Your Rules for Movie-Going

[James]

The first movie I ever saw was on an early 1950's television set, and it is a classic still, better than the attempts at remakes:

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I see things quite differently .. while the ideas for this film were ahead of their time & ambitious, the technology to pull it off wasn't .. and realistically, it hasn't aged well and it looks totally dated. Peter Jackson's remake sees things through, has deeper performances .. and is genius on the visual end. I'm sure the original creators would have loved it.

[Bogey]

The first movie I ever saw was on an early 1950's television set, and it is a classic still, better than the attempts at remakes:

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In 1955, at a small neighborhood theater, the first movie I recall seeing:

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The second theater movie was:

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Curiously, my parents went to see this at a drive-in, with me in the back seat: apparently they thought I would not understand it.  I vividly recall a scene with Robert Ryan pulling a spindle from a front-porch railing and beating another character with it.

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The summary from Amazon says it all:

Three of my all time favorite movies, Cato!  Well done and super parenting.   As for that last one, well....it least it had an Elmer Bernsteing score,

[Sergeant Rock]

So, what is the first movie you can remember ever seeing in a theater?

1954 when I was five, living in Bucyrus Ohio, my mother took me to see 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.



Two years later, and a big boy now    my mom gave me 25 cents and let me go downtown on my own to see Forbidden Planet at the theater on Main St. in Rittman Ohio. Anne Francis was my first celebrity crush 




Sarge

[Bogey]

Best quarter spent in the history of mankind.

[kishnevi]

My parents went regularly to the local drive in with me in tow, and I remember from that only scattered moments...the theme song from What's New Pussycat, but not anything else; the scene in Thunderball in which Sean Connery uses his dance partner as a human shield (literally)...and much of Doctor Zhivago.  Sound of Music and Ten Commandments were seen at hone on TV.   For some reason, when watching Wizard of Oz, I always got scared by Margaret Hamilton riding her bike in the tornado,  and would run out of the room at that point, so I never saw actually saw it until the rebroadcasts started up when I was an adult.

[Bogey]

My parents went regularly to the local drive in with me in tow, and I remember from that only scattered moments...the theme song from What's New Pussycat, but not anything else; the scene in Thunderball in which Sean Connery uses his dance partner as a human shield (literally)...and much of Doctor Zhivago.  Sound of Music and Ten Commandments were seen at hone on TV.   For some reason, when watching Wizard of Oz, I always got scared by Margaret Hamilton riding her bike in the tornado,  and would run out of the room at that point, so I never saw actually saw it until the rebroadcasts started up when I was an adult.

Like you, the Elvis film was fragmentary at best.  The first film I can remember watching from beginning to end was Bedknobs and Broomsticks or The Valley of Gwangi (and this may have been on tv).

[Cato]

Three of my all time favorite movies, Cato!  Well done and super parenting.   As for that last one, well....it least it had an Elmer Bernstein score,

I should mention that I saw all kinds of movies on television in 1957 or so: we moved back to Dayton from Indianapolis and lived next door to my grandparents, who had left the farm to retire in the big city. 

They were up early, as I always was, so I often visited them at 6:00 A.M. to watch old movies from MGM and RKO on a local station.  Danger Lights, The Unholy Three ( the former with Jean Arthur  and Robert Armstrong, the latter being Lon Chaney's only movie in the sound era, and many, many others.

Question: do you believe in a rule that movies which impressed you as a child are less than compelling to you in later years?  Or do you retain admiration?

I recall many, many years ago overhearing some of my students claiming that an Italian 3-D epic called Comin' At Ya was one of the greatest movies ever made!  Have they come their senses since then?

[Bogey]

I should mention that I saw all kinds of movies on television in 1957 or so: we moved back to Dayton from Indianapolis and lived next door to my grandparents, who had left the farm to retire in the big city. 

They were up early, as I always was, so I often visited them at 6:00 A.M. to watch old movies from MGM and RKO on a local station.  Danger Lights, The Unholy Three ( the former with Jean Arthur  and Robert Armstrong, the latter being Lon Chaney's only movie in the sound era, and many, many others.

Question: do you believe in a rule that movies which impressed you as a child are less than compelling to you in later years?  Or do you retain admiration?

I recall many, many years ago overhearing some of my students claiming that an Italian 3-D epic called Comin' At Ya was one of the greatest movies ever made!  Have they come their senses since then?

A bit of both.  I still love every minute of the likes of The Wizard of Oz or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang from my early childhood.  However, at one point my all time favorite movie was Force Ten from Navarone.  It's not dreadful, but it is no longer even sniffing my favorites.  The ones that have taken the biggest hits are the comedies from my teen years. Risky Business, Stripes, Caddy Shack and Fast Times at Ridgemont High are films that if I never catch again, I will be just fine.  Then there are ones from this genre that still work like Sixteen Candles and Breakfast Club.  Just depends.   

[kishnevi]

I should mention that I saw all kinds of movies on television in 1957 or so: we moved back to Dayton from Indianapolis and lived next door to my grandparents, who had left the farm to retire in the big city. 

They were up early, as I always was, so I often visited them at 6:00 A.M. to watch old movies from MGM and RKO on a local station.  Danger Lights, The Unholy Three ( the former with Jean Arthur  and Robert Armstrong, the latter being Lon Chaney's only movie in the sound era, and many, many others.

Question: do you believe in a rule that movies which impressed you as a child are less than compelling to you in later years?  Or do you retain admiration?

I recall many, many years ago overhearing some of my students claiming that an Italian 3-D epic called Comin' At Ya was one of the greatest movies ever made!  Have they come their senses since then?

It was restored and shown at a film festival in 2011 (per Wikipedia), so obviously some people think well of it.  I suspect, from the poster, that the special effects would draw in a young teen.  And the female lead might also have had an impact, if she was as enhanced as the poster suggests.

[NikF]

First I can remember seeing in a cinema?  I dont recall the year (late 1960s?) but one rare sunny day my grandparents took me to the beach. As soon as we arrived it started to rain. So we went to see Fantasia instead.

Two years later, and a big boy now    my mom gave me 25 cents and let me go downtown on my own to see Forbidden Planet at the theater on Main St. in Rittman Ohio. Anne Francis was my first celebrity crush 



Sarge

Far, far back in time I opened my first studio. I needed a name for it and chose 'Studio Altaira', due to Anne Francis.

[Rinaldo]

Warning, the following reply will make you feel old:

The first movie I remember seeing in the cinema (and getting my mind blown to smithereens) was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, right after the Iron Curtain went down. Probably my first exposure to western movies as well.

[Cato]

Warning, the following reply will make you feel old:

The first movie I remember seeing in the cinema (and getting my mind blown to smithereens) was Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, right after the Iron Curtain went down. Probably my first exposure to western movies as well.

Maybe not the best first exposure to American movies, but there are worse choices!     Steven Spielberg has some better efforts. 

[Sergeant Rock]

Far, far back in time I opened my first studio. I needed a name for it and chose 'Studio Altaira', due to Anne Francis.

Cool!

Sarge

[Sergeant Rock]

Question: do you believe in a rule that movies which impressed you as a child are less than compelling to you in later years?  Or do you retain admiration?

Many do. Dramas like Days of Wine and Roses (directed by Blake Edwards, staring Jake Lemmon and Lee Remick); war movies like Sink the Bismark and Pork Chop Hill; the great Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts; Sci Fi like Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. What hasn't aged so well are many horror films from the 50s with their inane scripts and terrible special effects.

Sarge

[Cato]

Many do. Dramas like Days of Wine and Roses (directed by Blake Edwards, staring Jake Lemmon and Lee Remick); war movies like Sink the Bismark and Pork Chop Hill; the great Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts; Sci Fi like Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers. What hasn't aged so well are many horror films from the 50s with their inane scripts and terrible special effects.

Sarge

Quite true!  Another rule: Watch out for anything with John Hoyt!   



from Attack of the Puppet People  (Yes, that title was supposed to scare you!      )

Pork Chop Hill was incredible for its day: another one I should revisit!

That anyone spent money  on restoring Comin' At Ya! shows that money and bad taste are not mutually exclusive.

[Cato]

...]; the great Our Gang (Little Rascals) shorts; Sci Fi like Forbidden Planet, The Day the Earth Stood Still and Invasion of the Body Snatchers...
Sarge

One of the television stations in my city showed the silent Little Rascals now and then: they had some wild stuff!  One sticks in the memory, of kids (maybe Farina?) living in hammocks underneath (moving) boxcars!  It looked like lots of fun!    I came a cross a reference to a silent episode called Fast Freight, so maybe that is the one.

[James]

One of the television stations in my city showed the silent Little Rascals now and then: they had some wild stuff!  One sticks in the memory, of kids (maybe Farina?) living in hammocks underneath (moving) boxcars!  It looked like lots of fun!    I came a cross a reference to a silent episode called Fast Freight, so maybe that is the one.

This thread should be re-titled to the nostalgia zone. 

[Cato]

This thread should be re-titled to the nostalgia zone. 

Heh-heh!  Here is another rule: Nostalgia is an incurable disease!   0:)

Speaking of nostalgia: is there a rule for remakes?  Or for NOT making movies out of TV shows?

Should some movies never be remade?  Gone With the Wind?  Citizen Kane?   The Third Man?  The Searchers?

I can think of many that should never have been remade, not to mention TV shows that should have not been made into movies: but let's see your candidates! 

[James]

Heh-heh!  Here is another rule: Nostalgia is an incurable disease!   0:)

Speaking of nostalgia: is there a rule for remakes?  Or for NOT making movies out of TV shows?

Should some movies never be remade?  Gone With the Wind?  Citizen Kane?   The Third Man?  The Searchers?

I can think of many that should never have been remade, not to mention TV shows that should have not been made into movies: but let's see your candidates! 

Nope, no rules on this .. if they want to do it, that's fine.

[Jo498]

The first movie I saw in the cinema was "The Neverending Story"; I was 11 or 12. It had been one of my favorite books and the movie was a big disappointment. So I do not feel any nostalgia for that one...