Hollywood has been lying to you: There are more movies released each year than most people know about. While big-budget studio pictures are distributed nationally to major movie houses almost uniformly, there are hundreds of independent or smaller studio releases that have spottier runs. In fact, the art house movie scene has been remarkably productive in the last decade, producing much of the country's best cinema.

But in a world of corporate-dominated multiplexes, many of these movies, despite critical acclaim, never come to a theater near you. Luckily, the small town movie theater is long from extinct. Art movie houses across the country continue to play quality movies against most odds. The only problem is finding a hip theater.

Luckily, Michiana has its own art house theater in Three Oaks, Mich.: Vickers Theatre. The restored turn of the century movie theater is a breath of breath fresh air for movie buffs who live in a cinematic world dominated by the ever-important male 15-25 year-old demographic in which Hollywood seems to be trying to think of as many ways as possible to justify Freddie Prince Jr. falling in love with the unlikely high school nerd who just happens to be a supermodel underneath all her unnecessarily baggy and distastefully arranged clothes.

The building in which the theater is located was built in the 1890s to serve as a livery for the nearby train station. The livery was transformed into an early movie theater by a group of investors lead by a man named Frank Lee. Though 1911 is early in the history of movie-only theaters, especially in the Midwest, the theater was actually only one of three located in Three Oaks.

The Lee family owned and operated the theater until 1978 when they sold it. The building changed hands a number of times throughout the '80s, operating sometimes as a mainstream movie house and at others as office space or even apartments. Facing tough competitions from modern multiplexes, the theater finally closed in 1987.

Around the time the theater closed, Jon Vickers moved back to the area in which he grew up with his wife Jennifer. Vickers, a civil engineer by trade, thought that the building could be restored to its former glory that he remembered from his childhood.

"We knew a woman that owned the building at the time. I think something just struck [Jon] and he said, `Why not? Let's created a theater here.' And I was all for it. I think if we had stopped and thought about the difficulty of opening a theater in Three Oaks, we may have not done it," Jennifer Vickers said.

The Vickers re-opened the 120-seat theater in 1996. They had spent the last two years renovating the inside.

Originally, the theater was meant to present all different types of art including live theatre and music. The Vickers soon discovered, however, that the plan may have been overly ambitious and have gone to an almost strictly cinema format. The theatre does, however, double and an art gallery for Midwestern artists and craftspeople.

"When we first opened, our goal was to be a well-rounded center for the arts, offering film, music and theatre. … We've kind of flowed into the film and artwork side of things. Once in a while, we'll have live music," Vickers said.

Currently, the theatre is featuring the furniture of South Bend craftsman Larry Szymanski. Szymanski works primarily as and educator and reproduces antique furniture as an amateur artist.

Now in its seventh season, Vickers' Theater is doing well, and business is getting better each year.

"Obviously, overhead on a single-screen theater is different than on a 14-screen. The business is doing fine now, but we really get more enjoyment out of the people here than the theater being prosperous monetarily," Vickers said.

The theater mostly culls its audience from northern Indiana, though a there are a number of local regulars. A core audience group that is devoted to the theater's rare charm mostly supports it. Vickers' patrons tend to be older and more refined than the average moviegoer.

The theater is a friendly place; either Jon or Jennifer is there every night. They employ two local high school students, Rachel Trucks and Joe Pobocik, to fill out their staff.

The Vickers like presenting an offbeat selection of film; they follow movie openings in Chicago and New York as well as read trade magazines to decide their feature schedule. The theater's patrons themselves request a number of the features.

Running the theater is a labor of love for the couple, who balance their duties at the box office with Jon's civil engineering practice and raising their three children: Max, Frank and Ava.

To get to Vickers Theatre from campus, take U.S. Route 33 North to Michigan about seven miles. Merge onto U.S. Route 12 West and continue for about 17 miles. Turn right onto S. Elm Street at the first (and only) stoplight in Three Oaks. Drive up a block, cross the railroad tracks and S. Elm Street becomes N. Elm Street. The theater is located at No. 6.

For movie schedule information visit www.vickerstheatre.com. Show times are generally at 7 p.m. on Fridays, 6:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. Sundays and at 7 p.m. Mondays. General admission is $7 and $5 for students and seniors.

Contact C. Spencer Beggs at beggs.3@nd.edu

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