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Source: Andy Gray
Another theatre that served clientele southwest of Detroit was the Flatroc in Flat Rock, Michigan. My grandfather Al Johnson built this theater, which stood at 26263 Gibraltar Road, in 1939. His son's list of Johnson Construction Co. projects lists this job without the year, but I was able to deduce it from some historic online photos. On the WaterWInterWonderland site, there's an image of the marquee showing "Gala Premier Opening Friday September Twenty Second," and another marquee photo with "Ann Southern in Congo Maisie" which was released in 1940. The only year between 1935 and 1940 in which September 22nd fell on a Friday was 1939.
My grandfather shot his color Kodachrome slides of the Flatroc nine years later in 1948. Al's exterior slide was shot in May 1948 and it shows two pairs of his patented "art moderne" or "art deco" style "Johnson doors" with matching half-octagonal windows. Al took the four interior images in November 1948. One is labeled "Vlachos" and shows a sharply-dressed John Vlachos, who was the theater owner. Another image is the only one in 150 or more slides that my grandfather left behind that shows movie-goers in a theater that he built. A distinctly young audience appears to be waiting for the Western "Marshal of Amarillo" staring Allan "Rocky" Lane to start. Today the building appears to house an insurance business.