The F.M. Kirby Center announced today that the historic entertainment building will celebrate its 80th anniversary by honoring its beginnings as a theater.
“Before the Kirby was the Kirby,” a 12-part, monthly, Friday film series paying homage to the venue’s theatrical roots by screening iconic films, will premiere on Jan. 26 with a showing of “The Molly Maguires,” a film that had its world premiere at the downtown Wilkes-Barre theater in 1970 when it was called the Paramount Theatre.
Also featured in the series, “Alexander’s Ragtime Band,” was screened on the venue’s opening night in 1938 under its original name, the Comerford Theatre, “Pennsylvania’s finest theatre.”
Other titles in the film series include “Casablanca,” “Gone with the Wind” and “The Godfather,” which was the last movie screened before the venue was devastated by the Agnes Flood of 1972.
The series will feature two showings of each film at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on show days. Tickets for the matinee films cost $3, and admission to evening films costs $5.
The series runs through Dec. 21 and features the following titles:
The Molly Maguires (1970, PG)124 minutes — Jan. 26
Casablanca (1942, PG) 102 minutes — Feb. 16
The Ten Commandments (1956, G) 220 minutes — March 9
The Godfather (1972, R) 175 minutes — April 20
Sunset Boulevard (1950, NR) 110 minutes — May 25
True Grit (1968, G) 128 minutes — June 22
The Sound of Music (1965, G) 174 minutes — July 20
Alexander’s Ragtime Band (1938, NR) 106 minutes — Aug. 24
Gone with the Wind (1939, G) 238 minutes — Sept. 21
Murder by Death (1976, PG) 94 minutes — Oct. 26
The Wizard of Oz (1939, PG) 102 minutes — Nov. 30
It’s a Wonderful Life (1946, PG) 130 minutes — Dec. 21
For more information on the F.M. Kirby Center, visit kirbycenter.org or call 570-826-1100.
