1945 – God Is My Co-Pilot

Amidst all the years of popcorn and soda, the Grand Theatre had one evening that returned it to the glory of the old days, which was the world premiere screening of the World War II epic, “God Is My Co-Pilot.” Thanks to the movie’s subject, Robert L. Scott, being a native son and, after the war, a returned resident of Macon, the film debuted at The Grand on the evening of February 21, 1945. Searchlights flooded the night sky and the auditorium was packed with family, friends, and Macon boosters bursting with pride at having Hollywood come to their door.

But in the end, it was a bit of a last great hurrah for the venerable old hall. The new peacetime prosperity resulted in a construction boom that moved the white population to the suburbs, even as the new technology of the television quickly ate away at the audience for big-screen movies. The grand old movie palaces in the deteriorating city centers struggled to survive.