Harry E. Huffman

Harry E. Huffman (1883–1969) was an American movie theater owner and manager. Originally a pharmacist in Denver, Colorado, he began purchasing movie theaters after seeing a motion picture for the first time and foreseeing their potential cultural impact. In 1921, he purchased the movie theater next to his drugstore, and went on to own most of the major movie theaters in Denver at one time or another, earning him the nickname "Mr. Movies". He briefly owned a radio station and television station. He has been described as "the most powerful single voice in the development of popular entertainment and culture in Denver during the first-half of the 20th century". His home, a two-story mansion that he named Shangri-La, was a replica of the fictional monastery seen in the 1937 film Lost Horizon. The home was a fixture on the city's social scene as Huffman and his wife hosted lavish parties there for prominent guests from the business and entertainment worlds.