate the tin coating from the
Iron and then sell the two individually.
Since then there have been many other
business activities crammed Into his very
active life—although he did try to retire
when 35. but not for long Today most St,
LouLslans know him only as a hotel owner,
but motion pictures came early for him. He
entered the motion picture theatre business
with his late brother Harry when they took
over the Globe on Franklin avenue west of
Seventh.
They added a flourish to their silent pictures
by having employes stand behind the
.screen and speak the lines so that all could
hear Koplar realized that many of the
IMttrons couldn't read the captions used In
the silent picture.^ The next move was into
a tent theatre at Fifteenth and Montgomery
streets. One of their flr'^t public relations
efforts was to offer free coal for the needy.
Their mother gave them that splendid Idea,
This worked very well until the voliune of
calls became too great and the Irish fwllcemen
on the beat Informed them some coal
was going to persons who could "buy and
,