The Paw Paw River Journal

Published February 19, 1986

Going to the movies

All my life I have been a nut about the movies. When I was a little kid (even before I could read), my sister bought movie magazines. Kids did that then. I looked at those magazines, pored over the pictures, and sat and listened while Wilma explained to me the latest Hollywood gossip. Of course, back in those days the gossip was more innocent than it is now. The same things were going on out there, but it was a better kept secret.

So I had my heroes and heroines... and they were larger than life. Buck Jones, Ken Maynard and George O'Brien starred in cowboy films. I was a little too young for Tom Mix. Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell were THE romantic leads. And Errol Flynn came along just in time to be one of my very favorites. There was also a young guy who was destined for fame in a few years too... John Wayne.

The Heart Theater (formerly the State) in Hartford was owned by a young couple named Woodward. The wife was beautiful and she took tickets. She died after (I think) the birth of a child and her husband sold the movie house after that. I could get in for 10¢. It cost Wilma 25¢.

When Boris Karloff starred in "Frankenstein," I was too young to see the really scary ones. But I can remember some friends came over to visit my folks one evening. They told all about it. I had seen some stills in the movie magazines, so just hearing about it was enough to make the monster with the iron bar through his neck chase me through my dreams for several nights.

Then Boris Karloff made "The Mummy." A classmate of mine, George Morris, went to see it. After the first show was over, he came out in the lobby and watched to see if anyone would be walking west along Main Street, so he could walk with them on the way home... no such luck. George lived out on the west side of town, past the old Pioneer Cemetery. He hung around until he just had to go home. So he started out, and when he came to the cemetery he began to run, and continued thus until he got to his house, exhausted, of course.

I heard later that another kid in our grade (a pretty fearless guy) came home from that movie, and knew a girl would be coming along in a few minutes on her way home too. So he hid behind a bush, thinking to scare her when she walked past. Well, he did. He jumped out and yelled, and she was so scared that she beat the stuffing out of him and then continued on her way home.

Irene Yeckley was one of our favorite ticket takers. She was a little older than most of us, but we all liked her. Sometimes, if the theater was empty and we had already paid to see the same show the previous night, she would let us come in again... for free. One of my favorite films from that time was "The Dawn Patrol," with Errol Flynn, David Niven and Basil Rathbone. World War I was THE war then.

When Marion and I were in high school, we often went to a movie. We saw a lot of westerns, sometimes at the old Ritz Theater in Watervliet. On dates we could go to games, movies, bowling, dances (Crystal Palace) and always stop at Brownie’s in Watervliet or Coloma for chili and hamburgers afterwards.

I really don't like to sound like an old-timer. But there was magic in those days. If I had a couple of dollars in my pocket and could get the car for the evening, we were in business. Everything was new and, if I didn't have enough money, Marion would chip in and help.

Do kids still "date"? Or do they just hang out? What do they do for entertainment? A good movie house now charges $4.00 per ticket, at least. Two people and some popcorn can shoot $10.00 in today's world. How can a kid afford that? It doesn't seem fair to me.

The old Heart Theater is still there on Main Street. They show Spanish films on weekends in the summer. The last time we were in there was in about 1963. We saw "Goldfinger," the first James Bond film. I couldn't help but think, when we saw that huge golden girl lying across the full width of the screen... things aren't like they used to be.

When I was a kid, there was no such thing as an explicitly sexual scene. Those things happened off screen. In recent years we have been in a movie theater, and there is a scene that leaves little to the imagination. And in the middle of it, some little kid in the audience will say. "Mommy, what are they doing? Is that man hurting her?" And I feel like cringing in my seat. How did that little kid get in there anyway? What parent would deliberately take him to a film such as that?

I can take some sleaze. And I don't mind realism, if it is necessary to the story, but not for kids who are too small to sort out fantasy from reality. Enough is enough.

I have not seen all of the old films, but I watch the TV listings... and I stay up to see a good one, even if it is late. Sometimes Marion flakes out on the couch, but any of our kids will usually stay up to watch a good old film with me.

Technically, movies are better than ever... lots of good ones are being made. But lots of bad ones too... and those are an insult to our intelligence. But I can still remember Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman in "Casablanca." And Bogart and Lauren Bacall in "Key Largo."

Going to the movies? We had it all... just like Bogie and Bacall.