Photo Album
2006 Dinner and a Movie at the Autry National Center: Down Mexico Way
Subject:
The Autry National Center and Gene Autry Entertainment present Dinner and a Movie every Thursday night in July. The fourth evening featured the film Down Mexico Way.
Date:
Thursday, July 27, 2006
Photographers:
Karla Buhlman, Maxine Hansen, Joshua Mattrick and Maria Ventura
Comments:
The fourth and final evening of the Dinner and a Movie series at the Autry National Center was our biggest night! Gene Autry's 1941 film Down Mexico Way was digitally presented in the museum's Wells Fargo Theater.
Once again, the Golden Spur Café catered an incredible dinner perfectly themed with our evening's movie. Folks enjoyed a delicious Fajita Bar with all the fixings plus side dishes of pinto beans and lentil-rice. Cool beverages and tasty cake completed the meal. As with all the dinners for this program, the portions were generous and the service was first rate!
While folks dined in the plaza they also visited with old friends and made a few new ones. The Gene Autry Raffle forms were very popular at the tables as well because the Grand Prize drawing would be held that night.
The special gallery tours this time focused on Western movie-making in the Imagination Gallery. The museum's Senior Curator Michael Duchemin once again led the tours and had much to share on the museum's collection and Gene Autry's own movie-making history. Just ask him about Gene's hair pieces from the 1950s! This was an especially popular tour and had our biggest group to date.
As we all settled into the Wells Fargo Theater for the movie chat and screening, the Museum Store's Director of Retail Operations Bobbi Jean Bell had surprises for everyone. Tonight's Dinner and a Movie audience received a Gene Autry VHS tape compliments of the Autry Museum Store! She also presented thank-you gifts to the museum staff and volunteers for their wonderful work on this very popular event.
Continuing with the gift-giving theme, Gene Autry Entertainment Vice President Karla Buhlman and Michael Duchemin awarded three Gene Autry Raffle prizes. Michael then shared the "Big Picture" information on Gene Autry and his movies and pre-war America. Then Karla answered the most popular question of the night: Will we be doing Dinner and a Movie next year? Yes, we will! Mark your calendars for every Thursday night of June 2007 for our Dinner and a Movie program. Plus, we'll screen Gene Autry movies twice a month on Saturdays, June 2007 through January 2008 as part of the Gene Autry Centennial exhibition. Details on all the movie screenings will be available closer to the date. Karla continued with trivia and information directly related to the film and we all enjoyed the digital presentation of the fully restored film Down Mexico Way.
Immediately after the movie everyone headed for the Museum Store for two more raffle prizes and the Gene Autry Raffle Grand Prize drawing! It was an exciting time and our winners were very happy. Michael and Karla answered some Gene Autry questions and were delighted to learn that folks were signing up for Autry Museum membership. It was a terrific way to end our Dinner and a Movie series for the year.
Thanks to everyone at the Autry National Center, the Golden Spur Café and Gene Autry Entertainment for making Dinner and a Movie such fun and successful event. And of course, all of the Gene Autry fans, young and old alike, make the evenings extra special.
Wondering what to do with yourself on Thursday nights in August? Head on over to the Autry for Sizzling Summer Nights – music and dancing plus a visit to the museum. Go to the museum’s website for details here.
