Sad aloha to
Waikiki TheaterMemories remain strong
of stylish movie house
that once attracted
dressed-up teens
and big screen stars
By Peggy Hickok Hodge A movie date at the old Waikiki Theater, ready to be demolished soon for a shopping center, was a big deal to us teen-agers in the 1930s. The boy didn't ask you out for a date in passing down the corridor at school. He called you on the phone at night at your home. And a week ahead of time. He even asked what color you'd wear to match a lei or orchid corsage.
You got all gussied up in those days. No cut off shorts and slippers. And the guy wore long pants, shoes and sometimes a coat!
The theater was beautiful, with a fountain surrounded by a cement circle where movie stars autographed their names just like they put their hands in cement in Hollywood.
There were Jeannette MacDonald and Nelson Eddy, duet singing stars; Lana Turner, the sweater girl; Frank Morgan, Fred MacMurray, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Joan Crawford, Charlie Chan, all of whom I was to interview a few years hence as a reporter, covering the few Waikiki Beach hotels.
As you walked beyond the fountain in your new high-heeled pumps you gasped at the inside of the theater. Full grown coco palms, banana trees, bird of paradise, ginger and yards of fern.
The organist gave a wonderful concert as you waited for the movie to begin. And you sat in the most expensive loge seats that cost 75 cents!
As it got dark you sneaked out your glasses to see the film. I remember seeing "Gone With The Wind" twice without telling my date I had already seen it!
The entire movie date was equivalent to a dinner date today, only most of the boys I knew couldn't afford that plus a show.
It's hard to even think of that treasure of a theater ever being torn down for a shopping center. But today a show costs $7.50 each and many folks watch home videos to save money.
The after-show treat was usually a juicy hamburger at the popular KauKau Korner opposite the new Convention Center today. A waitress in apron and frocked dress came out to the car and took your order, then returned with it on a tray that clamped on to the car.
Then she asked for your drink order with "Tic or teen?" which meant, if you wanted a milkshake, did you prefer thick or thin!
Then came the exciting drive afterward to watch the moon rise over Koko Head, stopping at the lighthouse at Diamond Head.
I think most of us kept our virginity by singing the whole evening of the drive as there were no car radios. I think I knew every word of every song of the '30s and kept on singing with my head on the shoulder of my date as he drove with one arm on the wheel and the other around me.
The guy kept a close tab on his watch as my deadline was 10:30 p.m. to get home. One time a date really had a flat tire driving up Manoa Valley and we got home at midnight to find my dad in his nightshirt standing inside the screen door with a big alarm clock in his hand.
"Young man," he bellowed, "next time you take my daughter out you can put this alarm clock in the back seat!"
And the poor guy stuttered, "Yes, sir," as he backed down the front stairs.
Peggy Hickok Hodge, a longtime Lanikai resident, is a freelance writer and former staff writer for the Star-Bulletin.
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