ENTERTAINMENT

ENTERTAINMENT, ARTS AND THEATER

by John Harvey

The turn of the century saw motion pictures come to Monticello and Jasper County. A list of popular films of that day which were available were listed in The Monticello News. From this list, the eight to ten most popular were chosen. The projectionist would be dispatched to Atlanta to secure these films, which would then be shown two a week over the next month at either the Courthouse, the Chatauga tent, or later at the high school.

A popular entertainment troupe of the 1920's and 30's was Monticello's own "Malone Sisters". The troupe was made up of the children of John Frank Malone. Grace, one of the sisters (Now Mrs. Carl Wall, of Centerville, Miss.) remained in the theater business until 1941.

In the early 1920's an open air theater was opened where the Gulf Service Station is today on the square. This theater played silent films, and later it was bought by Mr. Malone and moved to the building where the Forestry Office is today. Shows continued to be silent films on a daily basis with piano and orchestral music furnished by the Malone Sisters.

During the 1920's the Chatauquas continued to come to Monticello, staying for a week to ten days. The Chatauquas presented nightly plays and featured acts in a large tent behind Harvey Hardware. Tent theaters often came to the city and presented plays. The location of these tent theaters was a large vacant lot where H. C. Tucker Motor Company now stands. "Live, Awake Minstrels" would also frequent Monticello to present their entertainment to attentive audiences.

In 1925, the new Monticello District School opened. It was called Monticello's Education, Entertainment, Cultural and Community Center. One of the features was the auditorium equipped to show motion pictures.

A pageant, "Monticello 1800 to 1925" opened it to the public. The projectionists were Edward H. Hays and young Emmett Powell, Some of the films shown were: Rookies, the Big Parade, Birth of a Nation, Chaing, Ben Hur, the Flaming Forest and The Fair Co-ed. In The Fair Co-Ed, Miss Marion Davies, the star, demonstrated the "Lindy" a popular dance of the day.

On the evening of December 20, 1929, Monticello saw its first talking picture, "The Hollywood Review". Some of the great songs heard in this musical were: "Your Mother and Mine", "In Orange Blossom Time", and "Gotta Feeling I'm Falling."

In 1928, the senior class of the Monticello High School, which was in attendance in the building that up until this year housed the first and second grades, presented the school with the gift of two silent film projectors, the auditorium having been built with a modern projection room. This saw the beginning of the Community Theater sponsored and managed by the PTA for a number of years.

On October 5, 1929, the largest circus ever to play in Jasper County did two shows at the fair grounds then located out on the Hillsboro Highway (Ga. 11 South) It was the "Honest Bill and Moon Circus".

In January 1932, Mr. Edward H. Hayes, a native of Mansfield, began sponsorship of fine movies for the people of Jasper County. The movies were shown at the Courthouse and the cost was 25 cents for adults and 15 cents for children. A few months later Mr. Hays took a job with a theater company in Atlanta.

In April 1933, a movie truck sponsored by Liggett and Myers Tobacco Company, set up on the corner of the Square next to Cannon's Drugstore (Mitchell's Department Store, now) It featured Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, Oswald the Rabbit, Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons. After the first week it moved down to the then vacant lot where Asbury Chevrolet is now. It charged 10 cents for both adults and children to see the cartoons. It stayed in Monticello for two months.

Additional Comments:
Transcribed by Suzanne Forte (suzanneforte@bellsouth.net) April 2005, from copies of articles contained in the Monticello News. There articles were prepared by Mr.
John Harvey and published in this newspaper during the 1970's and 1980's time frame. Some were under the title "Jasper Reflections", others "Bicentennial Bits".
Permission has been granted by Mr. Harvey for use of these very valuable and informative articles.

Copies of articles provided by Benny Hawthorne.