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 2 104 ed of a projector sound head, amplifiers, cellular horn and speakers. The system debuted in America in 1935-6, the year the Washoe opened. It was one of the first high-fidelity au- dio systems ever invented for film, and there's no doubt it would have been an overwhelming ex- perience for contemporary audiences in Anaconda. Fittingly enough, the very first film ever exhibited in the theater was a Western: 1936's The Texas Rangers, starring Fred MacMurray, Jack Oak- ie, and George "Gabby" Hayes and directed by the great King Vidor. The film would be nominated for Best Sound Recording at the 1937 Oscars, allowing that expensive audio sys- tem to reproduce, with startling ac- curacy, plenty of gunshots, bugles, and horse whinnies. And this robust entertainment could be had for a mere 35 cents. Today, the Washoe Amusement Company still owns the theater, and still shows movies seven days a week. For my part, I saw Sonic the Hedgehog 2 there, and though the blue speed demon's antics were as diverting as they could be, I was a great deal more charmed by the building itself, it's stunning interior, murals, detailed relief work, carvings, and paintings. To tell you the truth, I paid to see Sonic the Hedge- hog 2 again several nights later, and though I'm beginning to suspect I might be too old for that particular movie, I took the opportunity to explore more of the theater, 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. One of the experiences universal to those who love going to the cinema is of emerging from the theater, blinking, and feeling as if you'd somehow woken up from a dream. The best movies, and the best theaters, make that feeling even more pronounced; you suspect, perhaps, that the dream was more real, and more vivid, than the humdrum, sublunary world into which you emerge. Stepping out of the Washoe and into a summer night in An- aconda is like that. If you're like me, you start thinking of when you might go back before you've even gotten to your car. THE BEST MOVIES, AND THE BEST THE ATERS MAKE THAT DREAMY FEELING EVEN MORE PRONOUNCED; YOU SUSPECT, PERHAPS, THAT THE DREAM WAS MORE REAL, AND MORE VIVID, THAN THE HUMDRUM, SUBLUNARY WORLD INTO WHICH YOU EMERGE.

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