Old Movie Houses Find Audience in the Plains

At the Roxy Theater in Langdon, N.D., on a recent Friday night, the movie was not the only draw for some audience members. More Photos »

“You know who comes,” said Ms. Freier, one of 200 volunteers in this town of roughly 2,000 who are keeping the Roxy’s neon glowing. “They’re part of the theater.”

In an age of streaming videos and DVDs, the small town Main Street movie theater is thriving in North Dakota, the result of a grass-roots movement to keep storefront movie houses, with their jewel-like marquees and facades of careworn utility, at the center of community life.

From Crosby (population 1,000), near the Saskatchewan border, to Mayville, in the Red River Valley, tickets are about $5, the buttered popcorn $1.25 and the companionship free.

By PATRICIA LEIGH BROWN

Full Story: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/us/05theater.html?hp