Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S U M M E R 2 0 2 2 102 ing habits changed the field. In many cases, they were temporarily replaced with drive-ins, places where teenag- ers could park in the relative privacy of their own automobiles. While they were presumably watching the film, anecdotal evidence suggests that there may have been other pri- orities. Today, even the drive-in is nearly extinct. But not all the movie palaces have gone—one particular trea- sure remains in the unlikely set- ting of Anaconda, MT. It's an astonishingly beautiful theater— ranked as the fifth in the county for architectural splendor by the Smithsonian—and you can still see films there today, although you might well find your eyes wandering away from the film to bet- ter inspect the amazing interi- or decoration. The Washoe was built on the site of two previous the- aters which were themselves im- pressive buildings: the Margaret Theater, built in 1897 and named after Marcus Daly's wife, and the Sundial Theater, the name given to the Margaret's extensive rede- sign in 1929. The Sundial would burn to the ground that same year. The Washoe Amusement Company was formed shortly thereafter, and began to plan for a replacement. Designed by the architect B. Marcus Priteca, who also designed such legendary theaters as the Pan- tages theaters in Seattle and San Diego, the Orpheum in San Fran- cisco and the Warner in Hunting- ton Park, CA. His ornate plan for the Washoe would make it the last theater in the United States designed in the "Nouveau Deco" style, a combination of the modernist Art Deco and the more organic Art Nouveau styes. It features a balcony, as well, and today you can sit there for a mere .50 cent up- charge, collected just after the lights come down. From the outside, it is a largely unas- suming box, a beautiful marquee notwith- standing. But inside, owing to the interior design of famous Hollywood designer Nat Smythe, are a series of painted murals, eight shades of gold leaf and burnished gold on the relief elements. The murals were completed by three experts working painstakingly to recreate Smythe's water- color designs, while the other decorative elements were completed by the Painters Local of Anaconda under Smythe's super- vision. This being Anaconda, there were many pieces of copper in the relief work, and carved ram's heads adorn the walls. On the roof, among dramatic deco chan- deliers, is another large mural. The theater was supposed to have been finished in 1931, but the lean times of the Great Depression pushed its comple- tion back to 1936. Its construction cost $200,000 at the time, which, adjusted for inflation, is $3,405,407 in today's dollars. Sadly, one of the theater's most beautiful pieces of decoration can't be seen in its to- tality today: the silk curtain in front of the screen itself is also a mural depicting stags among other decorative elements. Due to its age and fragility, there is concern that if the curtain was unfurled—let alone taken down—it would fall to pieces. At the time of its opening, the theater was not just an architectural marvel, but a technological one as well. In addition to having been designed to have perfect acoustics, it was also outfitted with the then-cutting-edge "Mirror-phonic Sound." The system was designed by Western Electric and consist- I TOOK THE OPPORTUNIT Y TO E XPLORE THE THE ATER, TO GET AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE PAINTINGS AND TO WHAT PARTS OF THE SILK CURTAIN ARE VISIBLE. IN SHORT, I WENT TO DRINK IT IN.

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