DENVER — People who lived in North Denver in the 1950s, '60s and '70s remember the Holiday Theater's Sunday tradition. Every week, the theater showed a movie starring Spanish-speaking actors, mainly from Mexico.
The weekly gathering was a community hub, where North Denver families would socialize and hang out.
This weekend, "Cine Mexicano" came back to life with "Dos Tipos de Cuidado," starring Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete. The Spanish-speaking film was made in 1953. To revive the tradition, the Northside Arts Collaborative and MCA Denver partnered to welcome back those who have their own memories of the theater and those who have never experienced it before.
The history
When Paco Sanchez came to Denver in the 1940s from Guadalajara, Mexico, he was quickly introduced to the Beall family.
"Lightbulbs went off in his head and he ended up opening the very first Spanish-language radio station in Colorado. After doing that, he opened the theater," said the Bealls' daughter, Carmen, who still lives on the Northside.
Eventually, the Bealls owned the theater alongside Sanchez and created the Sunday movie tradition.
"When we would come to the Holiday, it was all a hangout. Many times, no one would see the movies," Beall said.
Beall remembers North Denver back then -- filled with mostly Mexican families and Mexican-owned businesses.
"I grew up here," she said. "It was my whole childhood."
She worked at the Holiday. She still owns boxes worth of photos, appraisal papers and playbills. Most of all, she remembers the community filled with families who shared culture and community.
"We all knew each other. We would have festivals here for the 16th of September and Cinco de Mayo, so we would shut down the streets and have music and vendors," Beall said.
Sanchez and the Beall family eventually sold the theater. It later became a church and was sold afterward. Since 2021, the Museum of Contemporary Art has been leasing the space as a venue and community space.
The memories
People from North Denver remember the Holiday. Lori Eslary first came with her parents.
"They would bring us down here to see the movies, and the very first movie that we saw was 'La Llorona.' It was great. The Llorona they make now is no comparison," Eslary said.
Coming to Cine Mexicano this weekend was like a step back in time.
"It brings back memories of my parents and family," Eslary said.
After she graduated from North High School, she met the man who would become her husband. They would go on dates at the Holiday together.
"Denver is revitalizing an awful lot, and in many ways, it’s a more modern sight, but this is what we hope we don’t lose," said Stephen Eslary, Lori's husband.
Flo Hernández Ramos first went to a concert at the Holiday when she was a student at CU Boulder.
"I've always held it in the highest esteem since then," Hernández Ramos said. "It was such a family event on a Sunday to come to the movies. So it was hard to hear the movies sometimes because there would be kids running up and down the aisles. They would be screaming, they would be laughing, they would be playing."
She said the theater is more modern and pristine now, but it doesn't have the homey feel that it once had when she was in her teens.
"There was a sense of family, of belonging," said Hernández Ramos, who helped organize Cine Mexicano this weekend.
Hernández Ramos worked with Yolanda Ortega as well as the Northside Arts Collaborative and MCA Denver to sell tickets for $5 and concessions for just 50 cents.
"We are doing whatever we can to try to recreate that spirit," she said.
They also brought in Mariachi Sol De Mi Tierra for performances both outside of the theater and onstage prior to the event.
Any leftover funds that were generated will go to the Newcomer Fund.
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