My flight to portland was on a small plane. To walk down the aisle I had to duck my head the entire way. Adding to my claustrophobia was the fact that I was seated next to a woman four times my size. As I’m prone to spells of vertigo, agoraphobia, and a general fear of flying, every flight for me is a possible trip on the Vomit Comet. But once I landed there were plenty of things to calm my nerves along the three mile walk from my hotel to the Bagdad Theater & Pub to see Karl Malden, Natalie Wood and Rosalind Russell show their stuff in Mervyn LeRoy’s Gypsy (1962).

The Oregon Brew Fest was raging alongside the Willamette River and along my walk down Hawthorne street I saw The Lucky Labrador Brewing Company and McMenamins Barley Mill Pub. This city is a microbrew Mecca, and a key player in this arena is McMenamins – a Portland-based company founded by Mike and Brian McMenamin in 1974 who now boast of having over 55 “neighborhood gathering spots in Oregon and Washington” as part of their “Kingdom of Fun.” Their Bagdad Theater & Pub certainly exemplifies this philosophy. Whereas many towns have seen their beautiful and historic movie palaces abandoned or ignored, McMenamins have done their Willy Wonka-like magic here by fusing the integrity of the original design with their own colorful flourishes, adding quality food and hand-crafted beer to the mix.

The auditorium “is an attraction unto itself with barreled arches, ornate, wrought iron fixtures, brilliant-colored mosaic work, and painted and stenciled Mediterranean designs and mythical characters.” Every other row has been removed to allow for tables on which you can place your food and drink. I was able to enjoy a fantastic slice of pizza alongside a hoppy Hammerhead pale ale and then sit back and enjoy a live opening act of vaudeville and burlesque that preceded the film. Since Gypsy is all about the changing of an era as crowds shifted their interest from vaudeville to burlesque, it was a nice match and a perfect way to set the right mood.

Film theaters are like churches to me, sacred areas to gather in silence or, as was the case tonight, song. So it seemed fitting that this particular pilgrimage would drift from Saturday night into Sunday morning with images of one of cinemas recently departed icons gracing the screen. Karl Malden passed away this month on July 1st, so add to the silence and song a bit of the tribute that comes when we take a moment to remember the deceased.

Gypsy is a story about the life and times of Gypsy Rose and is based on the Broadway hit (featuring Ethel Merman) about the burlesque dancer. Natalie Wood plays the part of Louise ‘Gypsy Rose Lee’ Hovick, while Rosalind Russell comes on gangbusters as Rose Hovick, the domineering stage mother that can’t stop pushing her child center-stage, no matter what the consequences. Malden, as Herbie Sommers, helps to soften some of Russell’s aggression as a stage director that falls in love with Rose.

My favorite bits of trivia for Gypsy are that most of Russel’s songs were dubbed by Lisa Kirk and that after Ethel Merman’s death “a tape of the Russell recordings was found in a box in Merman’s closet. Merman, who was infuriated that she’d not been cast in the film, evidently had retained this copy of the Russell vocals as a strange and somewhat vengeful consolation prize.” (imdb.com) Also cool to know: the real Gypsy Rose Lee was on set to give Natalie Wood tips on stripping.

As my laptop battery nears extinction, one complaint: the screening was a digital projection. This is not a deal-breaker, especially nowadays when original prints of older films are often in pretty rough shape (if available at all), but it would be nice to have this information be part of the program. At the very least, staff should know what the formats are for the events to which they are selling tickets. When I asked the cashier if Gypsy was “a film print,” she nodded and said “yes” – even though, clearly, it was not.