It’s common nowadays to look at someone’s resume and see a long list of positions held, either in the same field or different ones as the person explores various opportunities.
For Rodelle Mehlhoff, however, it’s all about the movies.
Although she has done the work at a variety of locations, changes were more often the result of her skills being sought elsewhere or ownership changes than a wanderlust on her part.
After years working for movie theater chains from Carisch to AMC — depending on who owned the places she worked — Mehlhoff, 60, is now general manager at Mankato Cinema 4, Spotlight Theatres, in downtown Mankato Place.
She loves the double feature of interacting with young employees and customers. She doesn’t see the curtain coming down for another half dozen years or more.
As a high schooler in her hometown of Minot, North Dakota, her first job came as the result of helping a friend.
“I just went and applied because my roommate needed a job and she wasn’t applying. So I was like, ‘I’ll show you how it’s done,’” she said, noting she had a job at the time, which she gave up for the movie theater spot.
Her office now is upstairs at Mankato Cinema 4. It’s a location she’s very familiar with as it was part of the Carisch Theatres family when she came to Mankato.
She was recruited to come to Mankato by Steve Menne, who was regional manager of Carisch early in her career.
Menne met Mehlhoff when she was an assistant manager, and he said right away he could tell she knew everything. She could run the office, train employees and provide excellent service to patrons.
“I had absolutely no qualms about her qualifications once I met her and got to see her in action,” he said. “I mean, it was obvious that she was more than ready to get her own theater.”
That’s how she got her foot into the Mankato movie theater market. And she’s never left.
“My first bout in Mankato was in 1988,” she said. “And then I transferred to Albert Lea, Minnesota, middle of April of ’88. I was there until the ‘90s. Then I transferred to Appleton, Wisconsin, Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and then back to Mankato in ’95.”
At that time she oversaw what was Cine 2 at University Square, Mall 4 (now Mankato Cinema 4) and Cine 3 in New Ulm. It’s then she began training employees who became general managers elsewhere. Training is still one of her favorite parts of the job. “Still getting to work with employees and then watching where their future goes.”
Another favorite part of her job is getting to know movie-goers. “I have a lot of customers that are from the other location, from up on the hill, and they’re coming down now, so I can still get to see a lot of them.”
Young people don’t necessarily have the experience in customer service, she said. Mehlhoff teaches as much by example, Menne said.
It’s been many years since she worked with her, but he remembers some things clearly: “She knew what to expect, and she handled anything that that came up to her. She was totally prepared,” he said.
Those skills will be important because she said people are starting to make movie-going a bigger part of their social lives again following the pandemic.
People are realizing that while they can stay home and stream a movie, going out with a family or a group — often having a meal or drink together before or after the show — is getting to be fun again after staying home during COVID.
“I think the whole social part is coming back,” Mehlhoff said.
Improved technology where employees don’t need to spool 35mm prints onto spools helps, too. Today, Spotlight corporate — based in Georgia and with other theaters in Venice, Florida — books the movies that are delivered either by satellite or on hard drives where film files are transferred onto local projectors.
Her theater sometimes gets movies after a couple of weeks in other locations. Small films also find their way to Mankato Cinema 4, giving those who want a change from super heroes and sequels a comfortable place to watch engaging films in a place that isn’t their living room.
And their Flashback Cinema series brings award-winning older films such as “Casablanca” and more recent hits like “Interstellar” back to the big screen for the same cost as current films. Nostalgia is always showing.
And Mehlhoff enjoys offering a less-expensive movie-watching experience. Regular adult tickets are less than $6, with discount Tuesdays being under $3; the most expensive popcorn is $8 plus tax. But you get a free refill on large popcorn and soda on same-day visits, she said.
If you’re coming soon to Cinema 4 near you, you can continue to expect to see Mehlhoff there to greet you and sell you a ticket or concessions. And if you come on a Sunday, you may even find her repairing a seat in one of the auditoriums.
But the variety of her tasks is one of the aspects she still enjoys.