All language subtitles for Mysteries.of.the.Abandoned.S13E08.1080p.WEB.h264-CBFM_track3_[eng]

[narrator] A French compound
where a staggering deception

was launched.

[Sascha] What unfolded was
one of the great spy stories

of the Second World War.

An iconic Philadelphia venue
that set the stage

for era-defining artists.

[Olivia]
All these famous entertainers.
It was electric in here.

And a mansion in Malaysia,
the scene of a baffling crime.

[Dominic] This house was
the site of a brutal killing.

His body was found
with a shotgun wound

to the back of the head.

[theme music playing]

Eighty miles from
the Bulgarian capital, Sofia,

is a hidden facility,
the propaganda mouthpiece

of a repressive regime.

[intense music playing]

[Dominic] There's forest as
far as the eye can see.

It feels remote, out of the way,

the perfect place
to hide something.

[Jim] Then out of the trees
rises this structure.

The whole thing has
an ominous feel.

[Lynette]
It's massive and concrete.

It is one of these Eastern
European communist monoliths.

Among the derelict remains,
there are clues

to why it was built in such
an isolated location.

[Jim] Inside, it's been
virtually stripped to the walls,

but there's a few hints
that it was a highly

technological structure.

[Dominic] There are these
channels cut into the floor,

maybe for pipes or cables.

You can also see platforms
that look like the basis

for some kind of machinery.

[Jim] It has its own
power line leading to it.

So clearly whatever happened
here required an enormous

amount of electricity.

Could this have been some kind
of secret government office

or military research facility?

Created to fight
a disinformation campaign

from deep behind
the Iron Curtain,

when the West gained
the edge,

this Cold War confrontation
turned hot.

[Jim] The Bulgarian government's
control over information

was so complete and so paranoid,
they were even willing

to launch a daring assassination
in the streets of London.

[bell tones playing softly]

[Spiridon ] This was where
I had my first serious job.

It was truly impressive,
because the security

was just like the state border.

[soft music plays]

Spiridon Harizanov began
working here as a technician

in September 1988,
when Bulgaria was part

of the Communist Soviet bloc.

This place was buzzing
with life.

Over 100 people worked here.

Construction on
this high-security

government complex
began in 1974.

But it was designed
to take part in a fight

that began decades earlier.

[Dominic] The Cold War was as
much a political and ideological

battle as a military
confrontation.

As the eastern and western
superpowers were facing off

with their nuclear arsenals,
another unseen battle was

unfolding over the airwaves.

These structures were part
of communist Bulgaria's attempt

to convert the world
to their way of thinking

using international
radio broadcasting.

[Spiridon] This was the heart
of some of the transmitters.

And here was the booth
with the control panel.

[Jim] This complex had enough
power, it was said,

to broadcast a shortwave signal
six times around the world.

[Spiridon] Everything broadcast
from here was propaganda.

Some programs were aimed
to Bulgarians living aboard,

but a large part of them were
aimed at another audience.

Latin America, um...

North America, West Africa,
in various languages.

We broadcast to some
of the farthest corners

of the world.

This is the Padarsko
Radio Center.

Its transmissions included
speeches from the country's

leader, Todor Zhivkov,
praising Bulgaria

as a socialist workers'
paradise.

The reality was very different.

[Spiridon] Bulgaria was
a complete police state.

There were eyes
and ears everywhere.

[Lynette] People were not
permitted to know anything that

their dictators
didn't want them to know.

[Jim] So western nations set up
operations to broadcast

to various countries
behind the Iron Curtain.

There were several of these
operations, Voice of America,

Radio Liberty,
Radio Free Europe, and the BBC.

[Lynette]
And all of these radio stations
are designed to have real

journalists sending real news
to parts of the world where all

they were fed was
government propaganda.

Those broadcasts were our only
way of learning what was truly

happening in Bulgaria
and the rest of the world.

They also broadcast
a lot of interviews

with political leaders like
President Eisenhower,

John F. Kennedy, entertainers
like Elizabeth Taylor,

Tom Jones, civil rights leaders,
including Martin Luther King.

But it wasn't just American
voices and celebrities that

were beaming into Bulgaria.

Exiles and dissidents
were brought in to broadcast

their criticisms of the regime
back into the country.

Help us to keep our young
people from falling under

the influence of the communists.

In 1969, one of these political
opponents fled to the west.

From there, he took
to the airwaves,

attacking the Bulgarian regime.

His name was Georgi Markov.

[Dominic] He had settled
in England, where he worked

for Radio Free Europe, the BBC,
and other radio stations

broadcasting back
into his home country.

[Dominic]
I believe there isn't a single

Bulgarian who hasn't listened
to Georgi Markov's program

in absentia reports about
Bulgaria.

Markov is being very pointed
in his criticism

of the Bulgarian government
and of Todor Zhivkov,

who was the Bulgarian dictator.

Markov is a very
dangerous nuisance.

[intense music playing]

Fearing his shows could
incite a rebellion,

Bulgarian authorities turned
to facilities like Padarsko

to stop them.

[Spiridon]
This particular building housed
the so-called lightning jamming

transmitter, which was used
to disrupt enemy radio stations.

However, we also had another
nickname for it, the buzzer.

[Jim] During shows they thought
were particularly damaging,

like Markov's shows,
they would tune to that channel,

broadcast on the same frequency,
interfering noise,

music, crazy sounds.

[Markov on recording]
Here's the Soviet government's

$120 million a year direct
answer to Radio Liberty.

[radio interference]

[on recording]
Jamming.

But those determined to tune
into Markov shows found a way.

[mysterious music playing]

[Jim] A person could arrange
their antenna in a certain way,

or maybe drive out
in the countryside,

and they could often wind up
hearing these broadcasts.

[Spiridon]
I listened to Radio Free Europe
at home almost every day.

Even though my colleagues,
who had just taken over

the shift from me,
were trying to jam it.

Infuriated that Markov's
attacks continued to be heard,

the regime decided to take
direct action.

They were willing to go
anywhere and do anything

to stop people telling
the truth.

[intense music playing]

In the late 1970s,
communist Bulgaria was using

the Padarsko Radio Center
to jam enemy transmissions

from the West.

Dissident journalist
Georgi Markov,

broadcasting from London,
was their public enemy

number one.

But they weren't that
successful at blocking

these transmissions.

The Bulgarian authorities
were so outraged

that they took
a desperate measure.

[Dominic] On September 7, 1978,
Markov was walking across

London's Waterloo Bridge,
heading for his job at the BBC.

Suddenly, he felt a sharp pain
in his leg, as if he'd been

stung by an insect.

[Lynette] When that happened,
he saw somebody bend over

and pick up an umbrella
and walk away.

And he thought no more about it.

[Jim] But by that evening,
he was deathly ill and went

to the hospital.

They couldn't really figure out
what was wrong with him

except for a tiny puncture
in the back of his leg.

But four days later,
he was dead.

There's a widespread theory
that a Bulgarian secret service

officer had an umbrella
capable of injecting a pellet

of ricin poison into Markov's
leg, and the poison killed him.

Across the west, the attack was
front-page news.

But in Bulgaria, the official
line was complete silence.

[Spiridon] The news couldn't
have got out here.

He was considered an enemy
of the people.

It was on Radio Free Europe
or the BBC that I learned about

the murder of Georgi Markov.

Markov's killers were never
brought to justice,

and Padarsko continued
to operate until a wave

of democratic protests toppled
the regime in the late '80s.

[Spiridon]
Right after the political
changes in 1989,

we stopped using
the jamming transmitter.

In 1990, Todor Zhivkov was
arrested and put on trial

for corruption
and abuse of power.

He died while under
house arrest,

eight years later.

This facility was still used
to transmit radio Bulgaria

for another couple of decades.

[mysterious music playing]

[Spiridon] February 1st, 2012,
was my last day of work here.

And after that,
this place gradually turned

into the scrap and ruins
you see today.

[mysterious music playing]

[Jim] No one has nostalgic
memories of this facility,

no one is organizing
fundraising to restore it

or turn it into
a park or a museum.

It sits here out in the forest,
abandoned,

a bad memory
of a very dark time.

[mysterious music playing]

In Malaysia's Penang province,
tales of haunting

and violence swirl around
an isolated relic.

[mysterious music playing]

[Jim]
We're in a lush, tropical area.

And at first,
all you see is trees.

It looks like
an unbroken forest.

[Chelsea]
In the middle of it all
is this large, imposing ruin.

Clearly, no one has lived here
for a very long time.

But the sparse interior
does hold evidence

of who built this place.

[Dominic] You can tell it was
once a luxurious residence

for a very wealthy person.

But it doesn't look like
a traditional Malay building.

It's been built from heavy
stone with palatial

European features.

Could this be
a colonial structure?

Built using the profits from
an incredible resource boom,

as a family tried to reassert
dominance over this land,

it became the scene
of a twisted crime.

[Chelsea] It's one of Malaysia's
most famous unsolved murders,

but there are no shortage
of theories.

[mysterious music playing]

[Clement speaking]

When Clement Liang first
visited this grand ruin,

locals told him about a spirit
they believe still stalked

these halls.

[Clement speaking]

John's full name was
John St. More Ramsden.

He was part of a colonial
dynasty who controlled vast

amounts of land in British
Malaya in the 1870s.

At first, the estate grew
sugarcane, but a technological

advancement would lead
to a far more lucrative crop

being grown here.

This radical transformation
began with a revolutionary

discovery made more
than 9,000 miles away

in Woburn, Massachusetts.

[Jim] In the mid-19th century,
a self-taught American chemist

named Charles Goodyear started
tinkering with rubber

to try to make it more durable,
and tougher and more elastic.

Eventually, he came across
a formula that was stretchy,

but could return
to its original shape.

There was nothing quite like it.

Rubber very quickly became one
of the most in demand products

in the world.

Malaysia turned out to be
one of the best places

to grow rubber.

And within a few years,
it was making more than

a third of the world's supply.

Instead of traveling
from Britain themselves,

they hired managers
to run the estates.

And it was called
Caledonia House.

Over the subsequent decades,
demand for rubber

continued to boom.

And from their
luxurious mansion,

the Ramsden family's managers
oversaw an increasingly

diverse workforce.

[Jim] As the Malaysian economy
grew, it pulled in hundreds

of thousands of immigrants
from China and elsewhere

who mixed with the indigenous
Malaysian population.

[Chelsea] The family were
raking in the cash.

At the time, it was said to be
the most valuable European

holding in British Malaya.

But this massive wealth
was being watched jealously

from overseas.

[Dominic] And soon,
war would bring disaster

to Caledonia Plantation.

[Dominic]
On December the 8th, 1941,
almost simultaneously

with their attack
on Pearl Harbor,

the Japanese army invaded
British Malaya.

[Jim] They had enormous
resources, including

these rubber plantations.

Those were vital for Japan's
military efforts.

[gunshots blast]

They swept through the country
at lightning speed,

and after just three months,
the unprepared British

surrendered in Singapore.

Caledonia was now under
Japanese occupation,

but the British would do
whatever it took to regain

control of the valuable colony,
leading to the funding

and arming of communist
guerrillas to continue

the fight behind enemy lines.

With the communists' help,
Japan was defeated in 1945.

But when Britain returned
to Malaya,

these guerrilla fighters
switched their focus

from one colonial oppressor
to another.

[Clement speaking]

To these insurgents,
families like the Ramsdens

were the ultimate symbol
of colonial exploitation.

Soon, a violent murder would
plunge this mansion into chaos.

In 1946, Caledonia House
in Malaysia lay at the heart

of a valuable rubber plantation
ruined under Japanese

occupation during
the Second World War.

Its British colonial owners,
the Ramsdens, were determined

to restore it despite a growing
local armed resistance.

[Dominic] The patriarch
of the family sent his son,

John, to repair the estate.

He is said to have treated
the plantation workers well,

offering them lavish dinners
at the house,

and even having their children
driven to school in his car.

[Chelsea] But no matter
how good his relationship

with the workers might have
been, at the end of the day,

this was a colonial enterprise
that was built

on racism and inequality.

Two years after John Ramsden
arrived here,

these tensions
would come to a head.

The estate watchman
and three plantation workers

heard the shots
and rushed inside.

When the police arrived,
they began combing the mansion,

and its grounds, for evidence.

Outside, they found
two spent shotgun shells

underneath one
of the rubber trees.

Very quickly, John Ramsden's
murder got connected

with a much bigger story.

Over the following couple
of weeks, other overseers

of plantations in Malaysia
were also killed.

And these killings were
connected with a communist

insurgency that was
sweeping the islands.

But the police officer
in charge of the case,

William Haynes,
was not convinced

that this was
a political assassination.

He believed evidence uncovered
at the murder scene pointed

towards an inside job.

[Dominic] Near the body,
they found a pair of shoes

that didn't seem to belong
to anybody working

at the residence.

[Clement speaking]

[Chelsea] It seemed like
an open and shut case,

but he claimed he'd been framed.

[Jim] Another suspect was
John Ramsden's driver,

and it was said that Ramsden
was having an affair

with the driver's sister,
so he might have had

a powerful motive
for the killing.

Both Mohammad Ramjan
and the driver were arrested,

but there was a fatal flaw
in the police's case.

With the murder weapon still
missing, and only circumstantial

evidence to go on,
they were released.

On September 3rd, 1948,
87 days after John's murder,

the investigation was halted.

[Clement speaking]

[Dominic] Back in Britain,
the Ramsden family was

so heartbroken that
they ordered the liquidation

of all of their holdings
in Malaya,

including the Caledonia
plantation.

After a long and brutal
insurgency against

British rule, in 1963,
the independent country

of Malaysia was established.

[marching footsteps]

And Caledonia House
was left to ruin.

[melancholic music playing]

After its abandonment,
life for the Caledonia House

went from bad to worse.

[Dominic] In 2020, a fire
ripped through the property,

and later, a commercial crane
working nearby tipped over

and smashed through the roof.

[Clement speaking]

[suspenseful music playing]

In the French capital,
a decaying compound

holds secrets,
of an extraordinary deception.

[intense music playing]

We're in the quiet outskirts
of Paris,

and under this looming
broadcast tower is a collection

of buildings that look
significantly older.

This feels institutional,
or perhaps military.

[Sascha] But as you look closer,
you notice something

more sinister.

[Michele] Built into these walls
are rows of casemates,

but instead of windows,
they have heavy iron bars.

These were clearly repurposed
as prison cells,

but who were they keeping here?

During the Second World War,
thousands were detained

inside these walls.

But one man would make
his escape and do untold damage

to the Nazi regime.

[Lynette] He convinces
British counterintelligence

that he really is a German spy
who is willing to be

a double agent.

[Sascha] He would be one
of the most notorious spies

of his entire generation.
He was known as Agent Zigzag.

In Paris, France,
lies an oppressive compound

linked to a daring wartime
double cross.

Thomas Fontaine has spent
decades uncovering its story.

[Thomas]
We're in a place of great

importance to the history
of France's occupation

between 1940 and 1944,
but a site that remained

largely unknown until
the early 2000s.

[mysterious music playing]

It was built in the 1830s

as part of a ring
of defenses around the capital.

But these days, it's not known
for its protection of the city,

but rather something
far more menacing.

[Lynette]
In May and June of 1940,

the German armed forces,
very rapidly,

encircle the French and British
armies in northeastern France.

The French state surrenders.

[marching footsteps]

Paris was under occupation.

[Sascha]
Here on the edge of the city
was a valuable asset,

and the Germans weren't gonna
let that go to waste.

The Nazi occupiers quickly
transformed it from a place

to keep enemies out

into a facility
to contain them.

This is Fort De Romainville.

[mysterious music playing]

[Thomas] The primary function
was to be a camp specifically

for nationals of enemy powers.

There were many British
nationals who were arrested

specifically because Germany
was at war with England.

One of those inmates was
an English petty criminal

who fled the country
and was captured

in Nazi-occupied territory.

His name was Eddie Chapman.

[Thomas]
Eddie Chapman was interned
in the men's section,

likely in one of the rooms
on the ground floor.

[Michele] There was no contact
with the outside world,

rations were strict,
and prisoners could be executed

without any explanation
or warning.

[Sascha]
Chapman realized he wasn't
gonna survive this place,

and four months
into his imprisonment,

he found a lifeline.

[intriguing music playing]

His salvation came
from a shadowy

Nazi organization, the Abwehr,
Germany's intelligence service.

[Thomas] The Abwehr
are searching for V men,

individuals who will
provide intelligence

and engage in espionage.

[Lynette] From the beginning
of the Second World War,

the Germans had tremendous
difficulty recruiting agents

in England.

So the German intelligence
people go to Chapman

and they say, "Can you go
and be a German agent?"

Chapman accepts
the German intelligence offer,

and he's told that
he needs to blow up

the de Havilland Aircraft
factory in England.

On December 16th, 1942,
Chapman parachuted

into Britain
for his first mission.

He was carrying a radio,
a pistol, a cyanide pill,

and close to
a thousand pounds in cash.

On the morning
of February 1st, 1943,

British newspapers reported
an unexplained explosion

at the de Havilland factory.

[dramatic chord strike]

[Lynette] As far as
the Germans are concerned,

this new agent of theirs,
Mr. Chapman, is now

the great star of the German
intelligence service.

But he had been conning
German intelligence

from the very start.

For Chapman, the idea of being
able to get out of jail,

well, he'll do anything,
won't he?

And as soon as he gets
on the ground,

as soon as he has a chance,
he tells

British counterintelligence
what he is up to.

So in order to build
his credibility,

the British Armed Forces
simulate the destruction

of the de Havilland factory.

They arranged the fake sabotage
of the airplane plant using

an illusionist and a planted
story in the newspaper.

Nazi intelligence
bought the lie.

Chapman returned to Germany
under the guise of having

pulled off a successful attack.

He was rewarded
with a massive payment

and given the Iron Cross,
the only British citizen

to ever give one.

Believing he was their best
agent, he was soon tasked

with a new mission.

[Michele] Chapman was
parachuted again into Britain

in June of 1944
to report on the accuracy

of the V-1 and V-2 rockets
being fired across the Channel.

[Lynette] He tells his British
controllers what the job is,

and British counterintelligence
calculate exactly

how wrong they want
the German aim to be.

Chapman was one of the most
successful double agents

of the entire war.

He remained in London and was
dismissed by British

Intelligence in November 1944.

But the French prison he left
behind had been transformed

after a brave struggle against
Nazi occupation erupted

across the country.

[gunshot blasts]

Resistance was growing,
and it would eventually

lead back camp
at Fort de Romainville.

In 1944, Fort de Romainville
in France was operating

as a Nazi prison camp,

holding heroic female
resistance fighters determined

to stand up against the terrors
of the Third Reich.

Fort de Romainville became
a departure point

for deportation,
specifically for women,

to the Nazi
concentration camp system.

[intense music playing]

Before they left,
they were held in the fort's

dank casemates.

[Thomas] I'm always deeply moved
whenever I enter Casemate 17.

The inmates, before heading
into the unknown, wish to leave

their name, a date,
a trace of their passage,

like a message in a bottle.

These are the last records,
many of these people

would leave behind.

Throughout the war, more than
3,800 women were detained here

before being sent to
Nazi concentration camps.

Fort de Romainville was finally
liberated by the allies

in August 1944

and was abandoned
by the French military

in the early 2000s.

After his dismissal by British
intelligence, Eddie Chapman

continued living life
on his own terms.

Spending his time in
the company of beautiful women

and even becoming embroiled
in a gold smuggling operation.

[intriguing music playing]

Since 1945, Parisians have held
ceremonies here to remember

those imprisoned and deported
from Romainville.

Plans are underway to transform
parts of the fort

into a museum.

[melancholic music playing]

[Thomas] It's a place that is
doubly moving as a historian

and as a human being.

It's truly important
to preserve these sites,

to understand what transpired,
and to pass on that knowledge.

[intense music playing]

In the City of Brotherly Love,
is a faded landmark,

once the life and soul
of an uptown district.

[dramatic music playing]

[Rob] We're on the on the north
side of Philadelphia,

on a busy road flanked
by offices and shops.

[Alicia] One building along
this strip stands out,

and it looks like it's
from a different era.

[Chelsea] From its design,
with its ornate brickwork

and detailed carvings,
you can tell that this was

a building of importance
to the surrounding community.

[Alicia] There remains part
of a marquee with the word

"uptown" written on it.

This was clearly some type
of theater or music venue.

Inside, the true extent
of its ruin becomes clear.

[Chelsea] In the main room,
there's a dramatic sight.

A gaping hole in the roof lets
in enough light to illuminate

a huge open space.

[Rob] This may look forgotten
now, but in its heyday,

this was part of a network
that spanned the whole

of the east coast and fostered
some of the greatest

entertainers
of the 20th century.

[Chelsea] Ray Charles,
James Brown, Jackson Five,

this place played host
to the Who's Who

of American Icons.

[Alicia] But this wasn't just
a place for entertainment.

It was also a place
for activism.

[dramatic music playing]

Wow, I haven't been
here since the '70s.

It's amazing.

My mom worked here as a cashier.

I wasn't allowed in the booth
because she was handling money.

Starting when she was
14 years old,

Olivia Riley spent many
of her evenings and weekends

in this theater.

[Olivia laughs]
I was kind of famous because

everybody knew
she was my mother.

They kind of hung around me

because they can
get in for free.

There was a lot of excitement
because you were looking

forward to seeing all the acts.

They were all up and coming
and famous artists.

From its earliest days,
this was the cultural heart

of the neighborhood.

It was built in the late 1920s,
an era of rapid expansion

in the city.

[jazz music playing]

Philadelphia was one
of the most important

manufacturing centers
in the world.

[Alicia] Factories
and warehouses dotted this area,

and soon neighborhoods
of row homes were built

in order to accommodate
the workers.

As newcomers poured in,
there was an increase in demand

for entertainment venues.

On February 16th, 1929,
Warner Brothers opened

the lavish 2,000-seat
Uptown Theater.

[Chelsea]
They spared no expense.

It had terracotta facades,
stained-glass windows,

and velvet seats.

[Rob] This was a luxurious way
to watch movies for everyone,

from the city's
wealthy industrialists

to working-class families.

On its opening night, crowds
flocked to see "On Trial,"

starring Pauline Frederick.

It was the perfect choice
to showcase the Uptown's

cutting-edge design.

[jazz music playing]

[Rob] Hollywood was riding high
on the success of silent films,

and the Warner Brothers studio
decided to take a gamble

on a revolutionary
new development,

speaking films,
known as talkies.

[Alicia] This theater was
specifically wired for sound.

The audio quality here was
second to none.

It seemed destined for success,
but just eight months

after it opened, the country
was struck by disaster.

The Wall Street crash.

[indistinct chatter]

[Alicia] This recession resulted
in the collapse of most

of Philadelphia's
manufacturing industry.

And over the next few decades,
many of its residents fled

to the suburbs.

But a change was coming
to this neighborhood

that would give it a second life
and a brush with stardom.

In the early 1950s,
Philadelphia's

Uptown Theater was down
on its luck,

but its fortunes
were about to change.

[Rob]
By this time, with migration
from southern states,

north Philadelphia had
become a vibrant hub

of African American culture
and arts.

[Alicia] In 1952, Theater Mogul
Samuel H. Stiefel

bought the Uptown with plans
to completely repurpose it.

[Chelsea]
It had incredible acoustics,

left over from its days
as a movie theater.

And Stiefel saw an opportunity
to put it to new use

as a music venue.

[Alicia] But the Uptown Theater
wasn't the only one of its kind.

Rather, it was part of a circuit
that stretched across

the entire east coast.

Along with the Apollo
in New York

and the Howard Theater
in Washington, DC,

and the Regal in Chicago,
and many others,

this made up what was called
the Chitlin' Circuit.

[Olivia] Because of ray racism,
African American acts couldn't

perform in certain areas,
so they would do

the Chitlin' Circuit.

[Rob] The Chitlin' Circuit gave
so many Black entertainers

a chance during the era
of Jim Crow

when they were barred from
white mainstream venues.

This stage would play host
to some of the era's most

legendary Black performers.

I saw every show
at least two times.

I didn't miss a show.

I saw the Jackson 5,
James Brown, now Harold Melvin

and the Blue Notes,
and Marvin Gaye,

I saw him so many times.

But my favorite was
The Isley Brothers because

I was a part of history.

At the end of their act,
they just started singing

"Shout," and every time
they sang "Shout," they jumped.

Everybody in
the audience jumped.

It was electrifying.

Ron Isley created that song
that night that I was here.

[Chelsea] These acts would come
for a few days, or even a week,

playing shows around the clock
for a ticket price as low as

50 cents.
That's still only

a little more than five bucks
in today's money.

On Saturdays, sometimes
they'd even do five or six shows

back to back.

Tens of thousands of people
came through this auditorium

in the 1960s, and the theater
gained a reputation

as one of the country's
most iconic venues.

If there was one man
responsible for a lot

of the Uptown success, it was
the promoter, Georgie Woods.

[Olivia] He had a nice voice.
He had a beautiful personality.

And he captured a lot
of people's attention.

He drew a big crowd.
So they made him the emcee.

[Alicia]
He was known for bringing in
incredible performers

at incredibly low prices.

It was reported that he got
The Supremes to play

for 10 days for $400.

But Woods was not just
a DJ, emcee, and promoter.

He was a passionate advocate
for civil rights.

In 1963, he helped charter
21 buses to take Philadelphians

to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s
historic march on Washington.

That same year,
he would use the Uptown

to support the cause.

Georgie Woods saw
the Uptown Theater not just

as an entertainment venue,
but as a vehicle for change.

[Rob] Woods began organizing
what he called freedom shows,

fundraisers for civil rights
organizations

right across the country.

These star-studded concerts
provided much needed funds

for charities and civil rights
organizations.

And Woods' contribution
to the movement was soon

recognized on the stage
where it all began.

He was even honored by
the NAACP in a ceremony held

right here at the Uptown.

But the success of the
civil rights movement in ending

segregation across
the country would have

unintended consequences
for the Uptown Theater.

[melancholic music playing]

Some say that after integration,
when Black performers

could go to more venues,
the importance of places

like this on
the Chitlin Circuit declined.

In 1972, Georgie Woods stopped
producing shows here.

And as many residents left
for the suburbs over

the following years,
its fate was sealed.

[Olivia] It closed because
of the neighborhood changing.

I think that's what
really happened.

The Uptown Theater finally
shut its doors in 1978.

In 2001,
the Uptown Entertainment

and Development Corporation
purchased the building.

They now hope to breathe new
life into this aging structure.

[Olivia] The plans is to get
the uptown renovated,

restored for the community.
A lot of things happened here.

The performers, they couldn't
have made it unless they

made it here at the Uptown.

And everybody remembers
coming here.

So it should be open.