By 1935 the stock market crash of Black Tuesday had affected every person, family, business, and institution in America.  Lives had been lost, families torn apart, and businesses ruined.  Depression was the operative word, both financially and emotionally.  But if a person had the spare change they could, for a precious few minutes, escape reality.  Fifteen cents would let them mush dogsleds with Clark Gable, laugh with Will Rogers, ride with Gene Autry, cringe at The Living Dead, or fight the bad guys with Bob Steele, Ken Maynard, and John Wayne, all in air-conditioned comfort.

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