Big Spring Movies (Texas Country Reporter)

Get a behind the scenes look at Texas Film History.

James Johnston & Tammy Schrencengost
Heritage Museum of Big Spring
510 Scurry St
Big Spring, TX 79720
Phone: 432-267-8255
Website: https://www.heritagebigspring.com/

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Video Script:: 

[Music] this is a maybe crazy town we had five downtown theaters in 1950s but this theater here was built in 1943 this is a state theater in small town it was a big deal like a tour guide to another era James johnston strolls the street corners and sidewalks of Big Spring where every intersection has a story few though have a history like the spot where old highway 80 and runnel Street come together this is basically did not cowboy Central right here this is this corner of this corner right here James was home from college on summer break back in 1968 when the lights camera and action of Hollywood came to Howard County filming for the Academy award-winning movie Midnight Cowboy wonder that seems that you'll recognize in the movies john-boy walking this direction and he went up the street and turned down Main Street and they shot a scene down Main Street and then it was a scene of him leaving town and making a trip to New York so this is the same in the movie right here where they shop coming back this life how do you know all of this well I kind of snuck on the set and I took these pictures and wasn't supposed to but I did I had a little Instamatic camera and I kind of put it in my waist and take these pictures Midnight Cowboy was one of several movies using the streets of James's hometown for the perfect backdrop he's written a book of Big Springs brush with the big screen these are actually my pictures what other movies other than Midnight Cowboy have caught your eye that were made here in Greece where there's actually not anything as good as the Badshah movies the home movies if they made they were an institution in this name for fifty three and a half years they recorded this town okay we're going to the Bradshaw room the Bradshaw room yes we have an entire room devoted to the Bradshaw sisters how many sisters were there there were seven sisters timmy shrinkin ghost is the director at the Big Spring Heritage Museum this one is taught and Pearl it's here where the story of the Bradshaw sisters is displayed for the world [Music] they opened a photography studio back in 1922 here in Big Spring as teenagers they were ahead of their time ahead of their time as putting it mildly sisters Totten pearl Bradshaw staged elaborate photo sessions for their cameras some of which for the 1920s or somewhat risque especially in Big Spring every time you pull one out it's a surprise and if you'll look at this one they're photographed smoking which is a big note it was a big no-no they part of their risque behave exactly they they wanted to push that envelope as much as they could they were the first with everything and also the first to wear bathing suits during their day but that was very risque to show your legs Wow and then later on they started doing movies [Music] they started shooting movies in the 1930s 40s 50s 60s and they accumulated massive amounts of film we have tons and tons of these movies most people that come in here to watch them they're three different movies and most people will sit through the room as it turns out Big Springs shutterbug sisters had a relative who was a newsreel cameraman on a visit to Big Spring he showed them the mechanics of moving pictures and for the next several decades tot and pearl Bradshaw recorded miles and miles of movie film everything newsworthy in their hometown from famous people floods and festivals the enormous collection of raw footage was packed away in boxes almost forgotten after the Bradshaw sisters died more than 25 years ago they recorded Big Spring the history of Big Spring wouldn't be recorded without on we got the Bradshaw movies from a nephew and when I found them I said these need to be made into something there's a lot of stuff here that people talk about that they've never seen a picture of it I love this section of the film right here it shows downtown a busy it used to be and look at all the action going on when somebody says to me come over and see my home movies I can't think up enough excuses but you guys have made this into a big deal in this town yes I hope so and it was a big deal back then because so not everybody had movie cameras and they would actually show these at church gatherings and parties and people actually were excited to see something you have to understand this is 1930s and 40s when people were really into the Golden Age and movies and we had a different world then if somebody from another planet dropped in here and came in and sat down and watched the Bradshaw sisters movies what do you think it would say to them that life's valuable life is worth recording like this and keeping like this [Music] we've heard people in these parts say the Bradshaw sisters were ahead of their time pushing the envelope first with photography then with the moving image for historian james Johnston Big Spring will always be the place where scenes from an Academy Award winning motion picture were filmed but James found he's really starstruck with the shaky and grainy footage of taut and pearl Bradshaw who reached across decades and showed us that memories truly can live forever lot of times when I'm looking at him I go well I wished it would flicker less and I wish it was gonna focused but in the end it didn't matter life goes on whoo laughs goes on life is good very good [Music] you