Movie Memories

What were your earliest movie memories?

In childhood, most of my movie viewing was done at a theater downtown, the _______. That was where I received my recommended dose of Disney. Of course, this was a one-screen theater!

The first "adult" film I saw was "Jaws". The line snaked from the theater. My older brother and sister were excited, but I spent half the movie in the ladies' room because I was so scared. (I was a very naive 10.) A few months ago, I saw the whole "Jaws" for the first time on video. I learned that it was a good thing that I stayed away at the time. It's an intense, bloody movie, even now.

I remember the jingle for and (though that's not the way the boxes looked in the 1970s). "Goobers and Raisnets, Goobers and Raisinets"... I never actually ate them, though, because I don't eat peanuts and raisins, even when they are chocolate-coated.

Those were the days when I ate buttered, from a large communal tub, and got my fingers greasy. One time I sprinkled sugar (which I thought was salt) on, and it was not pleasant at all.

Oh, and I must not forget...

The DRIVE-IN

That was where the action was!

The last time I went to a drive-in movie was to see "Patriot Games" (a film I barely remember; my BF at the time wanted to see it) in a not-so-nice section of Los Angeles. That was in 1991. The best time I had at a drive-in was seeing a double-bill of "Mandingo" and "Serpico" at a screen just outside my hometown of Washington, PA, in 1975. (Uh, I know that maybe it was not such a good idea for a 10-year-old to see such films. But it did give me the ideal drive-in experience, so I have no hard feelings!)

While the other kids did their thing at the playground directly in front of the screen, I remained in the car, because I wanted to be in my "seat", so to speak, before the movie started (to this day, I do not like entering the theater after the show starts). Fortunately, I do not remember much of "Mandingo", except the bare breasts (the first film I ever saw with bare breasts, which was a major shock), the scene where the old woman reaches inside Ken Norton's pants, and the sex scene (another HUGE shock, but that's another story for another day).

I do remember the ads in between features, and the kaliedoscope transition in between. This is why I love intermission shorts. If you want to see what I'm talking about, go to the Something Weird webpage and see their series called "It's Intermission Time, Folks!" I have Volumes 1-6, and they never cease to entertain me.

If you have a drive-in near you, my advice is to GO, no matter how lousy the feature, and make sure to stay for the intermission films. And even if you bring your own food, take a look inside the concession stand. I know just about anything and everything that was ever served at the concession stands (at least, during the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s). See if they have

(In case you can't tell, that's a barbecue sandwich plate. Those drive-in ads made barbecue sandwiches look good. Even if fading filmstock makes it sometimes look like crap, in the literal sense).