OLDS — Dec. 15 marked the end of an era – and the beginning of a new one – at Mayfair Cinema in Olds.
It marked the last showing of a movie by Louise Craig who owned the cinema along with husband Jack Craig for more than 35 years.
Dean, one of their two sons, was also key to the business operation. Their other son Darcy was an employee at one time, but indicated no interest in owning it.
Mayfair Cinema was sold to Dean and Theresa Cassidy of Carstairs, formerly of Calgary.
During an interview with the Albertan, Louise said it was sad to operate the business for the last time. She noted a theatre on that premises dates back to 1925.
“I’m getting too old,” she said. “It’s time. It needs some young blood. I don’t have the energy. I couldn’t make it, another three years.
“As the days go on, we don’t get younger, we just go up the line. And I can’t do it anymore. Or maybe I don’t want to do it anymore," she added with a laugh. “I don’t know. I maybe want to do something for myself.”
Dean Cassidy said he and Theresa bought Mayfair Cinema because “I’m in love with these old theatres and I have been for pretty much my whole life.
“My wife and I have had a dream to buy one, operate it, get out of the big city," he said. “I’m the biggest movie nut on the planet. That’s not an exaggeration.”
Cassidy said he and Theresa plan to do some renovations, like perhaps change out the seats, redo the bathrooms. But they don’t want to tinker with the overall ambience of the place.
Cassidy said he has a special love for theatres built back in the 1920s.
“It’s got such charm. The Mayfair’s got such charm and so I have no interest in turning it into a Cineplex Odeon or something that even resembles one. I have no interest in that,” he said.
“I want to – you know – update her but keep her looking original at the same time, if that makes sense.”
Cassidy said old theatres like Mayfair Cinema have a charm you can’t find in more modern theatres.
“I’ve seen a lot of theatres that basically, they’ve just been strip malls that have been converted into theatres. There’s no charm, no character there,” he said.
“I don’t want it to ever feel that way here. I don’t think it could ever feel that way, but I definitely don’t want to be the reason it did.”
Through the winter and fall, the Mountain View Film Group utilizes Mayfair Cinema to show films one Sunday each month.
Cassidy said he’s made a deal with the group to keep that going.
“I’m actually kind of an independent filmmaker myself, so having a film group as part of the picture is extra exciting for me, so I’m really excited about having them on board,” he said.
Cassidy has a couple of ideas to encourage more people to attend the cinema.
One is to offer a matinee once a month, with a donation to the Mountain View Food Bank as admission.
Another is to team up with the Olds College brewery faculty for an event called Brew and View. Cassidy has seen that done elsewhere.
“They get a one or two-day liqour licence and they have a brewery,” he said.
“Basically it promotes the brewery and it promotes the theatre at the same time and they can come here and they can sell their product.
“(They) set up a booth and stuff and people drink their beer, they buy their product and they see a movie.”
Louise and Jack Craig bought Mayfair Cinema in July, 1987 from Norman and Liz Low.
Over the years, they’ve made many changes, including updating the walls, carpeting and seats. They also and installed a sloping roof.
The most expensive change occurred in 2011 when they converted to equipment for 3D. Louise said that cost them more than $100,000.
She recalled the old days when films were shown via reel-to-reel projectors. The cans those reels came in were very big and heavy.
“No wonder people had long arms,” she said.
Louise said people running the projectors had to be alert because there were anywhere from three to nine reels per movie.
“You had to switch and switch, because if you notice on movies, about 20 minutes in, there’s two little dots up in the corner. And that told them when to change over to the next projector,” she said. “They had to be on the ball.”
That system eventually changed over into one where movies were spliced together and ran via a platter system.
Now, she noted, “it’s all digital, all in one piece. We don’t touch it.”
Louise recalled many highlights through the years.
One of the most recent was when the theatre was made available for the public to watch hometown wrestling hero Danielle Lappage in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
“We opened it at six o’clock in the morning,” she recalled.
The Craigs advertised coming movies in lots of creative ways. For example, they rented a ninja turtle outfit from Vancouver for a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.
Another time, they built a replica of a plane and hung it over the concession area to promote the movie Jailbird. They created a big basketball for another film.
The Craigs also held colouring contests for kids.
One of the most controversial films they showed was The Last Temptation of Christ. Some people objected to it being shown. It generated some letters to the editor.
However, “you know the funny thing is, all the ministers in town came and never said boo, so what was the problem,” Louise asked.
Although she’s no longer running the Mayfair Cinema, Louise said she might attend a musical if one is showing.
But she said it’ll be nice not to not have the stress of actually running the business.
