Local Realtor Honors Johnny Downs at the Movies
“Howdy! Howdy! Howdy!” was a familiar greeting from Johnny Downs on his television show, and it still reverberates around Coronado on occasion.
One of Coronado’s most famous and beloved celebrities was the late Johnny Downs. The song and dance legend was honored Thursday night at the Village Theatre with an unprecedented screening of two of his films.
The event was the Third Annual Lee Mather Co. Realtors (LMCo) Client Appreciation Night. The main screening room of the Village Theatre was nearly filled to capacity with clients, friends and family. During both films, every time Johnny Downs completed a song or dance act, the crowd burst into applause and whistles. When the films ended, many were still singing and dancing as they left the theatre.
George and Cindy Sanger just couldn’t stop singing and dancing after seeing Johnny Downs in two song and dance films from 1935. Photo by Joe Ditler.
This was the first time anyone in attendance had seen these films on the big screen, and most had never seen them at all. The opener was a Technicolor featurette by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayor called, “Pirate Party on Catalina Isle.” The main feature was a black and white musical comedy by Paramount Studios called, “Coronado.” Both films starred Johnny Downs and Betty Burgess and both were filmed here in 1935.
Betty Burgess and Johnny Downs in a screen capture from “Catalina Pirate Party.”
Extremely rare footage of Coronado’s Rainbow Fleet (Snowbirds with brightly colored sails) was featured in both films as they sailed in Glorietta Bay before the Golf Course and surrounding area had been developed. The Rainbow Fleet was popular in the 1930s, and little has been written or seen about them.
“Pirate Party on Catalina Isle,” was filled with Hollywood A-listers such as Cary Grant, Errol Flynn and Mickey Rooney. Johnny Downs and actress Betty Burgess sang “Smooth Sailing,” and the Buddy Rogers Orchestra performed, featuring Big Band trumpet player, the late Jack Ditler, also of Coronado.
Host of the 3rd Annual Client Appreciation Night at the Movies was Lee Mather Co., Realtors. Here, from left, are Mike and Shannon Herlihy, Lee Mather, and Debbie and Tom Riddle. Photo by Joe Ditler.
The films featured many images of early Coronado that included our beaches, the Hotel Del, the Boathouse, Tent City, Glorietta Bay, four-stacker destroyers, and even one of the ferryboats.
Johnny Downs was a famous child actor from the original Our Gang Comedies who went on to make 100 films, including “Rhapsody in Blue,” which was the film that made him famous. He starred opposite such movie legends as Charles Boyer, Betty Grable, Judy Garland, Ingrid Bergman and Susan Hayward. In real life, Downs, known as “The All-American Boy,” was Judy Garland’s first date.
Dr. David and Mickey Hansen were also on hand to enjoy the Johnny Downs double feature presentation. Photo by Joe Ditler.
Downs moved to Coronado in 1953, where he raised his family. Baby Boomers will remember him as host of the Johnny Downs Show, a kiddies TV show in San Diego that ran from 1953-1968. His signature trademark was a resounding, “Howdy, howdy, howdy!” That chant followed him throughout his life, wherever he went.
Mollie Downs, daughter of Johnny Downs, was present with a small entourage of family members. “[This] was a night I will never forget,” said Mollie. “My dad on the Village Theatre’s silver screen, 79 years after “Coronado” was filmed, is a once in a lifetime gift. It just doesn’t get any better than seeing him in a theatre for the first time and sitting in an audience full of people who knew him and loved him. It was overwhelming.”
The Downs entourage, from left, Mollie Downs and her husband Dale Curtis, Lila Downs and her mother. Photo by Joe Ditler.
This is the third year for LMCo’s Client Appreciation Nights. The first year they showed “Some Like it Hot.” Last year the film was “Chocolate.”
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