Chief Theatre Project

04/30/2026

12/31/2024

The history of the Chief will never be forgotten as long as our Historic Chief Theatre Neon Sign shines brightly every night….

01/19/2023

04/22/2021

The Chief was always at the heart of the community. This newspaper ad from April 6th, 1966 is certainly proof of that. The Chancellors headlined the event and the group included our own Steve Eaton. Ironically, Steve has since done fund raisers for the restoration of the Chief Theatre in the late 80's and later for restoration of The Chief Theatre Neon Sign in 2013 and other historic neon sign through 2015.

12/17/2020

A Christmas Mystery Story at the Chief Theatre
By Jack McCurdy

During the Christmas holiday season of 1951, the Idaho State Journal sponsored an advertising promotion called the Mystery Mr. Santa Claus Contest. Each day, hidden within the Journal's Christmas advertisements were clues to the identity of the Mystery Santa.

Our story begins shortly after Thanksgiving in 1951. It was then that odd messages began to appear in the pages of the Idaho State Journal. On December 20 hidden in between the lines of one Christmas ad are the words: "First number in phone book is 4." Odd indeed…

The rest of the story revolves around a number of interesting elements including a diamond ring, a million dollars, The Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, and the Chief Theatre.

Between the 26th of November and December 22 at least one unusual statement could be found each day in the Journal's Christmas Gift Guide. Here is another example-squeezed in between the store's name, Carnes Music Co., and the name of the record they were selling, "Tweety's Puddy Tat Twouble" are the words: Attended local schools graduate of Pocatello High School.

Closer examination of the newspaper of the time indicates these were clues to be used in identifying the so-called Mystery Mr. Santa Claus. So, all of this was a cleverly conceived Kris Kringle contest to be concluded at the Chief Theatre.

The winner of the contest was promised $2,500 in prizes. This included two round trip airline tickets to Las Vegas, a five day stay for two at the Flamingo Hotel, a women's $500 diamond ring and much more. To win, all you had to do was find the clues in the newspaper, figure out who the Mystery Santa was, and be the first person to get to the Journal office with the entry form.

The name of the person who won the contest, Mrs. A.B. Chase, was announced on the stage of the Chief Theatre. The Chief was, once again, at the heart of the community. And the name of the Mystery Mr. Santa Claus was...

If you visit the Wendell P. and Barbara J. Marshall Public Library you can see a photograph of the man who was the Mystery Mr. Santa Claus, aka Wendell Marshall with his wife. The reason their photograph is there is because in June of 1994 they with their children donated $1,000,000 to the City of Pocatello for the construction of that building.

And so, in memory of that gift from the 1951 Mystery Mr. Santa Claus and the Marshall family this season, Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.

Special thanks to:
Randy Dixon & Cathy Litteneker
Idaho State University Special Collections
Idaho State Journal
Marshall Public Library

06/16/2020

11/10/2018

Chief Theatre Exhibit Featured at Marshall Public Library
By Randy Dixon

If you are interested in the history of the Chief Theatre, this exhibit is a must see. Jack McCurdy and I have assembled a large collection of our Chief memorabilia, artifacts, newspaper articles, photos, posters and more.

Our Chief Theatre Project goal is to make sure the history of the Chief is never forgotten. Please join us at the Marshall Public Library through December for this exhibit. We are certain you will enjoy it.

01/05/2018

80th Anniversary of the Chief Theatre Grand Opening
By Jack McCurdy

The grand opening of the Chief Theatre took place on Wednesday January 5, 1938. When that date was announced in the Pocatello Tribune, it also stated “…it is expected that movie fans will be treated to all the razzle-dazzle of a Hollywood opening, with giant Klieg lights playing across the skies, and all other available trimmings on display.”

There were Klieg lights that night in front of the Chief and much more. The streets were decorated with flags and banners, 24 stores had Chief Theatre themed window displays, KSEI had a live broadcast on the street with interviews, aerials bombs were shot off the roof of the show house, Tommy Barrett took pictures and both the City of Pocatello and the Pocatello High School bands played.

The movie “The Bad Man of Brimstone”, a Mickey Mouse cartoon called “Hawaiian Holiday” and a short musical film starring Sybil Jason were all shown that night. How they came to the historic movie theatre on Main Street is retold here by J.W. Terry.

“The film was brought to Pocatello by plane. From the airport it came by car to down around Gould and North Main. From there it was brought into the Chief by stagecoach pulled by a six horse team. Everyone it seems like in town who could get around or down there was around the place.

There were big crowds in the streets. Of course the theatre was full. Everything was well lit up for this town and that time. I can remember being downtown and the searchlights. I was standing on the corner when the stagecoach came. There was a mob there. I almost got trampled.”

Photos included with this article are from the Pocatello Tribune of January 4, 1938, and the grand opening program printed by Graves and Porter.

If I could go back in time and only attend one event at the Chief Theatre, it would be the grand opening on January 5th, 1938.

06/25/2017

The 1990 Chief Theatre Lobby Restoration

By Randy Dixon

When the Chief Theatre opened its doors on January 5th, 1938 the lobby was considered one of the most beautiful to be found. Those of us who grew up in the Chief were always in awe and felt good just being there. In 1966-67 a full remodel took place and the original charm gave way to the modern look.

When the Chief Foundation began the actual restoration of the Chief as a performing arts center in 1986, the 1967 modern lobby with the suspended ceiling was completely wrecked out.

Plans to restore the lobby began and in late 1989 and local artist Margo Proksa undertook this massive project. Along with Margo, volunteer staff included Miles Friend, Kaye and Roger Turner, Dennis Proksa and a dozen others. The project was partially funded by the Idaho Commission on the Arts.

It wasn’t just the mural restoration, it was a complete repaint with accurate original colors throughout the lobby. Frank W Williams Co. of Idaho Falls did a masterful job repairing the damaged stucco in the lobby. The company also loaned Margo and her staff the use their scaffolding to paint the murals.

Until the Chief Theatre burned on March 20th of 1993, the lobby was a fine example of a beautiful historic preservation project and people had that same warm feeling inside when they were there. It was a real pleasure to watch the restoration happen.

Photo credits to Tommy Barrett, Margo Proksa and Randy Dixon