I managed and helped with booking at the Fifth Avenue Cinema in Portland, OR. The theater was a two screener owned by Moyer Theaters. We showed art films and competed with the Portland Movie House. My staff was great and I can find some references to support this claim. I brought the Werner Herzog films to the Fifth Avenue. We had the midnight movies every Friday and Saturday with KGON FM for 92 cents. The radio station FM frequency is at 92. Again - name and dial reinforcement for Arbitron ratings. Each weekend my staff rallied to support me against 400 drunk and stoned patrons. After all it was midnight on weekends in a town that did not offer much to do for those under 21. We were the show! My first midnight movie was Pink Floyd at Pompeii. Sold out and turned away another 200 patrons. We used one print for two auditoriums and I had just learned the process of running the film in sync. I started the film and it broke. Oh no! I was scared. I spliced the film together and pushed the correct switch. I figured it out.
We had great runs with Bertolucci's 1900, Kentucky Fried Movie, Pretty Baby, Eraserhead, The Marquise Of O, and Desperate Living. We had a not so great run of the Rocky Horror Picture show. One great midnight show and the Clinton Street picked it up and held on to it for 200 years or so. John Cassavetes came there for A Woman Under The Influence and Joan Rivers for her film called Rabbit Test, Darcelle for Mae West's last film Sextette. The theater had great tunnel vision. And we showed that too -Tunnel Vision. You don't want to know. We had a great Christmas run with the French film The Toy. As evidenced by the promotion we did with KINK FM. We collected toys at the galleria for kids and gave tickets away in exchange.
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