The Gem Theater: The Man From Planet X

Introduction

Downtown Wichita Falls, Texas, in the mid 1940’s was a bustling metropolis for a boy of 7 just away from the farm and ranch community where he was born. My father, a cook and cowboy by trade, had just started as one of the first cooks for the Casa Manana restaurant in 1947. He moved us to an apartment on Ohio Street, right across from the Gem Theater, between 7^th and 8^th Streets. It’s here that we would stay for the next three years. The Gem Theater became a magic palace for a young mind. But it had to share that distinction with the rest of the magic that was Wichita Falls. I attended San Jacinto and Carrigan elementary schools, as well as Reagan Junior High, and belonged to the Boys Club on 6th Street. Please join, and share your stories and pictures through a Guest Blog, of early Wichita Falls - or your home town. Contact me at fadingshadows40@gmail.com or leave a comment. We could use old pictures of movie houses, drive-in theaters, and other nostalgic pictures related to our youths.

Thursday, May 12, 2016

The Man From Planet X

William Schallert posing with The Man From Planet X, one of my favorite early SF movies from 1951. Schallert played the evil scientist in the movie, but it was a memorable role for the actor. You remember him, and not the lead male actor. Margaret Field, the mother of Sally Field, was the lead actress. I believe I saw this either at the STATE or STRAND Theater in Wichita Falls, Texas.