'Marqueetown' follows Michigan man's mission to restore historic movie theater in the U.P.

The tagline for “Marqueetown” reads, “No one fights to preserve a multiplex, but some people will risk everything to save a marquee …”

It’s a sign, really, that this made-in-Michigan documentary named for the signs that adorn classic movie theaters is going to be quirky and pleasingly unpredictable. And what other way would you want to tell the story of one man’s dream of resurrecting a piece of cinema-going history in the Upper Peninsula?

Filmmakers Joseph Beyer and Jordan Anderson will screen their co-creation, “Marqueetown,” at Detroit’s Senate Theater on Friday as part of a regional tour that is visiting a number of Michigan venues with lengthy pasts and strong community ties.

”Every time that we’ve had one of these events, I know that we both feel very energized by what’s still out there,” says Beyer, a former executive staffer at the Sundance Institute and the Redford Center who moved home to Michigan from California in 2018.

What’s more, the tour is giving 100% of ticket sales back to the vintage theaters that hold screenings, including locations like the Crystal Falls Theater in Crystal Falls, the Braumart in Iron Mountain, the Garden Theater in Frankfort, the Vogue Theatre in Manistee and the Park Theatre in Holland. So far, according to Beyer, it has raised nearly $11,000 for such venues.

The spark for the movie was Beyer’s first visit to Marquette in 2018, where he attended the Fresh Coast Film Festival (and more recently has joined its board of directors). After spotting the marquee of the city's Delft Theater — which opened in 1914, closed in 2012 and now is home to a restaurant — he started looking online for more information about the cinema.

Beyer, who served briefly as executive director of the Traverse City Film Festival and is immersed in that city's arts and media groups, kept running across the same name, Bernie Rosendahl, who happened to be a U.P. native on a mission.

Rosendahl wanted to resurrect the Nordic Theater, which used to be in Marquette near the Delft. That stylish art deco venue opened in 1936 and was turned into a bookstore in 1994. At that time, the Nordic's distinctive wraparound marquee was taken down.

Beyer told his friend Anderson, a writer, director, editor, producer and founder of Pancake Boy Productions, that he was thinking about writing an article on Rosendahl's quest. “He said, ‘If this is a story about saving cinema, why wouldn’t you tell it in the language of movies?'’’ Breyer then agreed to make a film if Anderson would be his collaborator.

"Marqueetown" departs from the often staid format of combining interviews with historical photos and narration and breathes life into a century's worth of facts and anecdotes through a variety of creative leaps. There are mock newsreels, re-enactments where actors portray real-life characters and at least one academic expert from a nonsense university. In one sequence, people costumed as concession snacks perform a parody song.

Says Anderson, “We were looking at a hundred years of history, trying to jam (it) into this film and thinking, 'Well, how do we best do that?' ... For us, it became a really exciting challenge.”

“Marqueetown” gives viewers a vivid portrait of Rosendahl as someone who grew up fascinated by Marquette’s two movie theaters. In one scene, Rosendahl recalls attending the final screening at the Nordic (of a 1994 remake of “Black Beauty”) just so he could be the last audience member to walk out the door.

The film also chronicles the surprisingly riveting decades-old tale of Morgan W. Jopling, who at one time led a mini-empire of theaters in the Upper Peninsula, and his son-in-law Michael Hare, an admirer of Frank Lloyd Wright and the innovative designer of the Nordic. Hare's saga takes an unexpected dark turn when he invites Jopling on a sailboat ride off Long Island to do some civil patrolling during World War II.

More: The Maple Theater, a cinema lovers favorite in Bloomfield Township, has closed its doors

The documentary delves into the devastating impact of shifting business models and technology on smaller cinemas before reaching a dramatic conclusion. When the bookstore that formerly was the Nordic Theater goes up for sale, Rosendahl sees a once-in-a-lifetime chance to acquire the building. But setbacks ensue and suspense builds over whether any element of the elegant landmark can be revived. Then a good, old-fashioned plot twist happens that ... well, let's just say, lights up Marquette's streets in a landmark way.

Although “Marqueetown” is clearly about loving movies and honoring a community's memories, its themes go deeper. “For me, it became very clear this was a story about anybody who had ever lost something that meant something to them,” says Anderson. “Very rarely does anybody ever get a chance to do something about that.”

The filmmakers interviewed Rosendahl for the project at the Maple Theater in Bloomfield Township, which later closed in early 2024. Anderson says that when they found out yet another of Rosendahl's favorite venues was gone, they joked sadly, "Well, we’ve got a sequel on our hands."

Contact Detroit Free Press pop culture critic Julie Hinds at jhinds@freepress.com.The end credits of "Marqueetown.com" mention Hinds as one of many people and groups thanked because of Free Press articles by her that were part of the filmmakers' research process.

'Marqueetown'

8 p.m. Friday (doors open an hour before screening)

Senate Theater

6424 Michigan Ave., Detroit

Filmmaker Joseph Beyer and Jordan Anderson and producers Beth Milligan and Christal Frost Anderson will be attending.

Tickets are $10 available at the Senate Theater website or at the door.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: 'Marqueetown' follows Michigander's quest to revive long-lost theater