Albuquerque Exhibi

Despite its booking of European movies, the Lobo was not an “art house,” oh no, not at all. It had been, yes, from 14 April 1952 through early 1968 — but not consistently. About half the programs were second-run Hollywood stuff, with a few first-run tossed in, but the other half were something else altogether. The Lobo in those days was operated by Albuquerque Exhibitors, Inc., which I assume also did the bookings. The firm was incorporated in 1947 as a reorganization of a portion of the Interstate Theatre Circuit, which, in turn, had earlier gobbled up New Mexico Theatres, Inc., which, in its turn, had consolidated numerous independent houses. At one time or another, Albuquerque Exhibitors, Inc., owned or leased or subleased the Sunshine, the KiMo, the State, the Chief, the Rio (formerly the Liberty), the Sandia (Méxican films), El Rey, the Hiland, the Yucca, the Cactus Drive-In, the Star Drive-In, and the 66 Drive-In. Off-beat movies and foreign films and films of operas and ballets and quasi-documentaries such as Navajo were box-office bupkes, but, beginning in 1950, when they were moved over to the Lobo for a few days or a week, something magical happened. They had an audience!

UNM, a mile west, had been running series of foreign films since 1940, and the audiences, though small, were respectable and reliable. After a decade of such priming, the locals were a bit more attuned to films that did not emanate from nicotine-filled Hollywood boardrooms. The Lobo was only a mile up the street, in a small shopping district, and in the 1940’s and 1950’s, people were not averse to walking a mile. Of course, nowadays, people are averse to walking more than twelve feet, and so it can be difficult for us now to imagine a time when people thought nothing of walking a couple of miles.

When The Red Shoes, Rashomon, The Lavender Hill Mob, and others arrived at the Lobo, those films caught the fancy of people in the neighborhood. The audience was probably small, all things considered, but, like the audience at UNM, the Lobo audience was significant, reliable, and loyal. That counts for something. You see, to show a standard Hollywood movie is to gamble. The movie may make a profit, or it may empty the bank account and then some. A continuing program that attracts a small but loyal audience is not a gamble. The profits are low, but at least they are reliable, and at least they are profits, so long as the vandalized water heater does not explode.

Albuquerque Exhibitors, Inc., got the message and booked more and more of these oddball movies at the Lobo, and the results were repeated. By 12 January 1953 the policy was official, and whenever possible, the oddballs were dumped onto the Lobo, quite deliberately. These oddball movies filled the Lobo’s screen more and more often. Foreign-language films seem to have been presented in English variants or English dubs whenever such were available.