#FlashbackFriday: Reeling in the Years of Movies and Movie Theaters at the Exchange
According to the National Day Calendar, June 9 is National Movie Night, which falls on the second Friday of June.
“Jennifer and Jayda Borget, a mother-daughter duo fluent in movie quotes and authors of the Family Movie Night Journal, founded National Movie Night to create an opportunity to bring new and old movie night traditions to life,” according to the National Day Calendar. It’s a tradition that dates back to … last year.
But the Exchange tradition of movies and movie theaters started much earlier—and the history of screening movies for service members started even earlier than that.
During the World War I era, the War Department arranged with civilian welfare agencies to supply movies to military installations. In 1920, the War Department formed the Army Motion Picture Service, which was operating more than 90 theaters on CONUS installations by World War II.
The Camp Stewart Theatre, 1941. By World War II, the Army Motion Picture Service, a division of the War Department, operated more than 90 theaters on CONUS installations.
According to Encyclopedia.com, the Hollywood-based War Activities Committee worked with the War Department during World War II to create the largest distribution and exhibition circuit in the world to deliver 16mm films free of charge to troops in combat areas. Films were packaged in 90-minute to two-hour programs that consisted of a feature and one or two shorts.
“Films were delivered by jeep, parachute, PT boat, and any other conveyance available and soon became part of the everyday military routine,” according to Encyclopedia.com. “Often referred to as a ‘two-hour furlough,’ these screenings were one way of keeping in touch with conditions back home; they also were considered crucial to morale and one counter to the critical problem of battle fatigue.” But the most popular films were war movies such as “Guadalcanal Diary” and “Destination Tokyo.” (For a deep dive into the motion picture industry during World War II, click on the Encyclopedia.com article here.)
When the Air Force was established as a separate branch in 1948, the Army Motion Picture Service became the Army and Air Force Motion Picture Service (AAFMPS). In June 1975, the Exchange entered the theater business when it merged with AAFMPS, which operated more than 1,300 theaters in 60 countries at the time.
Before the merger and for more than a year afterward, installation commanders were responsible for the overall operation and management of theaters. That changed in late January 1977, when the Exchange was charged with the worldwide operation, management and supervision of motion picture activities, personnel, properties and funds. Local Exchange managers took over responsibility for managing and operating the theaters, although commanders continued to be responsible for providing theater facilities and maintenance.
Some other key dates in Exchange movie history:
1990: AAFES-Europe motion picture specialists establish the initial circuits for 16mm movies and videocassettes for troops in the Middle East before, during and after Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. Special services sets up theaters in tents or in the open. In some tents, the audience sits in rows of cots; other tents have chairs, In some, the audience just sits on the ground.
March 18, 2004: The Sustainer Theater (above) opens at Joint Base Balad in Iraq. It’s the Exchange’s first 35mm theater in Iraq and its first Dolby digital facility in the world. The first movie shown is “Twisted,” starring Ashley Judd, Samuel L. Jackson and Andy Garcia. (The movie’s poster can be seen at near left.) The theater closed on July 15, 2011. The last movie to screen was “Super 8,” starring Elle Fanning and Kyle Chandler.
2013: The Exchange partners with Disney to bring first-run movies to 14 theaters on military installations in CONUS. The agreement marks the first time in history that the theaters get the movies on the same day as civilian theaters. Previously, only theaters at Pacific and Europe installations received first-run movies.
December 2015: The Exchange partners with Disney to bring a first-run screening of “Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens” to troops in Afghanistan, Dubai, Kuwait and Iraq.
Troops at a 2015 screening of “Star Wars: Episode VII—The Force Awakens” at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Sources: National Day Calendar, Encyclopedia.com, Exchange Post archives, Exchange History on Flickr.
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