For more than a century, Manitobans have gathered in theatres across the province to thrill to the magic of motion pictures. In larger centres, movie houses ranged from luxurious "picture palaces" to convenient neighbourhood cinemas. Most towns and villages, some with only a few hundred residents, had their own theatres or commandeered community halls that beckoned farm families to town on Saturday evenings. Beginning in the 1950s, drive-in theatres dotted the prairie and provided steamy-windowed memories that have outlived the sometimes-precarious screens. Silver Screens on the Prairie is a tribute to those theatres and what they have meant to generations of Manitobans.

Drawing on the memories of dozens of owners, staff members and theatre-goers, this book explores the enchantment of "going to the show" and the joys and challenges of being an exhibitor from the early days of motion pictures until the present time. Join Russ Gourluck in an enthralling expedition across the province and though the decades in celebrating movie houses of all kinds -from Winnipeg's palatial Capitol and Metropolitan to Clear Lake';s distinctive log cabin Park Theatre; from the unique fourth-generation Lido in The Pas to Brandon's cherished Strand; from flickering silent movies screened by itinerant projectionists in darkened dance halls to today's eye-tingling digital 3D in stadium-seated multiplexes.

Russ Gourluck's profile page

Russ Gourluck is a retired school principal who is pursuing a lifelong interest in writing. His first four books, A Store Like No Other: Eaton's of Winnipeg (2004), Going Downtown: A History of Winnipeg's Portage Avenue (2006), Picturing Manitoba: Legacies of The Winnipeg Tribune (2008) and The Mosaic Village: An Illustrated History of Winnipeg's North End (2010) were best sellers.