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Mayberry Movies
I know the Mayberry movie theater was an important part of Mayberry social life. We often hear characters discuss movies they've seen or plan to see. In Barney's case, he's prone to imitate the lead in the "cops and robbers" or detective movies he sees.
But did we ever get a glimpse INSIDE the theater? I don't recall it if we did.
How about chiming in with odd bits of info about the theater and the comments the characters make about the shows there. Lots of important stuff went on there. Remember the night Barney saw Thel and Gomer coming out after taking in a flic?
Also, what was the name? Was it Roxy?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Allan "Floyd" Newsome on -
"Glenn Ford....G-men!"
The theater was called The Grand. I've always referred to it as "The Mayberry Grand."
I don't remember ever seeing inside the theater.
This wasn't on The Andy Griffith Show but it was on Gomer Pyle, USMC and I think folks would like it. I did an episode of the podcast called Two Chairs No Waiting 79: Teena Andrews on Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. You'll also want to check out the photos related to that episode.
In the season 7 episode of The Andy Griffith Show “Barney Comes to Mayberry”, yeah..it is color but stick with me, Barney Fife returned to Mayberry and happens to be on the same train with Teena Andrews, a Mayberry native returning to town for the premiere of her new Hollywood movie.
Teena’s publicity man learns she used to date Barney back when she was known as Irene Flogg so he arranges for Barn to escort her to the premiere.
Now that you’re up to speed on who Teena Andrews is, you’ll want to give a listen to find out how Teena shows up in the Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. season 4 episode called “Change Partners.”
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Permalink Reply by Andy Paul Lawson on
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I would have liked to have seen the faces of Barn, Thel, Andy and Helen when Goober tags along to the picture show with them. "If he don't want to go-", "I'll go".
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Permalink Reply by Thelscuz on
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I have only a faint memory--and I may be wrong--but wasn't there a discussion one time about whether or not Opie could see a scary movie at The Grand (thanks, Floyd)? As I recall, the verdict was "Yes".
Did this really happen on TAGS or am I trippin'?
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Permalink Reply by albert wbmutbb on -
lol @trippin'
Last two times I was trippin', Thels'.... was from drinking that punch at Mrs. Wiley's social, and a week before that after a couple of paper cups of spring water from the courthouse crock.
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Permalink Reply by UT Pendike on -
As a huge fan of "The Untouchables" starring Robert Stack, I really enjoy watching the exterior scenes that share downtown Mayberry. Floyd's Barber Shop, the courthouse, the hotel and the theater are exactly the same in both shows. If you look really close in one Untouchables episode, you can actually see the sign in the window of Floyd's Barber Shop that they either forgot to remove or puposely left in the window. Too bad someone didn't have the good sense to make a theme park out of the town of Mayberry.
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Permalink Reply by Rascal Jones on -
A Mayberry theme park is a neat idea but all of those buildings were just facades– some didn't even have roofs. If you look closely at the brick buildings, you can see that the "bricks" are just sheets of stamped tin nailed on as siding. I'm afraid we'd all be disappointed if we saw the set of Mayberry close up. Like everything else on TV, the sets were never intended to endure the scrutiny fans give.
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Permalink Reply by Rascal Jones on
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Oh, the Mayberry set also doubled as Superman's Metropolis.
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Permalink Reply by Keevy Hazelton on -
A facade. Shazam!
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Permalink Reply by Barry Hamill on -
Me too and you are right about the park. I went to the old backlot location during a trip to LA a few years ago.
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Permalink Reply by Barry Hamill on
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Theatre – Beginning in episode #2, (The Manhunt), the building’s marquee had no lettering. A banner was hung over it reading “Closed”. By episode #4, (Runaway Kid), the movie theatre was open for business. Barney loved to pass the time by standing on the sidewalk watching the men change the marquee. The side of the marquee read “Late Show, Sat. Night.” Seat prices vary as to whether or not one wanted to sit in the “Orchestra” section (35 cents) or the “Balcony” section (25 cents). One of the best low-level shots of the front of the movie theatre was seen in episode #188, (The Battle of Mayberry). Oddly, there was never a scene filmed from “inside” the theatre throughout the entire TAGS run, although, there was one small scene filmed where Aunt Bee and her “boyfriend” were purchasing tickets for a movie – Episode #160, (Aunt Bee the Swinger). Probably the biggest event to ever happen at the theatre was the Hollywood premier a new movie. The movie starred Mayberry’s hometown girl turned movie star Teena Andrews. – Episode #212, (Barney Comes to Mayberry). Too bad, the scene outside the premier was filmed on a soundstage instead of using the actual theatre building on the backlot.
Throughout most of the TAGS series the marquee read, Grand (Theatre) - Continuous Performances – Select Double Features There were however a few exceptions to this rule where the marquee read differently:
Mayberry Theatre – Episodes #4, (Runaway Kid), #5, (Opie’s Charity), #9, (Andy the Matchmaker), and #13, (Mayberry Goes Hollywood)
Palmerton (Theatre) – Select Movie Features – Episodes #162 (The Bazaar), #164 (Malcolm at the Crossroads), and #165, (Aunt Bee on TV).
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Permalink Reply by Barry Hamill on
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The closest you'll come to seeing the inside of the actual backlot Mayberry Theatre is by watching an old RKO movie entitled "The Set Up". That movie uses the set that would eventually become "Mayberry". The movie has the theatre building set up as a Boxing Auditorium. I believe there are some (few) shots that were filmed inside the actual building.
On a related note, the RKO film, "Miracle of the Bells", used the Mayberry Church, and without doubt filmed church service scenes inside the actual backlot church building.
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Another thing I'm wondering about (or thinking about--but that involves a bucket) is how many different movies were mentioned on TAGS. I don't mean the actual movie titles--just the subject/theme/star of different movies.
I think my favorite is "that Glen Ford movie" that Barney had seen the night before he went undercover at the bank as the substitute cleaning lady.
Anybody remember any more movie mentions?
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