The Galleria Mall in Dallas, Texas, was one of the first venues for female patrons to see and experience an erotic film. 

For more than a century, the Galleria has been home to films and shows of all shapes and sizes. 

The first film there was the 1915 film, “Candyman” by the American writer Mary McCarthy.

It was directed by Harry Fox, who is best known for his “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.”

The show was later adapted into a film titled “The Merry Widow” starring Marlene Dietrich and Richard Burton.

“It was just the start,” says Amy Wann, co-owner of the Galleries Museum of Women in Film, who grew up in the area. 

“The next thing was a lot of shows, the biggest was the show that opened in the 1970s, ‘The Wild West Show’ which was really the beginning of the adult-oriented movie theater scene.” 

A few years later, Wann and her husband, Tom Wann of Denton, Texas began the Gallerie Museum of Men in Film. 

Nowadays, there are more than 30 exhibits including films by directors including James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, and Quentin Tarantino. 

But in the early ’70s, when the Gallery opened, the show was the largest and most popular of its kind. 

According to Wann’s mother, “It was always very much a men’s show and the women came first.” 

The show’s first star was actress Nancy Wilson, who appeared in several films including “Babes in Toyland,” “Cherry and Her Sisters,” and “The Wailing” (which starred her daughter, Rose). 

In 1978, “The Wild Wagon,” directed by Frank Oz, was the biggest-selling film of the year and a huge hit at the time. 

Another film director in the ’70-79 decade was the late Jerry Goldsmith, who had a career that spanned several decades. 

His movies included “Beverly Hills Cop” and “Love Actually,” which featured a series of romantic encounters between two couples. 

He also directed the cult film “The Man From Nowhere” and starred in “The Muppet Show.” 

According the museum’s website, the first female patrons at the Galleriys were women from all over the country. 

Wann says her father, who was born in Texas, taught her about film at an early age and she says the family always tried to make films for the public. 

She recalls one time when she was just seven years old, she went to see a film that her father made, “Winnie the Pooh.” 

“It had so many animals, but it was just a family picture, so it was always nice to see it and have it show,” she says. 

There are still some movies from the ’30s and ’40s that are still on the exhibit.

 Wanna see what else is on the museum website?

Here is the latest installment:  This story was originally published on February 17, 2019 at 8:48 a.m. and has been updated. 

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