Jack Wyeth has always loved the movies.

Wyeth, longtime Charleston resident, remembers when the theater opened. He can recall wanting to see Marie Antoinette at Will Rogers Theatre when he was in high school. Because he lived out in the country, Wyeth did not get the chance to come into town to see movies very often.

So, he asked one of his teachers if he could be excused from classes for the day to see the film.

“Well, it was a historic film,” Wyeth said. “I thought I would give it a try.”

His teacher agreed to let him miss school.

Much has changed since then.

Bob Harrison, manager of the Will Rogers Theatre, said the movie house opened in 1938. The same year Will Rogers opened, The Rex, another theater on the square, closed.

Harrison said the theater was named after popular actor Will Rogers, who died in a plane crash in 1935.

Before becoming an actor, Rogers was a cowboy.

Wyeth said Rogers would perform rope tricks, lasso objects on stage and tell jokes.

This led to Rogers’ breakthrough into film.

When it was originally built, the Will Rogers Theatre was one large cinema. Harrison said the art-deco style faade of the theater was a popular style during the Depression. The theater was also unique because it was connected to a strip of storefronts known as the commercial block.

However, when Will Rogers was bought by Kerasotes in the 1980s, it was split into two separate theaters.

Another major renovation included dropping the ceiling, which originally had an art-deco style image that resembled a fountain, Harrison said.

Despite the renovations, Kit Morice, curator of education at the Tarble Arts Center, said the theater still retains most of its original features: the double-staircase, outside box office, light fixtures and mirrors.

Morice said she is glad the theater still resembles its original form.

“It is part of the fabric of Charleston,” she said. “It gives this town its own unique sense of place – a certain charm.”

When Harrison went to the theater as a young child, he remembers being fascinated by the portrait of Will Rogers.

“It seems like his eyes follow you when you move,” he said. “Now, you’ll see little kids staring, mesmerized by it. Then they get scared and run off to their parents.”

Wyeth is also drawn to Rogers’ portrait.

“I always think he kind of looks like my dad,” Wyeth said.

Wyeth said when he was a child and teenager, Saturdays were big days on the square. Parking was limited, so people would get to the square early in order to get a spot.

On Saturday nights, Wyeth said Westerns were usually shown.

Wyeth and his older brother would go to the Saturday show together, paying only 10 or 15 cents a piece to see the film.

Although Wyeth still loves movies, he said he rarely goes to the theater now. However, he does indulge his passion for film by watching classic movies on television.

“I have always loved Janet Gaynor,” Wyeth said. “I was just a child when I started watching her in movies, but I still think she’s a phenomenal actress.”

Gaynor starred in many films, but is most famous for her roles in the silent films “Seventh Heaven,” “Sunrise” and “Street Angel.”

Wyeth said even though he does not go to movies much anymore, he believes it is important to keep the theater open because it is an important part of Charleston’s history.

Jackie Wilen, a member of the committee that helped get the Will Rogers Theatre added onto the National Register of Historic Places, agrees the theater is an important Charleston landmark. She said she is hopeful it will continue to stay open.

“It is one of the only theaters left of its kind,” Wilen said. “It’s amazing that it is still here. We should be thankful for that.”

Charleston residents Candice Connour and Kyle Schroeder watch a movie in Will Rogers Theatre Monday Evening. Robbie Wroblewski/The Daily Eastern News

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