Let's Go to the Movies!

Before television and even after television, our family went to movies. I learned about Abbott and Lou Costello, the Keystone Kops, Bob Hope, and Danny Kaye at the movies with my parents.

We went to adult -like films. Certainly Dial M for Murder and Marty were not movies for 10 year olds. During the golden era of 3-D we went to The House of Wax, (1953) at the Avalon. Even with glasses OFF it was very scary.

In 1956, Sandy C had a birthday party, The Bad Seed was playing at the Avalon. The idea was to have her mother give us the money in front of the Falls Theater and we would walk over to the Avalon and watch this movie about a child our age who was a serial killer. But Mrs. C bought our tickets and we were obligated to watch, perhaps, a western flick or comedy at the Falls.

The Falls Theater had more family oriented movies in the fifties; Friendly Persuasion and Around the World in 80 Days, both released in 1956 come to mind. But the Falls was also the place for Sci-fi such as the Blob, starring Steve McQueen, and the Godzilla movies with Raymond Burr. It was a great place to go on Sunday afternoon. Many of us groaned together watching Elvis Presley star in Love Me Tender. None of us could believe THE KING, who had made many recordings we all sang and danced to, play the part in a Civil War drama and he didn’t even have top billing!

I didn’t see as many movies as I told my parents I was going to but then there were others who never told them they went to movies at all! One of the movies I remember going to with friends was, Ben Hur and during intermission, someone called me 41 because that was the slave's name.

On Saturday afternoons starting in about first grade, Mother would drop me off at the Falls for the cowboy matinee with a quarter which bought the ticket and a treat. I loved going to the movies! As a teen, the movie price was 60 cents.

One always turned around to see who was in the crying room. It was a room on the top level with a glass window. If your child was crying, you were expected to take your child out. I could never figure out why churches didn’t have this feature, or did they?

I would see a few movies in Minneapolis, one of them was The Long, Long Trailer with Lucille Ball in 1954. Mother liked to go to the movies in the big city but Daddy would always fall asleep and start to snore. I did see a couple of movies in the cities with Tom, but I was more interested in him than in the movies.

I read recently there are a few drive in theaters being built again. The one in Thief River Falls, according to the sign, opened in 1952. There is a Drive In near Warren, MN that opens on Memorial Day. The first time I was at a drive in was in the spring of 1958 at which time the movie was Sitting Bull. The drive in was a social place to go. To pester people in cars that were NOT watching the movie. For my fifteenth birthday, we took the hunting bus to the drive in. Daddy drove the bus and then went and sat with Mother in the car while us girls snuck out of the bus and socialized. When the movie was over, we were running from all directions to beat Daddy back to the bus. Of course, we had to get out and direct the bus over the railroad tracks!

When the Pink Panther movies came out, the Granada Theater in Lawrence, offered free admission, rolls and orange juice to everyone who came in pajamas. There were a lot of us. The next film in the series, they only offered it to the first few…..oh darn.

When the children were little, we would take them to the matinee once a month when they had movies for $1.00. The entire neighborhood would be loaded up and one of the parents would take turns as the chaperon. Rachel loved movies, the last one we saw before her brother was born really touched her. When it was over, she started to cry. She didn’t want the movie to be over!

Now going to the movies are far and few between. The best thing to happen is if someone from out of town comes to visit and we go to a movie. Tom and I saw Phantom of the Opera in 2004. My cousin, Judy was here the summer before she died, we went to The Devil Wears Prada, (2006).

What does it cost to go to a movie now? Fargo has children like movies on Saturday afternoons for $2.50 (+ popcorn). Senior rate in the late afternoon is about $6.00. Instead of two theaters like when I was a kid, Fargo-Moorhead offers numerous screens. A very special place is the Fargo Theater which is downtown and has live performances as well as movies. And guess what is playing? Savages!! But not the same as The Savage from 1926.

Roll the film!
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