The Film Forum

• 1544 Piedmont Avenue NE, Atlanta GA
• Managers: George Ellis, Michael Ellis
• Capacity: One screen, 174 seats

Take a right from Seal Place onto Monroe Drive, and it's a short ride to Ansley Mall at the intersection of Monroe and Piedmont. These days the shopping center is homogenized with the likes of Publix, Starbucks, Panera, etc. In the 1970s, it was full of unique shops, and a small, narrow theater was tucked near the middle.
The Film Forum, opened in 1971,* was loved by locals not only for its dedication to independent, obscure, and foreign films, but also for the father/son team that ran it: George and Michael Ellis. The Ellises were devoted to fans, like themselves, who appreciated movies outside the mainstream. The smell of freshly popped corn welcomed you, along with a hello from George and/or Michael. You almost always ran into other folks you knew. It was a friendly, cozy, comfortable place, like an extension of your living room.

Poster for the Film Forum,
photo of George and Michael Ellis by Joe DeCasseres,
silkscreen print by Grace Zabriskie

Manager George Ellis was known and beloved by many. As evidenced in my 1/15 post about Grace Zabriskie, he acted in Atlanta theater productions. He also worked in film and television, and was probably most recognized as "Bestoink Dooley," a character he created to host various programs, mostly movie presentations, for the Atlanta CBS affiliate.

Favorite films often played the Film Forum for weeks on end. George initiated a $1 midnight show seven nights a week. I must have seen Harold and Maude a dozen times or more. The midnight showings were profitable, perhaps even more so than their regular features.
By 1974, the Film Forum was "solidly–if not spectacularly–solvent." On November 18 that year, property owner Louis Osteen entered the theater with a locksmith, evicted the Ellises, and changed the locks on them, upending their 50/50 business arrangement which had been sealed with only a handshake (admittedly "naive" per Michael Ellis.) Osteen wanted 100% of the profits. He did not foresee the fierce backlash. The Great Speckled Bird took an immediate stand:

"This paper will carry no Film Forum ads and run no Film Forum reviews until George and Mike are back at the theatre, or safely installed somewhere else. Creative Loafing, one of our competitors, has also pulled their ad this week. Other papers, despite hard times and low ads, may join. There is talk of phone campaigns, pickets, and legal action. By this time next week, some or all of these should be underway. If you are interested in helping George and Mike, call us here at 875-8301; we'll plug you into whatever is happening... The Ellis's have given to the Atlanta community for years. Now let's help them back."

The news spread like wildfire. Loyal fans picketed and boycotted the theater. Osteen threatened to take both The Bird and the Ellises to court. Movie attendance dropped nearly 90%. Osteen closed the theater. He negotiated with the Ellises and achieved a signed contract January 7, 1975, with terms honoring their previous 50/50 verbal arrangement.
George and Michael returned to the helm of the Film Forum and the fans rejoiced. Power to the people, right on.

*The space had previously operated as the Ansley Mall Mini Cinema, which opened in 1968.

Sources:
CinemaTreasures.org
"Shutout at the Film Forum," by Jon Jacobs, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 7 No. 48, November 28, 1974
"Film Forum Manager Ellis Fired," by Farnum Gray, The Atlanta Constitution, November 29, 1974
"BOYCOTT!... until George & Mike are back," by J.D. Cale, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 7 No. 49, December 5, 1974
 "Film Forum / They're Back," by Jon Jacobs, The Great Speckled Bird, Vol. 8 No. 2, January 9, 1975

(Amazing) Grace

I met Grace when I moved to Seal Place. Her ex-husband, our landlord, lived in the other half of our duplex. Behind the duplex was a garage (or maybe just a very large shed) that had been converted into a printmaking studio. Grace lived with her daughters a few houses up the street. She used the studio for her artwork, mostly creating silkscreen/serigraphs at the time. I knew her first as a respected Atlanta artist. She generously encouraged me with my own work, even convincing me to exhibit in the Atlanta Arts Festival. (That's another story.) I later learned that Grace was also an accomplished actress and performed in many Atlanta theater productions. At that time she still used her married name, MacEachron.

Cast photo for Stereopticon, by playwright Jim Peck, which premiered August 1976
at the Studio Theater of Atlanta's Memorial Arts Center, renamed the Woodruff Arts Center in 1982.
(I'll write of George Ellis in another post, a beloved character unto himself.)

Grace moved from Atlanta to Los Angeles in 1979. She secured an agent there following her first significant role in a major film—Martin Ritts' Norma Rae—released earlier that year. (It won two Oscars: Best Actress for Sally Field and Best Original Song.) Grace also dropped her ex-husband's name and began going by Zabriskie, her mother's maiden surname.

Grace Zabriskie with David Lynch on the set of Twin Peaks;
personal Polaroid via twinpeaksarchive.blogspot.com.
She kept the robe, pictured, as a keepsake from the final episode. 

Many know Grace from her hilarious portrayal of George Costanza's potential mother-in-law on Seinfeld. David Lynch fans know her best as a member of his longtime troupe of actors, most indelibly in his groundbreaking 1990-91 television series Twin Peaks. She portrayed mentally-precarious Sarah Palmer, wife of Leland, mother of Laura. In a November 2014 interview, Grace confirmed being aboard for Lynch's 2017 reboot of the series for Showtime. In the meantime, she continues accumulating credits in different projects. I admire that throughout Grace's acting career she has continued to create her own artwork in various media. A portfolio that was mostly printmaking in the days of Seal Place has expanded to include photography, collage, sculpture, and extensive woodworking, even furniture. (Some of her creations are viewable at www.gracezabriskie.com.) 

Amazing. 

Sources:
"'Stereopticon' Offers Penetrating Insights," by Helen C. Smith, The Atlanta Constitution, August 20, 1976
"Stereopticon," by Stuart Culpepper, Atlanta Gazette, August 18, 1976
"SLIFF 2014 Interview: Actress Grace Zabriskie," by Tom Stockman, WeAreMovieGeeks.com, November 6, 2014
twinpeaksarchive.blogspot.com