The Clayton Theatre was built in 1948 and owned & operated by a local family until 1974. The current owner, Joanne Howe, has lovingly restored the theatre's interior, the neon marquee, painting the exterior to save the formstone. Joanne has been able to continue to show first run movies at a low and reasonable price, using the same old reel projectors (with some modifications) that have been in use since the first movie showing at the Clayton in Feb 1949. The Clayton has been in continuous operation for over 60 years now and has been the entertainment, babysitter, social attraction for many, many of us that grew up in southeastern Sussex County.
The movie industry has been moving from the old reel films to digital for a few years now and at the end of the year, 2013, will NO LONGER be producing the reel films at all. Without installing new digital projection equipment, the Clayton will no longer be able to play all the new, first run movies at all. Without being able to install very expensive digital equipment by the end of the year, she may be forced to close the movie theatre for good.
The surrounding communities would hate to lose this precious gem. It is a part of all of our history that should be shared with locals and visitors alike for years to come. Efforts are being made to save the theatre and keep it in operation with new digital equipment so it will continue to show the new movies and entertain us, our children and grandchildren into the future. As a fundraising project, some classic movies will be shown on 3 selected Monday nights, beginning on Monday, January 14, 2013 with “CASABLANCA”, starring Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. Tickets are $4 and all proceeds from the Clayton Classic Nights will go to the Friends of the Clayton Theatre, supporting the new digital equipment. Other showings will be January 21st with another Bogart film “The African Queen”, starring Bogie and Katherine Hepburn. January 28th’s classic movie will be “The Maltese Falcon”, starring Bogart and Mary Astor. All Clayton Classic movies begin at 7 p.m.