A Hopkinsville woman is paying the tab for anyone who wants to see the 1977 hit movie “Smokey and the Bandit,” starring Burt Reynolds, Sally Field, Jerry Reed and Jackie Gleason, on Saturday, July 30, at the Alhambra Theatre. Admission and concessions will be free as a gift to the community from movie buff Wendy Clark.
The theater will open at 11 a.m. and the movie starts at noon. It is rated PG.
The special showing was arranged after Clark’s attorney, Randy Teague, of Madisonville, contacted Deanna Gee, who manages the Alhambra’s rentals and hospitality for the Pennyroyal Arts Council. Clark is renting the theater and will cover the cost of concessions, arts council executive director Margaret Prim, told Hoptown Chronicle. Everyone can have a popcorn, candy and soft drink.
Clark is a movie buff — an interest that developed after she was seriously injured in a 1983 automobile crash at age 17.
“Even though she cannot speak and has difficulty walking, she has great determination and enjoys her hobby of watching and collecting DVDs,” the arts council said in a Facebook post. “She presently has more than 17,500 DVDs in her collection. She fondly remembers the Alhambra Theater from her childhood and decided it was time for her to share with the community her love of motion pictures.”
Clark plans to attend the movie.
“I’m looking forward to meeting her,” Prim said.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. She spent 30 years as a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition.
