The Marvel first opened August 26, 1920 by the Paul family as a live theater. Unfortunately, it promptly burned down on December 18, 1926. Fortunately for Carlinville, it was re-built and opened again January 19, 1928. During the 1940s, Marvel was operated by the Frisina Amusement Company. The second theater came in 1977, with 156 seats in the balcony, and 300 seats on the main floor. The marquee that is still on the front of the building is from the 60s. When I was a kid, Norman Paul owned and operated the Marvel, the son of the original owners. It was family owned for three generations.
I remember Norman being being behind the concession stand or taking tickets. As a Carlinville kid, I went to the movies all the time. My first 'date' was at the Marvel, a James Bond flick in the upper balcony, if I remember correctly, with my date's parents two rows behind us. The best years were when there was an old time ice cream parlor across the street, where we could stuff ourselves on sugar after catching a show. My son, now ten, had been to the Marvel only once or twice, as we no longer live in Carlinville, but even his first trip to the movies was there, Monsters VS Aliens, if I remember correctly, a family affair.
Norman passed away in 2011, and his wife Del passed in 2014.
The digital age was almost the undoing of the Marvel. Celluloid films were becoming a thing of thr past, with digital movies replacing the old reels. These were cheaper for the movie companies to produce, ship, and store. Many classic movies have been digitized, with all their old celluloid reels destroyed to make room. While digital movies are great for moviegoers (think better, brighter pictures and state of the art sound) it's a big hit for the theaters, with a price tag of $50,000 per auditorium. With prices for tickets awesomely low, the Marvel couldn't compete or convert, and eventually closed. In 2011, the Marvel was bought and remodeled by Steve Dougherty, who also owned West Side Cinema in Litchfield. Along with management changes, Dougherty put in new carpet and flooring, new restrooms and exits, a new concession stand, and a state of the art conversion to digital projection, making the two screens 3D capable.
Unfortunately, it closed again February 27, 2014. Time has yet to tell if someone new will swoop in and rescue our ninety-five year old theatre. I would love to see it happen, but I'm afraid that in order to cover all the costs or renovation and upgrades, ticket prices would have to be raised enough that people would rather go to the big theaters in Springfield, or pay a few dollars a person at the Drive In in Litchfield. I'm not sure that the Marvel will ever again be functional, but I would dearly love it to be so.
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