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Movie Theatre memories

Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 02:57 AM

ColJames thread inspired me to ask this question.

What's the earliest film you remember seeing at the movie theatre?

For me that would be Star Wars. I was 4.
Posted By: piper

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 03:07 AM

M.A.S.H.

Was too young to know what they were talking about when the shower curtains came down to see if she was a true blonde. :-)
Posted By: Bearcat99

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 03:18 AM

For me it was Gogo .... I was 6.



I cried in the end when Gorgo's mother came to get him.. At the time I was living in Pa with my grandparents.. and I am sure theree was some psychological thing going on there with hindsight but when that boy said "There they go... back.. back to the sea..." I started blubbering... but then I cried when Old Yeller died too.. I saw that in the local theater in the Bronx some years later.. around 64 or so.. I think the move was made before that but back then they used to recycle films.
Posted By: Tarnsman

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 03:57 AM

MASH
Way to young to know what was going on, my parents expected me to fall asleep. But when I saw it again years later, I remembered a fair bit of it.
Posted By: knightgames

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 04:31 AM

My parents would go to the drive in on Friday night - expecting us kids to fall asleep after the cartoons and shorts. I didn't sleep well in the back of the Rambler wagon so I saw Goldfinger. Was too young to know what I was watching thus I fell asleep after a half hour.

The first movie I remember going specifically for the kids and not date night with Mom n Dad was Fantasia.... or Bambi. Just not sure which was shown first. As BC mentioned they recycled movies back then.
Posted By: Vertigo1

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 05:39 AM

Star Wars at a drive-in theater in the back of a station wagon (estate).
Posted By: Raw Kryptonite

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 06:21 AM

The first ones I saw were Disney. "Gus" the football playing mule was one. I think Benji too.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo was an early one, before SW I think. That movie helped get me hooked on cars, it had a great selection! I still love that one. LOL

The movies that stand out from when I was a kid:
Star Wars, Empire and ROTJ...but SW and Empire more than anything.
Star Trek TMP
Dune
The Right Stuff
Top Gun
Pale Rider


The first movie that had my parents questioning their judgment: The Cannonball Run. Boobs and cars! Pretty much perfect, and again, inspired my interests to this day.
thumbsup
Posted By: mugwump

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 07:16 AM

I don't really remember the first film I saw in the theatre but I do still fondly recall our local cinema. I grew up in a small, rural town in BC and we had only one cinema which would show releases 1-2 months after they came out in major urban areas. It was still an awesome theatre though. It had three tiers and a balcony with lush (stained) velour seats. 1970s era luxury!

We also had one of the last drive-ins in the province. After seeing Star Wars, I was convinced I was a 7 year old Sci-Fi connoisseur. When I was 9, I remember pestering my dad to take me and my friends to the drive-in for a sci-fi triple feature. They were showing Heavy Metal, Ralph Bakshi's Wizards, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I came out one very confused 9 year old....
Posted By: knightgames

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 08:19 AM

Originally Posted By: Raw Kryptonite
The first ones I saw were Disney. "Gus" the football playing mule was one. I think Benji too.
Herbie Goes to Monte Carlo was an early one, before SW I think. That movie helped get me hooked on cars, it had a great selection! I still love that one. LOL

The movies that stand out from when I was a kid:
Star Wars, Empire and ROTJ...but SW and Empire more than anything.
Star Trek TMP
Dune
The Right Stuff
Top Gun
Pale Rider


The first movie that had my parents questioning their judgment: The Cannonball Run. Boobs and cars! Pretty much perfect, and again, inspired my interests to this day.
thumbsup



You're not a proctologist are you?
Posted By: ColJamesD

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 08:54 AM

Bambi sometimes in the late 60s.

I remember because I cried the entire time being in that dark Rome movie theater with a baby deer on the screen.
Posted By: Zero Niner

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 09:24 AM

The only one I can recall is some Dracula movie starring Christopher Lee as the titular character; it was one of quite a number made I think. This one was not at all similar to the Bram Stoker novel, so I suppose it was a derivative.
Posted By: Chucky

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 10:35 AM

Originally Posted By: ColJamesD
Bambi sometimes in the late 60s.



Pretty sure that was my first recollection too.
Posted By: ColJamesD

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 11:35 AM

Originally Posted By: Chucky
Originally Posted By: ColJamesD
Bambi sometimes in the late 60s.



Pretty sure that was my first recollection too.


...and also Fantasia at the movie theater sometimes around that same time...

I remember the movie scared me and I had nightmares because of it.
Posted By: Chucky

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 12:03 PM

Never saw Fantasia.
Dumbo,Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were also early cinema memories.

We used to have something called 'Saturday Morning Cinema'.It was really cheap and a good excuse for Mum to get rid of the 4 of us for a morning.

We had cartoons,some documentaries and usually something by the Children's Film Foundation.Happy days yep
Posted By: Clydewinder

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 12:14 PM

The earliest one I can remember is my dad taking me to see Godzilla vs Megalon in Iowa City in 1976 - I was 5 years old and loved it.

Posted By: Mace71

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 12:44 PM

Ah yes I remember taking this one girl to the cinema, back row, she had really big ti...... Oh mEmories!! winkngrin
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 12:53 PM

Originally Posted By: MaceUK33
Ah yes I remember taking this one girl to the cinema, back row, she had really big ti...... Oh mEmories!! winkngrin


My guess is that you don't even remember which movie you saw that night. biggrin
Posted By: UnderTheRadar

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 12:58 PM

1977

6th Birthday

Star Wars at a Drive In

I was not really paying attention until the X-Wing took the screen. I have been in love ever since. I gave birth to my love of planes which gave birth to my love of simulations (which is how I met my wife) which gave birth to my love of computers which gave birth to my love of networking and now I have a career smile
Posted By: Magnum

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:06 PM

I can't recall if I went to any earlier ones... but I do remember 3...

The first one I ever saw with my Dad, was Strips and my mom made him promise to make me turn my head on nudity scenes, and I was like 14 or so, lol... he never made me.

The second was Pink Floyd The Wall, where I took some illegal drugs, spiked pot I believe and frecked out, Yelling "I can't breath" over and over, and my friends had to drag me out with a panic attack.

and finally the 3rd I remember is Cheech and Chong at the Drive In, would load up 3 to 5 friends in the trunk of my friends 67 Mustang, he would drive through and pay for one person, then we all jumped out once inside... we did this every weekend for almost a year.

Good Times.
Posted By: letterboy1

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:19 PM

The Enforcer with Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. Saw it at the AAFES theater in Mannheim, Germany with my parents. Years later when we returned to live at that Army installation again, I saw movies like E.T. and The Empire Strikes Back in that theater. Oh, and The Wrath of Khan five days in a row because I loved it so much.
Posted By: Stormtrooper

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:23 PM

The only one i can recall is Star Wars and I was 7 at the time. Could have been one before this perhaps the only reason i remember is the long line/wait time. .
Posted By: RogueSqdn

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:38 PM

E.T. in the theater... I was three. My grandpa took me and he's 99 now, a WWII Navy vet, gunner on an SBD-6.

The first movie I remember seeing though was The Empire Strikes Back. Not sure on the timing, but it was probably on VHS as I was born in 1979 and it came out in 1980. The other early theater memories were Return of the Jedi (I I had EWOK PAJAMAS) and Top Gun.

My dad on the couch, me in Ewok pajamas with a Transformers gun (Shockwave) and He-Man figures on the floor. I think Skeletor's castle is behind me. I also remember having the Ewok village playset. biggrin


Posted By: Cold_Flying

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:47 PM

I remember seeing "True Grit" with my father and brothers in Tampa, that would have been in 1969.

Next to that was Diamonds are Forever at the drive-in in 1971, me and my best friend lying on the roof of his dad's station wagon.

How times flies. sigh
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 01:58 PM

I get chills every time I hear the main theme for "Diamonds Are Forever". What an incredible voice from Shirley Bassey!
Posted By: gallycadet

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 03:34 PM

Aliens, age 2. My parents had home video to prove it. I was being a hyperactive nitwit, that movie came on and I immediately plopped down in front of the TV and wouldn't move. Still to this day my favorite movie of all time.
Posted By: Raw Kryptonite

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 06:32 PM

Originally Posted By: knightgames
You're not a proctologist are you?



I went around flipping people off after that, not knowing what that meant, the gesture or the proctologist bit, just thinking it was funny. My mom freaked. LOL
Posted By: Cold_Flying

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 08:59 PM

Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
I get chills every time I hear the main theme for "Diamonds Are Forever". What an incredible voice from Shirley Bassey!


I hear ya.

Now hear her. biggrin



And of course...
Posted By: jocko-

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 09:35 PM

Nice jammies Rogue smile

I saw Star Wars when I was 8 in the theatre, don't remember my "first" movie but it was probably at a Drive-In. I am told by my folks that I woke up during the horse head scene in Godfather and asked what was going on, my mother, in true '70's mom style, tenderly told me to "lie the hell back down and go back to sleep!!!" smile
Posted By: Bearcat99

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 09:59 PM

Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
I get chills every time I hear the main theme for "Diamonds Are Forever". What an incredible voice from Shirley Bassey!


She did Goldfinger too.. I had the album.. it was the theme music for many a green army men battle in my room... along with the giant GI Joes ala Attack of the 50 Foot Woman wrecking havoc on the lines.. smile
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 11:04 PM

Originally Posted By: jocko-
Nice jammies Rogue smile


I was going to make a comment as well but decided to hold off until someone else broke the ice. biggrin

I never had Star Wars pajamas but I did have a couple of those horrid Star Wars "Underoos".
Posted By: Raw Kryptonite

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/13/13 11:12 PM

I still have ESB sheets my mother found in the attic and gave us. My daughter loves them. Definitely broken in after 30+ years.
If only they were queen size...
Posted By: FrontierProject

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 03:22 AM

The Expendables, I was 18.
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 03:35 AM

Originally Posted By: FrontierProject
The Expendables, I was 18.
You don't remember seeing any films in the theatre before you were 18?
Posted By: FrontierProject

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 03:39 AM

Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Originally Posted By: FrontierProject
The Expendables, I was 18.
You don't remember seeing any films in the theatre before you were 18?


no, that was the first movie I ever watched in theaters, most people find it hard to believe.
Posted By: Raw Kryptonite

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 03:44 AM

And kind of sad! Have you gone back or written the whole experience off?
Posted By: knightgames

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 05:52 AM

Originally Posted By: Raw Kryptonite
Originally Posted By: knightgames
You're not a proctologist are you?



I went around flipping people off after that, not knowing what that meant, the gesture or the proctologist bit, just thinking it was funny. My mom freaked. LOL




Oh gawd!!!!! I laughed..... and yet who would blame you? "In my line of work I rarely need more than this."


I preferred The Gumball Rally, myself, but Cannonball had some funny moments with lotsa great cars.


Posted By: FrontierProject

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 02:18 PM

Originally Posted By: Raw Kryptonite
And kind of sad! Have you gone back or written the whole experience off?


I've been back several times, I love watching movies in theatre, it automatically gives them an extra point or two in my opinion of them. Our local theaters are always pretty empty which I like, the only time I wish there were more people is when a comedy is showing.

One of my biggest problems is like most of you guys I'm very picky with movies, my brother came back from the theatre and was talking about how awesome Olympus Has Fallen was, I was skeptical and waited till he got it later and tried watching it at home. I was basically done at the bit with the AC130 and F22s, however I slogged through that and made it all the way to where the Koreans reach the front door of the white house, what trash. He made the mistake of watching Fast 6 with me, he spent most of the movie glaring at me. hahaha
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 02:22 PM

The Fast and Furious films are beyond absurd. Who knew that simply having the formula of Vin Diesel + fast cars + hot women would be such a huge money maker? Heck, you don't even need a script.
Posted By: December

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/14/13 04:18 PM

I can't remember the first movie I saw in the cinema, but I remember when there used to be two movies. It was good watching a "B" movie in a double feature, sometimes the "B" movie was better.
I don't know how the movie industry shorted us out of a movie, I guess the movies got longer? A 2-3 hour movie instead of 2 one and a half hour movies.
Does anyone know which movie(s) tipped the scales? It must have been some blockbusters.
Posted By: Hyena

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 02:34 PM

Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla
The Land that Time Forgot
Doc Savage
Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 02:48 PM

Originally Posted By: Max Power

Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7

MST3K riffed this one. As always, they did a great job. smile
Posted By: David Kennard

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 04:11 PM

And of course remember coming out of any Bruce Lee / Kung-Fu movie in the 70's and all of us suddenly were black belts doing all the moves as soon as you walk out.

Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 04:26 PM

Here's an interesting stat,

Average movie ticket price in the US in 1980: $2.69

In 2013: $8.16
Posted By: wheelsup_cavu

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 04:30 PM

Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Here's an interesting stat,

Average movie ticket price in the US in 1980: $2.69

In 2013: $8.16

I used to go to the Matinee for $1.00 back then and then complain about spending $5.00 at the concessions stand. biggrin


Wheels
Posted By: knightgames

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 05:29 PM

Originally Posted By: David Kennard
And of course remember coming out of any Bruce Lee / Kung-Fu movie in the 70's and all of us suddenly were black belts doing all the moves as soon as you walk out.




I was with friends when Mad Max came out. This was back in the day when no one batted an eye if you rode in the bed of a pick up truck - which is what we did after seeing the movie. My friend, who was driving, seemed to be pretty excited from the movie and both of us sitting in the bed were almost dispatched from within on several occasions.

I wanted to handcuff him to the frame of the truck and see if he could saw his way through his leg. Damn was I pissed. Never sat in the back again when he was driving. Now a days you can't do that.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 05:38 PM

Originally Posted By: Max Power

Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7



whoa, I've been looking for this film since I was a child. The only thing I could recall about it was a giant spider emerging from the other side of a hill.
Posted By: PanzerMeyer

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 06:10 PM

Originally Posted By: oselisan
Originally Posted By: Max Power

Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7



whoa, I've been looking for this film since I was a child. The only thing I could recall about it was a giant spider emerging from the other side of a hill.

It's available in one of the MST3K boxed sets. I forgot which volume though.
Posted By: Anonymous

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 06:28 PM

Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Originally Posted By: oselisan
Originally Posted By: Max Power

Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7



whoa, I've been looking for this film since I was a child. The only thing I could recall about it was a giant spider emerging from the other side of a hill.

It's available in one of the MST3K boxed sets. I forgot which volume though.


cool! I remember it scaring me also. My quest to revisit and conquer every film that scared me when I was a child is almost complete smile
Posted By: 2GvSAP_Mohawk

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 06:56 PM

Superman with Christopher Reeves in 1978. I was 7 then. I still remember coming home from the theater, wrapping a towel around my neck like a cape and running all over the house with my arms stretched out. rofl
Posted By: wheelsup_cavu

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/15/13 07:17 PM

Originally Posted By: 2GvSAP_Mohawk
Superman with Christopher Reeves in 1978. I was 7 then. I still remember coming home from the theater, wrapping a towel around my neck like a cape and running all over the house with my arms stretched out. rofl

Lol, I did that around that age too but it was long before Superman the movie came out. My Superman experience had to do with the Superfriends cartoon. It all came to an abrupt end after I jumped off the roof in front of my mom. Superman didn't break any bones that day but he was definitely grounded permanently. biggrin


Wheels
Posted By: Legend

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/16/13 01:49 AM

It was either Disney's Jungle Book or a Tintin movie (b/w, with real actors), and it must've been somewhere in 1977. Didn't go to the movies very often as a kid.
Posted By: PV1

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/16/13 08:34 AM

OK, I don't remember if it was my first movie, probably
not, but maybe third or fourth, the previous ones being
kid's stuff at the local theatre, but while still an
extremely small being, while on a visit to the big
city, my parents decided to try to go see a movie in
Vancouver at one of the huge picture palaces on
Granville Street, back in the heyday of cinema, before
tv had gained a foothold. The plan was to see if they
could go to an adult movie with me and my one year older
brother to sit quietly and go to sleep while they watched
(a babysitter was out of the question, as they had no
contacts in the city at that time).

Well, that plan ended in minor disaster, with us leaving
early to minimize distraction to the rest of the audience,
and I recall that I was a major source of the failure,
being highly disturbed that I couldn't follow what the
heck was going on - there was of course no way I was
going to sleep through this adventure, and I was already
developing my nightowl tendencies which have only strengthened
over the decades.

Anyway, I'm afraid I never did know what the movie was,
only that it was in colour, which was a very big thing at
the time, and had a modern setting, mostly people in
rather formal dress sitting around talking in fancy living
rooms. I remember a bright green couch that looked like
it was upholstered in vinyl. (I was probably at an age where
I had been able to talk in full sentences for about a year,
I think.)

What was really interesting was the theatre. Being
from a small town, it was a big enough adventure to take
the ride downtown (long before the era of seatbelts, my
brother and I would be in the back seat of our '50 Pontiac
sedan, standing on the front edge of the rear seat with
our chins resting on the top of the back of the front
bench seats, so we could watch the world go by as our parents
sat in the front). Multi-lane streets, traffic lights, and
especially the immense kilowattage expended on the neon
of "Theatre Row" (which was one of the most brightly lit
strips on the continent at the time, due in part to the
cheap hydro rates, but I just assumed all big cities were
like this) were all part of the amazement that rendered
our eyes as big as saucers.

When we arrived and parked (wow, parking meters, more
wondrous novelty), we walked to the theatre (sorry I
don't know which one, there were about ten possibilities,
but I would guess it was one of the biggest), we entered
the foyer, I remember there was gilt and maroon velvet
everywhere, and climbed carpetted steps to be greeted by
four or five young women in matching outrageously extravagant
evening dresses, with floor length gossamer wrappings draped
the length of their arms, each carrying a flashlight in each
hand, and all performing in unison a choreographed sweeping
"dance" which pointed our way to the seats with the beam of
the flashlights. From there we climbed one of a pair of great
sweeping staircases, up, then down into the theatre proper
to take our seats. The flashlights were hardly necessary as
the rooms were illuminated by gigantic chandeliers.

Did they do this every night? I have no idea. Maybe it was
a premiere.
Posted By: JAMF

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/19/13 11:25 PM

Peter Pan in a French open air theatre, during a camping holiday. That was my first movie. I don't remember much of it, as I was probably only 6 or 7 years old in '78. I only remember white walls around it and a starry night.

[EDIT] After checking with parents, it was in '75, so I wasn't 5 yet.
Posted By: Li'lJugs

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/20/13 12:16 AM

I don't remember if this was the first movie I ever saw in a theatre, but it is surely the one that springs to mind: The Creature from the Black Lagoon.

I must have been 5 or 6 years old at the time, and it was so scary (to me, anyway) that I moved my seat so that I could sit next to an adult. This was back in the days when we were told to never take candy from a stranger, but where I lived strangers weren't in the habit of giving out candy, so it was kind of moot advice.
Posted By: Hyena

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/21/13 03:36 PM

Originally Posted By: oselisan
Originally Posted By: PanzerMeyer
Originally Posted By: oselisan
Originally Posted By: Max Power

Giant Spider invasion <-- That scared me, I think I was about 7



whoa, I've been looking for this film since I was a child. The only thing I could recall about it was a giant spider emerging from the other side of a hill.

It's available in one of the MST3K boxed sets. I forgot which volume though.


cool! I remember it scaring me also. My quest to revisit and conquer every film that scared me when I was a child is almost complete smile


Also the first time I saw boobies. Ooh that would make a good thread.
Posted By: Weasel_Keeper

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/21/13 05:24 PM

My first theater movie...in 1972 my dad took me to see Bruce Lee in "Return of the Dragon". I was 5 years old...in an R rated movie. smile My ninja/karate skills were in high gear after that! smile

***edit***

HA! I missed David Kennard's post above...lol!

Posted By: NavyNuke99

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/21/13 05:49 PM

Wow. Showing myself as one of the younger guys here, the first movie I remember seeing at the theater was the Transformers movie- the animated one with Orson Wells. I had nightmares for a month about Unicron's disembodied head flying through space. First movie I remember with boobs was most definitely "Disorderlies" with the Fat Boys. Saw that one on HBO at a friends house.
Posted By: Charlie_SB

Re: Movie Theatre memories - 10/21/13 09:11 PM

I remember my Dad cutting in line for Top Gun and us getting the last three tickets. My Dad had to stand up the whole movie and I sat by myself somewhere. It still is the greatest movie experience I ever had and I went three more times the following weeks. I still know just about every line in that movie and if it's on tv I usually see it. I just love that movie no matter how corny it is. The opening sequence of the tomcats launching is terrific ... I even like the soundtrack.

-C-
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