Last Wednesday, during our revisit to the Midwest, we spent the whole day with Fred Hermes, Jr. at the “Basement Bijou” – a private home in Racine, WI, which notably features a movie palace, complete with balcony, in the basement – it really is a sight to behold, and as you walk down the stars and turn, the reveal is startling to the uninitiated.
At center stage, perched on a lift, is the largest 5-manual Wurlitzer ever made by the factory (and one of only three built), which was rescued from obscurity (being literally bricked up, Edgar Allen Poe-style) by Fred Hermes, Sr. whose real-estate expertise allowed him to rather cleverly convince the Michigan Theatre in Detroit to sell it to him.
Fred Sr built this home to showcase the organ (with a great deal of help from Fred, Jr and others) in the 1950s, and continued to build out the Bijou into the 1970s with decor and memorabilia gathered from over 25 movie palaces that were being destroyed or altered.
The organ still has all its original parts, which is rare. This represents one of the first efforts to rescue, collect, and restore theatre pipe organs, before the pizza parlor craze, which is one reason why it is being included in the film.
We recorded a complete “Walk & Talk” tour of the instrument, and Fred Jr. sat with us for a two-hour interview giving us an overview of his father’s life and work in the theatre organ world, and shared his views on the future of the theatre organ.
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