Anjee’s visits are very laid back: I work during the day and she either hangs out at the apartment or goes off and does her own thing. After all, she is an adult and can take care of herself. She cooks for me or eat out or order in. Our evenings are spent watching tv while we’re on our laptops.
Weekends are a little more active: visiting relatives, shopping, and of course, movies. We started this last summer and have continued this summer, choosing a movie each weekend, hitting several different theaters. What have we seen so far this summer?
We started with something truly ridiculous: Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. I read a review of this film before we went and the critic slammed it for not going far enough to give an anti-slavery message. Really? If you go to a movie like this, I doubt that you’re looking for a message. You read the title and know what you’re getting. I’m sure there will be a follow-up with some other historic figure as a Zombie Killer, right? And I’ll see that one as well.
Next was Moonrise Kingdom. This was a sort of “filler movie.” There was nothing big starting that week, at least nothing that was in our plans for the summer, so we chose this. Nice surprise here, since it was quirky and fun and possibly will win itself some awards.
The Amazing Spider-Man. This one was definitely on the list. Again, you go into it knowing what to expect. I enjoyed it and hated it all at the same time. It’s that height-thing again, even when watching a movie. Considering that this guy spends his timing leaping off buildings and catching himself from falling at the last minute? Yeah, uncomfortable.
Last week we decided to go with one that looked at least entertaining and was opening that weekend: Savages. We saw it in an almost-empty theater and it was easy to see why. It was a diversion. This one would go directly to USA-network but by the time the mandatory cuts were made to clean it up for television, it’ll only be 20-30 minutes long.
This week is the BIG ONE, the one we’ve been planning for: The Dark Knight Rises. Anjee went to see it with a friend yesterday but will go again today, since we have IMAX tickets for 3:15. She assures me that she’s fine with going again — and that this may not be the last time. Of course, it’s possible that she’s biased since this one was filmed in Pittsburgh (one of her favorite places) and that she was invited to be a part of the football scene but passed on the opportunity.
Yeah, the experience is a little marred already, due to the shootings in the Colorado premier. I wish that someone had read the signs, had realized that the guy responsible wasn’t quite living in reality. Sure, I live in a fantasy world at times — anyone who reads or writes books does that. But to go off the deep end like that? It doesn’t make sense to me that no one suspected anything. I guess there are better actors off-screen than on, because the neighbors always say, “He was such a normal nice guy.”
Rant over.
On to the purpose of this entry. . .
Nowadays we have plenty of choices of where to go for movies — at least, we do where I live. Back in Juniata County we had less choices, but around here, we do an internet search of what we want to see and choose the theater by the time that’s convenient to us.
When I was growing up, we had two choices: go to a drive-in or to Elks. Yes, we could have gone to Harrisburg, but that meant driving and if someone was going to drive, that meant a drive-in (or at least it did in my family).
I don’t remember exactly where we went to the drive-in: there were several options at that time and if you had a car, a little further didn’t really matter. We’d pile into the car, taking snacks and blankets with us, pay the admission at the entrance, and then choose our parking spot. The screen was huge, of course, with all of the action bigger than life. The sound was provided by in-car speakers.
Yep, “in-car” meaning that you pulled up next to one of these posts, hooked the speaker on your car window, and waited for the movies to start. Movies. Plural. I don’t remember ever going to just one movie at the drive-in. The first one was always kid-friendly; the second was geared more to adults. No, not porn — just adult-type that didn’t interest kids. We’d sit in the car, usually crowded into the front seat, my dad, my mom, Donnie, and me, eating the snacks we had brought and watching a kid flick, usually Disney.
After the first movie, Donnie and I had pretty much had our fill. The films didn’t start until dusk, so we’d already put in a full day of play, so we were tired. We’d migrate to the back seat, where our blankets and pillows awaited us, and promise ourselves that this time we’d stay awake and see what the grown-ups were watching. We might make it five minutes or so, but then it was off to dreamland while the parents watched a western or a historic action-drama or maybe even a slasher film like Psycho. Who knows? I slept through it and usually stirred a little when the car started, realizing that once again I’d seen only the kiddie film.
Our other option was The Elks. This was the local theater, located on Emaus Street, across from what is now the Brownstone Cafe. It’s still there and still looks basically the same.
While looking for photos I discovered that it’s now run by a high school classmate. For a while, when I was in high school, it was operated by my junior high math teacher who was also our drama coach through high school, Asher Halbleib. Before that, I don’t know who owned it, but I do know who took the tickets at the entrance: Pap-pap.
Yep, my grandfather, my mother’s father, had a second job here. Each evening he’d head off to the theater where he’d stand just inside the door — the only door of the four in the front that was unlocked to the outside — and take the tickets that people had purchased at the booth in the front. Ok, he’d take the tickets from everyone except those special people who could get in free: his family. I remember a few visits on my own, but most of my memories of Elks while my grandfather was working there were with one of my aunts, a few times with Aunt Goldie (I think) but more often with Aunt Kaye.
No Disney for us — at least not most of time. I imagine that every now and then my aunts were prevailed upon to take me to a kid’s movie, but that wasn’t the norm.
We went to a lot of beach movies.
Those had to be ok, right? After all, they all starred Frankie Avalon, who was from Philadelphia, right in our own state, and Annette Funicello who was a Mouseketeer, and undoubtedly dedicated to clean living.
Musicals were fun.
And we ended up singing all of the songs afterward. They became staples in junior high and high school chorus.
We also went to every Elvis Presley movie that ever hit the screen.
Thin Elvis, that is. We also eagerly devoured any information about him in magazines. As an avid reader, I picked up everything that anyone around me was reading, which included fan magazines and True Confessions.
I don’t remember the first movie I saw without my aunts accompanying me, but I do remember the experience. I went with two friends — no idea who they were, though I remember leaving my house and instead of going straight down Spring Street, I went along Water to Catherine and then down. Apparently my friends lived in that general direction. As we were walking down Catherine Street, very near the then Liberty Firehouse (when it was still a fire company, not the Middletown library), we compared notes. One friend had a quarter and a nickel, the other a quarter and a dime. Me? My mom had given me a whole quarter! My friends were sympathetic, saying that they’d share their snacks with me. I didn’t quite understand that, since I knew I had plenty of money. Of course, after they purchased their tickets and I breezed past with a “Hi, Pap-pap!” guess who had more to spend?
I did have a moment of regret, regret that I didn’t have a ticket stub like everyone else. While today we arrive to watch advertisements and twenty minutes worth of previews, in those days it was different. Going to the movies meant more than just a film. We were always treated to cartoons and “shorts,” as well as “Coming Attractions!” Between these shorter offerings and main attraction, the manager of the theater (not my grandfather) mounted the stairs to the stage (which I am told was once used for vaudeville acts) and stood in front of the large screen with a hat full of ticket halves. He chose one or two of those for special prizes — free admission the next weekend, free candy or popcorn. Everyone else sat on the edges of their red velvet-covered seats, hoping that their number would be called, while I wished that I could be part of that anticipation.
I continued attending movies there when I was older. I can remember a few “dates” there — times when a group of girls went to meet a group of boys — but mostly went with just groups of girls. The movie that stands out the most in my mind?
No matter how risque films eventually became or how much older I grew, I guess I was still a hopeless romantic.
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