The Orpheum Theatre Years (1935-1969)
Faced with both the Great Depression and competition from other Famous Players theatres and locally-owned independent cinemas, Ackery set out to present major-release feature films and live shows featuring popular acts of the day at the Orpheum.
Under Ackery, the theatre, the largest movie house in Vancouver at the time, was frequently picked to show movie premieres in Canada, often world or Canadian premieres (such as 1939's Gone with the Wind, 1942's The Forest Rangers, and the 1965 James Clavell World War II feature King Rat). Live shows at the Orpheum during the Ackery years featured performing greats like Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Lionel Hampton, Ella Fitzgerald, Tommy Dorsey, George Burns, Jack Benny and Chief Dan George.
Ackery would win several promotional awards during his Orpheum years, most notably the Quigley Award (awarded by the Motion Picture Herald trade publication to movie promoters who were judged to have delivered outstanding movie promotion campaigns) in 1947 and 1952.
Read more about this topic: Ivan Ackery
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