The Tower Theatre opened on March 6, 1940, which was a Wednesday. Managers Ken Hodkinson and Frank Blount focused on showing movies during Sundays, Mondays, and Tuesdays at first. Even though opening night was not on this schedule, it was still very successful with the showing of Four Wives. The film was made by Warner Bros, where there were ties with these big companies because Ken Hodkinson was the son of W.W. Hodkinson, one of the founders of Paramount Pictures.

From the research I have done so far for the Oregon Theater Project, I have noticed a pattern: drive-ins in Oregon were most successful in rural and suburban areas rather than in the hearts of big cities like Portland. These smaller areas offered vast, affordable acreage necessary to support the popularity of cars during the 1950s (mid-century), allowing theaters to act as hubs for families outside the urban center. 

I am currently doing research on the Rhododendron Drive-In Theater which operated in Florence from April 30, 1953 until some time at the end of 1979.

The historic Times Theatre in Seaside Oregon went through an array of owners and operators during its two stints in business.

How the Annual Pendleton Round-Up became the subject of an American Lifeograph documentary. 

For my blog post, I chose an advertisement article about the Savoy theater in Medford that the Medford Mail Tribune published on October 3, 1908. The Savoy was the second moving picture theater built right after the Bijou. It is an interesting article because it was two days after its first opening on October 1 of 1908. 

During the Early 1900s the printing of advertisements in the local papers is what brought the people around the surrounding towns and cities to certain venues or events. Everyone these days had access to the local papers and how a company advertised was based on the cost to do so and what information  they could fit in a two inch by two in box. Now looking at the Orpheum Theater located in Pendleton Oregon they had a consistent flow of advertisements that would consist of a few specific things.

S. Morton Cohn, as described in an excerpt from Los Angeles Herald titled “Theatrical Magnate May Move Here,” states, “The biggest realty operator in Portland, Oregon; a prominent theatrical magnate with interests in New York, Chicago and San Francisco and is a millionaire several times over.” The excerpt continues to praise Cohn in his endeavors and welcomes him to the city of Los Angeles. Back in Oregon, Cohn owned many theaters and was also known as a very rich man in the theater industry.