Mystic Theater draws crowd again

The Mystic Theater drew a crowd Saturday.

Twice.

The historical theater in downtown Marmarth had people lined up and not a parking spot for several blocks when the documen­tary film “Feek’s Vision” was shown Saturday.

The theater was filled for the first showing, according to Linda Clark, a member of the historical society that runs the building.

There were also people from long distances to see the film. “We had people here from the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. And from the Natural History Museum in Denver,” she said.

“The turnout was great. The DVDs were great,” she said, noting that after the movie finished the DVDs were selling in the lobby.

“These were cowboys and they could relate (to the film),” she said. “I was interested in getting the film to come to Marmarth. It had to be in Marmarth.”

Clark thought that the small town was the perfect place to show the film devoted to the long Tooke family history. With the help of her grandson and Jim Van Horn, the theater was ready for its June showings, she added.

The husband and wife filmmakers, Ken and Theresa Howie, will be showing the film again in Medora. Then, they are going down south to Kansas and Oklahoma…. and, I believe Florida, to show it.”

The first few rows in the theater were roped off because of the projector which needed to be used, Clark said. The theater was close to full for the first showing and more than half full for the second of the two shows. “I thought that it was going to be the op­posite,” she added.

A luncheon was offered at the Marmarth Community Center af­ter the film.

The audience was quiet during the film, which recounted some of the local history of a ranch near Ekalaka which had a dramatic impact on the sport of rodeo.

Usually, the theater is just open in the late summer for a Cowboy Poetry event.