If you have ever visited the Fallon Theater, you have stepped inside Mr. Flood’s dream.
So…just who was Mr. Flood and what was his dream? John Walton Flood was born in 1873 in Mississippi, grew up in the Midwest, and, as a young man, honed his natural gymnastic abilities to become a performer in circuses and vaudeville venues. Known as “jumping jack,” he had gained a national reputation for his tumbling act before he was commissioned to perform in Fallon at Clark’s pavilion (East Center Street) in 1910. He must have glimpsed hope and promise in our small town, because he stayed here. He purchased the “old” Rex theater on Carson Street (behind the current city hall), but his dream was to build his own theater. And, he did.
The “new” Rex Theater-- today’s Fallon Theater--was designed for Mr. Flood by Reno architect Frederick Delongchamps and completed in 1920. It was certainly the talk of the town, with 1150 seats (three times the number of seats in the contemporary Oats Park Barkley Theater), steam heat and a modern electrical system. The Fallon Eagle called it the best theatrical building in the state, gushing that “The new building runs up to a great height and makes the Flood block a very substantial city improvement.” The excitement in the town was palpable, and the opening of the Rex Theater, on December 28, 1920, was a cultural phenomenon. The entire population of Fallon was at the time less than 2000, yet every one of the 1150 seats sold out for the opening of the theater which featured a live performance of “Humoresque,” a play. Nevada’s Lieutenant Governor, Maurice Sullivan, was in attendance, as was the U.S. Senator from Nevada, Tasker L. Oddie. The Southern Pacific railroad ran a special train to Fallon for the event. There were speeches, refreshments, music, and more speeches.
What would our locals have watched 100 years ago on the silver screen in Mr. Flood’s Rex Theater? The 1920’s marked the Golden Age of Silent Films, so the screen was, of course, silent. But the theater would not have been silent. We have seen that Mr. Flood’s dream was a grand one, and he fittingly purchased a Steinway piano and a $20,000 pipe organ in order that hired musicians could play the expected musical accompaniment to the silent films. The musicians often worked from scores sent to the theaters along with the film, but they also provided their own flourishes, evoking the galloping of the horse, the moment of first love, or the distress of the heroine as she is accosted by the lecherous villain. And, although the common perception is that silent films were black and white, many were not, as directors were experimenting with hand tinting and a primitive form of technicolor.
Westerns were popular with local audiences, then as well as now, a favorite cowboy star being “Hoot” Gibson. Four Gibson movies were shown at the Rex in 1925, including “Broadway or Bust.” The Eagle urged its readers to view this “riding romance” wherein “thrill follows thrill in the sensational romance of the cow country.” The Rex Theater also offered a full range of dramas, comedies, thrillers, melodramas, many of them recent releases. “The Marriage Circle,” a film about marital infidelity—both real and suspected--was released to national acclaim in late 1924. It was promptly shown at the Rex in early 1925!
I watched the 1925 silent film “Phantom of the Opera” in order to sense what a film viewer would have experienced in the Rex Theater, where the newly released film was shown in October, 1925. On the big screen, it would have been a visual feast. Even on my small screen, it was a real treat. The scenes are sumptuously filmed, from the Paris Opera House, drenched in sparkling blue, to the blood-colored underground, where lies in wait… the Phantom. A masquerade ball takes place in the Opera House, filmed in primitive technicolor, with partygoers clothed in gorgeous costumes of every hue, fabric and pattern. The death- masked Phantom creeps in, cloaked in scarlet from head to toe. I could only imagine the sounds of the theater organ as the Phantom (Lon Chaney), after carrying our heroine to his underground house of horrors, hovers over her for several minutes, threatening to make her his bride. Who needs the talkies?
Please send your stories and ideas to [email protected]
Michon Mackedon is a native of Fallon and a retired professor of English and Humanities (WNC). She loves her family, her home, her dog, reading, writing, making good food, and sipping a glass of fine white wine. Beyond that, she refuses to be categorized.
Comment
Comments