Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: The first movie you ever watched in a cinema

This is topic The first movie you ever watched in a cinema in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

To visit this topic, use this URL:
https://ft-forum.com/ft/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=8;t=002811

Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 12-28-2003, 02:12 AM:

Do you remember which one it was? Mine was The Island at the Top of the World. I bought it on DVD, and I am going to watch it now - 29 years after I first saw it in a movie theatre.

Posted by Richard Greco (Member # 2032) on 12-28-2003, 02:21 AM:

My earliest memory of a film in a theatre was: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096895/

Posted by Stephen Furley (Member # 1277) on 12-28-2003, 04:21 AM:

Disney's 'The Sword in the Stone' in 1963, aged six. The film was ok, but I wanted to see where it came from, and pestered mother to pester one of the staff to get me up to the box. This was agreed to, and I remember being surprised, and rather frightened when I was led up lots of narrow, winding iron steps, wery different to the public areas of the cinema, out onto the roof, in the rain! I clearly remember the unpainted wooden doors, with large red and white enamel 'NO SMOKING' signs on them. I had expected a room with two projectors in, knew there were two, because I had seen the beam move from one port to another during the show, but there were lots of doors leading off a passageway, open to the weather at both ends, very strange, I thought, knowing nothing of early sound era cinema design, nor the requirements of the Cinematograph Act of 1909!

I can't remember where this was, there were lots of lcal cinemas then, but I do remember seeing the Letters 'BTH' on the projectors, making it almost certainly an Odeon. The lamps were Kalee gold colour, probably Presidents, and probably dating from the conversion to 'scope, so would have still been quite new then, and there were funny-shaped lens things the same colour on the front, but not in use, that made things go odd shapes when you looked through them. I'd never seen a Varamorph before either. This was almost exactly the same set-up, that our friend from Faversham was runing until a couple of years ago; how many DLP systems will have a working life of over sixty years? There was also an ancient slide lantern and spot, but I think these were long out of use, even then.

After a lengthly tour of projection box, rewind room, dimmer room, rectifier room, workshop, film vault which was also disused, but still had a few rusty cans, I wonder what was in them, I was allowed to strike the arc, and sart one of the machines.

There was somethng else odd then, a typical programme would have adverts, trailers, newsreel (I think these were still being shown regularly, not just for special events), some sort of short (Odeon used to run 'Look at Life') and the feature, but there were no separate shows, the programme ran continuously, and some people would come and go at any time, maybe arriving at some point during the feature, and leaving when that point came round again! Was this a peculiar British thing, or did it happen elsewhere?

Something else odd was that the programme would normally change weekly, but not all of London would get it at the same time. North London would get it one week, South London the next. Previously, there had been three areas, North West, North East and South. Living in the South, you could see a film a week before all the other locals if you took a trip North, which we sometimes did. Of course, this also meant that we never saw a new print in the South, but they always seemed to be in perfect condition.

Posted by Carl Martin (Member # 1146) on 12-28-2003, 05:35 AM:

my first was pinocchio.

some other early ones:
101 dalmatians,
empire strikes back,
star wars (some early rerelease),
rustlers' rhapsody, double feature with...
care bears movie,
sweet liberty,
star trek iv (this is the first one i can say where i saw it)
fantasia

i'm sure i saw several in the years between sw and rr, but that's all that springs to mind. i never really got into film until my last year at college.

carl

Posted by Hugh McCullough (Member # 1542) on 12-28-2003, 07:11 AM:

'Snow White' when I was about three years old at a cinema in Belfast. I remember the wicked Queen scaring the daylights out of me. Still does actually.
I believe that when this film was first released in Britain the censors gave it an 'A' certificate. This meant that you could not see it if you were under 16 years of age unless accompanied by an adult. It was subsequently cut to enable it to receive a 'U' certifcate suitable for all ages.
Stephen Says

quote:
the programme ran continuously, and some people would come and go at any time, maybe arriving at some point during the feature, and leaving when that point came round again!

This enabled us kids to see the film more than once unless we were kicked out by the floor staff. Not that I would ever have done such as thing.

Posted by Roger Katz (Member # 1625) on 12-28-2003, 07:30 AM:

My first movie in a cinema was The Fox & The Hound. I saw it at the Avon Twin Theatres in Avon, CT. Based on the date it was released I must've been nearly 5-years-old at the time.

Posted by Bruce McGee (Member # 131) on 12-28-2003, 08:10 AM:

Mary Poppins in 1964. I was 8, and took my 4 year old sister to see it. This was the last film to play at the Plaza Theatre before the BIG remodel before the release of The Sound Of Music in 1965.

The 'old' Plaza was very ornate and gothic looking. The 'new and improved' Plaza had lime green drapes everywhere. Also, no more pipe organ. Not that I ever heard it being played, anyway.

I must have done a good job with looking after my sister. Mom never took us to movies after that time. Later, I was in charge of both sisters. Never lost one, either.

Posted by Jeff Stricker (Member # 224) on 12-28-2003, 09:18 AM:

"Snow White" sometime in the early 50's.

Posted by Evans A Criswell (Member # 381) on 12-28-2003, 09:22 AM:

"E.T." - West Theatre - Cedartown, GA, Summer 1982

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-28-2003, 09:45 AM:

"Wonderful World OF The Brothers Grim"
For what ever reason I remember asking my dad what those funny lines were to the sides of the picture. I saw the scope version, not the Cinerama Presentation but distinctly remember to this day the join lines in the image.

Mark

Posted by Richard Fowler (Member # 893) on 12-28-2003, 10:15 AM:

"The Wild One" with motorcycle gang film with Marlon Brando at our neighborhood second run house in 1955. I had a forward thinking mother who also fed me a quota of 1950's Disney fare for emotional balance [Cool]

Posted by Mitchell Dvoskin (Member # 751) on 12-28-2003, 10:50 AM:

My earliest memory of seeing a movie in a theatre is The Ten Commandments. I remembered both the film and the interior theatre decor. Many years later, as an adult, I walked into the Clairidge Theatre in Montclair NJ (when it was still intact as a single), and was hit with an incredible sense of deja vu, and realized that this was where I had seen my first movie.

My favorite childhood theatre memory was when my father took me into New York City to see How The West Was Won in Cinerama.

/Mitchell

Posted by Darryl Spicer (Member # 711) on 12-28-2003, 10:58 AM:

True Grit I was 7 0r 8 years old.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 12-28-2003, 11:37 AM:

My mom loves to tell this story...
I can barely remember it and only vaguely.
War of the Worlds.
I sat on my moms lap at the Everett Theater. When the serpent like death ray cobra head thing came out of the "meteor", I began yelling "I gotta get outta here, I gotta get outta here". Guess it brought down the house.

Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 12-28-2003, 12:03 PM:

Summer of 1944 a Red Ryder with Little Beaver Cowboy movie in a theatre in Grenada, Miss., where my father was stationed during WWII. I remember liking the film and went every weekend for the Saturday matinee.

Posted by Ian Price (Member # 14) on 12-28-2003, 12:51 PM:

It was either Dumbo at Radio City Music Hall or Camalot at the Cooper Theatre in Denver.

1968 would put me at about 6-years-old.

Posted by John T. Hendrickson, Jr (Member # 849) on 12-28-2003, 01:00 PM:

Rhubarb (1951) at the Carlton Theatre, now renamed the Count Basie Theatre, where I recently helped with the restoration of film. What goes around, comes around, as the saying goes. [Smile]

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 12-28-2003, 01:01 PM:

Too many to remember, but my first clear memory of seeing a film in a theater would be Fantasia at Graumann's Chinese in Hollywood (or was it Mutiny on the Bounty at the Vogue? [Smile]

). We lived in Laurel Canyon at the time, so this had to be sometime around 1961-63, which would put me around 6-8 years old.

Do drive-in's count? Again, too many to remember but West Side Story at the Gilmore in Hollywood, and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea at the Olympic in Santa Monica come to mind.

Posted by Steve Guttag (Member # 268) on 12-28-2003, 02:23 PM:

I wanna say it was THE JUNGLE BOOK in or around 1967.

Steve

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-28-2003, 02:25 PM:

Paul, yes! Drive-ins! My early drive-in memories include:

"Munster, Go Home" at the Hi-Way d/i, Mt. Sterling, KY
At my hometown Sky-Vue d/i, Winchester, KY:
"Support Your Local Sheriff"
"Navy vs. the Night Monsters"
"The Cheyenne Social Club"
"Fantastic Voyage"
"Planet of the Apes"
"The Flim-Flam Man"
"Corruption" (Yes, the Peter Cushing Brit horror film.) at the Circle 25 d/i, Lexington, KY

Guess my first indoor movie would have been a Disney... maybe The Jungle Book, Bambi, or 101 Dalmatians, at the Leeds Theatre (or the Town Hall Theatre), Winchester, KY. Whichever was re-released about 65 or 66. Could've been "Million Dollar Duck", too. Whichever's the earliest, I don't know. A lot of that runs together in my mind from back then.

One thing I do know for sure, I saw my first movies in drive-ins.

Posted by John McConnel (Member # 2000) on 12-28-2003, 02:36 PM:

My first film was EASTER PARADE, at the John Eberson-designed Midwest, in downtown Oklahoma City. It was a good film, and a great theatre.

Posted by Dennis Benjamin (Member # 1137) on 12-28-2003, 03:11 PM:

I don't remember the first one. I remember the three places I went to see movies at when I was a child:

Mariemont Twin on the east side Of Cincinnati, OH
Highway 28 Drive-In in Goshen, OH
Showcase Eastgate, outside of Batavia, Ohio

Between those three places I saw almost every kid's movie that came out between 1976 and 1988.

Stand-Outs include: Popeye, Superman, Star Wars, and anything Disney.

Posted by Greg Mueller (Member # 17) on 12-28-2003, 03:26 PM:

Oooohhh drive ins
Everett Motor Movie
Godzilla with Teenagers from Outer Space.
In my pajamas in my folks back seat hiding my face

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-28-2003, 04:02 PM:

There are 3 that are still vivid in my mind. "Invaders From Mars", "The Blob", and "Earth Vs. The Flying Saucers" being my "1st time." [Wink]

I had nightmares for months after seeing each one of those. YIKES!

Pretty cheesey by today's crap, but to a 8 - 12 y/o back then .... [Big Grin]

>>> Phil

Posted by Ron Lacheur (Member # 1126) on 12-28-2003, 04:28 PM:

There was a Bambi re-release in the mid-late 80's which was the first movie I saw in theaters.

The one I really remember was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in 1990 @ Cineplex Odeon Scott 72 cinemas ( now demolished )

Posted by Tim Reed (Member # 137) on 12-28-2003, 04:31 PM:

Phil, not at all. "Earth vs the Flying Saucers" used to scare the hell out of me when I was that age, too. So did "War of the Worlds"

Still does.

Posted by Manny Knowles (Member # 1171) on 12-28-2003, 04:52 PM:

I don't actually know the name of the first movie I saw. I remember it being a monster movie -- I want to say they were looking for Bigfoot but, really, I don't know.

I saw a movie every Saturday and for a long time I never knew what I was seeing. It was just whatever kiddie show they were running that weekend. Cartoons, Three Stooges and a movie.

The first one I ever watched where I knew the name of the movie was "The Sound of Music" but that is by no means the first movie I ever saw.

Most impressionable movie experiences --

"Jaws" -- the movie made me look away from the screen. I decided to turn around and that's when I saw about 800 frightened faces, some of them screaming. Seeing *that* was more terrifying but that's when I started wanting to make movies.

"Superman: The Movie" -- The first movie that I ever haunted. I went to see that movie every day for about two weeks. That movie fascinated me because the effects didn't look like effects. Very natural flight scenes. Mesmerizing.

"The Empire Strikes Back" -- Before this movie, I never had any information about how movies were made but about a month before its release I read a magazine article about the special effects in this movie and when I finally saw them, I was hooked. Visual effects became a hobby of mine and I haven't lost interest yet.

"Jumpin' Jack Flash" -- First movie I ever saw in a U.S. multiplex. Also the first movie I ever heard in )))Stereo(((

"Willow" -- First 70mm presentation I ever saw.

"The Doors" -- First movie I ever saw with my glasses on -- I actually cried when I realized that I hadn't truly seen all those movies I had watched prior to this.

"Bram Stoker's Dracula" -- First movie I saw in a THX theatre (I think) -- Mann's Chinese in Hollywood.

"Jurassic Park" -- First with digital sound.

Posted by Don Furr (Member # 1469) on 12-28-2003, 05:41 PM:

My folks would always drag us kid to the State Drive-In (Columbus Ms.) during the 50's. Like Phil I remember The Blob back in '58. Most of the drive-in visits I would stand and look down into the projector booth watching the operator thread, replace carbons and do change overs. Go figure!!

Don

Posted by Paul Linfesty (Member # 214) on 12-28-2003, 08:04 PM:

My first movie memory was seeing a submarine go across a drive-in screen (in black and white). That was the only memory I have from the film which my parents said was probably SINK THE BISMARK.

The first walk-in was probably 101 DALMATIONS I saw at the Fox California theatre in Bakersfield, CA.

Posted by Mike Blakesley (Member # 26) on 12-28-2003, 09:10 PM:

The first one I remember was "The Sound of Music." I went to the movie with my family one night, and my dad let me go back again the next night because the owners were friends of our family. The owner (the late great Don Herndon) let me come up to the booth with him where I stayed the whole evening. It must have made an impression on me because I'm still haunting the exact same booth almost 30 years later! [Smile]

The first movie I saw with digital sound was a trade screening of "Batman Returns" at some theatre in Salt Lake City.

The first (and so far, only) movie I saw in "digital cinema" was "Shrek," at the AMC Pleasure Island 24 in Disney World.

Posted by Bill Carter (Member # 156) on 12-28-2003, 09:41 PM:

The first indoor movie I saw was Disney's "Jungle Book" in 1968 (age 3) at the Radford Theater, in Radford, Virginia. I don't have any specific memories of watching the movie, but I can still vividly recall trying to see through the port into the booth, to see what the guy up there was doing to "make the movie".

Around that same time, the folks starting taking me along on their frequent trips to the Drive-In. My actual "first" movie would have likely been there, but nobody in the family remembers what it was. I do remember the first movie I asked to go see... a 1973 double-bill of "The Legend of Boggy Creek" and "Swamp Girl" at the old Autodrome Drive-In in Radford.

I had extremely vivid memories of both movies, which I convinced myself must be faulty after so many years. I was certain I must have mixed several movies together in my memory. But, when I finally saw them again on video more than 20 years later, I had remembered them exactly. It was pretty scary. I can remember stuff I saw back then almost scene-for-scene, and sometimes I have trouble recalling something I ran here last month!

Posted by Rachel Gilardi (Member # 1016) on 12-28-2003, 09:48 PM:

I don't think it was actually the first, but more like the first I remember.

The Little Mermaid, at the Loews theater in Danvers, MA on Hutchinson Drive - which is now Hollywood Hits, where I used to work.

Posted by John Lasher (Member # 968) on 12-28-2003, 10:19 PM:

First movie I ever saw in a theater was Disney's "Snow White" back in 1986 or 87 when they were still swearing they would never release it on video (I believe they have since released it on video 3 times)

I can even tell you that it was showing at the local 2-screen dollar theater (which has since burned down and the space is now occupied by a garage)

Some other early ones were:
Peter Pan (Dollar Theater)
An American Tale
The Land Before Time (Concord Mall AMC 2)
The Little Mermaid
101 Dalmations (I took my then-girlfriend to see this one for my 5th birthday)

But Snow White was really the one that made the connection. Made me realize that I wanted to do something somehow related to the movies. Here I am about to start making my next movie (real actors and a real script this time, so...)

Posted by Robb Johnston (Member # 239) on 12-28-2003, 11:46 PM:

I don't remember the first film I was taken to, but it was Star Wars suring the original run, and I was a bout 3 and a half. Apparently I thought the "robots" were the coolest things ever and when the little guys in the brown robes killed the short one, I lost it. My mom took me into the hall until I calmed down and I slept through the rest.

The first film I remember seeing was the Muppet movie.

I couldn't tell you what theatre I saw either at, but my best guess would have been the Sam Eric MacDade Mall theatre, which eventually became a Regal, who closed it this last fall since they don't have any 4 plexes in their business model.

Posted by Mike Heenan (Member # 392) on 12-29-2003, 12:35 AM:

I think the first movie I saw was either Jungle Book or something that was paired up with it, I remember it being a double feature and we saw one. My first vivid memory in a theater was seeing European Vacation.

Posted by Emma Tomiak (Member # 1862) on 12-29-2003, 12:36 AM:

The first movie I remember seeing was Bambi at the Grand Prairie Cinemark 16. [Smile]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-29-2003, 01:34 AM:

Rach! Welcome back! I hope you had a great "vacation".

Is that a camera in your hand, or are you just glad to see me? [Razz]

>>> Phil

Posted by Chris Hipp (Member # 1788) on 12-29-2003, 01:48 AM:

The earliest movie for sure that I remember seeing was Free Willy. I remember seeing a movie called monster mash early on but IMDB says it was released in 1995 and that doesnt seem like I would have been that old when I saw it at Big Town dollar movie.

I remember that my mom would always take us there because you could get the kids pack for $1. So, Im sure it wasnt the first time I Was there, but who knows/cares?

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-29-2003, 01:55 AM:

Yes Tim! How could I forget the nighmares I had from "War Of The Worlds" .... [Smile]

I still, to this day, have to run around my house and turn all the lights on if there is some really scary movie on. "The Mothman Prophecies" comes to mind... I get the creeps just thinking about it... [Eek!]

>>> Phil

Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 12-29-2003, 02:11 AM:

Now I know that my parents took me to the drive-in at least a few times when I was about 3 - I vaguely recall seeing Bambi, and Song of the South from the inside of a car.
...And somewhere my folks still have an 8-track with a recording of me (at age 3) singing "Zip-A-Dee-Do-Dah". Complete with a little kid's tendency to not recall every verse - I omitted the verse about 'Mr Blue Bird' - and while still recording my mom asked me what happened to him. My prompt reply was "He flew away." [Wink]

The first two movies I saw in a cinema were Annie and E.T. - when I was all of 5 years old.

Also when I was five, my folks took me to see a Maine State Music Theater performance of Annie - because I had liked the movie so much, and played the soundtrack incessantly on my record player. [Big Grin]

Posted by Aaron Sisemore (Member # 145) on 12-29-2003, 02:23 AM:

I could have SWORN that this topic has come up before, but I cannot find it in any searches. [Frown]

I clearly remember Dad taking me to see Jungle Book, Peter Pan, and 2001:A Space Odyssey (I fell asleep sometime into the latter) in 1967/68 (I was 3-4 at the time) at the now-closed Novato Theatre. There may have been several movies I cannot distinctly recall that were seen at one of the two local drive-ins as well...

-Aaron

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 12-29-2003, 03:08 AM:

Star Wars in 1977.

...and no I have no idea if the print I watched had the "A New Hope" tag on it!

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-29-2003, 03:22 AM:

Not to worry, Aaron. I ***ALWAYS*** fall asleep during "2001". B O R I N G!

>>> Phil

Posted by Paul G. Thompson (Member # 655) on 12-29-2003, 03:34 AM:

The one I remember most in a hard top was "The Robe." Shit...I can't remember what year that actually was. It was in the Capitol Theater in Manitowoc, Wisconsin.

In the late 1940's after my father was finally able to afford a car (a 1936 Plymouth) most of my travels were to the Lake-Vue Drive-in Theater (which I serviced when I was with MTS in the '80's).

I don't remember the name of the movie, but it was a movie that involved sucking the brains and spinal cords out of humans which in turn attacked the human race to suck their brains out. Anyone remember what the name of that movie was?

The movies really didn't interest me...I was more curious on what the projection booth had to offer. I never paid that much attention to what was on the screen. If I could get out of the car, the projection booth attracted me like a maggot on a gut wagon.

Seems odd...Today I don't really watch too many movies. I have to confess that the last movie I ever watched from beginning to end (including the credits) was a couple of years ago at the Fargo Theater in Fargo, North Dakota. There was a couple of others I almost did the same thing in Texas.

Hell, I don't usually watch them...I just run them. [Big Grin]

Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 12-29-2003, 03:42 AM:

Gosh Paul, your language is soooo.... Ummmmm, "vivid".... [Big Grin]

(And I thought *I* was bad!) [Razz]

>>> Phil

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-29-2003, 03:57 AM:

Geez, "War Of The Worlds" really freaked me out as a kid. Anyone out there remember the "7Th Voyage Of Sinbad" That part where the guy gets sucked down the whirlpool and such.....Creepy to a 4 year old.
Mark

Posted by William T. Parr (Member # 677) on 12-29-2003, 04:06 AM:

Gosh the first Movie I remember ever seeing at a theatre was a re release of Bambi in thea early 70's at the UA Cine West in Corpus Christi. Now a Faily Dollar store. Also Have Vivid recolections of King Kong at the UA Ayers theatre in the early 70's as well. First show I watched without my parents was Stripes at the UA Cine 4 later the UA Cine 6, the last UA theatre in Corpus to Close and 1 I actually worked at as a projectionist for 4 years before becoming an assistant manager with UA. Thought here UA used to be the only Company in Corpus, why are they gone? Oh yeah they never upgraded or renovated anything truthfully

Posted by Paul Cassidy (Member # 951) on 12-29-2003, 06:04 AM:

Wow this is a Flash Back and it's hard to remember my first movie as we used to go soo much when we were young , as most of the cinemas at this time were suburban we had to wait quite awhile before we got to see the Big movies from the City , anyway one of the first I can remember was the "Red Badge of Courage" , "PT 109", "Moon Spinners" ,"Torpedo Bay" Etc.

Posted by Roger Katz (Member # 1625) on 12-29-2003, 09:35 AM:

Paul, sounds like you are talking about the movie Fiend Without a Face, but that wasn't released until 1958.

Posted by Paul Cassidy (Member # 951) on 12-29-2003, 11:38 AM:

Yes it was in Black n White ,and not too sure but could have been a Civil War film ??? and it would around late 50's early 60's when I first saw a local movie , quite a scary time when the lights went out and the thunder of the kids stamping their feet and cheering at the movie start [Eek!]

[ 12-30-2003, 03:08 AM: Message edited by: Paul Cassidy ]

Posted by Dick Vaughan (Member # 540) on 12-29-2003, 02:02 PM:

Although I know I went to the cinema before then the first film and venue I can put together would have been "Summer Holiday" stariing Cliff Richard and The Shadows at the ABC Sheffield in 1963. I was 7 and went with my mum and gran. I also remember trying to convince my mum to buy the soundtrack from Curtis' record store which was next door.Sad isn't it.
Around the same time we went to see "The Long Ships" with Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier

Posted by Nick Engstrom (Member # 2100) on 12-29-2003, 06:03 PM:

I *think* it was ET, but to be honest, I don't remember, I was too young. One of the first movies I remember seeing with myself and brother was waterworld, haha.

Posted by Dennis M Dow Jr (Member # 1970) on 12-30-2003, 09:55 PM:

The first movie I remember seeing was Carrie... Don't remember if it was at the Clairidge or the Wellmont In Montclair NJ

Posted by John Pytlak (Member # 331) on 12-30-2003, 10:36 PM:

Disney's "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" when I was about six.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 12-30-2003, 10:48 PM:

I still recall how frightened I was when our parents took my sister, brother and me to see the Universal horror films "FRANKENSTEIN" and "DRACULA". I also recall seeing a newsreel coverage of a state funeral. When it was being shown, I asked my mother who had died and she sadly replied "President Roosevelt".

-Claude

Posted by Robert Throop (Member # 61) on 12-31-2003, 11:55 AM:

My first indoor movie experience was "Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier" when I was about 7. I'd seen other films in drive ins before this but I don't remember the titles.

Posted by Martin Brooks (Member # 1269) on 01-01-2004, 05:20 PM:

My parents said they took me to "Peter Pan" when I was about 3 and I complained so much, they had to take me out. But I don't remember that.

The first film I remember seeing was a revival of Fantasia in about 1955. I saw it in a local theater, The Dale, which was located in the west Bronx.

But I think the first film that completely blew me away was the roadshow presentation of West Side Story in 70mm Todd-AO at the Rivoli in NYC. I think I saw that in 1962 or 63.

Posted by Claude S. Ayakawa (Member # 1401) on 01-01-2004, 05:34 PM:

Martin,

You saw "WEST SIDE STORY" in late 1961. I saw it at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre on New Years eve in 1961 also in 70mm.

-Claude

Posted by JC Cowles (Member # 914) on 01-02-2004, 02:39 AM:

It was either The Fox and the Hound or Bambi. I forget which came out first. My favorite movie of all time, Back to the Future, I saw at the same theatre I ended up managing 15 years later [Smile]

Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 01-02-2004, 02:42 AM:

Pretty sure mine was Black Beauty in the early 70's.

Posted by Kyle Caudill (Member # 1252) on 01-02-2004, 02:12 PM:

E.T. Flatwoods, KY 2 screen cinema which is now city hall.

Posted by R. Andrew Diercks (Member # 1725) on 01-02-2004, 03:49 PM:

E.T. is my first difinative memory, but I vaguely remember something with tornados in it. Perhaps a special run of Wizard of Oz? Not sure on that one.

Posted by Lionel Fouillen (Member # 1475) on 01-06-2004, 01:18 AM:

Was a Disney cartoon and I hated it. My mother and grand-mother took me by force, saying it IS for children so I MUST love it. They never miss an opportunity to remind the whole family that I was crying in the theater lobby, rolling on the floor and kicking everything nearby.

Then when I was 7 I asked my parents to go and see Star Wars, which impressed me a lot, and all suddenly I LOVED cinema.

Now I'm 33 and it can happen that I don't like the film I see, but I refrain from crying, rolling and kicking [Razz]

Posted by Steve Kraus (Member # 476) on 01-06-2004, 08:42 AM:

I really have no idea but I do recall seeing The Ghost and Mr. Chicken with my brother and I know I was dropped off to see Grand Prix while others were shopping. Alas only 35mm; don't know if it was mag--the venue was equipped for 4-track.

Posted by Michael Coate (Member # 757) on 01-21-2004, 11:50 PM:

My first movie attended was, I think, Disney's Robin Hood (though it may have been Bambi, which was re-released around the same time).

I'm sure all of the movies I saw the first few years of going to the movies were the Disney animated and G-rated family productions. I think the first non-Disney movie seen was either The Bad News Bears or Star Wars.

Posted by Gilbert Travin (Member # 2138) on 01-22-2004, 09:52 AM:

I have no accurate idea ... it is very old ... my memories go back to 1957.
I think to a magnificient CinemaScope "The brave One" and also at "101 Dalmatian" and pictures with Alan Ladd...
My first 70 mm picture was Goodbye Mr Chips (perhaps a blow up ?) watched from the booth in 1971.
"Which Way to the Front?" (Jerry Lewis) was the first film I runned alone in summer 1971, as a lately graduate projectionnist !

Posted by Ky Boyd (Member # 23) on 01-22-2004, 09:51 PM:

First movie: Disney's The Aristocats at the Liberty Theatre in Great Falls, MT. (now an office supply store)

First art-movie: Fosse's All That Jazz - Twilite Cinema Centre, also in Great Falls, MT (originally a drive-in that added two indoor screens thus earning it the right to be called a Centre I guess!) The Twilite was the first theatre in Great Falls to get Dolby Stereo, for the Bee Gee film Sgt. Pepper.

First foreign film: Diva at the Wilma 3 Chapel of the Dove in Missoula Montana...an old ballroom turned wedding chapel turned cinema with a motorized screen that came down in front of the alter. It also blocked a framed pair of those life-size skinny pictures of Marilyn Monroe and Clark Gable. Unfortunately it's gone now, but it was quite a thing. Oh, and they had a bar in the back where you could buy beer or wine. Loved Diva so much the first time that I went back the next week for the double feature Diva and Still of the Night, a Meryl Streep, Roy Schieder movie nobody remembers.

I was hooked on movies from the first one. But Diva is why I'm an artfilm exhibitor today.

Posted by James Leon Rockett Jr (Member # 2140) on 01-22-2004, 10:03 PM:

Batman. [Smile]

Posted by Chris Byrne (Member # 1563) on 01-23-2004, 05:01 AM:

Star Wars [thumbsup]

Posted by Ian Bailey (Member # 1752) on 01-25-2004, 05:53 PM:

"Sink the Bismark"-my mum used to give me 10 cents(one shilling in those days)-5 cents to get in and 5 cents to buy a big bag of lollies!!!!

Posted by Jeff Taylor (Member # 443) on 01-27-2004, 03:28 PM:

I'm almost sure it was Snow White on one of its regular airings--probably around 1950 or so.

Posted by Harry Robinson (Member # 265) on 01-27-2004, 11:02 PM:

My first would be Peter Pan in 1953, and I remmeber the Pete Smith Specialty they showed before it. It involved a guy adding a room to his house and building it with no doors and him stuck inside. Very funny.
Very close to the same time I saw the George Pal Puppetoon version of Hansel and Gretel.

Posted by Jennifer Pan (Member # 2035) on 01-28-2004, 09:20 PM:

Titanic... Sad, yes I know... I was a very sheltered child... What made it even worse was I sat in the second row.. 3 hrs of complete neck pain [uhoh]

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 01-30-2004, 03:59 AM:

The first film I have any positive memory of seeing in a cinema was the original Fantasia in a late 1970s rerelease. It was at the old Odeon, Wimbledon, which, after a lingering decline into fleapitdom during the '90s, eventually closed in November 2002.

According to my mother I didn't like the film one bit - and apart from the Mickey Mouse/Dukas segment (the one which was crappily blown up to Imax in Fantasia 2000), I still don't.

Posted by Paul Cassidy (Member # 951) on 01-30-2004, 04:06 AM:

Belated welcome Jen , I know what you mean when sitting through "Titanic" .... I had my 2 little ones with me and they were sleeping at the end ,so we had to sort of sleep walk them out the cinema as we couldn't wake them , it was a late show and they soooo wanted to see the movie [eyes]

Posted by Brad Allen (Member # 470) on 01-30-2004, 12:53 PM:

The wonderful, academy award winning 3D 13th Ghost was my first film in a theatre. I spent most of the time under the seat. Hey, I was only 8-9.
I recently saw this on video, not nearly as scary [eyes]

as I remembered. [Big Grin]