NOVEMBER 1956

Many movies during this era carried the notation "At Colstrip" with the listings. The following information was sent to us by longtime Colstrip resident Jerry Julian.

The "at Colstrip" note on the calendars probably referred to the theatre in the high school auditorium (now FBMS).  The booth there had a pair of carbon-arc projectors until sometime in the late 1970's.  When I first moved here in 1971, Nolan Fandrich would show one or two screenings a week.  We were forced out of the movie business when the school began outgrowing its buildings during construction of Units 1 and 2.  The drop-down screen was the only one of its kind I've ever seen--the screen itself was some kind of composition board and heavier than a dead bear.  It was hinged to the ceiling so that it could be raised to clear the stage and had a few semi-transparent panels over the house lights.  I believe that the frame is still in use, but now has a more conventional screen. Last I knew, the projection booth was just used for storage as the fire insurance people wanted the projectors removed and the smaller machines (16 mm) that we replaced them with had to be located closer to the screen.