A Question for the Oldies

[MillieDynamite]

Well, I read a lot, watch a lot of old movies, and Pops is my educator on all things to do with movies and music.

You never cease to amaze me with your knowledge, Millie.

 

[Zootonius]

As we're on old movies, the most chilling movie I ever saw was 'M' with Peter Lorre as a child murders. There's no violence depicted yet it's chilling.

One scene stuck in my mind; a mother calling for her child as darkness falls over city streets, her voice rising, her calls becoming more and more anxious.

(shudder!)

 

[SheilaT]

I remember my first cinema date. He was a nice lad from school and we saw A Fish Called Wanda. Still makes me laugh today but the big screen, anticipation, the excitement of the lights going down is something I miss.

 

[Zootonius]

One thing the young folks here don't likely know about is drive-in theaters. More action in those cars than on the screen. I recall one VW van, parked off to the side, rocking away...

 

[Comshaw]

My home town had two theaters, a downtown sitdown and a drive-in. As a teen I didn't get to go to the movie much but when I did they were the mid 1960's staples, John Wayne westerns or war movies like "The Great Escape", or "Von Ryans Express". The drive-in was owned by the same guy that owned the downtown one so it got a lot of top tier movies. I saw "Barefoot in the Park", "Cool Hand Luke" And " The Dirty Dozen" at the drive-in.

Those top tier movies at the drive-in were always a pain though because one had to try to watch the movie and attend to the makeup session you were engaged in all at the same time. Needless to say I didn't get to see all or even most of those movies.

The fun times didn't really come in until the mid to late 80's though. My wife and I would take our kids to the drive-in on warm summer nights. We'd parked the pickup backward, put sleeping bags in the bed, open the tailgate and watch the movie. We also had a local steak house on the way to the movie a friend owned. We'd stop and get something to eat to take with us. He didn't have any takeout disposable paper dishes so we would take plates of food, then drop off the dishes at the back door on the way home.

We saw "SpaceBalls" " The Lost Boys" and "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" at that drive-in. Sadly where that drive-in was is now a Walmart. I miss those days watching the movie under the stars.

Comshaw

 

[BodieOhl]

One thing the young folks here don't likely know about is drive-in theaters. More action in those cars than on the screen. I recall one VW van, parked off to the side, rocking away...

So true. I actually met the Mrs. at a drive-in. We arrived in separate cars and left together. (I had some game back in the day! )

Even the back row of a theater (or front row for the exhibitionists) was good for sharing a seat now and then.

 

[nice90sguy]

I think Fred and Wilma flintsone also met at a drive-in. Not sure about that, it was a long time ago

 

[nice90sguy]

So true. I actually met the Mrs. at a drive-in. We arrived in separate cars and left together. (I had some game back in the day! )

Even the back row of a theater (or front row for the exhibitionists) was good for sharing a seat now and then.

A drive-in is actaully a pretty good setting for a story -- two sets of action going on, on-screen and off-screen

 

[gunhilltrain]

I remember my first cinema date. He was a nice lad from school and we saw A Fish Called Wanda. Still makes me laugh today but the big screen, anticipation, the excitement of the lights going down is something I miss.

I think I mentioned this, but he house lights don't go down now because they are never turned on (except in an emergency, perhaps). You go straight from the end credits of a movie to a Bounty Towel commercial perhaps and then twenty or thirty minutes of other things. It can be difficult to tell, sometimes, when the movie you paid for actually starts because it is immediately after a lot of trailers. Something has been lost because the audience doesn't have that transitional time of going from normality to the movie experience. It's just an endless loop of sound and visuals.

 

[gunhilltrain]

A drive-in is actaully a pretty good setting for a story -- two sets of action going on, on-screen and off-screen

I've been to a drive-in only once, but it was purely a movie-experience for me (Christine at a place in Kendall Park, NJ, I think). My lack of first-hand experience didn't stop me from imagining a somewhat off-kilter drive-in event happening in 1949.

https://classic.literotica.com/s/uncle-hanks-drive-in-adventure

The drive-in was a real place (The Whitestone in the East Bronx) and the movie the unhappy couple is watching is Naked City. Despite the somewhat racy-sounding name, the picture is a police procedural.

 

[nice90sguy]

A great movie (to watch, maybe not so much to fuck to though)

 

[gordo12]

The oldest movie I can ever remember going to (by myself and some friends) was The Angry Red Planet (59), about a trip to Mars. It was a horror show, frankly. It scared the shit out of me at 7 years old. The sound effects of bones breaking when one astronaut got eaten by a blob...

If memory serves me, it cost 50c.

PS it was an old theatre on main street. Wooden floors etc. Maybe built in the 40's or even the 30s.

 

[bobsyouruncle55]

What was it like going to see one of the 1970s / 80s blockbusters at the theater? Given my fandom, I’ll go for A New Hope or Raiders, but feel free to substitute.

Was it different to the movie experience now?

I’m kinda thinking because I often wait to see things on streaming. Oppenheimer and Barbie for example. What was it like when that wasn’t an option. And when you didn’t have websites dedicated to your fan obsessions.

Em

movies were better back then without all this PC BULLSHIT.

 

[MillieDynamite]

The uncensored version of Freaks is quite disturbing. The Strong Man clawed his way with one hand, dragging himself toward the camera while holding his bleeding crotch where his jewels used to be, was totally insane.

As we're on old movies, the most chilling movie I ever saw was 'M' with Peter Lorre as a child murders. There's no violence depicted yet it's chilling.

One scene stuck in my mind; a mother calling for her child as darkness falls over city streets, her voice rising, her calls becoming more and more anxious.

(shudder!)

 

[ElectricBlue]

The uncensored version of Freaks is quite disturbing. The Strong Man clawed his way with one hand, dragging himself toward the camera while holding his bleeding crotch where his jewels used to be, was totally insane.

That's the most disturbing movie I've ever seen, for sure. Eraserhead comes close, that damned papoose baby thing forever mewling.

Andy Warhol's Flesh for Frankenstein, if you see the 3D version, goes wonderfully over the top with a giant pair of shears coming out of the screen to cut your head off. Whoa! Then old Franky fucks the entrails of his female creation before he animates her. That was weird.

 

[LonRivers]

Drive-In movies were the shit!! You can do whatever you wanted to in the privacy of your own car. Listen to the movie as loud as you want, smoke, drink, have sex whatever. The screens were huge and the quality, though not perfect as it is today with HD and 4K, was to be enjoyed. The only issues were weather related, fogging up your windows, large vehicles blocking your view and you had to walk a mile it seemed to get popcorn or drinks unless you brought your own, which a lot of people did. And yes, you occasionally saw people having sex in the next car over.