Was the Montana theater always the Montana, or was it once the Liberty Theater?

The Liberty was on the other side of Main Street -- I think where Maurices is located. Not sure if the Montana was always the Montana but I suspect so. Amorette will probably know.

- Dave

Yup. It was always the Montana, from the day it opened in 1936. Liberty was across the street where Maurices is now. The old ceiling is still above the modern dropped ceiling. Gene Larson got photos of it during the last remodel.

Thanks!

some people were asked to leave for making out in the montana theature. hot hot!!!!!!!!!!!

Park theater was where Park Place is, and
the now closed Burlap & Lace at 715 Main was the State Theater

Glen, If i remember correctly it was you that was asked to leave the Liberty, or was it the Park Theatre, or both? The Lodges in the Park was the best place in town to steal a kiss back in those days. Saturday afternoon movies were the hottest place in town back then weren't they...for fifteen cents you could watch a movie and further your education at the same time..what a time that was! Cheryl, it seems as if you were in on that too weren't you? lol...my question is where did you go when 86's from all three movie venues? That was way before high school so it couldn't have been the family automobile. Hmmmmmmm, i wonder

I have a vague memory of someone, back in the 70's, telling my friends' parents that they shouldn't allow us kids to ever go to the Park Theater because they showed x-rated movies there. Anyone recall?

That last thing I remember seeing there was Tom Selleck in "Runaway." It wasn't x-rated but I really don't think people should see it anyway.

I think at one point in time they were showing Emmanuel. It was a big deal. Don't think they did it after that. How long did they stay open anyway?

It would be an interesting point of trivia to know what was the last movie that played at the Liberty, Park, and State theaters.

I only saw movies at the Park, Montana, and Sunset Drive-In. The Liberty and State theaters were before my time.

My recollection is that the Park was somewhat less respectable than the Montana but by no means an adult movie theater. The Park had a glass enclosed crying room (smoking room?) in the back. In this day and age it's hard to imagine smoking in movie theaters but I'm sure it used to be quite common.

- Dave

Wow! To Glen and Rick: You guys! Once again I find myself in the hot seat! Nothing wrong with a little smooching in the theater! That was the the absolute best time of my life!
Glen: Should we answer Rick's questions or just let him wonder? If it's up to me, what happened in the Montana theater stays in the Montana theater!

Does anyone remember when "DR. Kitt" the hypnotist used to come to Miles City? It seems to me he appeared at either the Park or the Montana, or both.

I do. My father took me with him in approximately 1968. It was at the Montana Theatre. It was the greatest funniest show and I have been looking for one like it ever since. I remember Ike Grenz was up there on stage and he was so under that it was hilarious. He would tell him he was cold, mad ect. I remember there were about 10 people that went up there and Ike was the funniest. I did not remember the hypnotists name, but have always remembered that show. That is great that you remembered him. I did not know he came several times.

David, The smoking room was called the loges, and was quite common in most theaters back then. There was no correlation between smoking and cancer at that time; old men smelled like whiskey and cigars. Sofas were called davenports, vinyl flooring was called linolium. In the South, I guess, the blacks used to sit in the loges.
Audie Murphy movies were usually playing at the Saturday matinee at the Park theater. (pretty exciting stuff!)

Hey Cheryl, the exciting stuff was you and Glen. LOL

Thanks Gino, so much for discretion! (just kidding!) It's so great to hear from all you guys and I sure hope you all have a wonderful Christmas!

Bet you don't know where the Victory Theater was located? Where Hoveland's then Sages Men's Store was located. Burned in the late 30s or 40s, sat vacant and boarded up then was turned into very nice men's stores.

Bronko Billy

Way to bring back a 2 year old post.

Josh, knock it off. Topics in the "History & Genealogy Forum" do occasionally reappear after a period of time, which is fine.

Sorry..

No problem, as you might understand, I've been a bit grumpy lately.

Yeah, understandable.

Some of the old threads are great. I must have found milescity.com after this one.

The X-rated 70's movie I remember that caused a stir was Woody Allen's "Every Thing You Always Wanted to Know About Sex * But Were Afraid to Ask". My mother would not even say the name of it. But she did tell me that our neighbor went to see it.

I think I remember when "Fritz the Cat" came to Miles City as well. I don't recall "Deep Throat" ever showing in Miles City, but I could be mistaken.

FH

The Park Theatre played Emanuelle in the mid 70's.

In the basement of the Park was the Kit Kat Club. Much of the decor still exists. Can anyone shed some historical light on that? Could be the place where the not so wholesome reputation originates..?.

The slogan "Break me off a piece of that Kit Kat" has a whole different meaning there!!!

In the early 50's there was a movie called Ecstacy starring Heddy LaMarr. She was supposedly swimming in the nude, but the movie was made in the 30's and the quality was not very good.

So where was the State and Victory theaters located?

I think at one point in time they were showing Emmanuel. It was a big deal. Don't think they did it after that.

I think I remember that. I was "sorta" working there briefly, at the time, most have been about summer of '75?

I worked at the Park Theatre when they had the X-rated movies. To the best of my recollection, they probably played around 6 of them. They were always at midnight after the regular feature was over, and the theatre emptied out.

D. Matzen wrote:

So where was the State and Victory theaters located?

The State Theater was located about where the Main Street Grind is today -- the north side of the 700 block of Main Street. I think it housed "Burlap and Lace" and possibly "Universal Athletics" in recent times.

Bill Evans commented on the location of the Victory Theater earlier in this thread (http://milescity.com/foru...205#145864) but I'm not sure exactly where those stores were located.