The
first time I visited the Carolina Theatre I had flown from Oklahoma City to
North Carolina to visit Elizabeth. We watched A Clock Work Orange. It was
awesome to see the film as it had originally appeared. The scratches on the
film. The cue marks or “cigarette burns”. The film rolling in a way that no DVD
or “enhanced” version could do justice. No IMAX. No 3-D. Just film.
I
say just film, but it is more than that. It is a film housed inside a
beautiful, historic structure. Opened in early 1926, the Carolina Theatre was
the first theater in Durham to admit African-Americans. The main stage (yes, it
has a stage), called Fletcher Hall, has two balconies and seats 1,016. The
structure was designed in the Beaux Arts style and is the only downtown Durham building
of its kind. And the blueprints… the blueprints of the Carolina Theatre only
made me appreciate the structure even more.
So
naturally, that is where we watched The Godfather on Easter Sunday.
